I've had my Tivo1 for years now. Bought it in off ebay from the US, added a network card and a bit of interesting software and I've hardly watched an ad or live TV since. Only problem is at times I feel somewhat cut-off from the world as I don't see the ads for whats going on...

The problem with subscription tivo is - like IceTv - rather pricey and you don't really get that much for it. Still, it beats downloading entire seasons of my favourite shows because the networks treat viewers with such disdain.

I have been using Mythdora (http://g-ding.tv/) for a while now. Myth has the bonus of being able to have a number of frontend units, so we can watch our recorded programs on a few different screens.
I have the main system in the lounge, a second frontend in the bedroom, and we can also stream recordings to the main family computer or laptop.
As it is on the home network, I can also watch TV on my PC by programming a recording with the web interface and streaming it as it records.

We've discussed the concept on the Boxcutters blog and we're trying to work out why TiVo would bother entering into a market in such a closed-door scenario.

Thus far using Windows Vista Media Centre (It can also be done with XP MCE) and FreeEPG along with the MS Hotfix for the vanishing EPG tied into WebGuide I have been quite happy, now I need a dual HD Tuner card as a single tuner doesn't cut it for me anymore.

A new prospect that I have come accross in the past few days is TVersity and with the supported devices this looks very promising and no subscription fees for IceTV or Tivo.

Can't agree with Philbert that IceTV is expensive. Less than $2 per week for an accurate EPG that is always fresh into my Topfield seems like a great deal to me. My only concern is as to what happens if Ch 9 wins the (long outstanding) court case.

I DO agree, however, with the fact that it can feel a bit odd (pleasantly odd) to be cut off from ads for a long time.

In our home, if there's a commercial show we want to watch, we almost always record it on the Toppy and sit down to start watching 15 minutes after the show begins (for a one-hour show). Saves time and reduces frustration!

The difference between the American and Australian TV networks, in terms of attitude towards viewers, can be summed up simply.

Last week Fox Television apologised to TiVo owners who missed the conclusion of American Idol as it ran past the advertised time, and many time-shifters missed the announcement of the winner.

Australian networks do not count time-shifters as audience members, there is no free EPG and rarely start/finish at the advertised time during prime time.

It seems to me the main advantage of the TiVo is (a) its use of an electronic programe guide that allows better recording planning and cuts down on missed shows and wasted recording space and (b) its small scale AI capacity to search for shows, and learn what shows might interest its owner.

The first is of some use if an electronic program guide is available and actually kept up to date. Otherwise the run over, start late, plague of current free to air will continue.

I think the latter is best suited to TV junkies who don't know how, can't be bothered, looking for and setting up recording times. I suspect I and many others would get quite sick of the AI second guessing me if I left the feature switched on.

The other TiVo advantage is networking and allowing computer stored material seamlessly onto the TiVo and vice versa. However this feature can be had on other media centres.

For myself a DVD HDD recorder that also lets me stick in a USB stick (quite capable of quickly swallowing several hours of DivX files from my computer and then playing them) is quite enough. Hey, it means I actually have to do some walking between rooms but geez, gotta use some of the calories accumulated from couch sitting with a chocolate biscuit or 3.

I note the points from Philbert and Richard re losing ads - that one suffers a degree of popular culture slippage. I agree, but would say that for the privilege of being able to move into a world without TV ads it's a very small downside.
One's inner life, and importantly that of one's children, is given much greater peace by removing these constant desire and anxiety provoking objects from of one's life. Real world perspectives, and real world relationships start to have more dominance again, and this is a life enhancing thing. Indeed if you can't find it in your strength to remove TV from your children's lives altogether you can at least give them the power to zap the ads and thus learn to treat commercial blandishments with the contempt they deserve.