OTHER TECH

PERFORMANCE The HD10-250 performed flawlessly throughout my evaluation, never missing a selected program and always providing playback that was identical to the original. And the quality of standard-def programs seen on my 1080i-format HDTV confirmed that the HD10-250 does upconversion right - there were no digital artifacts or pasty faces, and moving images never broke up. The over-the-air digital tuners pulled in every station I've ever been able to receive - and I live about 25 miles from the high-def transmitters in New York City . (There's no terrestrial analog tuner.) TiVo's program guide conveniently integrates satellite and over-the-air digital channels and lets you delete stations you don't want to receive.

A high-definition Yankees/Dodgers game on ESPN let me keep my eye on the crystal-clear ball and do my own instant replays.

HDTV programs looked outstanding. My favorite high-def channels on DirecTV were ESPN-HD and HDNet. A high-def Yankees/Dodgers game on ESPN let me keep my eye on the crystal-clear ball and do my own instant replays. My consistently favorite channel for HDTV time-shifting, though, was HDNet. I found myself watching reruns of failed CBS series I'd missed as well as much older ones like Hogan's Heroes. I felt like I was swimming with the fish watching a nature documentary I'd recorded from Discovery HD Theater. Later, I replayed Jay Leno's monologue during a "live" broadcast of The Tonight Show. Jay's jokes may not be funnier in high-def, but his studio and set look immaculate. And by delaying the real-time broadcast, I was able to skip over the commercials whenever he chimed, "We'll be right back."

Aside from the lack of a time-remaining indicator, my minor complaints concern the HR10-250's inability to deliver a 480i signal simultaneously with a higher-quality one from another video output and the lack of a FireWire interface that would enable me to archive high-def programs to my D-VHS recorder.

Unfortunately, if you just want a TiVo high-def recorder and are unable or unwilling to subscribe to DirecTV, you're out of luck. You can't use the hard drive without a DirecTV subscription, and TiVo hasn't announced a standalone version. Still, most of the TiVo recorders out there are built into DirecTV receivers, and many of their owners have been chomping at the bit to go high-def. For them, the promise of pristine viewing and the convenience of a TiVo-powered hard drive have finally merged into one indispensable HDTV receiver.