NewTeeVee has an entry from Liane Cassavoy, who recently switched from a Series2 TiVo for an HD DVR from Verizon FiOS, and she calls out five areas where Verizon, and other DVRs, could take a lesson from the “trusty, user-friendly TiVo”. Of course, they could just cut to the chase and license TiVo’s software to provide their users with the best of breed DVR. I like Liane’s closing paragraph:

Of the 26 million DVRs in the U.S., only 1.7 million of them are from TiVo. I understand completely why so many people opt for a DVR from their cable company rather than purchasing one from TiVo. After all, it’s cheaper (about $15 per month, as opposed to spending $300 on an HD TiVo and $13 per month for the service) and it’s convenient. I just wish that all of those people didn’t have to settle for a DVR that can be too hard to use and simply not as good.

I won’t quibble over her pricing, there are less expensive options for TiVo hardware and subscriptions, but she’s right on about settling for a lesser product. TiVo is worth the cost because it is a better experience, that’s my opinion anyway.

Of course both Dave Zatz and myself left comments pointing out that you can use a TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD with Verizon FiOS, as they support CableCARD.

Verizon’s FiOS has launched High-Definition Video On Demand for FiOS TV customers.

HD VOD is now available over the FiOS TV systems in Richmond and Virginia Beach, Va.; Tampa, Fla.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Pittsburgh. It is coming soon to the FiOS systems in the Washington, D.C., metro area, Massachusetts and Rhode Island; and to Verizon’s remaining FiOS TV markets next year.

The service is launching with an initial lineup of 75 titles, which is expected to grow to more than 1,000 titles by the end of 2008. Via EngadgetHD.

Over at Broadband Reports, member weenah has posted a review of the Verizon FiOS service. Overall, the review is strongly positive:

I have to give FiOS internet two very enthusiastic thumbs up and a 10/10 in the awesome scale. Seriously, I have zero complaints outside the monolithic Actiontec router they give you. If you only have the internet package you can sidestep the Actiontec (don’t recall the model number) with a router of your choice.

Television: I’d rather not bore you with the details of the premier package since it can be found on the V* site. Regardless, standard definition broadcasts are absolutely astounding on my 50″ plasma. Comcast and DirecTV don’t even come close to the PQ of the FiOS SD picture. It’s like night and day.

HD picture quality on FiOS is equally great, but the difference between what Comcast offers vs FiOS isn’t nearly a great deal as it is with SD. DirecTV’s original HD channels before the huge HD expansion they pushed recently were terrible. In fact, I thought the FiOS SD channels were only slightly less appealing than DTV’s original HD offerings.

As far as picture quality with FiOS, I once again give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up and a 10/10 on the awesome scale.

But weenah doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to their set-top box software:

I was hesitant to give up my TiVo for the FiOS DVR back in March. I knew I could use a TiVo with the FiOS service but I wanted to check it out for myself. The IMG (interactive media guide) FiOS offered back in March wasn’t aesthetically pleasing and wasn’t in the same league as a TiVo (hell, it wasn’t even in the same sport) but it worked. If you’re previously had TiVo you’ll absolutely hate the V* DVR. If you’ve never had TiVo before than you won’t think the solution V* offers is as bad, but you’ll still know it’s not great.

In late August V* rolled out the IMG 2.0 and it’s been a fluster cuck since then. The only positive thing I can say is that it’s at least prettier than IMG 1.0. Missed recordings, dropped “season passes” and numerous other issues have plagued the IMG. The FiOS forum on dslreports.com can tell you even more about the problems with the box. Also, a 160GB hard drive gives you about ~23 hours or so of recording space. That’s just not enough. I’d be more than happy buying an external eSATA drive to increase the size but that’s not an option because it’s locked down.

I’ve called numerous times to the FiOS support lines and have always been greeted with incredibly helpful people who are eager to address the problems. Unfortunately they are unable to fix the DVR. It’s the buggy software that’s the issue and it’s not something that can be fixed by a first or second level tech.

Ouch. That stings. At least FiOS does support CableCARD, so weenah does have the option to use a TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD. And it sounds like that may be the solution in the end: …I may find myself with a brand spanking new TiVo come Christmas time.

Personally, I’d love to have the option of using FiOS, at least for my data, and possibly to replace my cable service. But it hasn’t made it to my neighborhood yet.