Our TiVo Series 3 arrived on Tuesday and I unpacked it and set it up after getting back from voting.

The packaging and the unit are very nice, though the glossy black finish on the top of the TiVo is clearly prone to finger smudges. The unit came with a nice set of cables, including an HDMI cable.

Setup was quick and uneventful. I took the ethernet cable out of the TurboNet from my Series 1 and plugged it into the new TiVo – it grabbed an IP via DHCP and started downloading program guide data.

I don’t have anything to say about its HD capabilities yet as we don’t yet have an HDTV (we’ll probably get a Sony KDL-40V2500 in a few weeks, as we’ve been spending a lot lately).

The TivoCommunity Store has a 15% off coupon code (TCDEAL) so we decided to pull the trigger and go for the TiVo Series 3 for $680, after the discount. Now we just need an HDTV…

HDBeat is speculating that the TiVo Series 3 might be released on or around Sept. 17 for $799.

HDBeat: Series 3 to be released September 17th for $799?

http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/08/22/series-3-tivo-in-the-wild/

Some notes on the new DirecTV HD DVR.

TiVo, are you listening?