Digital Home Thoughts: Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC: TiVo Interface On Your PC, Complete With Monthly Fee

"Rejoice, HTPC fans -- that partnership between Nero and TiVo has finally borne fruit in the form of Nero's new LiquidTV / TiVo PC DVR package, which brings the TiVo interface and featureset to Windows. The $199 package comes with a year of TiVo service, a Hauppage USB ATSC tuner, an IR receiver, and a Nero-branded TiVo remote, and does exactly as you'd expect -- it's TiVo on your PC. There are some interesting PC-specific features bolted on the usual kit -- you can navigate using the keyboard and mouse (there are even some nifty contextual menus) and you can export directly to iPod and PSP-compatible .mp4 from within the interface -- but for the most part it's the same TiVo experience you're used to, including streaming shows to and from other TiVos and TiVo PCs. If you're already running an HTPC setup, you can get the TiVo PC software and a year of service for $99, but your Media Center remote might be a little wonky without a remap, and Nero reps didn't make any promises about CableCARD compatibility apart from "it should work if Windows recognizes it.""

Ah, so this is what Nero was hinting at a couple of weeks ago - I received a teaser email and wondered what they were cooking up. It's nice to see some innovation in the PCTV space, but I'm not so sure that I'm sold on this particular implementation: $99/year for the Tivo software and service? I've never owned a Tivo, but is the Tivo experience really that much better than Windows Media Center, which is free on any Vista Home Premium computer? Engadget HD also has some unboxing photos for you to check out.