TiVo Roamio Pro HD Digital Media Player

I travel a lot and work 2nd and 3rd shifts often, so a DVR that could record multiple (in this case 6) shows at once and stream them to me far away sounded ideal. Plus the possibility I could reduce the "footprint" of other streaming and recording devices and have tons of storage (i.e., up to 450 hours) waiting for me when I'm gone for long periods also sounded good. Other reviews (and TiVo itself) touted the easy installation and intuitive operation of this device, so I sent away for the Pro plus a "Mini". Alas, it was too good to be true. First off, the set-up is not at all intuitive and requires extensive coordination with both TiVo and Verizon FiOS (my cable provider). And while Verizon has 24/7 technical and billing support, TiVo does NOT, meaning if something goes wrong with the installation or the box itself outside of normal business hours, you're out of luck. In my case, the device would not load all the channels that I am subscribed to on my normal Verizon FiOS service plan (which, by the way you still have to pay for in addition to the $15/month service fee to TiVo, PLUS a $5/month lease charge for a Verizon Cable Card.) TiVo happily picked up the phone late at night and took my credit card number in order to "activate" the service, but when I waited patiently for the channels to show up and they never did, they said I had to wait for "a few hours", or "after 6am the following morning" for all the channels to show up. "Why?" I asked...should it take this long to load channels, but the (very cordial) TiVo sales person did not know. "Feel free to call Tech Support in the morning if they don't show up" she said. Well, sorry, I travel and work odd shifts and in any case I don't appreciate having to spend hours from home or work to troubleshoot a problem with a $500 box that really should just work right out of the box. I am an engineer and have a fairly complex AV rack and know how to set these things up, but the instructions that came with this box did NOT correlate with the screen displays or commands needed to provide the cable provider with the required technical information to set up service. After waiting nearly an hour for the box to go through an animated start-up sequence resulting in no connection between TiVo and Verizon, I spent 3+ hours on the phone with Verizon Tech Support, restarting, unplugging, replugging, re-sending commands, giving them host ID numbers, M-card numbers, etc, etc, and they politely exhausted everything they could do on their end (and in the process exhausting me) and they finally said I should call TiVo Tech Support the next day after 6AM. So the next night after I got home late, after TiVo's recommended waiting for channels to show up had elapsed, I saw that they did not, even though they were clearly available on a TV elsewhere in my house displaying a non-TiVo signal. All it said is "this channel is not authorized, contact your local cable provider." But again, they WERE visible on my non-TiVO television. I tried to call TiVo Tech support, only to find out that it is not available 24/7. For me, that's a deal-breaker because the only time I can call them is AFTER "normal business hours". As for the channels it DID display (mainly the local channels and their digital equivalents) the user interface was not functionally better than the Verizon DVR that I was hoping to replace. There is apparently no "on/off" button on the remote, and no "play" button. There are NO printed instructions that come with this box other than the "easy quick start guide", which again did not correlate with what was shown on the screen. While I went through every possible display option to provide Verizon the info they needed, and I'm sure I could get used to the GUI, I CAN'T get used to the lack of 24/7 Tech Support for a product of this type and cost, especially for a device (and service) that is not "stand-alone" and requires extensive collaboration with another company. That doesn't work for me. FYI the "TiVo Mini" I also purchased to pair with this DVR would neither pair nor display channels either, because the DVR would not fully activate. Finally, keep in mind that if the TiVO DVR (or the Mini) dies after the warranty period, it's the customer that pays to replace it. For me, this was too much frustration and too much effort, so I am sending both devices back to Amazon immediately. THANK YOU, Amazon for the quick return authorization.