I suppose, but it requires a lot more manual inputting of recordings - I like the TiVo's season pass option, as well as the various search functions and the ability to schedule recordings online (it was so cool to go to zap2it.com at work and schedule my TiVo to record The Colbert Report, then to come home and see it in my TiVo's To Do list!). Plus TiVo lets you transfers recordings to your computer, and with TiVo Desktop (free version) and a handy-dandy free converter, you can watch videos from your computer on your TV (huge selling point for me, since I can no longer use an S-Video cable to hook my laptop up to my TV, and really, watching TV in my computer chair on a small screen just can't touch watching it on my comfy couch on a big screen. ^__^).

And no, you have to have a subscription to use it at all now. I think you used to be able to manually record without it, but they've changed it (anyone shocked? Heh.). But really, $11 a month isn't exactly much - hell, I'm paying $50-100 just for my cable, so... what's another 11? ^^;