That works great for analog channels, but what if your cable company has removed all of its analog channels. Comcast here has no analog channels, and the digital channels (HD and SD)are all encrypted. except for local channels. To get those channels with a PC will require a cable card, and perhaps a more expensive video card that supports HDCP, etc. When things get this complicated that is when it makes sense to get a TivoHD.

To be fair, TiVo allows for device/content shifting with the TiVo Desktop software. It isn't as easy and simple as a pc transfer, but it is better than nothing, which is what the cable companies offer. I agree with you 100% on the cable card issue, but currently that is the only way to go about it. I feel the consumer always gets the short stick when it comes to copyrights, DRM, etc. To be truthful, my tv watching is a mix of Tivo (Cable) and bittorrent downloading.