tivo series 2 + hdtv

You don't need to pay $700+ for HD TiVo. They are $235 at Amazon.com.

You can't make crappy video look better than it is.

First, make sure you are recording at the best quality. Second, turn down the sharpness on the television. The farther down you can go, the less pixelated the image will be. Beyond that, there is not a lot that you can do. i have a S2 and a S3 connected to a 42 inch Panasonic 1080p plasma, and the first time you connect a S2 it is a little shocking, but adjusting the sharpness helps out a bit. My previous HDTV was a 32 inch Mangnavox LCD, and that had horrendous SD picture quality. The Panasonic is quite good with SD, so it was an improvement, but the sharpness is still way down.

Without spending a ton, you can get a TivoHD (between 250 and 300) and you will be able to record HD. The tuner is also better, so SD cable looks much better side by side also. You could also move the S2 to another room, say a bedroom and get a multi-service discount and pay around 7 a month for the TivoHD service.

Thanks. I did just see an ad for the hd tivo box being only around 230. Now does this mean it will replace an hdbox that I would have to get from my cable provider?

Yes, the TiVoHD replaces the box from the provider, but you will need a Cablcard or two to get the digital channels mapped and decrypted though.

I heard it can be a real pain with the cable cards and the whole setup. I may in fact just go with my cable provider's hd/dvr box combo in the near future.