Are you like me and have to write out your own thoughts before you read any reviews?

Absolutely. If I start reading others' opinions, it's likely to color my impressions.

I figure that's fair use since I *should* be able to play the music files on my own CD players. *g* Otherwise, what's the point?

I'm with you there. To me, that's the other side of the coin. I don't mind participating in a system where those who produce are fairly compensated but once I've paid, I do expect that it's mine to use for my own personal use and I have precious little patience with companies trying to control my personal use. In fact, I think that stupidity leads to a "screw you, too" attitude and exacerbates the piracy problem.

My Tivo is hooked up to my computer network, and I can transfer files of TV shows from one to the other or to any computer in the house

I spent part of my vacation trying to do exactly that with my TiVo but for some reason it never did hook into my home network. Now that Joe is home with the laptop, I need to remember to get that set up.