What's the best configuration for a newcomer to TIVO?

I'm considering getting TIVO so I want to record all the episodes of
the shows I watch in addition to TIVO's other features. I do not have
TIVO and want to know if perhaps I can do this with just a DVD
recorder.

What I want to end up with are DVDs with only specific shows on it.
For example, a DVD with all the Home Extreme Makeover shows for a
season. Or a DVD with just shows from the cartoon network. Does the
Tivo recorder let you be this selective when recording? Can you
partially record DVDs each month and then add to them as the season
progresses in case you run out of time on the recorder before the
season ends?

Can I do the same thing with just a pc and a dvd recorder?

I'm open to all opinions on this! Please comment!

Mary wrote:

Can you
partially record DVDs each month and then add to them as the season
progresses in case you run out of time on the recorder before the
season ends?

The current TiVo + DVD-R combos do not allow partial recordings.

You don't have to have an entire season's worth of episodes on the
TiVo's disk; just enough to fill up a recordable DVD blank.
Once you have a full DVD's worth (1, 2, 4 or 6 hours depending on
recording quality), all the selected programs get written to the
DVD at 18x speed.

-Joe