Possible FREE TIVOS? Interesting......

[fastep]

Interesting article. Possible GREAT news for all future dvr users. I love competition in America!!!!!!!!






http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=650184

[IndyTom]

"Free" is a relative term used here.

In exchange for the chosen "free" box - Tivo would require you to pay higher monthly fees. What this means is that in reality, the user is only financing the box over the period of the contract as opposed to paying for the box up front.

[ebonovic]

You can look at it a few ways.....

TiVo the company needs to increase their market presence as their growth is going to be serious slowed now that DirecTV is no longer pushing the DTivo units.

CTiVo (comcast TiVo) is no where to be seen.
T3 (Series 3) is somewhere on the horizon

Me personally... Usually when the hardware is going free (without a rebate program), it is an attempt to get more market presence.

I don't see it as competition... I see it as TiVo is hurting from all the other DVRs out their (DirecTV's, DishNetworks, Cable-Co's, MCE.....)

[rifleman69]

You can look at it a few ways.....

TiVo the company needs to increase their market presence as their growth is going to be serious slowed now that DirecTV is no longer pushing the DTivo units.

CTiVo (comcast TiVo) is no where to be seen.
T3 (Series 3) is somewhere on the horizon

Me personally... Usually when the hardware is going free (without a rebate program), it is an attempt to get more market presence.

I don't see it as competition... I see it as TiVo is hurting from all the other DVRs out their (DirecTV's, DishNetworks, Cable-Co's, MCE.....)


If they aren't dual-tuner, no one (figuratively) is going to want them...that's why TiVo has to get out the series 3 and Comcast boxes ASAP, otherwise TiVo isn't going to be around in it's current form much longer.

[fastep]

You can look at it a few ways.....

TiVo the company needs to increase their market presence as their growth is going to be serious slowed now that DirecTV is no longer pushing the DTivo units.

CTiVo (comcast TiVo) is no where to be seen.
T3 (Series 3) is somewhere on the horizon

Me personally... Usually when the hardware is going free (without a rebate program), it is an attempt to get more market presence.

I don't see it as competition... I see it as TiVo is hurting from all the other DVRs out their (DirecTV's, DishNetworks, Cable-Co's, MCE.....)


Isn't that the VERY definition of competition??????

I think we are starting to see what happens when more fish enter the pond. More choices will inevitably increase quality and decrease prices....This is a GOOD thing, right?

By the way last Sunday Best Buy advertised an LG dvr powered by microsoft. I think it was around $500 (onscreen guide, one touch recording and dvd recorder)and no monthly fees! Trust me, this is the start of something good................

[fastep]

"Free" is a relative term used here.

In exchange for the chosen "free" box - Tivo would require you to pay higher monthly fees. What this means is that in reality, the user is only financing the box over the period of the contract as opposed to paying for the box up front.



Care to share their new pricing guidelines you speak of. I searched but couldn't find it anywhere!!

People, PLEASE let's separate fact from speculation until we know for sure! We don't even know if future tivos will be free!

Here is my speculation from this article:

Starting April 1, 2006 (notice the date), all tivos will record in HD,have a 500gb HDD and SIX tuners, will work for all types of broadcasting, active USB and SATA ports, comes with an unlimited lifetime money-back warranty and a six week on-screen guide. It will allow users to "think" about which shows to record and the Tivo will record it. The initial cost is $24.99 with a $500 mail-in rebate (allow ten per household). No monthly fees are required.

[dt_dc]

By the way last Sunday Best Buy advertised an LG dvr powered by microsoft. I think it was around $500 (onscreen guide, one touch recording and dvd recorder)and no monthly fees!They were originally asking $9.99 monthly or $249 lifetime (although they were offering $100 off the lifetime sub).

They quickly changed to no subs (and refunded subscription fees that had been paid).

[fastep]

They were originally asking $9.99 monthly or $249 lifetime (although they were offering $100 off the lifetime sub).

They quickly changed to no subs (and refunded subscription fees that had been paid).



YESssss! - Competition strikes AGAIN!!!!!

[ebonovic]

Isn't that the VERY definition of competition??????


Sorry... didn't mean it the way I wrote it.

Yes it is competition... but this particular attempt by TiVo is trying to counter act the competition is there.

I for one enjoy the competition... getting used to something is good.. .but someone else pushing the envelope to bring thing to a higher level... is even better.

[PRMan]

What competition?

Haven't we been asking TiVo for a dual-tuner for years? And yet only the D* TiVos have it.

Haven't we been asking for HD CableCard TiVo for years? And yet we still wait.

If TiVo would just listen to their customers, they wouldn't be in this jam. I don't think the first one is hard to do at all, seeing as how they solved it on the D* TiVos (unless the contract stipulates that they can't offer dual-tuner standalones).

The second should be released even if it's a single tuner unit. MANY people would rather have two of those than a single Cable DVR like the Moxi or SA8300.

[fastep]

What competition?

Haven't we been asking TiVo for a dual-tuner for years? And yet only the D* TiVos have it.

Haven't we been asking for HD CableCard TiVo for years? And yet we still wait.

If TiVo would just listen to their customers, they wouldn't be in this jam. I don't think the first one is hard to do at all, seeing as how they solved it on the D* TiVos (unless the contract stipulates that they can't offer dual-tuner standalones).

The second should be released even if it's a single tuner unit. MANY people would rather have two of those than a single Cable DVR like the Moxi or SA8300.

I agree 100% - Tivo sat on their hands too long! Now, other dvrs are coming and Tivo is scrambling! How nice for us!

[IndyTom]

Care to share their new pricing guidelines you speak of. I searched but couldn't find it anywhere!!



Per the article you posted....

"The company is likely to begin the test to offer free boxes, possibly in exchange for higher priced and longer term plans, fairly soon, said Rogers, who was named chief executive last July."

Good enough?

[fastep]

Per the article you posted....

"The company is likely to begin the test to offer free boxes, possibly in exchange for higher priced and longer term plans, fairly soon, said Rogers, who was named chief executive last July."

Good enough?


yes - I just like my scenario better!

[rifleman69]

What competition?

Haven't we been asking TiVo for a dual-tuner for years? And yet only the D* TiVos have it.

Haven't we been asking for HD CableCard TiVo for years? And yet we still wait.

If TiVo would just listen to their customers, they wouldn't be in this jam. I don't think the first one is hard to do at all, seeing as how they solved it on the D* TiVos (unless the contract stipulates that they can't offer dual-tuner standalones).

The second should be released even if it's a single tuner unit. MANY people would rather have two of those than a single Cable DVR like the Moxi or SA8300.


Amen, although I'm betting that there's some clause in the DirecTV contract that had to do with the dual tuner. Still, you should have something in the pipeline ready to go once that DirecTV deal ended (and this might have actually been a surprise to TiVo as to the early termination of the contract).

For now, my HD10-250 will serve it's purpose and will be able to record OTA HD stuff for a long time to come (until it craps out) and my Samsung 40/40 will handle the non-HD stuff for a long time as well.