Time for the hard questions (for me anyway)

[mimyc]

Thought I'd get some input from the community since I'm tired of this stuff bouncing around in my head 24/7.

We are in the process of moving, and our new house has limited visibility to the South, so my DirecTivo is going buhbye.

SO, since the entire family is a bunch of Tivo addicts, my choices are, as I see them:

1) Buy a Series 2 before the lifetime dies.

2) Wait for the Series 2.5 because, um, dual tuners and ethernet....duh.

3) Wait for Series 3.

The painful part is that 2 is unsure and 3 is definitely a long wait. And, like I said, we are addicts.

Yeah, the Series 2.5 could come out as early as today, for all I know, but I have a feeling that it will come out very close to the series 3. I figure there's a good chance Tivo won't have any way of putting the Series 3 on a payment plan, so it'll need something cheaper (yet something that doesn't look like complete ass in comparison) to attach to a payment plan. Just my opinion.

SO, do I buy now and get possible remorse when something new comes out about 3 seconds after I activate my box? Or, do I wait and go through withdrawl pains for the next who knows how long? Yeah, we could fill in the space with a cable-provided DVR, but really.... ew.

And since I know someone will ask...HD won't be an issue for us for a while (budgeted in for xmas) and the kids can take whatever I'd buy now when that happens.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

[Aflat]

If lifetime is a big deal, buy now. I'm guessing the 2.5 series won't be out till after the 4/15 cutoff date, they have no problem waiting another week to release it. They waited this long for duel tuners, what's another week hurt.

[mimyc]

Actually, lifetime isn't a huge deal. At least not as big as it seems for some people. I go through too many gadgets to consider anything as a "lifetime" device.

[crowfan]

Does your new cable provider have a DVR? In your situation, I'd get that to tide me over until the S3 comes out.

[Puppy76]

I guess I'd just go by how much you want dual tuners (and a larger default hard drive and presumably faster Tivo2Go speeds) versus how much you want lifetime.

Tough call, in a way. I know personally though I REALLY want dual tuners, and might be inclined to go that way.

Of course if S 2.5 dosen't hit for months that would be a problem, but I really think it's going to hit by sometime in May, since that's when Amazon had listed, and it kind of jives with what we've been hearing.

[btl-a4]

Since lifetime doesn't matter definetely wait until the Dual Tuner comes out. In the interim get your cable companies DVR. With my Cabelco I can return it next day if I wanted to. Using the Cabelco DVR till the Dual Tuner comes out will make you appreciate TiVo alot more.

[HiDefGator]

Are you absolutely 110% sure you can't get the satelites from the new house? It is often easier to do then most people think.

[Leon WIlkinson]

Actually, lifetime isn't a huge deal. At least not as big as it seems for some people. I go through too many gadgets to consider anything as a "lifetime" device.

If you do go through gadgets like you say, Lifetime would make even more sence. That way you can always have that box for the MSD.

[nhaigh]

Purchasing TiVo is nothing but hard decisions at the moment. I've been going round in circles for months on this.

I want three TiVo's with MRV but one has to be a Series three. No one can answer the will a Series two MRV a series three recording, even if onlt at SD res. No answer means no purhcase. If the answer was yes I'd buy two series two's today and a series three later but given there is no answer I have to wait.

Anyway Comcast say they will have the HD Moto upgrade to TiVo out first so I guess I may not be paying for a box anyway.

[Puppy76]

My guess is you should be able to transfer NTSC content from a series 3 to a series 2, but almost certainlly not ATSC content.

[mimyc]

Okay, thanks for all the input. It's just the same stuff that I've been going through in my head, but it makes sense when someone else says it. I think I'm going to either get the Cox DVR as a stop-gap or just buy a S2 Tivo with the knowledge that the kids will get their own Tivo when I get the itch to buy something new.

And technically, I COULD get a signal from one corner of the yard, but it'd put the dish in a place where it would be a huge eyesore. I love my digital tv, but I love the view from my kitchen more. That and I was planning on going cable when the S3 came out anyway.

Again, thanks for all the input. Talk amongst yourselves.