Will you transfer lifetime to S3?

[morac]

I'm just curious but, if come January 31, the S3 still doesn't have the features that were left out (SATA, MRV, ToGo, etc) and you haven't already transferred your lifetime server over will you?

To make things a bit more fair I broke out the S1 and S2 from the poll since S1 lifetime users have no reason (other than price) not to, while S2 users will lose features by doing so (currently).

[megazone]

I will probably take lifetime off my RS-TX20 and either sell it after a year, or just keep it as a decent DVD player.

[Aiken]

Well, if all features are still on the "future" list, then yeah, no lifetime transfer. In fact, as I said elsewhere, if it continues that way through spring, the unit itself is going on ebay and I'll consider other options like MCE. I've spent too many months of my life waiting for companies never to get in the features they promised. To be fair, TiVo is actually quite well-behaved when it comes to that. Yes, stuff usually takes a long time, but it does usually surface eventually. However, third-party dependencies like the one on Apple are clearly nigh impossible to surmount, and I suspect CableLabs may be even more difficult to deal with. Hard to say, but it certainly doesn't inspire confidence.

That said, if they can get just MRV in, I'll go for it and stick with TiVo. TTG is a nice feature, but I can deal with not having it. I don't care about the eSATA problem right now, and likely never will. MRV is simply a must-have in my household. Without it, TiVo just isn't a viable solution anymore. Thus, it's the key for me.

[tunnelengineer]

I'm transferring the first day I get the S3 from Tivo. I WILL NOT pay a monthly fee on a Tivo. This was almost a deal breaker for me until they came out with the limited time transfer.

[bap]

There should be another option for those of us with really old S1's that have grandfatherable lifetimes. That's what I'm going to do, saving the $199 transfer fee.

[HDTiVo]

Even if everything was active, based on the current $$ offer vs what I think will be available elsewhere, I would not take the transfer.

[MikeMar]

If I had an S1 and was getting an S3 I would do it, but not with any S2's, they are still usuably, and you get MSD anyways, so $7/month is nothing.

[Bai Shen]

I probably will, but I'll also most likely wait 'til Dec to buy a S3. I have no HD capability right now. The only reason I'm looking at picking up an S3 is for the lifetime transfer. That and it seems like the only way I can get encrypted HD.

[cheerdude]

For starters, I am going to keep the $7/month fee. I'll make a decision probably in mid-January.

[bilbo]

I'm just curious but, if come January 31, the S3 still doesn't have the features that were left out (SATA, MRV, ToGo, etc) and you haven't already transferred your lifetime server over will you?

To make things a bit more fair I broke out the S1 and S2 from the poll since S1 lifetime users have no reason (other than price) not to, while S2 users will lose features by doing so (currently).

don't forget that netflix is supposed to unveil to the public their downloading strategy at their annual earnings conference call (after their 4Q). that will probably take place around january 24th.

if i could download hd movies to an s3 that would be a big incentive since i'm not looking forward to buying a "betamax" high definition disc player {not sure who (hd-dvd or blu-ray) will "win" the format war, assuming that one of them actually does end up winning, since another format could always be introduced in 2-3 years time). of course i would have to buy the s3 probably before i knew what netflix's plans were.

i didn't vote in the poll because i really don't know what my plans are yet. if you had asked me last week, though, i would have definitely said i wouldn't be getting an s3 until at least 2008. now i am considering buying one (or two).

[greg_burns]

For starters, I am going to keep the $7/month fee. I'll make a decision probably in mid-January.

Can you do that? I thought when you ordered it from VIP site it didn't have any service at all...

Edit: I guess you can then activate it at MSD price. And then transfer lifetime before end of Jan.

Edit#2: Read somewhere they are coming preactivated. Anybody know for sure?

[bidger]

You put an option on the poll for "Don't have Lifetime", but neglected to put one on for "Undecided".

[djheini]

I'm not going to transfer lifetime because I'm buying the box at retail. I have a 12% coupon for Best Buy, so that's about $100 off, and it's not worth a total of $300 to get lifetime when it's only $7/month.
eta:Buying it at BB also gives me the advantage of being able to get the (currently) $30/4 years service plan and my RewardZone points.

Unfortunately I'm then going to then have to sell my lifetimed S1 since it has a bad modem and doesn't really do us any good when we move into an apt. with 4 TVs and 5 other TiVos (including the S3).

[Shawn95GT]

I have 1 S3 on the way to replace one of my S2s. Until I change cable providers I need to keep a S2 around for cable TV channels. The year of service gives me the padding I need to make that happen.

I also need to decide if I'm going to swap the other two out.

OTA only for now!

[Mobocracy]

I'd vote "probably" -- it's a 16 month payback vs. monthly.

I understand why they're charging to transfer the service, but I do think they should leave the lifetime on the old box as an added reward for early adopters of the S3 (and the S1/S2).

They're charging a princely sum for this new device, $800, and early adopters are surely paying a huge premium as there's no way Tivo can make it long-term selling $800 DVRs rentable from the cable company for $5 / month.

Asking for even more money to keep my S2 going in the bedroom where it would barely get used? No thanks. That's just an enthusiast tax I refuse to pay, and the $800 pricetag is as well.

[Dan203]

Probably not. The fact that you have to buy the S3 from TiVo is really the deal breaker for me. I'm 100% confident that over the next few weeks we're going to start seeing better deals from online retailers. Even if TiVo sets the price in stone and forces them all to sell for full MSRP we'll still see discounts via coupons and rebates which TiVo has no control over.

Dan

[HDTiVo]

Probably not. The fact that you have to buy the S3 from TiVo is really the deal breaker for me. I'm 100% confident that over the next few weeks we're going to start seeing better deals from online retailers.
I really agree. I am surprised how many people are posting confidently that there won't be any price breaks until hell freezes over mid-winter. I guess I shouldn't be though. :confused:

[greg_burns]

I'm 100% confident that over the next few weeks we're going to start seeing better deals from online retailers.

Just how long are you planning on holding out?

I'm out!

[mattack]

I voted yes, but I probably would have voted maybe if there were a choice.

I don't even HAVE a HDTV yet, but I have two lifetime series 1s. The dual-tuners in one unit (one SP list to manage) is very intriguing, and I'm one of the "don't pay monthly if you can help it" persuasion.

So I'll probably wait until near Dec 31st to make the ultimate decision, esp if they officially change their policy and you don't have to buy from tivo.com (if the third party prices really do go way down).

[greg_burns]

esp if they officially change their policy and you don't have to buy from tivo.com (if the third party prices really do go way down).

There have been rumours of that already, but I think the backlash would be worse for Tivo than any gratitude from us that have waited. How many have already forgoed coupons, etc. to buy from Tivo to be eligible for the transfer? They can't change their policy now. Can they???

[btl-a4]

I voted that I would with my S2, but that is dependant on if they have a rebate offer. If they have a rebate offer on the S3 I will buy at BB get the rebate and use my lifetime card, then sell the s2 on ebay. If they don't have a rebate then I will go the VIP route and sell my card on ebay.

[Dan203]

Just how long are you planning on holding out?

I'm waiting until next Monday for sure, just to see what happens with the rebate. After that I'd like to hold out until Amazon gets them, so I can use some gift certificates I have, but I probably wont wait more then a couple days past Monday.

Dan

[cc55cc55]

Since I have a year to go to even realize payback on my "lifetime" service, I am not only insulted to be asked to pay another 2 1/2 year's worth to keep my "lifetime" service, I am furious.

What's next? A format war loss or another technology in 2 years, and then we get to pay for "lifetime" all over again, and never get a payback?

I'm so livid right now, Tivo has just lost a great word of mouth salesperson. Time to switch to the dreaded cable company. BTW, did you here they actually offer the ability to watch/tape 2 shows at once??? What a "new concept".

[sjca35]

So my lifetimed S2 is 4+ years old and has already had one hard disk failure. For $200 (or about 28 months worth of multi-box discount rates) it's worth transfering to the S3 since my S2 probably won't last that long. So probably after the 1 year of free service is up, I'll probably retire it to the big tivo junkyard in the sky.

BUT:

If my S2 was a year or less old and I planned on keeping it for the forseeable future, then it really doesn't make much sense to transfer. Basically, after a year, you'll have to start paying the $6.95/month for the S2 service, so basically you NEVER BREAK EVEN as long as you continue service on the S2. Hence it's better to keep the lifetime on the S2 and pay only $6.95 on the S3.

Still sucks having to pay full list price though. Beggars can't be choosers I guess.

YMMV.

-Aaron

[tommage]

It's a tough call, especially with the time limit (ie doubt will be able to get the S3 direct from TIVO for less than $799 while offer is open). So you pay $800 for the TIVO. $200 to transfer the subscription, that's $1000. Can easily sell a nice S2 with lifetime for $500 or so so total cost (minus what the S2 will be worth with no LT, not a whole lot) is about $1500. You could get an S3 for about $720 from CC with discount (and there will probably be other discounts available before Jan though not from TIVO direct) and pay $500 (if really lucky) or $600 for a "gift card". So total cost should be $1220-1320, still not cheap but better than $1500. Then again you have to "worry" about the person you buy the gift card from, plus the extra hassle. And I suppose it's possible since you get 12 months free on the box it's being transfered from you might be able to get $150-200 if it's a nice S2 (which would make costs about the same, assuming you can transfer the 12 months if you sell the box). No matter how you look at it not going to be cheap (another consideration is some cable companies charge monthly for cable cards, some for each card, some one free and charge for the second). Heh, bottom line no vote yet, want to see what my local Comcast (Chicago area) is going to charge for 2 cards and what develops over the next month or so.

[Ereth]

Wait, Dan... you think the price will come down "in the next few weeks", but you only plan on holding off until Monday? I can't imagine the price will come down by Monday. At least not significantly (Amazon might have it for $777 or something like that, but they aren't going to have it for $500).

So if the price isn't down to where you want it, why not buy it from TiVo to get the option of transferring Lifetime?

As for me, I've already explained that I have a S1 with Lifetime that has a dead modem. This is a no brainer for me. I'm definitely transferring to the S3. MRV is no loss to me because I've never had it.

[gwsat]

I didn't vote because I am still undecided. Nevertheless, I will likely buy the S3 from TiVo and transfer my Lifetime Service subscription from my old (circa 2000) box to the S3. I am waiting to decide fur sure until I find out when Cox will make the new fully functional CableCARDs available. I have heard the end of October but we know how accurate those kinds of estimates are.

[morac]

You put an option on the poll for "Don't have Lifetime", but neglected to put one on for "Undecided".I set the poll to stay open till mid December so you have till then to decide. :)

As for me, when the lifetime transfer was first announced I was excited about it, but the more I looked into it and thought about it, it really didn't make any sense since like sjca35 says if you keep your old box, you'll never break even. The S3 will drop in price in the not too distant future and you can get better deals on the S3 currently from retailers (BB's 12% off coupon for example). Even if you bought at the $800 price currently you could probably pay it off, no interest, over the next year.

The lack of the MRV/TTG features on the S3 and the fact that you have to buy the S3 from TiVo itself (sans coupons, etc) is the deal breaker for me.

There are only two real reasons to transfer the lifetime to a S3:
1. You plan to get rid of your old S1/S2 within a year.
2. You think you can recoup the costs if you sell your S3.

#1 is a valid reason, though like someone said you could sell the lifetime S2 for much more than $200. #2 is invalid unless you plan to sell the S3 within the next year or two. Say the S3 drops to $400, do you think a used lifetime S3 will get sell for $600 more than one without a lifetime? Also I don't know about you, but if I bought an S3 I would plan to keep it for more than 2 years. I can only think of one case where it would make sense. If you have at least 2 lifetime TiVos, buy 2 S3s, transfer lifetime to one of them and sell it for a profit.


Just a quick reply to sjca35:

My lifetime S2 is about 3.5 years old. If the HD died today, I could get it up and running again with little problems. If I transferred my lifetime to a S3 and a year from later the S3's HD died I'd be SOL since from what I've read the S3 uses a proprietary drive connection. Basically it looks like its cheaper/easier to fix a S2 than a S3. You have to take that into account.

[greg_burns]

My lifetime S2 is about 3.5 years old. If the HD died today, I could get it up and running again with little problems. If I transferred my lifetime to a S3 and a year from later the S3's HD died I'd be SOL since from what I've read the S3 uses a proprietary drive connection. Basically it looks like its cheaper/easier to fix a S2 than a S3. You have to take that into account.

Since weaknees is now selling do-it-yourself upgrade kits for the S3, doesn't that mean they are including the connector (if required) or you could just get one yourself somewhere?

http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo-tcd648250b.php

[Bai Shen]

My lifetime S2 is about 3.5 years old. If the HD died today, I could get it up and running again with little problems. If I transferred my lifetime to a S3 and a year from later the S3's HD died I'd be SOL since from what I've read the S3 uses a proprietary drive connection. Basically it looks like its cheaper/easier to fix a S2 than a S3. You have to take that into account.

The connector is proprietary, but it'll work on any SATA drive.