How can I justify staying with Tivo?

[wm5150]

I have a general concern about pricing. I have a lifetime subscription I bought 4 years ago along with a Series 2 box. I think that the Tivo interface is a model of simplicity and can't believe how poorly the cable company DVR interfaces and remote controls are designed. Nevertheless, I am concerned that Tivo is pricing themselves out of the market or at least out of my budget. When my Tivo box dies (please may it not be for a long, long time) I'm afraid I may have to put up with the cable company's DVR. With the cable company's, I can have premium cable channels without messing with the infrared transmitter lag, I don't have to buy a box, and it costs about $10 per month (about half the price of Tivo excluding the box cost). I was excited about the lifetime transfer for the series 3 and would have paid several hundred dollars to stick with Tivo - then I saw the price of the series 3 box - $800 bucks!!?? plus $200 for transfer? I would love to keep Tivo when my current box dies, but it just doesn't seem to make sense. What am I missing?

- Long live my Tivo box!!

[filburt1]

The Series3 is only truly useful if you have HD or want to record exclusively digital content. The Series2 DT has nearly the same feature set when you ignore the HD/digital aspects, and I got mine for free with a one-year service commitment.

[Johnstone]

Once you upgrade to digital cable service, even the cable company's box lags when changing channels with its own remote. "Upgrading" to digital cable pretty much kills off the whole concept of channel surfing.

Thankfully, TiVo eliminates the need to channel surf!

[bicker]

We went through the same decision process, and decided to switch from TiVo to the cable company HD DVR. The TiVo is now our backup. It's surely not an ideal solution. The UI on the cable company DVR leaves a lot to be desired, but not $800 worth. We've never missed a program on the cable company HD DVR, and it hasn't been too much extra work to ensure everything has been recorded.

[ZeoTiVo]

You are missing how long a TiVo box lasts--
By the time your S2 or my S2s stop working the series 3 will be the legacy model and being given away for subscription. What I really hear you saying is that you want to do the lifetime transfer, but not at the current premium price TiVo is charging early adopters.

With some simple math I think the buy in for me is 500$ for the S3 which saves 500$ over buying now and doing the transfer - 500/6.95 = 72 months. TiVo could not afford the old lifetime price but this lifetime deal they can well afford. This is the otehr thing you are missing
Old TiVo model - loose some money upfront and make the profit over time
new TiVo model - make the profit upfront, dang it, and don't worry about the ch3@p chick3n b@st@rds ;)

[etemple]

I agree with everything the others have said.
I got my s2 dual tuner for a prepaid year of service, $155. My mom just got one for $30 plus the regular $12.95/month.

I might feel differently if I had an HDTV or digital cable, but . .

[Stanley Rohner]

You are missing how long a TiVo box lasts--
By the time your S2 or my S2s stop working the series 3 will be the legacy model and being given away for subscription. What I really hear you saying is that you want to do the lifetime transfer, but not at the current premium price TiVo is charging early adopters.

The TiVo boxes the OP has now could be damaged by lighning tomorrow, or the hard drive(s) could fail anytime. If the harddrive(s) fail the OP ccould replace the hard drives by themselves but it might be to much hassle for them. You can't really say - By the time the S2s stop working the Series 3 will be the legacy Model.

When the S3 is the legacy model the S4 with 8 digital cable tuners and 2 - 16 Terrabyte drives will be available for $2000.

[tazzftw]

You're missing the fact that you can still buy S2 TiVos for dirt cheap.

[ZeoTiVo]

The TiVo boxes the OP has now could be damaged by lighning tomorrow, or the hard drive(s) could fail anytime. If the harddrive(s) fail the OP ccould replace the hard drives by themselves but it might be to much hassle for them. You can't really say - By the time the S2s stop working the Series 3 will be the legacy Model.

When the S3 is the legacy model the S4 with 8 digital cable tuners and 2 - 16 Terrabyte drives will be available for $2000.

TiVo has been known to offer cheap refurb replacement and transfer lifetime for such catastrophic failure.

also you are missing the point that the lightening strike or hard drive failure is just as likely on the S3. not really much of a point to the current debate.

[annenoe]

I have a general concern about pricing. I have a lifetime subscription I bought 4 years ago along with a Series 2 box. I think that the Tivo interface is a model of simplicity and can't believe how poorly the cable company DVR interfaces and remote controls are designed. Nevertheless, I am concerned that Tivo is pricing themselves out of the market or at least out of my budget. When my Tivo box dies (please may it not be for a long, long time) I'm afraid I may have to put up with the cable company's DVR. With the cable company's, I can have premium cable channels without messing with the infrared transmitter lag, I don't have to buy a box, and it costs about $10 per month (about half the price of Tivo excluding the box cost). I was excited about the lifetime transfer for the series 3 and would have paid several hundred dollars to stick with Tivo - then I saw the price of the series 3 box - $800 bucks!!?? plus $200 for transfer? I would love to keep Tivo when my current box dies, but it just doesn't seem to make sense. What am I missing?

- Long live my Tivo box!!

Just so you know, you can resurrect some 'dead' tivos, depending on the problem. The Lifetime stays with the box so things like hard drive failure, power supply, etc. - some of these can be fixed with replacement parts (some more expensive than others) so you don't lose your subscription. As for the S3, that's another decision.

I've seen many posters who think they have to start from scratch when their box dies.

[dcomiskey]

WHOA! $200 ADDITIONAL for a lifetime transfer? Bend over..... ouch..

[Stanley Rohner]

TiVo has been known to offer cheap refurb replacement and transfer lifetime for such catastrophic failure.

also you are missing the point that the lightening strike or hard drive failure is just as likely on the S3. not really much of a point to the current debate.

cheap refurb replacement is a good way to put it. I've read a lot of stories here about a refurb box being DOA or dying a week later, etc...

also a lightning strike is just as likely on the a TV, DVD player, or a clock radio. I thought we were talking about the OP's S2. I'm not sure why you said anything about the S3.

[Stanley Rohner]

WHOA! $200 ADDITIONAL for a lifetime transfer? Bend over..... ouch..

That's what I thought also. Buy an $800 box and since you've got that credit card handy we'll let you transfer an existing lifetime account over to the S3 box for only $200 more !! Just bend over.

If people are willing to pay $800 for the box right now and they want to have some kind of temporary lifetime switch over they should make if free to any customer with an existing lifetime series2 or series1 box.

I think you'd be better off to keep the lifetime service on your other TiVo box to make it more valuable for sale on EBAY.

[tblanks253]

I really found tivo's recent ad about upgrading to a series 3 machine for those with lifetime membership to be more than a little misleading. This is something that would never have happened under the old/original management at tivo. I have heard from more than one person what they thought of the company's latest tactic on its customers. It did not go unnoticed that the ad was pulled today.

[Opusnbill7]

That's what I thought also. Buy an $800 box and since you've got that credit card handy we'll let you transfer an existing lifetime account over to the S3 box for only $200 more !! Just bend over.

If people are willing to pay $800 for the box right now and they want to have some kind of temporary lifetime switch over they should make if free to any customer with an existing lifetime series2 or series1 box.

I think you'd be better off to keep the lifetime service on your other TiVo box to make it more valuable for sale on EBAY.

Amen! If you're willing to be an "early adopter", then they should give you some "love" back if you've been with them for the long haul (which lifetimer's have in general). If you can buy it for the same $800 at Best Buy, why should I have to pay for a lifetime twice just to keep it on my "new" box that I bought directly from them (i.e. all profit from the sale of the box goes to Tivo instead of BB). When I say paying for a lifetime twice I'm referring to the fact that I only paid $199 in the first place for my lifetime, so by paying another $199, I'm essentially buying a "new" lifetime as far as my original purchase goes...

I love my Tivo, but the more I think about it, the less I like the "great deal" they're offering on the S3 to us lifetimers...

[alansplace]

I really found tivo's recent ad about upgrading to a series 3 machine for those with lifetime membership to be more than a little misleading. This is something that would never have happened under the old/original management at tivo. I have heard from more than one person what they thought of the company's latest tactic on its customers. It did not go unnoticed that the ad was pulled today.just what exactly was misleading?
--
Alan :D

[wm5150]

Just so you know, you can resurrect some 'dead' tivos, depending on the problem. The Lifetime stays with the box so things like hard drive failure, power supply, etc. - some of these can be fixed with replacement parts (some more expensive than others) so you don't lose your subscription. As for the S3, that's another decision.

I've seen many posters who think they have to start from scratch when their box dies.


Interesting posts overall. The key things I learned were that the cable company's DVR may have some sort of lag in changing channels and that I may be able to possibly repair my Tivo if it fails. Are the parts such as a hard drive generic or specific to Tivo i.e. would they have to be purchased from Tivo? How would you restore the operating system software? Can a Tivo hard drive be backed up? Obviously, I focus on the hard drive as it would seem the most likely candidate for failure.

Appreciate any insight on this. Thanks.

[rlcarr]

Are the parts such as a hard drive generic or specific to Tivo i.e. would they have to be purchased from Tivo? How would you restore the operating system software? Can a Tivo hard drive be backed up? Obviously, I focus on the hard drive as it would seem the most likely candidate for failure

Yes, they use generic IDE hard drives.

Yes, a TiVo hard drive can be backed up.

Poke around in the "Upgrades" forum on this website. To do a backup, you need to take the drive out of your TiVo, attach it to a PC, and then run a special program (which is easily available). Similarly for a restore. Alternatively, if you don't care about what's on the hard drive and don't mind spending a bit more money, you can buy an all-set-to-go harddrive from 3rd-party sources (like Weaknees or PTVupgrade) and you just put the drive in your machine.

[bicker]

This is something that would never have happened under the old/original management at tivo. I wouldn't attribute this to any change in management -- rather I'd attribute it to the fact that just don't have so much money to burn anymore.

[ZeoTiVo]

cheap refurb replacement is a good way to put it. I've read a lot of stories here about a refurb box being DOA or dying a week later, etc...

also a lightning strike is just as likely on the a TV, DVD player, or a clock radio. I thought we were talking about the OP's S2. I'm not sure why you said anything about the S3.
no you made it sound like if the S2 died then the OP was out of luck. This is deciedly not the case with a TiVo DVR. You insist on seeing the negative in everything. Have fun with that.

I mentioned the S3 as being just as likely to be hit by lightning or some other catastrophic failure as the S2. So what point were you making by including lightning strikes.

[Stormspace]

cheap refurb replacement is a good way to put it. I've read a lot of stories here about a refurb box being DOA or dying a week later, etc...

also a lightning strike is just as likely on the a TV, DVD player, or a clock radio. I thought we were talking about the OP's S2. I'm not sure why you said anything about the S3.

Unlike the items you mentioned, TiVo is at its core and computer. Computers are more sensitive to variations in power than other devices. However they can also be protected with inexpensive APC battery backups. I have a battery on each of my TiVos to protect it from spikes and carry it through short power outtages.

[bicker]

To be fair, cable company DVRs are also, at their core, computers, and are as sensitive, if not more so, to variations in power.