My S2 Tivo died. Help needed re: replacement options

[dev]

My parents have two Series2 tivo boxes, one of which has just died (out of warranty - its 2 years old). I've been very confused by the recent changes in monthly service costs. Can you guys help me figure out what my options are in replacing the dead unit?

The dead Tivo is a Series2 single-tuner 40hr unit that's used in a bedroom. Right now my parents pay $6.95/mo for this one.

If I go to a retail store like Best Buy, Circuit City, etc can I buy a Series2 Tivo and use that as a replacement for the dead Tivo AND keep paying $6.95/mo for this 2nd unit? Or will I have to pay $13.95/mo for that unit (19.95 minus 6.00 MSD discount)?

How can I get around paying $13.95/mo for this 2nd REPLACEMENT Tivo without signing a contract? That's my main question.

Thanks any help you can provide in regarding my options here...

[JustAllie]

Well, you could fix the old TiVo. That would work. How exactly did it die? What were the symptoms?

[dev]

Not sure how it died exactly. Like I said its my parents' Tivo and I don't live with them. I have tried some basic troubleshooting on it the last time I visited them. But it doesn't power on at all now. Nothing shows up on the screen.

I've tried unplugging it, waiting 30 sec and then plugging back in which didn't help.
All cable connections are secure too.

Thanks.

[c3]

Does the welcome screen show up? Is there any hard drive or fan activity (noise)?

What pricing plan is the first unit on?

[tannebil]

The price depends on the length of the service commitment. It's still $6.95 if they commit to 3 years and will go to month-to-month at $6.95 after the 3 years. It doesn't really matter where you get the box as long as you don't buy a Tivo "package" (since packages don't get the MSD).

While repairing is certainly possible, the value of a non-lifetime, non-upgrade Tivo is close to zero so repairing it hardly seems worthwhile. In this case, the only value of the box is that it is entitled to 6.95/month service plan without a contract so unless you expect your folks to use it less than 3 years, I wouldn't screw around with trying to fix it.

[worachj]

Tivo.com has a free 80-hour TiVo® Series2™ DVR, with a monthly or prepaid plan.

http://www.tivo.com/2.0.boxdetails.asp?box=series280hrDvr

[c3]

If you get a new unit, I would highly recommend the DT unit for $70 more.

[Gai-jin]

Check with your cable company as well. Their dvr's are generally cheaper than even tivo's lowest pricing, and they won't lock you into a 3 year contract.

[dev]

I am not willing to pay more per month or get locked into a 3-yr contract because I don't think they'll keep the unit for 3 years because they'll be going to HDTV in every room sometime soon (maybe 10 months to a year from now).

c3 - The broken Tivo doesn't show the Welcome screen. Not sure if there is fan noise or hard drive noise. Need to re-check that when I can get over to my parent's house. The other working Tivo is a Series2 with an upgraded 160GB hard drive and its on a $12.95/mo no contract price plan.

So does anyone know if it possible for me to go buy a used Tivo or give my parents my old Tivo and have them "activate" it in lieu of the broken one and still retain $6.95/mo pricing? I would assume so since thats how cell phone contracts work. You don't have to sign up for a contract if you are out of contract and bring your own phone. So why not the same for Tivo pricing? I'm not asking for subsidized hardware here. I'm also worried about getting in another situation where I sign up for a 3yr contract and then the Tivo dies 1 year into the contract and to get a new Tivo activated I have to extend the contract again!

Gai-jin - My parents are not very tech savvy and but the Tivo is easy enough for them to use. They've been using one for about 3 years and I don't think the Comcast DVR will make sense to them. I have an SA 8300HD on TimeWarner and I find it to be pretty aggravating but I deal with it because of the glorious dual-tuner HDTV :)

Thanks again for your all your advice!

[Gai-jin]

So does anyone know if it possible for me to go buy a used Tivo or give my parents my old Tivo and have them "activate" it in lieu of the broken one and still retain $6.95/mo pricing?

If you activate any currently inactive tivo hardware on a new sub, you'll only get 6.95 by signing a 3 year term. However, you should be able to Transfer the sub from the an tivo to a another w/o contract.

[c3]

Yes, you can buy a used TiVo and continue with the current no-contract $6.95 rate. Just change the service number yourself at tivo.com or call customer service.

Contract is for service, not box. If you sign up for 3-year contract and decide to get S3 a year from now, S3 will take over the remaining 2 years of the contract.

[dev]

Am I missing a subtlety here? What Gai-jin and c3 are saying seem to me to be conflicting statements. Can you guys point to where this is documented if possible? Thanks!

[Gai-jin]

Not intended to be. The 1st sentence of c3's post I completely agree with, and was the intended message of my post.

[dev]

Thanks for the help.

Where can I buy a new Tivo at "unsubsidized" prices? I don't mind paying full price for the hardware. Can I buy a new Tivo from Weaknees for example and transfer service to it? I wasn't sure if the prices at Weaknees are "full price" - I was assuming that as long as I don't try to claim the rebate then I'd be paying full price.

[Einselen]

Thanks for the help.

Where can I buy a new Tivo at "unsubsidized" prices? I don't mind paying full price for the hardware. Can I buy a new Tivo from Weaknees for example and transfer service to it? I wasn't sure if the prices at Weaknees are "full price" - I was assuming that as long as I don't try to claim the rebate then I'd be paying full price.

If you want to buy a Tivo and transfer service to it you will have to buy it retail (CompUSA, Circuit City, Amazon, Best Buy, Tivo Community Store, Weaknees, etc.) and you will forfeit the rebate of $180 or $220 depending on the unit you get (DT and ST respectivly). If you buy a S3 (which I think is over the top for your parents if I remember correctly) then there is no rebate, so you are not forfeiting anything.

If you want to buy a Tivo and have it qualify for MSD you have to buy retail.

If you want to buy a Tivo and don't want or need it to qualify for MSD then Tivo.com or Retail will equate to about the same price. Depends on if you want to wait for the rebate or if you can find a better deal retail.

Just doing some quick math if you buy a S2, transfer service and forfeit the rebate you will be paying $220 (lets assume buy from a retailer who has free shipping and no tax).

If you buy that same S2, cash in on the rebate and do a 3 yr agreement for MSD then you will be paying $6.95*36 = $250.20.

So esentially if you transfer the service in 4 months you will be paying just as much if you commit to 3 years.

Doing the DT it will cost you $250 to buy and trasnfer service. If you buy retail, cash in on rebate and do 3 yr MSD then it will cost you $6.95*36 + 69.99 = 320.19. Esentially if you transfer the service in about 10 months you will be paying the same as if you commit to 3 years.

Personally I think if you are going to buy a new box you might as well commit for the 3 years because depending on the unit in 4 month or 10 months you will be paying more to transfer the service. Also with the 3 years if 2 years down the road you wish to transfer you can, you will probably (can't say for sure) lose out on the rebates then, but to me 4 months or 10 months is a short time.

[atmuscarella]

dev;

I'll give you a different point of view, buy an older single tuner Series 2 from Tivo and pre pay for 3 years of service Total cost $299. Your parents other box should drop to $6.95/mo automatically without any further time commiment. The above should be your cheapest way out with a 1 time cost of $299 - if they buy a Series 3 down the road they can replace the new series 2 and finish out the remainder of the 3 year period.

Good Luck,

[Einselen]

Rather then editing my above msg, I will add this.

You said in 10 months to a year they will be doing HD. I would still recommend buying retail, cashing in on the rebate and doing a 3 yr commitment. Worse case is in 10 months you have the break even pt of transfering vs. new commitment. If your parents want they can disregard that box (still have to pay monthly) and not use it and cancel it after the 3 years. They could even take that box and hook it up to a standard jack (assuming the cable service offeres basic cable without need for cable box) and have it record some shows as a back up conflict. If say they don't upgrade to HD for 1 1/2 or even 2 years buying retail, cashing in on rebate and doing 3 years will save them money.

The only reason to forfeit the rebate if you are buying a new box is if they buy the DT and in 6 months upgrade to HD and even then I would say to just the S3 and transfer the service or if you think in 6 months the S3 will drop in price by at least $41.70 then hold on to the broke box and pay each month and buy the S3 after the price drops and transfer the broken service over to the S3.

Just some thoughts.

[Einselen]

dev;

I'll give you a different point of view, buy an older single tuner Series 2 from Tivo and pre pay for 3 years of service Total cost $299. Your parents other box should drop to $6.95/mo automatically without any further time commiment. The above should be your cheapest way out with a 1 time cost of $299 - if they buy a Series 3 down the road they can replace the new series 2 and finish out the remainder of the 3 year period.

Good Luck,

Ooo, good one, I didn't think of that. I know that "nothing has changed" for current customers but are we sure that the other box will drop down to $6.95 without any further commitment? I mean it would make sense as MSD now is just saving $6 on what currently pay and that full price box should be only $12.95/month.

This is also assuming that the other box is not a lifetime box.

Also so the op knows the price of the package box after the prepaid term will go to the monthly rate of the 3 yr committment, currently $12.95. This option should save you oney for the 3 years of the prepaid and after you will be back where you started.

[GoHokies!]

dev;

I'll give you a different point of view, buy an older single tuner Series 2 from Tivo and pre pay for 3 years of service Total cost $299. Your parents other box should drop to $6.95/mo automatically without any further time commiment. The above should be your cheapest way out with a 1 time cost of $299 - if they buy a Series 3 down the road they can replace the new series 2 and finish out the remainder of the 3 year period.

Good Luck,

That is certainly a fine idea - don't forget that last statement even if you go another way. The 3 year commitment is for the service, not the box. Since it sounds like your folks will be using Tivo for the long haul, go ahead and take the commitment no matter what you do and just swap the box out for a S3 when they decide to upgrade...

[classicsat]

Am I missing a subtlety here? What Gai-jin and c3 are saying seem to me to be conflicting statements. Can you guys point to where this is documented if possible? Thanks!

C3 is correct. If it is an "unburdended" unit you already have, you can just change the service numer, with no further commitments or contract changes.

You can probably go buy a retail unit at full retail price and change service numbers on the account, but don't trust me on that one.

[c3]

You can probably go buy a retail unit at full retail price and change service numbers on the account, but don't trust me on that one.

Yes, you can, but buying full retail without getting the rebate probably doesn't make much sense.

[renee312]

HI, I've been trying to do the same number crunching since my Humax died...
Just keep in mind that while buying and prepaying for the 3yr IS the cheapest one time cost (especially with the free year) you can NOT swap it out without BREAKING the contract and that has a penalty:

"An early termination fee of the lesser of $200.00 or the amount owed on the remaining term of your monthly TiVo Package commitment will be charged to you if your monthly TiVo Package is cancelled prior to the end of your commitment, except as permitted under TiVo's 30 day Money Back Guarantee." -tivo's policy page...can't post link, I'm new.

I called and they said ANY attempt to "upgrade" is considered breaking your contract. : (
Still, if you prepay...the language says you owe the lesser of 200 or the remainder owed...so you would owe nothing if you prepaid:
"No early termination fee applies to prepaid TiVo Package Payment Plan cancellations."

Still so confusing....

[Shawn95GT]

this may be where used units have 'some' value.

If you can swap a used box in play of your broke one on your account, nothing should change.

With the VIP lifetime transfer thing going there are going to be a SLEW of S1/S2 boxes available 'on the cheap'.