Transfer Offer for Series 3 TiVos extended!

[funtoupgrade]

The offer to transfer current lifetime subs to a new series 3 has been extended. The new offer indicates a TiVo® Series3™ HD DVR purchase required by 1/31/2007 and activation of the DVR is required by 03/02/2007 with payment of the $199 transfer fee. This must be turning out to be a real money maker!

They have made it clear that the remaining one year service on the old unit may not be transferred to another individual. How that is enforced I have no idea.

[Einselen]

I checked earlier today and the terms were the same old thing. This surprises me as I thought they would not extend this promo, but I guess after looking at all the numbers Tivo thought it was best to.

[edubbrulez]

Yeah it looks like they updated the VIP page to reflect this.

[MediaLivingRoom]

Yes, they extended it.

[minckster]

I hope that they don't mean this clause literally (emphasis added):How it works:
1. Buy your TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder for $799.99.One could infer that the lifetime transfer is not available if you pay other than $799.99. And what the heck is "Eiger PLT"?Terms and conditions for the Eiger PLT Transfer TiVo Offer

[TriBruin]

:mad: :mad: Guess that means it will be at least March before a price drop. :mad: :mad:

[MediaLivingRoom]

Eiger PLT (Price Loving TiVo)

[BlackBetty]

:mad: :mad: Guess that means it will be at least March before a price drop. :mad: :mad:

I guess buying it in the $500's (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=332424) isn't quite to your liking? :rolleyes:

[alansplace]

And what the heck is "Eiger PLT"?the "Eiger PLT" (http://www.tivo.com/vip) is described at the bottom of this page. i think that "PLT" probably means product lifetime transfer.
--
Alan :D

[Einselen]

the "Eiger PLT" (http://www.tivo.com/vip) is described at the bottom of this page. i think that "PLT" probably means product lifetime transfer.
--
Alan :D


Terms and conditions for the Eiger PLT Transfer TiVo Offer

Product Lifetime transfer transfer? Lets go to the ATM Machine and don't forget to remember your PIN number.

[David Platt]

I guess buying it in the $500's (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=332424) isn't quite to your liking? :rolleyes:

Not sure if you can legitimately call a one-time deal that was available for less than 24 hours a 'price drop,' but it sure was sweet.

[Crrink]

I'm just going to wait until they offer life time transfers for free the way they did with HMO.
:D
j/k
Still resisting the call of the S3. Still watching HD on my Moxi.
Until MRV is allowed at least TO the S3 I won't be tempted, lifetime transfer or not.

[rainwater]

Not sure if you can legitimately call a one-time deal that was available for less than 24 hours a 'price drop,' but it sure was sweet.

Most outlets have it for much less than $799 so the price has dropped.

[MediaLivingRoom]

Product Lifetime transfer transfer? Lets go to the ATM Machine and don't forget to remember your PIN number.


They should have called it: PLST-FALTO ((Product Lifetime Service Transfer) For A Limited Time Only)

[TriBruin]

I guess buying it in the $500's (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=332424) isn't quite to your liking? :rolleyes:

I saw that deal way too late to get in. Besides, I have $250 worth of Best Buy gift cards from Christmas I would like to use.

Also the WAF is much higher for the a $650 (current avg. price) item. I am hoping that the Comcast DVR I just ordered will convince her of the need for a true Tivo.

[morac]

Maybe they extended it because 8.1 was delayed? Dunno.

If you think about it TiVo makes out well on these transfers. $199 is the cost of 1 year of service. This is the best pricing scheme from TiVo's point of view because they make $19.95 a month instead of the $14.95 a month or $12.95 for the 2 and 3 year prepays respectively. They also get the $199 upfront. This is good for them because I would assume most people would prefer not to prepay and just pay the monthly fee.

So TiVo gets its $199 up front. Unless the user cancels service on their old S1 or S2 than TiVo makes just as much money as it normally would. If the user sells their old S1/S2, TiVo gets more money because then the Multi-TiVo discount no longer applies.

Users like it because for no extra amount of money than they would normally pay for a 1 year service plan, they also get to transfer the lifetime fee to the S3.

So its a win/win situation. It's in TiVo's best interest to keep it going.

[rainwater]

Maybe they extended it because 8.1 was delayed? Dunno.

If you think about it TiVo makes out well on these transfers.

Especially since a lot of sales probably come from tivo.com at $799 :)

[HiDefGator]

Maybe they extended it because 8.1 was delayed? Dunno.

If you think about it TiVo makes out well on these transfers. $199 is the cost of 1 year of service. This is the best pricing scheme from TiVo's point of view because they make $19.95 a month instead of the $14.95 a month or $12.95 for the 2 and 3 year prepays respectively. They also get the $199 upfront. This is good for them because I would assume most people would prefer not to prepay and just pay the monthly fee.

So TiVo gets its $199 up front. Unless the user cancels service on their old S1 or S2 than TiVo makes just as much money as it normally would. If the user sells their old S1/S2, TiVo gets more money because then the Multi-TiVo discount no longer applies.

Users like it because for no extra amount of money than they would normally pay for a 1 year service plan, they also get to transfer the lifetime fee to the S3.

So its a win/win situation. It's in TiVo's best interest to keep it going.

It also prevents customers from switching to another companies HD DVR. And Tivo is actually making a small profit on selling the S3 box.

[d_anders]

Here's to TiVo making some announcement at CES on at least Multi-Room-Viewing (MRV) being available/announced with timing to S3's (with some type of approval from cable labs so we know that they can really release it).

MRV in my mind has these 3 components:

1) Support of in-house MRV for S3 to S3. All content, HD & SD. Willing to live with SD downversion if that's all they can do for now.

2) Support of transfered SD content from S2s to S3s.
3) Support of downverted HD to SD content to S2's in the house in the process.
4) Support of downverted HD to SD content to PCs, ala TiVo2Go.

I'm perfectly willing to hold off on HD transfer of content to TiVo2Go. The transfers would take forever on HD anyway, and I really won't get the impact of HD from my pda and laptop when I'm on the road.

Besides price, this is the main technical hurdle that is keeping me from buying an S3.

If MRV is added, and I can find the box from a reputable online or brick-and-motor reseller for $500 (after discounts/coupons, etc.), then I would bite. That would basically mean I would get a S3 and transfer a lifetime sub for $700. That's a fair price right now with a lifetime sub.

As it was noted earlier, TiVo is probably making good money from this situation, and they know there are others like me on the fence.

Plus, they probably need the continued additional volume and income for their 2nd financial quarter as the upgraded ComcasTivos are going to roll out later than originally planned.

[ZeoTiVo]

Here's to TiVo making some announcement at CES on at least Multi-Room-Viewing (MRV) being available/announced with timing to S3's (with some type of approval from cable labs so we know that they can really release it).

MRV in my mind has these 3 components:

1) Support of in-house MRV for S3 to S3. All content, HD & SD. Willing to live with SD downversion if that's all they can do for now.

2) Support of transfered SD content from S2s to S3s.
3) Support of downverted HD to SD content to S2's in the house in the process.
4) Support of downverted HD to SD content to PCs, ala TiVo2Go.

I'm perfectly willing to hold off on HD transfer of content to TiVo2Go. The transfers would take forever on HD anyway, and I really won't get the impact of HD from my pda and laptop when I'm on the road.

I would be fine buying at 500 to 600$ deals you can find now but no MRV is a no GO for me as well.

as to your points. Downconverting the content would take a lot of horsepower that the S3 is just not built for. adding that horsepower in would be a significant increase in the cost for TiVo to build.

And really I would be fine with just SD MRV/TTG as I only plan on one HDTV when I go that path. Like you said HD is just too big to move around effeciently and who needs HD on a laptop or portable device anyway.

[chedlin]

Here's to TiVo making some announcement at CES on at least Multi-Room-Viewing (MRV) being available/announced with timing to S3's (with some type of approval from cable labs so we know that they can really release it).

MRV in my mind has these 3 components:

1) Support of in-house MRV for S3 to S3. All content, HD & SD. Willing to live with SD downversion if that's all they can do for now.

2) Support of transfered SD content from S2s to S3s.
3) Support of downverted HD to SD content to S2's in the house in the process.
4) Support of downverted HD to SD content to PCs, ala TiVo2Go.

I'm perfectly willing to hold off on HD transfer of content to TiVo2Go. The transfers would take forever on HD anyway, and I really won't get the impact of HD from my pda and laptop when I'm on the road.

Besides price, this is the main technical hurdle that is keeping me from buying an S3.

If MRV is added, and I can find the box from a reputable online or brick-and-motor reseller for $500 (after discounts/coupons, etc.), then I would bite. That would basically mean I would get a S3 and transfer a lifetime sub for $700. That's a fair price right now with a lifetime sub.

As it was noted earlier, TiVo is probably making good money from this situation, and they know there are others like me on the fence.

Plus, they probably need the continued additional volume and income for their 2nd financial quarter as the upgraded ComcasTivos are going to roll out later than originally planned.

I'm willing to live with downconverted HD for the laptop, but I certainly won't like it. My laptop has a higher resolution than ANY TV availible (1920x1200, but of course I would only use 1920x1080, which brings it inline with a 1080p TV).

[mattack]

I would be fine buying at 500 to 600$ deals you can find now but no MRV is a no GO for me as well.

Umm, please give more specifics about the "500 to 600$ deals you can find now"..
There was the ONE TIME Dell deal.. The lowest price I know of ends up in the $630s after shipping, and is from a seller with very low ratings on one of the ratings sites.

[jfh3]

So its a win/win situation. It's in TiVo's best interest to keep it going.

I disagree. Tivo is essentially selling lifetime service on these boxes for $199, if you assume that most of the transfered lifetime subs are either end of life (e.g. older than 4 years) or soon to be end of life.

That's exactly the opposite of the stated strategy.

If Tivo has extended the offer, that tells me that perhaps overall Tivo sub sales are worse than expected.

[rainwater]

I disagree. Tivo is essentially selling lifetime service on these boxes for $199, if you assume that most of the transfered lifetime subs are either end of life (e.g. older than 4 years) or soon to be end of life.

That's exactly the opposite of the stated strategy.

If Tivo has extended the offer, that tells me that perhaps overall Tivo sub sales are worse than expected.

You could be right about sales, but one thing to factor is that many people are paying $799/box. At that rate, they obviously can afford to keep this transfer active. Plus, I'm guessing the amount of lifetime transfers is a small factor in the overall sales. And the amount of lifetime units will continue to go down and not up since they no longer offer it.

[MediaLivingRoom]

The should lower the price to $399.99

[c3]

The should lower the price to $399.99

Why? Your signature indicates that you're not buying one anyway.

[dswallow]

Product Lifetime transfer transfer?
Eiger PLT Transfer TiVo Offer

That's not really unreasonable to refer to it in that manner. Consider there's a category of transfer offers called "Transfer TiVo Offer", and one of those is the "EIGER PLT".

Eiger appears to be a code name that was used in the development cycle of the Series3: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4161902&&#post4161902

[d_anders]

The should lower the price to $399.99

I agree, they would certainly get more subs that way...they'll eventually be down to this price at some point.

That said, If TiVo offered a direct purchase program via tivo.com where they would lower the cost of each unit to this point (if you bought two or more), I would pay to transfer all of my existing lifetimes and get fully off S2's.

[minckster]

Eiger appears to be a code name that was used in the development cycle of the Series3: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4161902&&#post4161902Aha! The Case of the Mysterious Eiger PLT is solved. Thanks Doug! Does TiVo have a mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiger) theme for their code names?

[classicX]

This must be turning out to be a real money maker!

You said it.

[threephi]

So its a win/win situation. It's in TiVo's best interest to keep it going.
I think they're doing it in order to hold on to their customers. They probably saw this poll (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=329372). TiVo makes more money from monthly fees than from a lifetime agreement, but you can bet there would be a huge outcry from the most loyal part of their customer base if they stopped allowing lifetime service to be transfered to newer boxes. The last thing TiVo wants or needs is to alienate them/us.

If I couldn't transfer my lifetime service, there's no way I would've bought a new S3 (should be arriving tomorrow!).

[morac]

I think they're doing it in order to hold on to their customers. They probably saw this poll (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=329372). TiVo makes more money from monthly fees than from a lifetime agreement, but you can bet there would be a huge outcry from the most loyal part of their customer base if they stopped allowing lifetime service to be transfered to newer boxes. The last thing TiVo wants or needs is to alienate them/us.

If I couldn't transfer my lifetime service, there's no way I would've bought a new S3 (should be arriving tomorrow!).
Are you holding on to your old S1/S2? If the answer is yes, then TiVo has lost nothing by transferring your lifetime over. You still have 1 lifetime and 1 monthly TiVo. Granted it's more likely that your older TiVo will break first.

If you get rid of your old TiVo, how are you doing so? If you sell or give it to someone else, then TiVo makes money when that person activates it.

If you throw it away or put it in a closet TiVo loses money overall, but they do get $199 upfront.

It depends on what the majority of the people who transfer their lifetime do with their old box.

[sushikitten]

If the S3s weren't so expensive, I would transfer my Lifetimed S1 in a minute. But my S1 is lightning quick (software-wise) compared to our S2, so can't imagine having two slow units.

[threephi]

Are you holding on to your old S1/S2? If the answer is yes, then TiVo has lost nothing by transferring your lifetime over. You still have 1 lifetime and 1 monthly TiVo. Granted it's more likely that your older TiVo will break first.

If you get rid of your old TiVo, how are you doing so? If you sell or give it to someone else, then TiVo makes money when that person activates it.

If you throw it away or put it in a closet TiVo loses money overall, but they do get $199 upfront.

It depends on what the majority of the people who transfer their lifetime do with their old box.
Yes I am holding on to the Series 2 for now, but I will not be renewing the service on that box once the free year elapses. If the S3 works out and MRV/TTG is eventually enabled on it, I will either give the S2 to a friend or try and sell it.

My point however was twofold. First, TiVo makes less money from a lifetime subscription than they do from any other kind of subscription. (This is somewhat but not entirely defrayed by the transfer fee.) But by allowing lifetime subscriptions to be transferred to new hardware at all, in a sense they are losing out on the revenue they might have made if they didn't allow the transfers.

That is balanced against the second part of my point, which is that I believe there is a large and loyal TiVo customer base with existing lifetime contracts on older hardware, who probably would not purchase an S3 if they couldn't transfer the lifetime service. I know that describes me pretty accurately ;) So by extending the transfer window they are trying to generate more S3 sales and thus revenue from that internal market.

[Sirshagg]

Here's to TiVo making some announcement at CES on at least Multi-Room-Viewing (MRV) being available/announced with timing to S3's (with some type of approval from cable labs so we know that they can really release it).

MRV in my mind has these 3 components:

1) Support of in-house MRV for S3 to S3. All content, HD & SD. Willing to live with SD downversion if that's all they can do for now.

2) Support of transfered SD content from S2s to S3s.
3) Support of downverted HD to SD content to S2's in the house in the process.
4) Support of downverted HD to SD content to PCs, ala TiVo2Go.

I'm perfectly willing to hold off on HD transfer of content to TiVo2Go. The transfers would take forever on HD anyway, and I really won't get the impact of HD from my pda and laptop when I'm on the road.

Besides price, this is the main technical hurdle that is keeping me from buying an S3.

If MRV is added, and I can find the box from a reputable online or brick-and-motor reseller for $500 (after discounts/coupons, etc.), then I would bite. That would basically mean I would get a S3 and transfer a lifetime sub for $700. That's a fair price right now with a lifetime sub.

As it was noted earlier, TiVo is probably making good money from this situation, and they know there are others like me on the fence.

Plus, they probably need the continued additional volume and income for their 2nd financial quarter as the upgraded ComcasTivos are going to roll out later than originally planned.

If this unit had MRV I would have definitely purchased one for my folks and most likely 1-2 for myself and said bye-bye to D*.

[killzone]

Tivo is essentially selling lifetime service on these boxes
If Tivo has extended the offer, that tells me that perhaps overall Tivo sub sales are worse than expected.

I agree.

I would be shocked if their sales of these units at $799 + $450 or +$299 for 3 year sub were good.

Their competition in the HDTV DVR front is significantly cheaper than this.

[jfh3]

I agree.

I would be shocked if their sales of these units at $799 + $450 or +$299 for 3 year sub were good.

Their competition in the HDTV DVR front is significantly cheaper than this.

Of course, now that Sony has announced a $1600 DVR that seems to offer a subset of what the Series 3 will, maybe people will see that Tivo's pricing isn't all that bad.