Buying Suggestion

[foolintherain33]

So here's my story .. I really want to try Tivo, but I'm having a hard time deciding whether to get a standard definition one or an HD one. Currently I have digital cable with a crappy old TV, but I MIGHT buy an LCD HDTV soon, or I might wait and see if prices come down further before the holidays. I'd also like to get a Tivo Series2 for my parents for Christmas.

After thinking about it for a bit, I came up with the following plan: I buy a Series2 right now, purchase monthly service, "test drive" it myself for a month, and if I decide to change to HDTV, I box it back up and give it to my parents. Great plan, right? .. Until I read the fine print and find that a monthly contract still entails a 1-year agreement with a full penalty for early termination. What's the deal with that? So I have two questions.

1) Is there a way to get around this? I would plan to buy an annual plan for my parents. It seems to me like I could buy a 1-year service plan, and if I wind up giving it to my parents, just re-install it at their place with that plan intact .. or is there something that prevents this? You have to be able to move to a new house or apartment in the middle of a Tivo agreement, so is there a difference?

2) Why on earth would anyone go month to month if it costs more than an annual plan and you have to agree to a full year anyway? What am I missing?

Thank you for any help.

[TriBruin]

So here's my story .. I really want to try Tivo, but I'm having a hard time deciding whether to get a standard definition one or an HD one. Currently I have digital cable with a crappy old TV, but I MIGHT buy an LCD HDTV soon, or I might wait and see if prices come down further before the holidays. I'd also like to get a Tivo Series2 for my parents for Christmas.

After thinking about it for a bit, I came up with the following plan: I buy a Series2 right now, purchase monthly service, "test drive" it myself for a month, and if I decide to change to HDTV, I box it back up and give it to my parents. Great plan, right? .. Until I read the fine print and find that a monthly contract still entails a 1-year agreement with a full penalty for early termination. What's the deal with that? So I have two questions.

1) Is there a way to get around this? I would plan to buy an annual plan for my parents. It seems to me like I could buy a 1-year service plan, and if I wind up giving it to my parents, just re-install it at their place with that plan intact .. or is there something that prevents this? You have to be able to move to a new house or apartment in the middle of a Tivo agreement, so is there a difference?

2) Why on earth would anyone go month to month if it costs more than an annual plan and you have to agree to a full year anyway? What am I missing?

Thank you for any help.

1) Yes, once you have a plan you can do what called a "TSN change." Basically you just tell Tivo you are using a new Tivo (HD) instead of your old Tivo (S2). You are still responsible for fullfilling your original 1 year obligation. Also, if you then re-activate the S2, you (or your parents) would have another 1 year obligation.

FYI, you could not buy a the TivoHD directly from Tivo if you want to do a TSN swap. When you buy from Tivo, you must purchase a NEW subscription at the same time. You would have to buy the Tivo from a retail store (Best Buy, Amazon, etc.)

[johnny99]

I say if you watch enough TV to need a Tivo, then you will be a lot happier watching your TV on a HDTV. Get the HDTV first, then get your Tivo HD.

[RonDawg]

1. Note that if you decide for any reason that TiVo is neither right for you or your parents, you can cancel service within 30 days with no penalty. If you buy the box from TiVo, that will require the return of the box as well, but if you buy it from a third party all you need to do is call them and cancel within the 30 day period.

2. Although prepaid is definitely cheaper over the long run, some people don't have the budget to pay for an entire year in advance.

I also say get the TiVoHD first. Better to find out now if your cable provider knows how to handle CableCard installation, and how many channels they like to apply copy once flags to which will inhibit the transferring of programs to another TiVo or to your PC. If you are dissatisfied with your cable provider's way of handling these issues, you can always either transfer the service to a Series 2 and return the TiVoHD, or else just cancel service within the first 30 days.

If the TiVoHD works out well for you, not only will you be able to upgrade to a high definition TV without having to upgrade the DVR as well to take advantage of its capabilities, but more and more new features are specific to the Series 3 (including the TiVoHD and XL) models only, such as YouTube and the upcoming Netflix streaming capabilities.

[jfh3]

I wouldn't buy an Series 2 (SD) Tivo unless you get it free/very cheap. Buy the HD instead.