Tivo HD Deal

[Bman]

I missed (ended 11/1/08) a VIP upgrade offer from Tivo. It was:

This Exclusive HD Offer includes:
+ Factory-renewed
TiVo HD DVR
For YOU only $99.99
Save $200!
+ Transfer your existing monthly
service at no additional charge.

I have 2 questions, How reliable are the Factory-renewed units? Does anyone know if a deal like this will come around again?

thanks,

Bill

[dshinnick]

To respond to your question about refurbed units, I have absolutlely no problem with them. Probably some guy bought one, told his wife, wife said no, box went back. Tivo can't sell it as new. If it has a Tivo warranty, who cares about its history? I sure don't if it'll save me $100 or more.

Kind of a related question. I recently acquired an old Sony Tivo series 1 box with lifetime. I have no need of that box, but I would like to transfer the lifetime service to a new or refurbed Tivo HD box. I called Tivo and they said no, that I would have to wait until an offer to do so would be emailed to me, which happens randomly, I was told.

Any other thoughts on what I can do with this critter? I guess I don't mind waiting; I was just hoping that I could buy-and-transfer right away.

dave

[techieunite]

Put in on ebay or craigslist.org

Look for others of the same model with lifetime and watch the auctions.

This way, you'll be able to see what they are going.

With things going HD, they are worth less and less.

Start using the tivo series 1.

If it breaks, call Tivo and plead your case.

Usually they will offer you a refurbed Series 2 DT for $149 and will transfer the lifetime.

Keyword "usually".

They can tell you no, but they are people too.

You usually can NOT get them to offer you an Tivo HD. However, if you use OTA(antenna only) with no cable or Satellite, you may be able to get them to send you a Tivo HD for an additional charge, probably closer to $200.

Now, I'm not condoning doing this. This is based on the goodwill that I've seen Tivo extend to others.

If the Series 1 works, then use it. If it doesn't call Tivo. Be prepared to troubleshoot with them and explain to them exactly how the unit is functioning and what happened before that point.

I had gotten a Tivo series 2 off of craigslist and it was broken. I could have replaced the hard drive, but decided to call Tivo first.

I was offered a Tivo Series 2 DT for $79 plus they transferred the Lifetime for free.

Was I entitled to this no. I had previously paid monthly for the past few years on two other boxes.

Your results may vary from mine.

[pdhenry]

+ Transfer your existing monthly service at no additional charge.TiVo is scamming you. There's no charge to transfer monthly service to another DVR. Lifetime subscriptions are another issue.

That's a good hardware price, though.

[TriBruin]

TiVo is scamming you. There's no charge to transfer monthly service to another DVR. Lifetime subscriptions are another issue.

That's a good hardware price, though.

They probably means that if you have a better deal than is currently offer (say MSD for $6.95 instead of the current $9.95) then you could transfer your current price.

But, yea, Tivo has never changed for that.

[pdhenry]

I'm sorry - that's actually a good deal on TiVo's part.

Usually (for non-refurb purchases and IIRC most refurbs) you can only buy a unit through TiVo.com as a bundle including new service. So by ackowledging that they will facilitate transferring service from an old unit to the HD unit they are saying that you can buy the reburb HD without a new service subscription.

So I take it back.

[Bman]

I'm hoping another deal comes along. I could kick myself for not grabbibg the $99.99 refurbed deal. Gave my Tivo HD to my daughter and husband as a loaner but I don't really see it coming back....

It's too bad they don't transfer lifetime subs to the Tivo HD's. Even at a reduced cost would be nice. I have 2 Series 1's that really are useless now. Oh well I got a lot of good years out of them....

Bill