TiVo "very expensive"? NOT!

[fallingwater]

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/features/3041/q-a-november-2008.html

"Since cost is a concern, you should also visit eBay to check out some older, discontinued HDTV-recording products. Until recently, both Sony and LG sold standalone DVRs that can tune in and record digital OTA signals. And if your Mitsubishi TV features a FireWire port, a D-VHS recorder would be another option. A few years back, Mitsubishi, JVC, and Marantz all produced such VCRs, which can record OTA high-def broadcasts on special D-VHS videocassettes that are still in production and generally available. Good luck with your search!"

HDTiVo XL is available from TiVo.com with Lifetime Service for $999 to a brand new customer and is even cheaper from other sources:
https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxes.do
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001EWEIOW/ref=nosim/tirebouchon-20#

Sony's discontinued DHG-HDD250 offers manual hi-def channel mapping but has only ¼ XL's storage. One recently sold for $424 on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-DHG-HDD250-HDTV-DVR-Recorder-HDTV-250GB-L-K_W0QQitemZ170280578436QQcmdZViewItem

TiVo's standard HDTiVo with ⅔ DHG-HDD250's storage is available from Amazon for $245 and would cost $644 if a new TiVo customer chooses Lifetime Service for it.
http://www.amazon.com/TiVo-TCD652160-Digital-Video-Recorder/dp/B000RZDBM2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1227708735&sr=1-1

Two Sony DHG-HDD500's with ½ XL's capacity are currently available on eBay. Sony's discontinued DVR's are cheaper than HDTiVo XL but aren't neccessarily better values.

LG's discontinued offering is a cult DVR at best. It's claim to fame is that it's the only hi-def DVR ever offered with analog line inputs.

[wmcbrine]

While I think you can make a case for the $999 deal, to most people (if not necessarily most Sound & Vision readers), that is a lot of money.

Cheap, IMHO, would be $200 with no ongoing fees. I'm not saying that TiVo should or even could adopt such a price, just that it's the point at which I'd call it "not expensive".

[sethjvm]

I'm sorry but $644 is a pretty substantial upfront cost for a large number of people. If you use it with cable cards, then you need to add the additional costs that most cable operator charge for digital outlets, cards, and digital programming. If the TiVo pukes then it is something you need to pay to fix and since the lifetime is not transferable, you have a boat anchor with lifetime service. if a cable DVR breaks, you get a new one.

[lofar]

if a cable DVR breaks, you get a new one.

Or two, or three, or four, or five.. Shoot, i probably spent enough money in gas to buy a tivo just returning the stupid cable DVR's i used to have back to their store everytime they would break.

[lafos]

It is an interesting article, in that the original cost of those early capabilities was far higher than a TiVo. From the digital revolution, we have become accustomed to price reductions as technology reaches economy of scale. TiVo hardware has followed this trend, too, if one only looks at the hardware.

Services, on the other hand, have not followed that price trend, and have either kept up with, or exceeded, inflation. Computer manufacturers move service off-shore to "control costs". Since TiVo depends largely on the service component, total costs have stayed up.

[fallingwater]

Two Sony DHG-HDD500's with ½ XL's capacity are currently available on eBay. Sony's discontinued DVR's are cheaper than HDTiVo XL but aren't neccessarily better values.

This was a fluke but a brand new discontinued DHG-HDD500 just went for $1325:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=300279612402