To LifeTime or Not

[Flyinace2000]

I currently have 2 Tivo's on my account that are at the retention rate of 6.95/month. I am glad i didn't do a life time on those since the break even point wold be 4 or 5 years. But I am adding a third TiVo to the mix and i have to choose how to pay for it. I am tempted to do the yearly but I am weighing in on the lifetime. The break even point comparing the 1 year to the lifetiem is 3 years. What have others done?

[JoeTaxpayer]

The break even point comparing the 1 year to the lifetime is 3 years. What have others done?

What is the risk vs benefit?

Odds are, the units will last a long time. The hard drive is the likely failure and that can be replaced. The $299 lifetime seems a bargain to me, done it twice and have an HD unit that I will LT when the service runs out in May (bough it on eBay with a few month's service left).

[Flyinace2000]

I am showing the Lifetime to be $399. How do you get $299?

[JoeTaxpayer]

I am showing the Lifetime to be $399. How do you get $299?

It's a discount for existing customers. Monthly extra unit service is $9.95, LT is $299. Call and ask.

[Flyinace2000]

Yeah, at $299 the break even point (versus the 1 year plan) is 2 years and 3 months. I will give them a call. Thanks

[BTDFXD]

I would think you would want to consider what kind of boxes you have and what your future plans might be. If your Tivos are not HD and HD might be in your future, lifetime on a non-HD box might not be a good investment.

[ciper]

I swear someone asks this same question once every two days. Normally I would ignore it but flyinace2000 you have been a member for too long!

[Flyinace2000]

I would think you would want to consider what kind of boxes you have and what your future plans might be. If your Tivos are not HD and HD might be in your future, lifetime on a non-HD box might not be a good investment.

All my TiVo's are TiVoHD's. I so the box should be usefull for at least another 3 or 4 years.

I swear someone asks this same question once every two days. Normally I would ignore it but flyinace2000 you have been a member for too long!

you're right, i committed forum blasphemy. I will search next time. :-)

[mattack]

your right, i committed forum blasphemy. I will search next time. :-)

What about his right?

(heh heh heh)

[scandia101]

Yeah, at $299 the break even point (versus the 1 year plan) is 2 years and 3 months. I will give them a call. Thanks

The one year plan is $99. At that price, the lifetime break even point is 3 years (36 months). Compared to a monthly sub at $9.95, lifetime would have a break even point at 2 1/2 years (30 months).

[Flyinace2000]

What about his right?

(heh heh heh)
d'oh!

Since we are chatting. Will i be elligible for the discount lifetime if the 2 other TiVoHD's are on the retention rate of 6.95 each?

[newskilz]

d'oh!

Since we are chatting. Will i be elligible for the discount lifetime if the 2 other TiVoHD's are on the retention rate of 6.95 each?

Normally I would say you are eligible, however to be eligible to get the 6.95 rate you usually have to have a qualifying box in order to get the MSD (multiple service discount). ...

OH WAIT, are you saying they are giving you a retention rate? So that is not the original MSD rate from long ago that is no longer available? If so, then they will likely try and charge full rate for the lifetime. Who knows call and ask if you qualify for MSD. Or perhaps better, is to log into your TiVo account (or make one and then log in) and put the box into your shopping cart, then on the purchase services page, you should have a button that says something about qualifying discounts or some such. Sorry I don't recall the exact phrasing. If it's there and you click on it, it will show you the available discounted rates, including Lifetime.

[Flyinace2000]

Here are the choices i have for changing that plan online.
$12.95 Monthly 1 yr $12.95 Details
$129.00 Annual 1 yr $10.75 Details
$299.00 Prepay 3 yr $8.31 Details
$399.00 Product Lifetime service Details

I am going to give them a call today to see if i can get the 299. Otherwise i will stick to the yearly plan.

[buddhakwee]

399 is very high according to my country currrency in Indonesia

[Flyinace2000]

399 is very high according to my country currrency in Indonesia
Its high here too. ;-)

[NowPlaying]

Yeah, at $299 the break even point (versus the 1 year plan) is 2 years and 3 months. I will give them a call. Thanks

Keep in mind that used Tivos have resale value. Tivos with Lifetime typically sell on Ebay for $200-$300 more than those without. If/When you choose to uprade you can get much of what you paid for the Lifetime service back.

[JoeTaxpayer]

Keep in mind that used Tivos have resale value. Tivos with Lifetime typically sell on Ebay for $200-$300 more than those without. If/When you choose to uprade you can get much of what you paid for the Lifetime service back.

Absolutely. A first time buyer sees a $399 LT cost. So your used HD with LT can easily go for $550-$600, and your $299 is never really lost.

[Flyinace2000]

Just called TiVo to activate the lifetime but my original 12.95/month purchase still hasn't "settled" so they can't change it until it does. I will give it a shot on Monday.

[Flyinace2000]

Boooo can't get the LifeTime for 299 since my other 2 TiVo's are at th 6.95 retention rate.

[Resist]

When we bought our Series 2 single tuner Tivo, the lifetime was $299. That was 5 years ago and the Series 2 is still working great, so we made out on the lifetime. But when we added a Series 3 to our home, we decided to pay monthly ($6.95) for the service on it. I wanted the lifetime but Tivo stopped selling lifetime's when we purchased it. Now I see they are back at a cost of $399. This is way to much in my opinion. Wish I could transfer the Series 2 lifetime to the Series 3. Or better yet, if I could transfer the S2 lifetime to a new Tivo HD, I would upgrade.