Confused

[Resist]

We have an old single tuner Series 2 Tivo with a lifetime and a Series 3 which costs us $6.95 per month for service. We want to get a HD tivo to replace the Series 2 but don't want to lose the $6.95 a month service deal on the Series 3.

We want to get another high def Tivo to replace the Series 2. So if we get a get a factory renewed Tivo HD for $199.99 with the $399 lifetime, would that allows us to keep the Series 3 service at $6.95 a month?

[jjberger2134]

Some one will correct me if I am wrong....

As long as the S2 is on your account (ie. do not sell it or xfer it to someone else until you have your new HD unit up and running) - any TiVo you add to your account should not effect the price of the S3 at $6.95/month.

Also, the TiVo HD is $199 at Sears now and an additional lifetime sub on your account should be $299 (MSD) if you do not buy a factory refurb from TiVo. Thus, a new TiVo HD with Lifetime should cost you $498 if you buy from Sears. A factory refurb from TiVo would cost you $598 (199+399).

[Resist]

All the Sears in my area don't have them. Where did you see that a lifetime is $299? Everything I saw on the Tivo site says $399.


From what does Tivo get the information to know the Series 2 is operating? Is the information in the hard drive?

[jjberger2134]

Adding another box for existing subscribers is $299, provided you buy your box at the retail level or new from tivo.com (no refurb). Sign into your account at tivo.com then shop and you will see the discounted MSD rate or use the link below (sign in at the upper right).
https://www3.tivo.com/store/plans.do

Not all Sears has the $199 TiVo HD, but it is a great deal if you are in the market for one.

TiVo gets the info from the S2 upon the daily call to know that it is alive and phones home. If the S2 dies (or has already died) then after 6 months you will lose the $6.95 rate on the second unit as you do not qualify anymore for MSD.

You can also read the TOS for MSD here...
http://www.tivo.com/abouttivo/policies/tivomultiservicediscountagreement.html

[Resist]

TiVo gets the info from the S2 upon the daily call to know that it is alive and phones home. If the S2 dies (or has already died) then after 6 months you will lose the $6.95 rate on the second unit as you do not qualify anymore for MSD.I already understood this, sorry if I didn't make that clear. What I am asking is if I mirror the hard drive to a larger drive and put that in a new Tivo HD, will they see the old Series 2 Lifetime subscription that way? Or do they get other information from the Series 2 motherboard?

[jjberger2134]

TiVo gets the subscription info from the motherboard and the TiVo Service Number (TSN). Mirroring a Hard drive will not work for a number of reasons. The primary reason is the software used in an S2 is different than the software used in a TiVoHD. Software is tweaked by the model number and even different model S2's have different software and the drives are not compatible.

[Resist]

Okay thanks. So to recap, the only way to keep my Series 3 service at $6.95 is to keep the old Series 2 operating, even if I get a new Tivo HD with the inflated service price.

[newskilz]

Okay thanks. So to recap, the only way to keep my Series 3 service at $6.95 is to keep the old Series 2 operating, even if I get a new Tivo HD with the inflated service price.

Yes, to keep the $6.95/month rate, you would need to keep the S2 w/lifetime connected. A little snippet from within TiVo's service contract stuff:

TiVo service cancellation. If the registered account holder’s Qualifying Subscription is cancelled or otherwise becomes ineligible, the oldest eligible TiVo service subscription on the account shall become the registered account holder’s Qualifying Subscription and will no longer receive the MULTI-SERVICE DISCOUNT.

So, by that it means you are keeping the $6.95 until the oldest qualifying box is not there anymore, then according to that anyway, the now $6.95 box would become the oldest subscription and revert to the now current regular price.

Now if you bought another box and put lifetime on it, that would still make the $6.95 box eligible for the MSD; so the question then would be whether tivo would let it "slide" and allow you to keep the $6.95 rate or would it change over to the new MSD rate of $9.95. Maybe someone else knows, but it's unclear what TiVo would end up doing, unless there is more wording somewhere else that talks specifically about the now unable to get rate of $6.95/month.

[classicsat]

I believe you can have the new TiVo HD on Product Lifetime be the one that qualifies the Series 3 for $6.95 MSD rate. Ask a CSR to be sure.

[Resist]

Unfortunately I just found out that my $6.95 a month deal is only good through fall of next year, as it was a 3 year contract. And since Tivo no longer has the $6.95 pricing, after mine expires the best deal I can get is $99 for a year ($8.25 a month).