Tivo HD lifetime sub questions

[klyde]

I have 2 hd tivos I use for OTA only. One I'm paying $12.95 per mo and the other $6.95 per mo. I was conceding upgrading the 2nd one to lifetime at $299. The 1st one cost $399.
What has prevented me is If it dies and I have to buy a new one I will loose the lifetime.
I know I can swap out the HD or PS but if the board goes I cant swap that since it contains the serial #.
Can I get it repaired?
Cost?
If I upgrade the 2nd one for $299,
what happens if I stop paying the $12.95 for the 1st one?
Since it would be the 2nd tivo will I loose the lifetime sub on it?

[shwru980r]

As long as the TIVO is under warranty, you won't lose the lifetime subscription. It's only after the warranty expires that you can lose the subscription. You could drop the subscription on the first tivo after upgrading the second tivo to lifetime, but you've then bricked the first tivo and are out the money you paid for the unit. So you'd really be paying $299 + the cost of the first tivo for a lifetime subscription.

[bkdtv]

Even after the warranty expires, you do not lose the lifetime subscription.

From the TivoHD Pre-purchase FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7097284#post7097284):

What happens if my TiVo dies? Do I lose my lifetime subscription?

As of May 2009, TiVo has a new lifetime transfer policy for failed TiVos.


If the TiVo dies between 0 and 90 days, there is no charge for a replacement and they will transfer lifetime service for free.


If the TiVo dies between 90 days and one year, there is a $49 replacement fee and they will transfer lifetime service for free.


If the TiVo dies after one year and you've had lifetime service for less than three years, there is a $149 replacement fee and they will transfer lifetime service for free.


If the TiVo dies after one year and you've had lifetime service for more than three years, there is a $149 replacement fee plus a $199 fee to transfer lifetime service to the replacement TiVo.

If you want to avoid this, you have to "fix" the TiVo yourself by upgrading/replacing the original TiVo drive.

To reiterate, TiVo only charges the lifetime transfer fee if you've had lifetime for more than three years. If you add lifetime to a three year old Tivo, and it dies in 2 years and 11 months, then there is no charge to transfer lifetime to the $149 replacement.

When a TiVo dies, it is almost always the result of drive failure. If you previously made a backup image of the TiVo software using WinMFS, you can restore that that to a new drive as per the instructions in Section V of the Drive Upgrade FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5616160#post5616160). If you did not make a backup of your TiVo software, DVRUpgrade sells InstantCake (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm) for $19.99; InstantCake is a boot CD that will restore the TiVo software to a new drive (of your choice) up to 1.1TB in size. The lifetime subscription is tied to a ROM chip on the TiVo, so it is not affected by drive upgrades and replacements.

[klyde]

Both my HD tivos are more than 3 years old. I also have a direct tv tivo which is older, so far I have had to replace the HD then the PS then the mother board. However the Direct TV doesn't have the problem with lifetime subscription, if it was a Tivo I would have had to pay $149 + $199
It looks like a lifetime sub is only worth it if the recorder lasts beyond 3 years. Since their already 3 years + Im looking at 6 years min lifetime.
I only paid $149 for my HD tivos. I keep hoping someone will come out with something compatible.

thank you

[newskilz]

I guess it depends on how you see the numbers. From what everyone usually talks about anyway, 99% of the tivo "breaking" will be the hard drive, and the other 1% the power supply. I've VERY rarely heard of a motherboard going south especially those on a UPS that smooths out the power, etc. People can argue either way I guess. Most people seem to get plenty of years out of the older units, and it seems the newer units, mainly HD, seem to have hard drive problems sooner than older units. For example, I've owned my S1 since Summer 2002, while I've owned my now dead S2 since summer 2005. Go figure, hard drive out on the S2 in 5 years, while my internal modem on the S1 went out after about 4 years, but both are replaceable or fixable.

I personally say that you probably have nothing to worry about, because if something does go bad, it will very most likely be the hard drive. Course you could always upgrade the drive now and get a ton more storage capacity and not worry about it for a while. :) My two cents.

Another thing to think about; the first box will take you about 30 months to recover the lifetime cost, but the second box at $7 will take you about 42 months to recover your cost.

Something compatible with what? Satellite? Yeah, should be by next year sometime with DirecTV.

[andrews777]

Even after the warranty expires, you do not lose the lifetime subscription.

From the TivoHD Pre-purchase FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7097284#post7097284):

Will that work on the TivoHD? I don't need it now, but it would be nice to know if my TivoHD dies. (Especially if I find a way to upgrade the other 2 to lifetime status.

Brad

[bkdtv]

Will that work on the TivoHD? I don't need it now, but it would be nice to know if my TivoHD dies. (Especially if I find a way to upgrade the other 2 to lifetime status.Yes.