Cost of Tivo

brock50 · 06-14-2006, 12:08 AM

Why is this so much money? Is there any way that I can get this service cheaper than $16 a month? If there any off brand way of doing this?

mchips · 06-14-2006, 12:27 AM

If you buy the box outright at a retail location other than tivo.com, like Best Buy, Circuit City, Amazon.com, etc., you can get the service on the first box for only $12.95 per month, and then only $6.95 per month for each additional box after that...

The $16.95 "bundled" price is including the hardware in that monthly price, allowing people who don't have the money to pay for the box now to essentially pay for it monthly over three years...

A TiVo does much more than any other DVR, and it does it all so much better, and like just about anything, you pay for what you get... e.g., you can choose to eat hamburger, or pay a little more and enjoy a steak...

A TiVo is actually cheaper now than it was just 3-1/2 years ago when I bought my first TiVo's, paying over $300 each, and then $12.95 per month each for the service... eventually, TiVo was able to add a multi-service discount to those who have more than one TiVo, dropping the price to $6.95 per month for the additional TiVo's, and then they began offering rebates as well as dropping the price of the hardware (less than $100 after rebate), to now where people can get a TiVo for no upfront costs if they're willing and able to pay $16.95 per month for 3 years (or any of the other two bundled pricing plans, the 1-year and 2-year), consider it like getting a TiVo on credit, after which it will drop to the service-only fee (if you call and request it and are willing to agree to an additional 1-year commitment after your initial 1, 2 or 3-year commitment is met)...

I now have 5 TiVo's... (3) Dual-tuner and (2) Single-tuner, and feel it has been well-worth the expense for what I'm getting...

I've also upgraded the hard drives on all of my TiVo's, putting 400 GB drives in my dual-tuner boxes, as well as having all of my TiVo's networked... both of which can't be done with most, if not all, cable company DVRs...

TiVo, TV your way... gotta luv it!

brock50 · 06-14-2006, 12:30 AM

I relaly want Tivo, but $13 a month is a lot of money to pay. I can't afford that right now, but I guess I could find a way to pay for it in a couple months... I hope.

aus1ander · 06-14-2006, 07:09 AM

If an additional $13 a month is too much for your budget, then a DVR from *any* source might not be in your best interest. If it truly is that tight, maybe you're better off saving that money for other more critical needs...

Guindalf · 06-14-2006, 08:28 AM

What are you planning to use the TiVo with? Cable? OTA? Satellite?

If it's the latter, TiVo (or DVR) service is only $5.99 a month with DirecTV - for any number of DVRs. Of course you still pay a mirroring fee of $4.99 per receiver after the first one.

There are many features you WON'T get, but you will have dual tuners and a digital signal. There is an HD TiVo available that will also receive OTA HD locals (if you can get them).

***This is not intended as an ad for D*, but an illustration of options.***

classicsat · 06-14-2006, 02:08 PM

If you get a DT, that is worth 1.5 TiVos. You could look for Toshiba or Pioneer DVD units that use TiVo Basic on them, or manual recording on a Series 1.
There are a handful of free to use DVR options (including the aformentioned Toshiba and Pioneer units), you pay more upfront to buy.

Stanley Rohner · 06-14-2006, 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brock50

I relaly want Tivo, but $13 a month is a lot of money to pay. I can't afford that right now, but I guess I could find a way to pay for it in a couple months... I hope.

You can't set aside $3.25 per week ?

brock50 · 06-14-2006, 09:11 PM

I could, but I would really liketo only pay about $10 or so, I ust htingk that it is a little too record TV, I will probably end up getting it after next summer.

How many hours of recordig can I get and whre it the cheapest wpacle to gethese?

mchips · 06-14-2006, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brock50

I could, but I would really liketo only pay about $10 or so, I ust htingk that it is a little too record TV, I will probably end up getting it after next summer.

How many hours of recordig can I get and whre it the cheapest wpacle to gethese?

"$10 or so..."

Well, I'd say the $2.95 could qualify under your "or so..."

That's just one less Big Mac and Fries per month...

It's definitely worth it once you get it... I couldn't see how it could be either, until I got my first TiVo... I luv'd it so much, I then went out two weeks later and got a second... and then later a third, and then a fourth...

If you get two TiVo's, and buy both of them via retail, you can get the service for $12.95 + $6.95 = $19.90 / 2 = $9.95 each... that's less than $10 each...

And if you get four or more TiVo's, like what several of us have, then it amounts to $8.45 or less each...

If you're only going to get one TiVo, and don't have the money to buy the box outright at a retail location, the $19.95 1-year bundled price may be the best...

At $19.95 - $12.95 for the service * 12 months = only $84 for the box... for only $30 more, you can get a dual-tuner box that is then equivalent to having 2 TiVo's for the price of one monthly service fee, since you can record two shows at the same time, which required two TiVo's before the DT units came out... and the service fee is the same for a dual-tuner unit; i.e., they didn't raise the service fee for the DT units, which deserves a

in my book.

If you don't want to pay $19.95 per month for a year, then the $16.95, 3-year plan, might be better for you... you end up paying a little more for the box overall, but you're paying less each month... so, it's either pay more now and less overall, or less now and more overall...

If you buy a single-tuner unit at retail, it's only around $49 after rebate... Best Buy, Amazon.com and Circuit City were also then offering $25 gift cards on top of that... The dual-tuner unit is only around $99 after rebate, plus any other incentives from individual retailers...

When you're ready to buy one, shop around, as these deals can change from week to week and month to month...

As far as recording capacity, it depends on the hard drive size... an 80-hr box has an 80 GB drive, and will record approx. 80 hours at the lowest quality, and around a fourth of that (20 - 25 hrs) at best quality,which is equivalent to watching it live... I record everything at Best, which is among the reasons why I upgrade the hard drives... I bought 80-hr DT units, and then put 400 GB drives in each one, making them 444 hour boxes at basic, and over 125 hours at Best...

You can also get a 40-hour factory-renewed box from tivo.com for FREE if you pay for a year's service up front:

---> http://www.tivo.com/2.1.1.0.ws.asp

You could always start with this box, and then upgrade the hard drive later if you find you need more recording space... this one is only a single-tuner unit though... I got one of these boxes a year ago, upgraded the drive, and it's still going strong...

As you can see, there are many options and plans available to fit various budgets and preferences...

TiVoEvan74 · 06-15-2006, 03:42 PM

Say, I'd argue that if someone can afford to pay for full cable service each month (and internet service and Starbucks coffee and eating out multiple times a month and x, y, and z), then they can afford TiVo!

In fact, given a choice, I'd drop cable and go with TiVo! We actually found that OTA (over the air) and TiVo gave us more than enough to watch--and meant we didn't have spend huge $$ on monthly cable costs.

TiVo found all sorts of stuff we didn't even know was on the regular channels and, freed of the hassles of VCR and tapes (only 6 hours at most), it meant we could record all sorts of shows we hadn't bothered to.

And the ability to have it only record new shows and not record repeats is worth the price of admission. Get TiVo and you'll be amazed you went so long without it!

Stanley Rohner · 06-15-2006, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TiVoEvan74

Say, I'd argue that if someone can afford to pay for full cable service each month (and internet service and Starbucks coffee and eating out multiple times a month and x, y, and z), then they can afford TiVo!

In fact, given a choice, I'd drop cable and go with TiVo! We actually found that OTA (over the air) and TiVo gave us more than enough to watch--and meant we didn't have spend huge $$ on monthly cable costs.

TiVo found all sorts of stuff we didn't even know was on the regular channels and, freed of the hassles of VCR and tapes (only 6 hours at most), it meant we could record all sorts of shows we hadn't bothered to.

And the ability to have it only record new shows and not record repeats is worth the price of admission. Get TiVo and you'll be amazed you went so long without it!

A guy at work tells me his wife won't "go for" paying the TiVo monthly service fee, but yet his wife has XM radio service in her car.

Stanley Rohner · 06-15-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brock50

I could, but I would really liketo only pay about $10 or so, I ust htingk that it is a little too record TV, I will probably end up getting it after next summer.

How many hours of recordig can I get and whre it the cheapest wpacle to gethese?

liketo
ust
htingk
recordig
whre
wpacle
gethese

Try typing slower and using the SpellCheck.

Richie61 · 06-15-2006, 05:55 PM

I had a DirecTiVo. Tuner #1 died, details in the DirecTiVo forum, so I bought the 40-hour factory-renewed box from tivo for FREE - paid for a year's service up front. I -do- like it, but I miss the Dual Tuner. So now if I go buy a DT TiVo via retail, can I get the service on the new box an additional $6.95?

mchips · 06-15-2006, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richie61

I had a DirecTiVo. Tuner #1 died, details in the DirecTiVo forum, so I bought the 40-hour factory-renewed box from tivo for FREE - paid for a year's service up front. I -do- like it, but I miss the Dual Tuner. So now if I go buy a DT TiVo via retail, can I get the service on the new box an additional $6.95?

Yes... if you don't buy it via their "bundled" plans on tivo.com, buying it at a retail location instead, it qualifies for the MSD (multi-service discount) of $6.95...

bosox18 · 06-16-2006, 09:24 PM

Just curious, I'm not planning on adding a second box right now, but ... I purchased a 40-hour TiVo about a year and a half ago and paid for the $300 lifetime service. With the new pricing structure can I still get a second one and pay $6.95 a month for the service? If so, what if the first one, with the lifetime service, dies? Could I still keep using the remaining one for $6.95 a month, or does TiVo somehow know it's the only machine working and want $12.95 or whatever?

jjberger2134 · 06-16-2006, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bosox18

Just curious, I'm not planning on adding a second box right now, but ... I purchased a 40-hour TiVo about a year and a half ago and paid for the $300 lifetime service. With the new pricing structure can I still get a second one and pay $6.95 a month for the service?

Yes, but needs to be bought via retail, not the bundled plan on tivo.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by bosox18

If so, what if the first one, with the lifetime service, dies? Could I still keep using the remaining one for $6.95 a month, or does TiVo somehow know it's the only machine working and want $12.95 or whatever?

No, the first one would go up to 12.95/month after your lifetime box does not call in for 6 months (I think).

BJ411 · 06-17-2006, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stanley Rohner

liketo
ust
htingk
recordig
whre
wpacle
gethese

Try typing slower and using the SpellCheck.

ROFLMFAO !! at least he got the "too" correct over posting "to" lol

BJ411 · 06-17-2006, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stanley Rohner

You can't set aside $3.25 per week ?

everyone's income level and expenses are very different.. cost of living in the west is enormously higher than middle america..

i think tivos too expensive myself but it's a matter of sitting down and looking at priorities, likes and dislikes and where they rank in your budget..

for me i keep tivo and just drive an old car

Bob Williams · 06-17-2006, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjberger2134

No, the first one would go up to 12.95/month after your lifetime box does not call in for 6 months (I think).

I have a Series1 box whose modem died about two years ago, but which has lifetime service. I last tried using it about 1.5 years ago. Since it died, I've purchased two Series2 units, and I have them both on my original account as secondary units. Thus, it seems that you don't lose the benefits just because you're not using the box. And this is what I would expect, too, since TiVo got their money regardless of whether I'm actually using the product.

-Bob

jjberger2134 · 06-17-2006, 06:15 PM

I just remember hearing/reading that the TiVo must call in every six months or so in order to remain active. Others would know more than I, but that is what I recall and why I placed an (I think) qualifier after my statement.

BJ411 · 06-18-2006, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjberger2134

I just remember hearing/reading that the TiVo must call in every six months or so in order to remain active. Others would know more than I, but that is what I recall and why I placed an (I think) qualifier after my statement.

hmmmm, not sure what you're referring to here.. tivo calls in daily , it phones home for updated tv schedules

if you meant something else then i misunderstood !

jjberger2134 · 06-18-2006, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BJ411

hmmmm, not sure what you're referring to here.. tivo calls in daily , it phones home for updated tv schedules

if you meant something else then i misunderstood !

What I am trying to say is that a lifetime box must "phone home" to TiVo every six months so that TiVo knows the box is still alive, I am not referring to the basic daily call to receive programming information. Therefore, after no contact for an extended period of time TiVo (in theory) could consider the lifetime box inactive/dead/no longer used, etc. Thus, they would take the box off your account and a second box on the account could be bumped from $6.95 month to $12.95 month.

Remember, the $6.95 is for a multi service discount so the "six month" policy prevented people from activating a lifetime unit, buying a 2nd unit with MSD at $6.95, then selling the lifetime unit and having only 1 unit at $6.95 month on their account.

Look at item 1C on this link

BJ411 · 06-19-2006, 04:54 PM

gotcha

i for one find their entire lineup of pricing ridiculous and confusing unless you really pay attention.. i wish i had gotten in on the lifetime price with my first box but i wanted to wait and see how long the box lasted, how good tivo service was, and if it's worth it..now i've missed out..but then again my oldest box which is only 3 yrs old is in crappy shape..

i use tivo, i'm addicted to tivo and will continue to use tivo.. but i do think it's too damn expensive !!