Lifetime Service Status?

No offers on the table and only TiVo knows if anything is in the works.

 

I've posted this a few times.

I was able to transfer Lifetime from an S2 to an S3 in May. I had to pay $199.00 to make the transfer. That fee included a one year subscription for the S2. I believe that I've read that others have done it after that May date, too but don't recall.

I don't recall reading about anyone being able to transfer a lifetime to the newer TivoHD unit.

Oh, and calling Tivo in advance of the S3 purchase would not get any answer. It was only after I purchased it and was calling to subscribe that I was able to discuss the transfer with their representative. I purchased the unit from Costco.

 

The TivoHD also has the native pass through feature.

 

I just called TiVo and they informed me that currently there are no specials to transfer Lifetime subscriptions to new boxes and he was not sure there are any planned. He did verify that lifetime does qualify for MSD for the second TIVO box, registered under same account and address.

I am almost ready to just get the TiVoHD unit, since THX and an OLED display are not enough to push me into the S3 and, hopefully, the eSATA port will be usable soon for further storage options.

 

Lifetime Subs are not really a concern to Tivo anymore. They are trying to phase them all out by the looks of it.....

I will now go and wait in the corner for the Tivo Believers to start throwing rocks at me

 

If I were a betting man, I'd gamble on Tivo doing one last transfer offer just before Christmas or sometime before the analog cutoff.
I for one will jump on it when/if it happens, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Think of how many HDs or S3s they would sell by doing that.

Now having said that, it probably won't happen.

 

They only offered the lifetime transfer once for the S2 and that was when the S2 was really expensive and offered no extra features.

When the S3 came out they offered the lifetime transfer when the S3 was really expensive and had fewer features.

So if they repeat the past, then there will be no lifetime transfers to the THD.

But if TiVo is hurting for cash a onetime lifetime offer would bring in a bunch, but hurt revenue.

Also after 4 years the lifetime subs come off the books, so they could offer long time lifetime subs the chance to transfer again (presumably with a substantial fee).

 

The Lifetime transfer offer wasn't because the new TiVo lacked features, but simply because of a new TiVo. The former likely to get some Series1 users onto the Series 2 platform that actually did have hope of added functionality and long term viability, the latter as a bonus for early adopters that would put down $800 on the thing.

The June/July promotion ($299 for a Series 2HD and Lifetime trasnfer to it) was probably to get Series 1s and older Series 2s out of the field, I suppose to get rid of stock, or to get customers on the new platform for the online features.

Yep. The likely have no intention of a transfer deal or promotion for the TiVoHD. It even took a bit to get them to accept Grandfather transfers on it.

Right now, I don't think they want to bother about quick cash, but ongoing revenue.

 

A Tivopoll:


What's the maximum lifetime service fee you would pay when used on an Tivo HD box, excluding the cost of the box? No transfers. Just straight up Lifetime service fee.

 

This is a big misconception of the Series 1 and 2s, especially the single tuners.
While this will certainly affect OTA attenna connections and direct analog cable connections, they will be able to continue to work after the analog cut. They work fine hooked up to cable boxes using the serial or ir repeater cables...Analog cut off will not affect that as the cable boxes will handle the digital to analog conversion anyway.

The only boxes that I understnad get affected are the S2DTs, unless TiVo has added a SD ATSC tuner to the boxes as well to tune digital sd cable & OTA channels.

 

what happens to the s2 when the analog gets cut off?

 

You'll need to hook up the digital cable receiver to the video input on the back of the S2, and control it with the IR blaster "eye".

 

can that be used with a motorola comcast dvr box as well?

is it a pain in the ass to use two boxes like that?

 

What, the IR blaster?

You can't, or at least shouldn't, use a DVR as a recording source for TiVo.

And the Motorola box cannot work as a standalone Tivo controlling an STB.