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ROI SPREADSHEET TO ANALYZE COST OF OF TIVO S3/HD vs COMCAST HD

5K views 21 replies 16 participants last post by  TiivoDog 
#1 ·
Has anybody thrown a spreadsheet together to analyze the upfront costs of Tivo vs paying for Comcast HD Services and their DVR etc...

Now that Tivo has lifetime again I may consider.
 
#4 ·
Actually, the biggest deal for me is the amount of available storage - though TTG plays a factor in this.

Is there any (legal) way of upgrading the storage of your Motorola Comcast DVR?

Now there seem to almost be too many ways of achieving extra storage using Tivo:
1. Official eSata expansion drive.
2. Offload via TTG to computer hard drive. Use TTCB for seamless playback.
3. Unofficial upgrades of internal or external drives.
 
#5 ·
If someone can put together the actual cost list, the caculations are pretty easy (removing feature sets from the discussion, obv).

I mean, I know TiVo's I guess....

TiVoHD = 260 up front (aproximate, after discounts and such, right?)
TiVo S3 = 400 up front (I think that's the going rate on most sites, no?)

Service = 399 lifetime or (if you can't get a lifetime) 299 right now and 249 in 3 years (3 year and 2 year prepaid).

Cable Card fees = ????

What are comcasts? 0 up front? Do they have mCards? What do they charge per month for their box?

It's just going to be the upfront costs + PV of each other cost.

You'd be pretty hard pressed to show any kind of savings with the TiVo over 5 years.
 
#6 ·
I think I will whip up a spreadsheet with the known factors (by searching threads) and maybe run it by the thread. I was hoping not needing to do that.

5 years too long for the ROI IMO.

I payed about $600 all told for my Sony SVR3000 + Tivo Lifetime + Remote Scheduling.
 
#9 ·
Has anybody thrown a spreadsheet together to analyze the upfront costs of Tivo vs paying for Comcast HD Services and their DVR etc...
So many variables. Plus there really is the indirect cost: the pain of using a cableco DVR. I ran the numbers before I bought my 2nd S3 last month:

Comcast:
$17 for HD DVR service

TiVo:
$7 monthly fee
$2 cablecard fee to comcast

I save $8 a month. The S3 cost $349. About a 3 1/2 year payback. The intangible is I was using the SA8300HD, which is possibly the worst created User Interface of any device known to man. The $200 rebate, combined with Comcast's increase Oct 1 (DVR $11 -> $17), pushed me over the edge, and made buying a 2nd S3 a no-brainer.

Everyone's mileage will vary; how much your cableco charges, which TiVo you buy, the monthly charge (I signed up for $6.95 a couple weeks before they changed it :up:). But if it's even close, the joy of the TiVo UI makes it a gimme. Add in MRV, TTG, larger hard drive...

You'd be pretty hard pressed to show any kind of savings with the TiVo over 5 years.
As I just disproved.
 
#12 ·
(I just can't resist.)

How do you propose to compare the outcome of whether that cute blond in accounting is willing to be seen getting into your Vega versus the Beemer?
Or what she'll think when she gets to your house and sees that you have one of those POS cableco DVR's that was supposed to record Sleepless in Seattle for that romantic evening and instead recorded Barney’s Big Adventure…and quit half-way through?! ;)
 
#13 ·
I may have posted this before. But a friend of my Mom's was exchanging her Comcast DVR for the 3rd time. She called me while waiting in line and said get me TiVo. She does not have an HDTV, so I helped her take advantage of the recent Amazon/S2 deal. The one where the S2 was $99, and you got a $100 TiVo gift card for service. We applied the gift card toward the 3yr prepaid at $299. Here's what I wrote her about some rough savings I calculated.

"Anyway, I am glad you are liking it. I think a Comcast DVR and service is costing upwards of $17/month these days. That’s around $205 a year. Your prepaid 3 year TiVo service is costing around $5.50/month, so $66 a year. $205 - $66 = $139. So in the first year, you are saving $139, which is very nearly the cost of the TiVo box and that wireless adapter. So in the first year, your savings are paying for the TiVo equipment. And then for the following 2 years, you save an additional $139 per year off your cable bill free and clear. Pretty cool how that worked out."
 
#14 ·
I quickly put together an Excel spreadsheet that once populated with the appropriate Tivo Unit (S3/HD), Service/Pricing Plan and applicable Comcast/Provider, the costs will calculate a Break Even point. It will also allow one to plug in a specified number of months to determine which Tivo purchasing options are best for them.

In order for the spreadsheet to work correctly, one must select a "Y" in the appropriate cells B11:J11, as well as update (if necessary) the cost for those applicable options in cells B10:J10. This will ensure the calculations and conditional formatting will be performed correctly. Subsequently, one can see in columns M & N, at what point the Tivo has paid for itself via the Green & Red cell colors. Additionally, one can just select the number of months in cell "E4" to determine if the Tivo pricing options are best suited for them, given a fixed length of time.

Hint: If there are also service costs that I haven't captured in a specific column, just manually add them and plug that total monthly amount into the "Cablecard" cost (cell "I12")

Additionally, this spreadsheet does not take into consideration the Time Value of Money or any assumed pricing escalations by either Tivo or the Comcast/Provider, so keep that in mind - I did that to keep this relative simple. Otherwise, I hope others find it helpful in determining which Tivo unit/price plan to chose.
 

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#15 ·
I quickly put together an Excel spreadsheet that once populated with the appropriate Tivo Unit (S3/HD), Service/Pricing Plan and applicable Comcast/Provider, the costs will calculate a Break Even point. It will also allow one to plug in a specified number of months to determine which Tivo purchasing options are best for them.

In order for the spreadsheet to work correctly, one must select a "Y" in the appropriate cells B11:J11, as well as update (if necessary) the cost for those applicable options in cells B10:J10. This will ensure the calculations and conditional formatting will be performed correctly. Subsequently, one can see in columns M & N, at what point the Tivo has paid for itself via the Green & Red cell colors. Additionally, one can just select the number of months in cell "E4" to determine if the Tivo pricing options are best suited for them, given a fixed length of time.

Hint: If there are also service costs that I haven't captured in a specific column, just manuall add them and plug that total monthly amount into the "Cablecard" cost (cell "I12")

Additionally, this spreadsheet does not take into consideration the Time Value of Money or any assumed pricing escalations by either Tivo or the Comcast/Provider, so keep that in mind - I did that to keep this relative simple. Otherwise, I hope others find it helpful in determining which Tivo unit/price plan to chose.
THIS IS JUST ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!! GREAT STARTING POINT FOR ME. NOW I CAN DIG THROUGH MY COMCAST BILL AND PRICES AND FIGURE IT OUT. I GREATLY APPRECIATE THE DRAFT. SORRY TO SHOUT IN CAPS! BUT HAPPY THANKS GIVING AND CHEERS.:up:
 
#17 ·
My Tivo makes me much happier than my Comcast DVR ever did. I don't care if I spend more on the Tivo, it's worth it to me.
Exactly my position, it's not a money issue, I praise the deity above every day I get to use my S3 or TivoHD for programming over that POS Comcast box that used to stay in the living room with a big black cloud hanging over it.

There's nothing that could ever make me go back to the hell on earth that was the Comcast DVR.
 
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