Tivo offering lifetime for $349 with DVR purchase

A refurbished base Roamio for $400 is now the best option for a lot of people, even for OTA only, it might be better than the Roamio OTA for the same price.

 

Wednesday I ordered the refurb base Tivo, and lifetime. With tax, it's $402.98. I can now go either way, OTA or use a cablecard with cable.

I then picked up a 3TB upgraded WD30EURX drive for this from Amazon. $70.43 TOTAL!. It was normally $118, but I applied for their store card and got $40 gift card to use instantly. Plus I had $7.57 points on my regular Amazon card.

$402.98 Tivo and Lifetime + $70.43 upgraded drive = $473.41 all complete.

I got the email showing it's been shipped Thursday.

 

Chuckle. You sound like my sister. "My Amazon Rewards credits covered the price, so it was free!"

 

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I'll never use that Amazon card, so it was a free $40. As for the $7.xx something in points of the other card, they were accumulated when I bought a few things I needed.

It all still saved me almost $48.00 on the price of the drive. Pretty much free money, as I pay the card off in full when it has a balance.

 

Yes, but having the $$ in rewards points doesn't actually change the cost of the item purchased. It doesn't make a given item "free."

 

Tivo needs to offer a way to transfer the service plan. All the offers aready include service

 

I don't get your meaning.

The discounted lifetime service associated with the linked sale is intended to drive sales of TiVo's renewed/refurb and OTA-capable DVR inventory. They're not offering a discount on lifetime as a separate, standalone item.

 

You keep talking about getting it for "free". I NEVER said that I got the drive for "free", but I did say I got it at a discount.

My point is that anybody could sign up for that card, and on approval get that same $40, to use instantly on the drive purchase. It doesn't cost anything, and $40 is $40...

 

Like this...?

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Right; totally agree!! $40 is $40. And you chose to combine those $40 sitting in a virtual jar w/ some other funds and pay for a $118 hard drive.

I apologize for saying you remind me of my sister; I was wholly wrong on that count. She knowingly chuckles when I've called her on this ruse.

 

Kind of depends on what options you have. If there is an option to get the "reward" as cash or to use it towards a general payment on your credit card then I agree using the reward to pay for something is spending your money and not "free".

However I believe the one time $40 amazon deal is different in that you can only use it for the purchase made during sign up. I would look at that as a coupon or discount, so the net cost of your purchase (after the $40 reduction) is your actual cost for that item.

 

The item, itself, isn't free -- that's why your virtual cookie jar is a little less full after the purchase. Your jar fills via the rewards points mechanism, but it's no different, really, than getting a debit card from a rebate. It's just another source of funds. That people don't think of such accounts in the same way as their bank accounts doesn't change the fact.

 

Agreed. With the Amazon card you are earning reward points, which is compensation for purchases using their card (i.e. loyalty). The reward points are the funds used during the transaction. When items are truly free, there is no exchange of funds. Did it cost you anything extra? Maybe nothing other than the cashback that other cards provide.

 

I don't read that as an accurate restatement of what I tried to communicate, above.

Reward account funds aren't a discount, either, since the price of the items to be purchased remain the same. A discount is explicitly a decrease in the price of an item, resulting in a lesser "exchange of funds," borrowing from jwbelcher, above. Free is simply a 100% discount.

I understand that it feels free, or discounted; it feels that way to me, as well. But unless there are specific purchase requirements put on those virtual funds, they're really just another debit account.

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edit: p.s. I'm done harshing everyone's buzz on this. Enjoy the freebies...!

 

I'm thinking, now, that I misunderstood your point. By "purchases," you may have been referring to the purchases that accrue the rewards card funds. If so, I'd say that's an accurate statement. The rewards card explicitly promises a certain % of cash-ish back, just in rewards points -- so you *are* effectively receiving a discount associated with *those* purchases, according to the terms of your card agreement. It's just not an instant discount that lowers the price of the item; instead it's closer to a mail-in rebate that you don't have to remember to actually mail-in (other than mailing your credit card payment, that is).

 

I just saw the summer sales and also looked at the regular purchase method which does not show the discounted prices. Does anyone know if the equipment is the latest version? Or is this new but older hardware?

Thanks.

P.S. New here, first post

 

Welcome!