Best Buy Antenna with Free Tivo Deal

11008 Views 51 Replies 30 Participants Last post by drknapp, Dec 10, 2011

hairyblue

Discussion Starter · Sep 4, 2011

I was looking at antennas online and found this deal at Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Long-Ra...?skuId=9999163500050001&id=pcmprd163300050001

I figured I'd go down there and pick this up. If the antenna doesn't work for me I still have the free Tivo.

When I got down there they only had one tivo and one antenna left. And I ddin't see them advertising it anywhere. I asked the Best Buy guy about it by showing the web page on my phone and he knew about it. So I got the last pair.

I wonder if Tivo is tying to steal everyone away from Cable/Sat?

1 - 20 of 52 Posts

innocentfreak

· #2 · Sep 4, 2011

Dave Zatz had a post on it last week. This popped up after the Solid Signal deal surfaced.

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2011-08/tivo-courts-cord-cutters/

Solid Signal $9.99 discussion

smbaker

· #3 · Sep 4, 2011

hairyblue said:
I wonder if Tivo is tying to steal everyone away from Cable/Sat?

Perhaps their desperately trying to find a new niche?

The cablecards made a bit of a mess of selling Tivos to cable subscribers. OTA might be their best bet as a place to keep selling standalone Tivos, even though their attempts at consumer product development seem rather half-hearted anymore.

L David Matheny

· #4 · Sep 4, 2011

smbaker said:
Perhaps their desperately trying to find a new niche?

The cablecards made a bit of a mess of selling Tivos to cable subscribers. OTA might be their best bet as a place to keep selling standalone Tivos, even though their attempts at consumer product development seem rather half-hearted anymore.

There are reports that OTA-only viewership is experiencing healthy growth, partly due to the economy, but also due to cable company hostility and expense. It's concerning enough to some groups that there is a lobbying effort to take away a big chunk of the broadcast TV frequency spectrum and give it to emergency responders, who will no doubt utilize it with astounding inefficiency. This is especially unfortunate now that broadcast TV has entered a golden age with the advent of ATSC digital technology. I'm OTA only, and I love my TiVo Premiere, even if its software is a work in progress.

appleye1

· #5 · Sep 4, 2011

L David Matheny said:
There are reports that OTA-only viewership is experiencing healthy growth, partly due to the economy, but also due to cable company hostility and expense. It's concerning enough to some groups that there is a lobbying effort to take away a big chunk of the broadcast TV frequency spectrum and give it to emergency responders, who will no doubt utilize it with astounding inefficiency. This is especially unfortunate now that broadcast TV has entered a golden age with the advent of ATSC digital technology. I'm OTA only, and I love my TiVo Premiere, even if its software is a work in progress.

+1

There's a real chance that underhanded legislation on behalf of the cable lobby could cripple or eliminate some local broadcasting. Meaning new legislation to "help" emergency services might actually eliminate the local emergency notifications that local broadcasters provide. Go to http://www.thefutureoftv .org/default.asp for more information and to see what you can do to help.

unitron

· #6 · Sep 5, 2011

L David Matheny said:
There are reports that OTA-only viewership is experiencing healthy growth, partly due to the economy, but also due to cable company hostility and expense. It's concerning enough to some groups that there is a lobbying effort to take away a big chunk of the broadcast TV frequency spectrum and give it to emergency responders, who will no doubt utilize it with astounding inefficiency. This is especially unfortunate now that broadcast TV has entered a golden age with the advent of ATSC digital technology. I'm OTA only, and I love my TiVo Premiere, even if its software is a work in progress.

The whole point of changing broadcast TV over to digital was supposed to be to free up spectrum for first responders--it was already in the works, and 9/11/2001 helped make the need apparent.

Of course it's almost 10 years later and they've screwed up broadcast TV and sold off spectrum (which they should have kept and leased), but the whole first responders thing has pretty much been left on the back burner this whole time.

unitron

· #7 · Sep 5, 2011

appleye1 said:
+1

There's a real chance that underhanded legislation on behalf of the cable lobby could cripple or eliminate some local broadcasting. Meaning new legislation to "help" emergency services might actually eliminate the local emergency notifications that local broadcasters provide. Go to http://www.thefutureoftv .org/default.asp for more information and to see what you can do to help.

Sorry, whenever it's cable versus the NAB, I just assume, based on experience, that both sides are lying to me, even if it's only lies of omission, and that both are out to screw me, again, based on experience.

aadam101

· #8 · Sep 5, 2011

I think this is a smart move for Tivo. Cable subscriptions are shrinking while OTA is growing. It only makes sense to go after this market.

ntarvin

· #9 · Sep 9, 2011

This is not just a smart move, it's a slam-dunk!

Not only does Tivo capture OTA users with a machine to handle recording (and some web functions), it supplies a long-range antenna (one of the best-selling of the Clearstream line), AND a reduced monthly fee - which is within an acceptable range based on Hulu+ and Netflix prices.

The best thing, though, for those of us who are trying to convince our "better half" that cutting the cord is easier than they think it will be, is that the Tivo has a very high WAF! (Wife Acceptance Factor) - a simple remote, no extra "stuff", no computers in the living room, etc, etc, etc.

I got this package the day I heard about it. I had thought about Tivo before, but $20 a month and buying antennas just did not fit my budget. This deal was perfect. Hooked up the Tivo and antenna and everything worked. Bargain!

I had previously tried a number of the media center progs - Boxee, XBM, WMC, etc but they didn't pass the WAF. Too confusing, too much going on. In short - too much change at once. She just wanted to sit down on the couch and click a button.

Roku was good - she liked that one and I still use Roku to access Netflix and other web services using PlayOn (not crazy about Tivo's handling of the web stuff), but the Tivo is the missing component for us. Yes, now she can sit on the couch and just click a button!
(I also got a Harmony 650 remote to control everything, but I'm the only one who uses it! LOL!)

Tivo got this one exactly right - let's hope they keep it up!

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tazmandman

· #10 · Sep 11, 2011

I agree, Tivo should be making hard marketing and promotional strides to helping people "cut the cord"...

I picked up this deal as well yesterday at Best Buy... they had a small sign by the Tivo Premiere displays but no heavy advertisement.

When the guy rang me up I had to tell him about the bundle... he said it was so new to their store that they had not properly printed out the promo material, etc. but even he thought that it was a steal of a deal...

edit: misspelling

unitron

· #11 · Sep 11, 2011

tazmandman said:
I agree, Tivo should be making hard marketing and promotional strides to helping people cut the chord...

Unless they're planning on sawing through their rafter support webbing, it's "cutting the cord". As in umbilical cord.

tazmandman

· #12 · Sep 11, 2011

unitron said:
Unless they're planning on sawing through their rafter support webbing, it's "cutting the cord". As in umbilical cord.

haha, yes.. I had a musical chord on my mind at the time...

unitron

· #13 · Sep 11, 2011

tazmandman said:
haha, yes.. I had a musical chord on my mind at the time...

There's an old song about that.

ncbill

· #14 · Sep 12, 2011

It's an excellent antenna.

I use the same one (with an amplifier since I split the signal between 2 Tivos)

Mine hangs off the side of my entertainment center, pointed out the window.

I get all my locals (transmitters 15-35 miles away) plus a couple of Charlotte stations (transmitters 60 miles away)

I switched to OTA when I got the HDTV and discovered Tivo could not remap clear QAM.

Dr_Diablo

· #15 · Sep 12, 2011

A good deal for OTA recording, downside is the number/amount of channelss unavailable with the use of this antenna... Knowing in which direction is another factor to consider...

The cable companies should offer bundled packages of channels that you actually view, an not forced to pay for all or nothing.... IMHO...

There are reasons this option is not available to the general public, an it is a shame that greed is the driving force behind it... :down:

mdm08033

· #16 · Oct 5, 2011

Dr_Diablo said:
A good deal for OTA recording, downside is the number/amount of channelss unavailable with the use of this antenna... Knowing in which direction is another factor to consider...:

I am getting close to jumping on this. I was shocked to see that a $4.19 UHF bowtie, hanging from an old Christmas decoration window suction cup hook, pulled in every major and minor digital station in the Haddonfield, South Jersey area near Philadelphia. The only hiccup comes next spring when my wife's precious Phillies return to cable.

Cheers, Michael

Joe3

· #17 · Oct 5, 2011

This deal makes too much sense to belong to TiVo management. Fittingly however, they might wind up owing some unknown stock-boy from Best Buy for saving their company.

jfh3

· #18 · Oct 6, 2011

I just set one of these up for my niece. I was pleasantly surprised at the range of the antenna - she is 40+ miles away from the broadcast antennas and got all the expected stations and more (antenna in her attic, and her house in somewhat of a valley).

She was very happy to ditch cable.

compnurd

· #19 · Oct 6, 2011

Does anyone know when this deal expires? I am considering getting a Tivo and this is a good deal, plus if i dont like it i can just return it to best buy

timatkn

· #20 · Oct 6, 2011

compnurd said:
Does anyone know when this deal expires? I am considering getting a Tivo and this is a good deal, plus if i dont like it i can just return it to best buy

I don't know about the antenna deal but TIVO told me the 9.99 per month for OTA (which is the best part of the deal IMHO) expires in November.

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