[jrm01]

I was wondering if it's possible for individuals to purchase their own cable cards, and possibly do away with the hassle of trying to get what they want from the cable companies. I'm sure the cable provider would still have to activate a card and that a monthly fee might apply, but it seems like things would be simpler for consumers.

Nope. You rent them from cable companies. And yes, even if you could buy them you would still have the hassle of getting them to work with the cable company. And your situation would be even worse when the cable tech tells you that one of the cablecards is bad. In most cases the rental fee is only $1.50 for the second card, with the first one free. However, there are also many cases of being overcharged for them. Negotiate with them, argue and call back many times to get the best price. If you're lucky, there are many cable companies now that recognize what a Tivo is, and will give you reasonable pricing.

 

[jrm01]

You can only get cablecards from your local provider. Since you live in Columbia I'm guessing you have either Comcast or Verizon FIOS. Verizon charges $2.95 per month for each cablecard. You'd have to contact Comcast for their price. Cablecard pricing varies widely all over the country as there doesn't seem to be any standard price structure and providers are pretty much free to charge what they want for them. There's one horror story posted where someone is getting charged about $30 per month for two cablecards by their provider.

If you do have Comcast they now have a special Tivo FAQ on there web site that says that the first cablecard is free and the second is a "nominal charge".

http://www.comcast.com/Customers/FAQ/FaqCategory.ashx?CatId=461

 

[jrm01]

The link for the Comcast pricing should be a sticky.......

It should be a real sticky posted on every Comcast CSR's forehead.