Seems it has been updated. Now can get a new Vox (500GB, with cable and OTA capability) including lifetime for $350. The unit is $99, the lifetime $250. I have no idea why anyone would take the monthly or yearly subscription, even at discounted price. Monthly is $10 a month, $120 a year. yearly $100 a year. BUT two year commitment. 2 years on monthly is $240, 2 years on yearly is $200. But lifetime only $250? Unless someone might considering cancelling before the two year commitment, not sure what the penalty is.
"New" bracket buster sale?
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But the Bolts, according to posts on this forum, seem to be junk or, to put it another way, a nightmare. IMHO the Series 5 is the best TiVo so far, but even the S4 and S3 would seem to be far more reliable than any of the Bolts.
True enough, however this is the cheapest I have seen a lifetime Bolt Vox (from Tivo direct), other than the $99 lifetime transfer deals and once they had a $280 deal on a refurb regular white Bolt with lifetime. I am happy with my Roamios, 3.5" drives. Don't like Bolts much but for someone who wants one this deal as good as I've seen ever (other than used on ebay). $350 compared to $750 retail enough of a savings to give one a try. I would stick with the 4 tuner cable and OTA capable though, strictly cable card or strictly OTA very risky with both cable cards and ATSC 1 on their way out most likely. Oh, I do have one Bolt (got it during that $280 sale), I use it to test/monitor TE4 and use with external 3.5" drive, works well so far.
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Took them long enough! But, it is fixed! I bought a refurb 500gb (white version) for about $250 a year ago. Still not a bad price though...
Could be, I did not check the original sale closely as I'm not in the market. I do know the email about the first sale said "save up to $350". This "updated" or "extended" sale says save up to $400. Which is the $100 off the Vox, $300 off the lifetime. Not sure what the original sale was that said $350, if it was a new Vox their math was wrong, $400 savings not $350.
FYI - my Bolt (500GB, which I upgraded with a 2TB drive) has been in service for about 2.5 years now without any hardware issues. I do have a USB-powered fan blowing across it continuously - no idea if that has helped or not. YMMV
The Bolt boxes are not "junk" nor a "nightmare"--many people are happy with them. Having said that, my guess is that the Roamio boxes have had a higher reliability.
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There is no doubt that Roamios are better, just based on HD size and cooling alone.
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Well I did put the words junk and nightmare in quotes in my original post because those, among many others, are the words--not my words--angry posters have used to describe either the DVR itself or the experience of the S6 Bolts. YMMV, my friend, but I would not dare to minimize the experience too many posters have had with their Bolts. Hmm. Seemed to have touched a real nerve with you. Perhaps you are among the less than satisfied with the Bolt series owners. We even have posts of many advising those to NOT purchase a Bolt, but find an S5 or posting that it would not be worth upgrading from an S5 to a Bolt--that's a first for TiVo's. Sorry, but that is the Bolt reputation. While the Premiere (S4) got fixed with Haxie, I can't see any fix from TiVo for the Bolt becasue some of the problems are the decision to use a smaller HDD and the poor design of the box itself that turns out NOT to allow the box to be sufficiently cool, but then there are other problems that the average Joe will never solve, such as the fan issue and any other DYI projects that Joe just isn't equipped to fix, and sometimes inexplicable failure of the unit itself and Joe has no other option to have TiVo replace the box--multiple times--losing all their recordings--again--and sometimes for a fee. I shant go on because it would be a much longer post than it already is.
I wisely stayed clear of the Bolts ONLY because of many helpful posts of Bolt users and their experiences. I have TiVo's from S3 to S5, and they all work VERY WELL, but the Bolt is the very first Series I have deliberately avoided buying. My great thanks to all those who posted their Bolt S6 expierences. You have all saved me a lot of money and heartache.
The only "nerve" that was touched was that from seeming over-generalizations.* I've been fine with my Bolt box, just like with my Roamio and, yes, even Series 2 boxes. And I'm not trying to minimalize anything--just trying to keep things balanced and accurate (as much as we can, only having access to anecdotal info.) and not having issues undeservedly maximized.
* Oh, and no, the words "junk" and "nightmare" were not in quotes in your original post, at least as it appears to me.
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Is there a reason the original Bolt (500gb ant/cable white) is so much more reliable than all the others? I think this has been proven through years of discussion but I may be wrong. I have had mine since it came out. No issues whatsoever! (gulp!)
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I'm one month in on my Bolt ownership, no issues so far. Will report regularly.
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I've owned S2, HD, Premiere (still do), Roamio, and now a Bolt since 2017. My Bolt has been as problem free as any other TiVo I've owned ... it just works and definitely not a nightmare. I'd buy it again without hesitation.
I had two original Bolt hard drives go within the first few months. Both before I had even gotten around to upgrading to larger drives. Very light use. Since then both are upgraded and one has almost a year on it, no further problem; the other is on a shelf, turned off, so I don't know. But overall that's the worst experience I've had with any Tivos since pre HR10-250 days. I'm used to a hard drive going every 4-7 years on the HR10-250s and the Series 3s and HDs.
But, just random data points.
Would be because the original uses a 500GB PMR drive. The larger drives, though they might be PMR do seem a lot more likely to fail. Especially those 3TB drives they used to put in the Bolt +. 2.5" drives a lot more likely to fail than a 3.5, and the larger capacity the more likely to fail from what I've seen, 2.5" wise.
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I know they want to push hardware, but offer us Bolt owners a reasonable all-in price. I have an unplugged Bolt 1tb and switched to Amazon Recast as annual fee wasn’t worth it for a place I use less than six months a year. Resale on Bolt on eBay not worth the aggravation
Well, you kinda/sorta have it--you just have to buy the new box to get it. If you're OTA, you get Lifetime for $250 (plus a Bolt OTA box); if you're cable or want a "full" OTA box, you get Lifetime for $350 (plus a Bolt OTA/cable box). But yeah, it would be nice if TiVo would offer Lifetime alone--perhaps at $250 or $300?
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That makes sense. I guess I should be happy to have the smaller HD. I am very happy with this unit.
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