[lawilson2]

I'm curious, would the RCN box be worth it on a bedroom TV that doesn't get much use? Here's the math I came up with projecting 3 years:

Tivo HD:
Box: $255 (on sale at Amazon currently)
Cable Card: $1.50 X 36 months = $54
Tivo service for 2nd box: $6.95 with 3 year monthly plan X 36 months = $250.20
Total: $559.20

RCN Dual Tuner HD Box:
Box: $12.95/month X 36 months = $466.20

Difference: $93

So, is the Tivo HD worth $93 more over the course of 3 years for casual use in a bedroom? This isn't even a question on my main tv; I have the Tivo S3 with a 750GB attached drive, and it's worth it to me. But I'm trying to make a decision on the bedroom.

Any suggestions? Is my math off?

 

[LifeIsABeach]

Didn't bother to check the math, but adding another TiVo HD does have the additional feature of being able to do MRV soon. I have RCN and chose neither of those otions. I bought a Terk Leapfrog which I use to send the signal from my TiVo in the living room to my cheapo TV in the bedroom. Works great. Several other products do the same thing.

 

[janry]

Seems like a lot of money in either case for 'casual' use. One other consideration would be either tying up a phone line briefly each day for the TiVo to call in unless you spend even more to hook it up to a home network. But with the TiVo at the end of 3 years you will at least have some hardware left over.

 

[lawilson2]

Seems like a lot of money in either case for 'casual' use. One other consideration would be either tying up a phone line briefly each day for the TiVo to call in unless you spend even more to hook it up to a home network. But with the TiVo at the end of 3 years you will at least have some hardware left over.

I have a series 2 already that I discontinued service a few months ago. I still have the network adapter, so that isn't a cost issue. The reason that I desired the HD box was that the series 2 is hooked up to a HDTV so I'm not utilizing the tv's full capacity, and I can't get any of my extended channels past 99 because of not having the cable cards.

 

[mwwilliams10]

Speaking as an RCN customer who switched from RCN DVRs to TivoHD, it was worth it for me to go with Tivo.

I had four different DVRs from RCN, none of which ever worked properly. All required service calls, because Chicago has one (yes, 1!) RCN customer center which you can exchange boxes and it is only open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. Unless I wanted to take off work, I had to schedule Saturday service calls.

Fed up, I switched to Tivo. Worked perfectly with RCN's CCs on the first try.

The reason that you would go with RCN's box is to avoid the "risk" associated with buying DVR equipment as opposed to renting. If you do a three year contract with Tivo, they warrant your DVR for all parts for the 3 years (labor is capped at $50). Therefore, the risk is low.

Also, I am shocked that you are only paying $12,95 for the DVR from RCN. RCN was charging me $17.95 - I have a feeling your DVR is going to go up in price soon.

 

[lawilson2]

Speaking as an RCN customer who switched from RCN DVRs to TivoHD, it was worth it for me to go with Tivo.

I had four different DVRs from RCN, none of which ever worked properly. All required service calls, because Chicago has one (yes, 1!) RCN customer center which you can exchange boxes and it is only open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. Unless I wanted to take off work, I had to schedule Saturday service calls.

Fed up, I switched to Tivo. Worked perfectly with RCN's CCs on the first try.

The reason that you would go with RCN's box is to avoid the "risk" associated with buying DVR equipment as opposed to renting. If you do a three year contract with Tivo, they warrant your DVR for all parts for the 3 years (labor is capped at $50). Therefore, the risk is low.

Also, I am shocked that you are only paying $12,95 for the DVR from RCN. RCN was charging me $17.95 - I have a feeling your DVR is going to go up in price soon.

I don't have an RCN box; haven't for 2 years. So my $12.95 quote was based on that. I had no idea that they went up. If that's truly the case, then that extra $5 more than eats up the $93 difference in my math, and the Tivo HD is the clear winner. I'll double check that; thanks for pointing it out!

 

[lawilson2]

Speaking as an RCN customer who switched from RCN DVRs to TivoHD, it was worth it for me to go with Tivo.

I had four different DVRs from RCN, none of which ever worked properly. All required service calls, because Chicago has one (yes, 1!) RCN customer center which you can exchange boxes and it is only open Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. Unless I wanted to take off work, I had to schedule Saturday service calls.

Fed up, I switched to Tivo. Worked perfectly with RCN's CCs on the first try.

The reason that you would go with RCN's box is to avoid the "risk" associated with buying DVR equipment as opposed to renting. If you do a three year contract with Tivo, they warrant your DVR for all parts for the 3 years (labor is capped at $50). Therefore, the risk is low.

Also, I am shocked that you are only paying $12,95 for the DVR from RCN. RCN was charging me $17.95 - I have a feeling your DVR is going to go up in price soon.

I don't have an RCN box; haven't for 2 years. So my $12.95 quote was based on that. I had no idea that they went up. If that's truly the case, then that extra $5 more than eats up the $93 difference in my math, and the Tivo HD is the clear winner. I'll double check that; thanks for pointing it out!

 

[wdwms]

I'm curious, would the RCN box be worth it on a bedroom TV that doesn't get much use? Here's the math I came up with projecting 3 years:

Tivo HD:
Box: $255 (on sale at Amazon currently)
Cable Card: $1.50 X 36 months = $54
Tivo service for 2nd box: $6.95 with 3 year monthly plan X 36 months = $250.20
Total: $559.20

RCN Dual Tuner HD Box:
Box: $12.95/month X 36 months = $466.20

Difference: $93

So, is the Tivo HD worth $93 more over the course of 3 years for casual use in a bedroom? This isn't even a question on my main tv; I have the Tivo S3 with a 750GB attached drive, and it's worth it to me. But I'm trying to make a decision on the bedroom.

Any suggestions? Is my math off?

RF Modulator for Tivo - $80
IR Control - $20
For $100 your done and can view/control your TV from your bedroom. This is what we do and it works perfect.

Buy.com has the modulators, you can get 1 and 2 source modulators..

-t