[fredct]

... does TiVo basically always follow up with another one? I'm looking to get another TiVo as a birthday gift for my gf (yes, she wants it, this is not a 'gift' thats really for me, although I won't mind it )

Her birthday is late September and I see the current rebate expires on Friday. I also can see that in late July, the last time one expired, they followed it up basically immediately with another one. I have a hard time seeing why the market would shift such that a $150 TiVo (net price) is priced $300 just because the calendar flips to Sept 9th.

Is it pretty darn likely that TiVo will have a new rebate within a week or so (if not a day?) of the expiration of the current one? (I know no one can say for sure, but how has it worked in the past?)

P.S. How can I know that my new TiVo will have a TSN that matches the rebate? I figure they basically all do, but can I check in advance? (if it helps, I'm looking at the Series2 Dual Tuner, 180 hour).

P.P.S. Why is the 180 hour dual tuner Series2 not available on the TiVo site? Has it been discontinued? If so, should I jump on it soon for that reason alone?

 

[GoHokies!]

Usually, yes. (as far as I can remember)

As far as TSN, the first the numbers are the same for each model: 540(or 140, or 240)=S2ST, 648=S2DT, etc, etc.

 

[jfh3]

If this is a serious relationship, consider the Tivo HD box.

Much more future proof than any of the Series 2 boxes ...

(Note that the Tivo HD boxes weren't in the last rebate program and my guess is they won't be in the next one)

 

[fredct]

If this is a serious relationship, consider the Tivo HD box.

Much more future proof than any of the Series 2 boxes ...

(Note that the Tivo HD boxes weren't in the last rebate program and my guess is they won't be in the next one)

Heh. No thanks , I don't have any HDTVs and don't expect to for a while. I'll be perfectly happy to switch to HD when its standard and not a special add-on... ya know, when I don't have to pay extra for HDTV cable boxes and programming packages in order to get a handful of HDTV channels. I'm waiting for the day when the standard setup is HD and you get 100-150 HD channels out of it, not 10-15.

So all S2DTs start with 648? Any chance you mean 649 because that's one of the options on the rebate form. The 180 hour starts the same as the 80 hour?

Still, I'm also really curious, has the 180 hour S2DT been discontinued or end-of-lifed or something? Since its not available on tivo.com?

 

[wscannell]

The dual tuner is 649. 648 is the Series 3. All S2DT are 649, no matter what the capacity.

 

[GoHokies!]

The dual tuner is 649. 648 is the Series 3. All S2DT are 649, no matter what the capacity.

I knew that if I didn't double check that, I'd get it backwards!

 

[fredct]

Ah, I see... so when the ads list the model number as TCD649180, that means TSN starts with 649 and its 180 hours... it all makes sense now!

So anyone know the status of the 180 hour DT S2? Is it being discontinued or does TiVo just chose not to sell it on their website?

 

[jlb]

Actually, if you are thinking of the dual tuner model, why pay more for the 180 hour machine? You would do better to buy an 80 hour and then purchase a hard drvie and perform your own upgrade (easy instructions available in various locations on this site). You could probably get a 250gb-500gb drive pretty cheaply if you watch out for deals.

Also, you may wish to consider the TiVoHD, even though you may not expect to go HD for a while. Don't forget in Feb, 2009, OTA analog signals will cease to be broadcast. Cable companies are under no obligation to cease to provide the analog signal along the cable wire. However, they still could choose to go "all digital". If they do, that would make the S2 Dual Tuner boxes a single-tuner box as they can only accept a single signal from a cable box or other digitial set-top box.

But from another persepctive, I only have basic analog cable and have an 80-hour dual tuner. I purchased mine (used from ebay) knowing this. I figured that 18 months of dual tuner bliss was worth it. At least I know the TiVoHD is "only" $299 right now. Come 2009, it should even be a bit cheaper.

Food for thought.......

 

[fredct]

Actually, if you are thinking of the dual tuner model, why pay more for the 180 hour machine? You would do better to buy an 80 hour and then purchase a hard drvie and perform your own upgrade (easy instructions available in various locations on this site). You could probably get a 250gb-500gb drive pretty cheaply if you watch out for deals.

The difference is about $25-$30 on most places to upgrade the 100 hours and that should be plenty (yes, I'm well aware that 'hours' are at low quality). I'm not quite adventurous enough to try to hack something that I've committed a few hundred dollars to (including subscription commitment, which doesn't disappear if I break it when taking it apart ).

Also, you may wish to consider the TiVoHD, even though you may not expect to go HD for a while. Don't forget in Feb, 2009, OTA analog signals will cease to be broadcast. Cable companies are under no obligation to cease to provide the analog signal along the cable wire. However, they still could choose to go "all digital". If they do, that would make the S2 Dual Tuner boxes a single-tuner box as they can only accept a single signal from a cable box or other digitial set-top box.

A fair point, but its not the dual tuner that sells it for me. If it was a single tuner I would still buy it in lieu of spending $150-$200 more for the series3 HDTV when I receive no HDTV.

As far as Feb 2009... if its not moved back again like it has been several times already... I'll take my chances . If I lose my extra tuner then, I'll be more than happy to buy HDTV TiVo's when my commitment runs out in Sep 2010. By that time I'll probably get all the channels in HD and prices for HD TVs, HD TiVos, and more would have come down significantly.

But from another perspective, I only have basic analog cable and have an 80-hour dual tuner. I purchased mine (used from ebay) knowing this. I figured that 18 months of dual tuner bliss was worth it. At least I know the TiVoHD is "only" $299 right now. Come 2009, it should even be a bit cheaper.

Its also a good point though because I should make sure I can get cable analog direct from the wall now. I have digital cable set up a few weeks ago (I just moved) and have only been using it through the cable box. I hadn't bothered to test it. Again, it wouldn't change my choice, but it'd be good to know beforehand.

 

[jlb]

Not to belabor the point, but you can purchase a pre-formatted drive from a place like the TiVo Community Store or Weaknees for not too much money at all. All you do is power down the box, open it, take out the original drive and pop the new one in.

Upgrading HDs is not considered "hacking" of a TiVo per se. TiVo does not officially support changing the hard drive, but they don't restrict people from being able to do it. And your concern about opening the box only applies to the warranty period, and not the time frame of your service committment. Along this line, what many people do is wait until the warranty period is up and then upgrade the drive.

 

[fredct]

Not to belabor the point, but you can purchase a pre-formatted drive from a place like the TiVo Community Store or Weaknees for not too much money at all. All you do is power down the box, open it, take out the original drive and pop the new one in.

Upgrading HDs is not considered "hacking" of a TiVo per se. TiVo does not officially support changing the hard drive, but they don't restrict people from being able to do it. And your concern about opening the box only applies to the warranty period, and not the time frame of your service committment. Along this line, what many people do is wait until the warranty period is up and then upgrade the drive.

I looked at the stores based on your comments, but the prices for the upgrades larger than 180 hours are more than my net price for the TiVos alone (often $200 or more). For a major upgrade, its often $300, $400, $500, which is much more than I'm looking to spend.

$99 (net price) for the 80 hour plus a several hundred dollar upgrade wouldn't give me anywhere near worth the price difference versus a ~$140 180 hour. Its all very useful information, but in my case its only reinforced my initial interest.

So I called TiVo and they told me that the S2 DT 180 hour was discontinued from manufacturing. They still have more and continue to ship them out, but they won't be making any more and aren't selling them themselves. I figure their rationale is they want to make anyone who wants more than 80 hours go for the basic S3.

Add that to the fact that the rebate is expiring soon (with a great likelyhood but no guarantee of a new one) and I didn't want to chance it. So I ran out during lunch and picked up a S2DT180 from a local store with a great price advertised on their web site (which they agreed they would match in-store). The most painful thing is going to be her birthday isn't for 2 weeks... so I'm gonna have to sit on it a while - probably leaving it locked in a cabinet in my cubicle for a while! Arg!

 

[GoHokies!]

As far as Feb 2009... if its not moved back again like it has been several times already... I'll take my chances . If I lose my extra tuner then, I'll be more than happy to buy HDTV TiVo's when my commitment runs out in Sep 2010. By that time I'll probably get all the channels in HD and prices for HD TVs, HD TiVos, and more would have come down significantly.

Congrats on the purchase!

Just wanted to clarify something there for you, your commitment to 2010 only applies to having the Tivo service. If you decide to upgrade before then, you can get a new box and transfer your existing service over to the new box without penalty to finish out the 3 years.