Factory Renewed TiVo Premiere with ZERO down - 2 year commitment @ $19.99 a month

homer5150 said:   You might add "Factory renewed" to the title

Thanks, done.

I anticipate additional red from those that hate refurbished equipment - sigh.

No problem - I earned my Black Friday FW Tee last week

Mainly I listed this as a reminder to myself, should I decide to take advantage of it. I already own a TiVo Premiere I bought with zero down, and am very pleased with it, and would do it again.

The only thing that really bugs me is that Comcast requires me to rent one of their Decoder M-Cards. I HATE COMCAST !!

You get no channels with this. You need either cable (or fiber or dish, whatever) or an antenna to receive signal. The TiVo unit is merely a recorder. If you have nothing to record, you don't need it. You'll be able to access Netflix and Hulu through your TiVo, but the subscription cost for those two is not included in the $19.99/month subscription.

benwade said:   Hi MissCrabette,

Thank you for your clear and very quick reply. Other than serving as a DVR, they don't seem to offer anything for the $19.95/month they charge. Whoo! who would pay for that when you can configure almost any old computer to do that? (that's not really a question, I'm just asking rhetorically.)

Thank you again.

Although you weren't really looking for a response, I'll give you the obvious one anyway: TiVo is the most user-friendly DVR in existence in my opinion. Not everyone is able to or interested in configuring a computer to function as a DVR. Certainly it can be done and you can save money that way. But if you just want "plug-and-play" easy use for everyone in the family, TiVo is a great option.

jimbocobb said:   benwade said:   Hi MissCrabette,

Thank you for your clear and very quick reply. Other than serving as a DVR, they don't seem to offer anything for the $19.95/month they charge. Whoo! who would pay for that when you can configure almost any old computer to do that? (that's not really a question, I'm just asking rhetorically.)

Thank you again.

Although you weren't really looking for a response, I'll give you the obvious one anyway: TiVo is the most user-friendly DVR in existence in my opinion. Not everyone is able to or interested in configuring a computer to function as a DVR. Certainly it can be done and you can save money that way. But if you just want "plug-and-play" easy use for everyone in the family, TiVo is a great option.
Not only that, but I recently looked at setting up a HTPC using some not-so-old spare parts I have lying around. If you want any sort of a half-decent case that will look at home with your other a/v components, they aren't cheap, and neither are cableCARD tuners. TiVo still represents a good value as long as you're willing to deal with the pain of getting it to work with your cable system IMO. If you want an ATSC only box you might be able to build your own cheaper, but for recording TV, TiVo is tough to beat, again, IMO.

Edited to add: Looking at this deal - you can get the refurb Premiere for $80 from TiVo, and Lifetime service for $500, which is only $100 more than the cost of doing the zero down method ($20 x 24 months = $480,) so your break-even time period would be 2 years and 5 months. Keep the unit longer than that and you're saving money.
Also I believe existing TiVo subscribers can still get lifetime on a new unit for $400, making this the same cost as the zero down method, as long as you can afford the total cost up front. Much better deals if you can swing it.

It's true. It is for the lifetime of the unit not the owner.

On my Living Room TV I have a HTPC, and a TiVo. I find watching Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc, somewhat easier with the HTPC - mainly because the TiVo Remote just cannot compare with a real KeyBoard and Mouse for Searches and Navigating.

I use MS Explorer instead of Windows Media Center, which I find difficult to set up and awkward. It is possible to add an IR Receiver and Remote for very little money, as well. And adding Blu-Ray to an HTPC is cheap (about $50) and easy.

But for actual realtime TV Viewing, and viewing recorded shows, the TiVo cannot be beat.

TiVo does a magnificent job on searching for upcoming programs, has the very convenient Season Pass feature, and it is easy to transfer shows from one TiVo to another in your home. And if you are away from home, you can schedule your home TiVo to schedule a show remotely through the TiVo Web Site.

SalemCat said:   MisterEd said:   Is it true or not true that if your "TiVo that has lifetime service" dies they will not transfer your lifetime service to its replacement?

As I understand it, that is correct. That would not make "lifetime" such a good value. If it breaks you're out some big bucks.

mannyv said:   SalemCat said:   Unfortunately, TiVo requires Cable Service, and the rental of an M-Card

TiVo works just fine with OTA HD. Just plug an antenna in and you should be good to go.

I'm glad to hear that the DTA's (Digital to Analog) Converters work for some. I'm only 10 miles from Boston, and cannot receive a single channel.

MisterEd said:   SalemCat said:   MisterEd said:   Is it true or not true that if your "TiVo that has lifetime service" dies they will not transfer your lifetime service to its replacement?

As I understand it, that is correct. That would not make "lifetime" such a good value. If it breaks you're out some big bucks.

Perhaps, but the only reason I have ever seen a TiVo fail is when the hard drive itself fails, and those are easily replaceable by the user. I've done it once to replace a failing drive, and once to upgrade capacity. It takes only a couple of minutes, and there are plenty of sites like Weaknees.com with ready-to-go parts.

I've always had TiVo's, and have definitely found the Lifetime Service to be worthwhile. And when you want to upgrade, having the lifetime service makes your old TiVo more valuable and much easier to sell, because the Lifetime Service goes with the unit, not the user. Also, while someone quoted a price of $500, search around as there are always deals and coupon codes to get the price under $400.

Why would someone pay $480 for a refurbished TiVo with no service except by continuing to pay each and every month when you can buy a used TiVo with lifetime for about $300.
I just purchased the OLED model 2 tuner High def model with lifetime for $256, upgraded to a 2TB drive for 318 hours of high def programs and I still don't have $400 in it yet.

MisterEd said:   SalemCat said:   MisterEd said:   Is it true or not true that if your "TiVo that has lifetime service" dies they will not transfer your lifetime service to its replacement?

As I understand it, that is correct. That would not make "lifetime" such a good value. If it breaks you're out some big bucks.

Its the lifetime of the TiVo, not your lifetime.

I actually had lifetime on a TiVo I bought from 1SaleADay or some other daily deal like that, and after about 8 months, there was a power surge in my house that killed the TiVo box. TiVo sold me another refurbished one for $79 and transferred the lifetime from the dead one.

SalemCat said:   Treefarn said:   I actually had lifetime on a TiVo I bought from 1SaleADay or some other daily deal like that, and after about 8 months, there was a power surge in my house that killed the TiVo box. TiVo sold me another refurbished one for $79 and transferred the lifetime from the dead one.

That was nice of TiVo to do that. Perhaps because the unit was within Warranty ?

I had the exact same experience with a Series 2 TiVo a couple years ago. We had a lifetime subscription and the box died after the house was hit by lighting- the box was at least 10 years out of warranty and they sold us a refurb series 2 80hr model and switched over the lifetime sub. I was amazed.

SalemCat said:   It can access the Internet wirelessly, but you'd need to buy a TiVo Wireless Adapter, at additional cost. I just hard-wired mine, for speed and economy.

This deal actually includes a free wireless-g adapter.

dirtrat said:   I owned two TiVo's years ago and loved them. I'm trying to figure out how they are even still in business. Many years ago there was a need for TiVo because the DVR technology wasn't very good and TiVo was miles ahead of the competition but this is no longer the case. The current crop of DVR's from Dish, Directv, and even Comcast has matured and these companies now have years of experience in developing this technology. I'm trying to figure out what makes the TiVo worth $20/month. It's a lot harder to justify this expense and the high cost of owning a TiVo.

one feature that comes to mind is the suggested recordings. My options are FIOS and Cablevision, and last time I had those DVR services, suggested recordings was not an option.
Also the price difference is not $20, meaning having DVR service with the provider directly is not free, there is still usually a monthly fee for the recorder/remote and then the DVR service. For instance, Cablevision is a $10 monthly service fee, then about $6 to "rent" the box/remote. So not sure its fair to say there is a $20 cost with TiVo, perhaps more like $5-10.

Cablevisions DVR is pretty bland, their entire user interface is pretty ugly. I know they had a recent upgrade, but I still find it lacking.
On the other hand FIOS user interface is pretty nice, and they have multi-room DVR at a reasonable price. For TiVo "multi-room" you essentially need 2 TiVo boxes and subscriptions, surely not worth the cost, and certainly overkill considering you likely do not need 2 full featured TiVo boxes. I wish TiVo would just sell a playback unit that does not have a monthly subscription cost, if you just need to stream content to another tv/device. I realize there is the TiVo stream device, but it only streams to wireless devices (ie ipad), not sure if it is possible to have it stream to another TV?

Seen this deal for a long time. So for two years you are paying about $480.00.

vickh said:   deal expired... Any current no upfront cost deal?

I guess I don't understand why anyone would want this deal. If you can't afford a $49 - $149 TiVo...

The deal is alive, they just changed the math.

You can get a new TiVo premier for $149. The monthly subscription is $14.99 with a 1 year commitment, and 3 months of that 1 year are free.

So excluding tax, $149 + $14.99 x 9 = $284.99 for a year. If you stick around for a second year, your total 2 year outlay is $463.79, a bit less than what you'd pay with a 2 year 19.99 commitment.

I had to call TiVo support and they still claim to have refurbs available.

If you really can't afford the outlay, you can get a 320 GB Premier for $49.99 and a 1 year commitment at $14.99. You're looking at $230 outlay in year 1 in that scenario vs. $240 with a 19.99 monthly plan.

http://www3.tivo.com/promo/premiere_0.html?WT.mc_id=RCRC_0downja...

it's back. How strict are they about switching/upgrading to a lifetime sub after getting this "free box"??