► Toshiba Tivo 80HR + DVD + Lifetime Basic @ BB $206 AR (dead as of 3/29/04)

Looks like a good deal, keep in mind the $50 rebate requires subscribing to TIVO service. To bad its not Tivo and DVD-R at that price.

From the $50 rebate form (TiVo manufacturer rebate):

<< DVRs with TiVo Basic TM service are not eligible for $50 rebate >>

If you don't subscribe to the service, and just use the TiVo Basic (three days of guide data, no Season Passes or Wishlists), then you can't get the $50 rebate. But as a TiVo owner (with four units and lifetime subscriptions for each), the $12.95 per month service is way more than worth it. Your TiVo is not complete without it. I would go further and say that the full lifetime service at $300 is a bargain.

Check out this page for a good description of the differences between TiVo Basic, TiVo Plus, and TiVo Plus with Home Media Option.

--Chris

PS-- $210 is a good price, by the way. I will be recommending this deal to some friends. Just make sure you understand that you need to get the service in order to get the $50 rebate, and that the service is worth the price.

Pretty good deal..

Don't hesitate if you aren't sure about TiVo, once you have it you won't know how you lived without it

Looks like a good deal to me, although I wonder if Tivo BASIC can retrieve the Guide data for Dishnetwork?

Both Tivo Basic and full Tivo service can handle Dish Newtork. Guide data covers all major service providers (cable companies, DirecTV, Dish, and OTA stations), and is organized by zip code. It might take a bit of tinkering in menus to fine tune Tivo to recognize only those channels you receive, but once set up, it works fine.

Tivo Basic service downloads 3 days of programming information at a time, and has some limited search functionality. It does not include "wish lists" (auto-recording of programs you request by title, actor, or keyword-- i.e. "record all movies directed by Kevin Smith" or "season passess" (auto-recording of every episode of a given show-- i.e. all "Simpsons" episodes) or "suggestions" (Tivo highlights and, if space is available, records shows it thinks you might like based on other things you've recorded). Those features are only available with full Tivo service, which is $12.99 per month or a flat $300 for the lifetime of the unit.

The units here are all considered "stand alone" units that will require you to rig an infrared device (included) to change channels on your satellite box. Some people have had minor difficulty in making this work well, but it's never been a problem for me.

Note that this does not write dvds from the stored data on the TIVO. Too bad, at this price I would have bought if it had that capability.

ibm650 said:

<< Note that this does not write dvds from the stored data on the TIVO. Too bad, at this price I would have bought if it had that capability. >>


If you get a ReplayTV unit, you can use the free DVArchive program to copy shows from the Replay to your PC, then burn DVDs from there.

This is a good deal, I'm going to replace one of my 60 hour Series 2 units with this Toshiba, it'll reduce some clutter in my bedroom entertainment unit, and my crappy Norcent DVD player is starting to fail anyhow. After selling my 60 hour unit with Lifetime + Home Media Option service, I should be able to subscribe this one to Lifetime at little or no cost, all said an done.

O/T deleted.

Stinkah said:

<< Product_Link

$359.99 - $3.96 FatCash - $150 MIRs = $206.03 (plus your tax)

I'm a Tivo newbie, but seems like a decent deal, and combining tivo with DVD helps reduce cabinet/cable clutter.

Oh, and this thread documents on how to use WiFi to download program info:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?threadid=150363

Thoughts on this deal? Please, no replay/tivo debates. >>


i hates to bust yo bubel but directv has these hear for $59 dollars. i done got me too of these hear and gots one on the way fo my momma you know what im sayin. they weres good to but you gots to hav a phone line i had to get it mines hooked bak up case i was just usin my girls car phone you know what im sayin. other than that its allrite

how does it download episode information? can i hook it up to my 4 port router which is attached to my cable modem?

you can also connect these units with a included serial cable and a purchase null modem cable or gender changed to a XP PC to work over your home network, takes a bit of work though.

if you look at there rebate on the $50 - its say tivo sevice or tivo plus. The tivo sevice on the BestBuy website its a 3 day update and cost nothing. I have the sony tivo verison 1 and i am looking to get this one too. i just looked on the crutchfield website too and look at there rebate form and also both plans. so if i am wrong please tell me.
also i know that there is no tivo plus for verison 1 system but is there a plan for just the 3day update like verison 2 for free. please someone fill me in for some info
later

Godsped, you're mistaken. Buddhawood is right.

TiVo Service and TiVo Plus are the same thing...14 days of guide data, Season Passes, Wishlists, etc., for $12.95 a month or $299 lifetime. They use "TiVo Plus" when talking about Series2 machines with DVD players or recorders, and "TiVo Service" when talking about Series1 and plain Series2 machines. TiVo Basic is *only* available for Series2 units with DVD players or recorders...it's not even available for the Series2 standalone unit from TiVo (the 40, 80, or 120 hour models).

There are no plans to allow TiVo Basic service for Series1 or plain Series2 models.

--Chris

is it possible to access the Toshiba hard drive via the USB port ?

BW,
So if I get the lifetime subscription and the HD craps out, I can replace the HD and still have the lifetime subscription apply?

Cool...

How long have you guys had your units and are they still working ok?

Almost off to Best Buy...

Hey Guys,

I am totally clueless when it come to Tivo. Some questions here, I hope the fellow FWers can help me out.

1) I don't have a local land line telephone service. (I use a cellphone) but I have high speed cable internet. Will it work?

2) I am currently subscribing to analog comcast cable tv. Will Tivo work on analog cable?

3) I have a DVD burner on my PC. Is there anyway to back up some of the shows that have been recorded, with my PC based DVD burner?

Thanks guys,

goraptors15 said:

<< I am totally clueless when it come to Tivo. Some questions here, I hope the fellow FWers can help me out.

1) I don't have a local land line telephone service. (I use a cellphone) but I have high speed cable internet. Will it work?

2) I am currently subscribing to analog comcast cable tv. Will Tivo work on analog cable?

3) I have a DVD burner on my PC. Is there anyway to back up some of the shows that have been recorded, with my PC based DVD burner? >>


1) No, your TiVo won't work out of the box without a local land line. You need to get a USB->ethernet adapter. FYI, ReplayTV units have ethernet built-in, so they work with high speed internet out of the box.

2) Yes, TiVo works with analog cable.

3) The only way to copy shows from your TiVo to a PC is to do some hacking on your TiVo, I don't have the specifics, but you can look at tivocommunity.com for more info. I believe TiVo is working on a feature called "TiVo to go" that will let you copy shows from a TiVo to a PC, but it won't be ready until Fall 2004, it will be part of the Home Media Option (which costs an extra $99) and it will embed shows with DRM. FYI, you can easily copy shows from ReplayTV units to a PC by downloading the free DVArchive program.

If you haven't already paid for a lifetime subscription, I would recommend returning the TiVo and getting a ReplayTV, it looks like it will save some money and make things easier for you. Plus you'll get the commercial skip feature.

sharifwd said:

<<
6. I was able to transfer my lifetime membership when my original died. It may have helped that I had a replacement at best buy, they said they would be able to do that. >>

This is a huge, HUGE YMMV. Do not under any circumstances depend on this happening, because TiVo has very strict rules for when they will and will not transfer a lifetime subscription. And Best Buy probably should not have allowed it to happen, but maybe sharifwd is unusually charismatic or something.

--Chris

When you say that your original died, what type of unit was it? Was it a standalone Series2 unit, or was it another Toshiba unit?

BB is allowed to authorize the transfer of a lifetime subscription if a customer brings a totally dead unit in for repair under BB's extended warranty, but the transfer is only supposed to be between like units. If your original was a Series2, and Series2's were still on the market, then they're only supposed to transfer the lifetime to another Series2.

--Chris

sharifwd said:

<< I've had this box for a couple of months- here's what I think:

1. great deal, there's no dvd burner function, but considering that those devices can go for $900, I wouldn't expect one.

2. You don't need a landline to start the tivo service, but you will need a usb to ethernet converter. All you have to do is put the code #,401 in dailing options, and you can set up the tivo via the internet.

3. You can access the dvd player from the tivo page. Its an icon right on the main page. The only really irritating thing is that the dvd function is completely off when tivo is on. This only is a factor when you're standing in front of the machine with a dvd pressing the "open" button and it doesn't do anything. You then have to remember to switch from tivo to dvd (button on the front), wait a couple of seconds for the dvd player to power up, then repress the "open" button. Kind of irritating.

4. This unit is definitely louder than the stand alone unit. The hard drive "click" are higher an more pronounced, though you can only hear them when the sound is muted. It may just be me, but it doesn't seem as fast to load off the hard drive as the standalone.

5. The remote takes a while to get used to, especially if you've had a tivo remote. The good thing is that there's slightly more functionality to the remote due to the dvd features.

6. I was able to transfer my lifetime membership when my original died. It may have helped that I had a replacement at best buy, they said they would be able to do that.

7. It's probably best to back up the hard drive. My series 2 failed in two years, though I original 14 hour series 1 is still chugging around today. I've had lots of problems with burned out modems, but that's stopped since I've taken everything online.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any questions. >>

Excellent Info. As far as #2, I was not successfully able to pull off the ,#401 trick. It just kept trying to dial. I resorted to bringing the unit to a friend's house to do the initial "guided setup". After that, it detected the wired ethernet via the Linksys USB-Ethernet adapter).

For those of you looking for a small-footprint "minimalist" home theater, this unit works great paired with logitech's z-680 setup. The z-680 is a self-contained set of 5.1 speakers + amplification + digital decoder. It can handle the optical or coax audio from the Toshiba with no problem.