03-04-2010, 01:46 AM
A monthly subscription is just throwing money away. With lifetime, should you choose to sell it later, you can recoup most, if not all, of that cost in the sale, assuming you sell when the hardware is still current enough to be usable. i.e. Series3 and HD's are still current, but the lifetime on Series2's and especially Series1's isn't worth as much. But at the point where the lifetime starts to depreciate, you've probably gotten your money's worth out of it. The hardware will always depreciate and is sort of the hidden cost of TiVo.
For example, I lost about $300 on the Series3's I sold that I bought early on (2.5 to 3 years ago), but on the used Series3 I bought about 18 months ago, I sold it for $7.50 less than I paid (ends up about $50 less after eBay/PayPal fees), so only $3 per month, versus the $13 per month on a monthly subscription.
For example, I lost about $300 on the Series3's I sold that I bought early on (2.5 to 3 years ago), but on the used Series3 I bought about 18 months ago, I sold it for $7.50 less than I paid (ends up about $50 less after eBay/PayPal fees), so only $3 per month, versus the $13 per month on a monthly subscription.