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Sekker,
Correct. Lifetime of the hardware. It's one of the reasons I'm hesitant to drop the bucks on a TIVO. I had to replace the drive in my TIVO twice. One while in warranty and once out of it. Love the system and the interface but that annoyed me quite a bit. Makes me hesitant to go with a TIVO.
Then again, for basic DVR services, there are converter boxes that double as DVRs. Cheap. Just have to drop a drive into it. No doubt primitive in comparison to a TIVO and no sharing amongst the household features. Might be doable for basic pausing live TV type stuff.
For cord cutting in my situation, a combination of a TIVO and a cheap box might work. A TIVO for a home's primary TV and the cheap boxes for the rest of the TVS. I know that would be doable for me. If I watch TV in the living room, it's for everything including recordings. In the kitchen, bedroom or office, I'd use the DVR services primarily for pausing a show.
Robert
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RAMd®d wrote:
This is an ATSC tuner and a DVR?
Once content is recorded, can I off load it to an external HD?
Piece of cake, download to a Mac with cTivo. Much easier than the old days when you had to physically remove the Tivo hard drive and spend hours (at best) manually installing Linux patches before you could extract anything.
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Robert,
I was meaning the company, not the hardware!
TiVo has never made a lot of money - and their top revenue is from licensing fees (which are in decline) and subscription fees.
If they go to a cheap lifetime model, that is really a desperate model to get cash now.
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The Roamio in this promo can use the Tivo Minis.
The Mini can steal a tuner from the Roamio or watch a recorded show.
Robert M wrote:
A TIVO for a home's primary TV and the cheap boxes for the rest of the TVS. I know that would be doable for me. If I watch TV in the living room, it's for everything including recordings. In the kitchen, bedroom or office, I'd use the DVR services primarily for pausing a show.
Robert
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sekker wrote:
Robert,
I was meaning the company, not the hardware!
In the event of TiVo's (the company's) demise, I have no doubt that the TiVo hacker community would come up with a solution for the guide data. The reason they don't right now is out of a respect.
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Honestly, this 'lifetime' mentioned here is not that of the owner, but of Tivo...
It was the same for the Replay, as I remember.
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Will Collier wrote:
[quote=CJsNvrUrly]
We have an older TiVo with an offer (that ends May 5) to purchase lifetime service on it for $99. It's at least three years old. Which would you do in this case?
What model is that, and do you have a link or code for that offer? If it was mine I'd jump all over that.
Model? How can I tell? I activated it Dec-2010.
TiVo sent me an email offer.
"As a former TiVo customer, you’re eligible for an exclusive offer! For just $99, you can sign up for a special One-Time Service Extension plan on your TiVo® Premiere DVR and never pay another cent for TiVo service on that DVR unit*. Take advantage of this amazing, limited-time offer now, since it ends on May 8, 2015.
Call 1-877-289-8486 today and mention the One-Time Service Extension offer.
The One-Time Service Extension plan applies solely to the DVR for which it is purchased. It cannot be transferred to another DVR.
We look forward to your returning to the TiVo family.
Thanks,
Tim Wade
Offer valid only for TSN xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx."
Edit: I think it's a Series2 80-hour, 2-tuner.
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Bill,
Even an older version of the mini is nearly $114. Current is closer to $150. Overall, the price of admission becomes pretty significant when you start factoring the extra hardware to make it replicate the DVR service provided by cable.
Robert
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RAMd®d wrote:
Honestly, this 'lifetime' mentioned here is not that of the owner, but of Tivo...
It was the same for the Replay, as I remember.
Besides company closure, the big problem, as mentioned by Robert and others, is lifetime service is still only valid for the specific device. You buy another Roamio, prepare to shell out for lifetime again. Want to upgrade three or four years down the road, prepare to pay for lifetime again.
Which is why, like Robert, I too have avoided buying into the ecosystem.
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Robert M wrote:
Bill,
Even an older version of the mini is nearly $114. Current is closer to $150. Overall, the price of admission becomes pretty significant when you start factoring the extra hardware to make it replicate the DVR service provided by cable.
Robert
Exactly. TiVo might be best in class, but it better be for the significant outlay required to fully buy in the ecosystem. Especially for multi TV settings.
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