Buying a TiVo

Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
It seems we have really bad luck with DVRs. We had DirecTv for several years. The first year and a half was great, but then the DVR broke, and we ended up getting 3 before they sent us one that actually worked. They kept sending refurbished junk. We switched to cable a month or two ago, and the DVR box never worked right, so they had to come out a few days later to replace it. Now, it doesn't seem to record properly. We'll set up for a series to record, but it won't actually record. Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't. I don't want to pay $12/mo for crappy service.

So, we're considering just buying our own TiVo and using it with cable service. We won't have to pay the fee for service through the cable company. Do we have to subscribe to TiVo or does it just work? :confused: Some of the listings I've seen on eBay say subscription is not included.

Is anyone using their own TiVo box? Comments?
 
sockgirl77

sockgirl77

Well-Known Member
Cowgirl said:
Do we have to subscribe to TiVo or does it just work? :confused: Some of the listings I've seen on eBay say subscription is not included.

Is anyone using their own TiVo box? Comments?
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It just works. No subscription needed. Mikey bought one 8 or 9 months ago. Ask him. I think that it's a great purchase. The average cost is $200 and right now you are paying damn near that a year. :yay:
 
Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
sockgirl77 said:
It just works. No subscription needed. Mikey bought one 8 or 9 months ago. Ask him. I think that it's a great purchase. The average cost is $200 and right now you are paying damn near that a year. :yay:
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Didn't Mikey get one with Directv or something though? I know..I'd rather pay for a nice TiVo than deal with their knock-off junk boxes. :lol:
 
sockgirl77

sockgirl77

Well-Known Member
Cowgirl said:
Didn't Mikey get one with Directv or something though? I know..I'd rather pay for a nice TiVo than deal with their knock-off junk boxes. :lol:
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Nope. He bought one. He has cable. I have one through the cable company and haven't had any problems with it. It's a Motorola. However, the first 2 I had were Pace and I had issues with them. TiVo is the way to go. But PLEASE do not forget to send in your warranty card!
 
Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
sockgirl77 said:
Nope. He bought one. He has cable. I have one through the cable company and haven't had any problems with it. It's a Motorola. However, the first 2 I had were Pace and I had issues with them. TiVo is the way to go. But PLEASE do not forget to send in your warranty card!
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Great! Thanks! :yay:
 
FastCarsSpeed

FastCarsSpeed

Come Play at BigWoodys
Tivo has several style models. You can pay monthly, yearly or purchase a liftetime DVR box that willl never require a monthly fee. But of course it costs more. You can get them less expensive if you buy them used as the lifetime service goes with the box not with the customer from what I have read. You will also need to rent a 5.00 digital card from the cable company so you can run your digital cable through your tivo.
 
M

Mousebaby

Guest
I just bought a Tivo about a month ago and yes there is a subscription price. I believe it is 12.95 a month. I will ask my husband to be sure.

Yep I was right, 12.95 a month.
 
Beta84

Beta84

They're out to get us
sockgirl77 said:
It just works. No subscription needed. Mikey bought one 8 or 9 months ago. Ask him. I think that it's a great purchase. The average cost is $200 and right now you are paying damn near that a year. :yay:
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Umm...no, you're wrong. It doesn't "just work".

There are a variety of TiVos...go to tivo.com to check it out. The stores were trying to charge me between 30-60 for a model that was free on tivo.com when I got mine. I paid $30 for the one with an ethernet hookup. From there, you need to buy a subscription. I believe you can do monthly, yearly, 3 years, and possibly lifetime (they keep changing this). Do your research though! I'm not sure if you are able to move that subscription from box to box. For instance, if your Tivo starts breaking down and you have lifetime or a few years left on the subscription...I'm not sure if you could purchase another cheap box and continue, or if you'd need to use their repair factory and buy a new or refurb.

I think there is a 1 year warranty from when you buy your initial Tivo. Mine definitely broke once and that was sad. They sent me a refurb which has been ok. I'm having issues with it a year later (the ethernet connection doesn't work well) and I'd have to pay a pretty penny to get a new replacement, but I'd also lose my recorded shows...so I don't want to do that. There are ways to hook your tivo up to your computer (so you can save recorded shows there), but they don't seem to work for me and I haven't bothered calling tech support.

But I've also had tivos that didn't break, so it's just like any other product...might be fine, might have issues. Tivo is pretty good and offers more capabilities than your normal DVR would.

Also of note...every time you successfully connect your tivo to the internet, you get about 10-14 days worth of show schedules downloaded. The more often you connect, the more accurate your tivo clock is so the more likely it'll record correctly from start to finish. It's recommended to always have your telephone/ethernet cord hooked up, because it'll probably try to connect a few times a day and get updates. But if you can't always leave it connected, 1-2 times a week should be fine (and you can manually connect).

Can't think of much else at the moment..
 
Cowgirl

Cowgirl

Well-Known Member
Ok, so $150 is not bad for a TiVo, but what's the point of buying one if I still have to pay a subscription? :confused: And who do I pay? Tivo?
 
M

Mousebaby

Guest
Cowgirl said:
Ok, so $150 is not bad for a TiVo, but what's the point of buying one if I still have to pay a subscription? :confused: And who do I pay? Tivo?
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Yes you pay Tivo, they will take it out of your debit card automatically every month. Paperwork comes with it to tell you how to get your Tivo activated.
 
Bavarian

Bavarian

New Member
You pay TIVO for the subscription service. You need the listings in the TIVO so it can find where programs are you want to record.

Good news on the DirecTV front, they are going back to TIVO for their new HD DVR.

My DirecTV Tivo, standard def, has been working fine for years. Now if only I could stop the commercials in the Showcase area.
 
Chainsaw Slayer

Chainsaw Slayer

New Member
Mousebaby said:
I just bought a Tivo about a month ago and yes there is a subscription price. I believe it is 12.95 a month. I will ask my husband to be sure.

Yep I was right, 12.95 a month.
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There is also an option for a lifetime subscription where you pay around 300 bucks up front.
 
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