Comments on: TiVo on promotion drive

The company launches a subscriber marketing contest and is offering a $150 mail-in rebate through Nov. 27.

[Earl Benser]

Approaching desperation....

n/t

[Earl Benser]

Approaching desperation....

n/t

TiVo's Great, But...

TiVo is great but it does not offer any content. I still need to pay for
a content provider on top of the fees to TiVo. That's not much of a
bargain.

Also, TiVo doesn't offer the same software set of features for their
Mac subscribes. To be able to get content off of the TiVo and on to
my Mac, I have to use one hack or another.

TiVo's Great, But...

TiVo is great but it does not offer any content. I still need to pay for
a content provider on top of the fees to TiVo. That's not much of a
bargain.

Also, TiVo doesn't offer the same software set of features for their
Mac subscribes. To be able to get content off of the TiVo and on to
my Mac, I have to use one hack or another.

[PerfectCr]

Why bother?

My Cable company gives me a great HD-DVR for $6.00/mo. Why pay for a TIVO, THEN pay for cable on top of it?

Tivo needs to broaden their business model or else they are in trouble.

[David Dudley]

Comcast's DVR

I tried out the Comcast DVR for about a week and have never been so appalled by a user interface in my life. Sure, you think you're getting a great bargain and you probably are conceptually, but then you try using the product and figure out that it is a waste of time and cash. The Tivo's interface is top notch, which is one of the reasons why they are still the top dog when it comes to DVRs.

[PerfectCr]

Why bother?

My Cable company gives me a great HD-DVR for $6.00/mo. Why pay for a TIVO, THEN pay for cable on top of it?

Tivo needs to broaden their business model or else they are in trouble.

[David Dudley]

Comcast's DVR

I tried out the Comcast DVR for about a week and have never been so appalled by a user interface in my life. Sure, you think you're getting a great bargain and you probably are conceptually, but then you try using the product and figure out that it is a waste of time and cash. The Tivo's interface is top notch, which is one of the reasons why they are still the top dog when it comes to DVRs.

[David Dudley]

Tivo Rebates = Scam

I went and got myself a Tivo 2 a few months with the promise that Tivo would give me a check for 100$. So I fill out the rebate form just like Tivo wants me to, with their special number as requested and a few weeks later, I check on the status and it says I have been declined. The reason? An incorrect DVR number. So I check the copy I made and yep, Tivo is full of crap. Personally, I think their rebates are big scam to lure people into get a DVR for near free. The proof? My brother in law and one of my friends also didn't get their rebates from Tivo.

Personally, I would avoid the Tivo rebate offer.

[PerfectCr]

Exactly

Yep, forget the rebates. If they want to sell it to me for $49.99, then charge that at the register! Until then, no Tivo for me.

[mahuti]

Screw up maybe... scam, no

I've received 3 rebates for tivos in the last several years. No
problems with any of them. One of them was sent late... I still got
the rebate.

I'll probably buy a new one with this new promotion, though I really
wish they would just drop the price. If they would just give you an
instant option for the discount as long as you add the service
option at the same time. Hm... Stupid retail model sucks.

[David Dudley]

Tivo Rebates = Scam

I went and got myself a Tivo 2 a few months with the promise that Tivo would give me a check for 100$. So I fill out the rebate form just like Tivo wants me to, with their special number as requested and a few weeks later, I check on the status and it says I have been declined. The reason? An incorrect DVR number. So I check the copy I made and yep, Tivo is full of crap. Personally, I think their rebates are big scam to lure people into get a DVR for near free. The proof? My brother in law and one of my friends also didn't get their rebates from Tivo.

Personally, I would avoid the Tivo rebate offer.

[PerfectCr]

Exactly

Yep, forget the rebates. If they want to sell it to me for $49.99, then charge that at the register! Until then, no Tivo for me.

[mahuti]

Screw up maybe... scam, no

I've received 3 rebates for tivos in the last several years. No
problems with any of them. One of them was sent late... I still got
the rebate.

I'll probably buy a new one with this new promotion, though I really
wish they would just drop the price. If they would just give you an
instant option for the discount as long as you add the service
option at the same time. Hm... Stupid retail model sucks.

[Willie Winkie]

Tivo: Software=YES Hardware=NO

I LOVE the Tivo software interface. However, the hardware is wimpy compared to my Cox HD-DVR. I want to record in HD AND have two tuners. I also don't want to worry about the thing breaking. I was an early adopter of Tivo, but they failed to keep up the pace of hardware innovation.
To be fair, my Cox DVR has a totally suck-job interface that looks like a throwback to the days of bad MS-DOS apps. Tivo should just license its software and clean up on royalties while it can. I'd happily pay $5.00 extra a month for Tivo software on my Cox box.

[David Dudley]

They did indeed license their sw

Tivo licensed their sw to both DirecTV and now to Comcast. The DirecTV DVR could in fact record HDTV content (something Roku never did release) and hopefully, the future Comcast Tivo will be able to.

But, in a way, the Tivo has moved up a bit beyond just HDTV. You can also purchase a Humax Tivo/DVD Recorder and burn your recorded tv shows to a blank dvd. Kinda cool for those that don't want to spend 4 hours downloading a show from their Tivo 2.

I just want to mention that the new version of Tivo desktop software sucks a fattie. They attempted to stop users from transcoding downloaded shows to a different format by specifically blocking TMPEG and Dr.DiVX. Luckily, there are two easy ways to circumvent their locks, one involving a simplistic hex edit of a dll. So, the point is - if you like to transcode your Tivo movies, DO NOT DOWNLOAD Tivo desktop 2.1. Keep 2.0 installed since there is absolutely no reason to "upgrade" to the latest and greatest version.

[Willie Winkie]

Tivo: Software=YES Hardware=NO

I LOVE the Tivo software interface. However, the hardware is wimpy compared to my Cox HD-DVR. I want to record in HD AND have two tuners. I also don't want to worry about the thing breaking. I was an early adopter of Tivo, but they failed to keep up the pace of hardware innovation.
To be fair, my Cox DVR has a totally suck-job interface that looks like a throwback to the days of bad MS-DOS apps. Tivo should just license its software and clean up on royalties while it can. I'd happily pay $5.00 extra a month for Tivo software on my Cox box.

[David Dudley]

They did indeed license their sw

Tivo licensed their sw to both DirecTV and now to Comcast. The DirecTV DVR could in fact record HDTV content (something Roku never did release) and hopefully, the future Comcast Tivo will be able to.

But, in a way, the Tivo has moved up a bit beyond just HDTV. You can also purchase a Humax Tivo/DVD Recorder and burn your recorded tv shows to a blank dvd. Kinda cool for those that don't want to spend 4 hours downloading a show from their Tivo 2.

I just want to mention that the new version of Tivo desktop software sucks a fattie. They attempted to stop users from transcoding downloaded shows to a different format by specifically blocking TMPEG and Dr.DiVX. Luckily, there are two easy ways to circumvent their locks, one involving a simplistic hex edit of a dll. So, the point is - if you like to transcode your Tivo movies, DO NOT DOWNLOAD Tivo desktop 2.1. Keep 2.0 installed since there is absolutely no reason to "upgrade" to the latest and greatest version.

[Anon-Y-mous]

ReplayTV could make a comeback

TiVo has had it's days. Time for Replay to make it's comeback under Denon/Marantz holdings. I'm still using my Replay3030 purchased in June of 2000, upgraded to a 160 gig hard drive. No monthly service fee. Cost me about $300 total from Mercata. Used every single day. Tried a TiVo, went with Replay and have never regretted it.

[Jess McLean]

Agree agree

I too have a RTV and I love it. TiVo just has a pretty interface and a cute logo and nothing else. Oh, BTW, now TiVo users have to watch on-screen ads while they skip TV ads, how funny is that?

[Anon-Y-mous]

ReplayTV could make a comeback

TiVo has had it's days. Time for Replay to make it's comeback under Denon/Marantz holdings. I'm still using my Replay3030 purchased in June of 2000, upgraded to a 160 gig hard drive. No monthly service fee. Cost me about $300 total from Mercata. Used every single day. Tried a TiVo, went with Replay and have never regretted it.

[Jess McLean]

Agree agree

I too have a RTV and I love it. TiVo just has a pretty interface and a cute logo and nothing else. Oh, BTW, now TiVo users have to watch on-screen ads while they skip TV ads, how funny is that?

[Earl Benser]

Best Buy sells DirecTV DVR's for free

Price is $99.99 with a $100 rebate from DirecTV. But, the DVR
service costs still apply.

This unit is rapidly going obsolete as DirecTV shifts over to the
HDTV format. So they are anxious to get rid of them. I have a
hunch that TiVo is even more anxious to dump theirs.

[Earl Benser]

Best Buy sells DirecTV DVR's for free

Price is $99.99 with a $100 rebate from DirecTV. But, the DVR
service costs still apply.

This unit is rapidly going obsolete as DirecTV shifts over to the
HDTV format. So they are anxious to get rid of them. I have a
hunch that TiVo is even more anxious to dump theirs.