CycloneGT
join:2001-11-15
Boyds, MD
2 edits | HD Support
Without MPEG4 support, the HD Tivo is a lame duck. If Tivo really wants to remain in favor with DirecTV's customers, they will have to come out with some MPEG4 HD hardware.
The series 3 works with Cable/FiOS but not dbs. |
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inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK
| When Comcast TiVo hits..
....it'll be over. No one with two brain cells to rub together are is going to buy an expensive box, even at $299, when you can rent a box from Comcast w TiVo for YEARS before you'd realize that cost. And you'd have a warranty the whole time.
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"WHEN THE LAUGH TRACK STARTS THEN THE FUN STARTS!" |
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NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA | Maybe but the problem with your scenario is that after you have paid for the box you'll continue paying for it for as long as you have the service. Thats not exactly a huge benefit! |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
 ·Embarq
| said by NPGMBR  :Maybe but the problem with your scenario is that after you have paid for the box you'll continue paying for it for as long as you have the service. Thats not exactly a huge benefit! Ahhh, that's where you shove a high hard one up Comcast's ass by playing their own game: tote up the cost of the box in monthly fees and when you reach the magic number the box somehow slips and falls on the floor but you call and say "my box quit working" - done.
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A monthly desktop thread is what happens when a Paris Hilton mentality mates with a computer |
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gwbuffalo
join:2001-12-08
Mokena, IL
 ·Comcast
| No big deal
My DirecTiVO already does all those things thanks to some hacks. No big deal here. I'm betting these "updates" from DirecTV and Tivo won't be as good as what is already available on-line from the community of Tivo hackers.
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Alt-This -- My Tech Podcast |
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Shogun00
join:2002-09-23
Goodyear, AZ
| When Comcast TiVo hits
Whether or not the DVR hits the floor you still have to start paying a lease on a new box the following month. If you pay off your TiVo box you own it. If you want to sell it on eBay so that you can buy a different one you can.
If you work from home you can probably depreciate the cost of the TiVo as a business expense. I am not a tax professional but I have heard of people doing that before.
My wife and I moved this weekend. We decided we would try cable out and see how it went. I have been using DirecTV with TiVo since 2000. I would say that my experience so far with the Scientific-Atlanta box is mediocre at best. I just think the TiVo folks have this type of device figured out. It is all they build so they are looking to build the best product possible. It costs more sure. It's no different than buying a computer with more features or a faster processor. You get what you pay for.
If I can have DirecTV and TiVo in HD I would sign up in a minute but for now I will be buying the new TiVo this week and sticking with cable. |
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bigunk
Gort, Klattu Birada Nikto
join:2001-02-10
Santa Clarita, CA
·AT&T Yahoo
| Another box? Yeeesh!
I have my HR10-250 with an extra 500G drive in it. Does this mean I lost hundreds of hours of stuff I've recorded? Will I be able to modify the new 20-250 and drop a big drive into it, or can I add an external drive? I have no plans of accepting some box that only records a few hours of stuff that I can't expand on. |
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wmcbrine
Touched by His Noodly Appendage
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD
| reply to inteller
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits..
The Comcast Tivo still won't have all the capabilities of a standalone Tivo (nor, admittedly, vice versa). In fact, there are a number of seemingly arbitrary changes from the standard Tivo UI (not just those that stem from the different hardware or available services) that were made at Comcast's request. And of course, Comcast doesn't cover the country, nor does everyone even in Comcast areas wish to subscribe to Comcast.
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09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 |
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Nightfall
My Goal Is To Deny Yours
Premium,MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI
 ·Site5.com
·AT&T Midwest
·Comcast
| reply to NPGMBR
said by NPGMBR :Maybe but the problem with your scenario is that after you have paid for the box you'll continue paying for it for as long as you have the service. Thats not exactly a huge benefit! I am in the boat right now where I am considering a move to Comcast. However, paying $300 for a new box isn't attractive to me. Even if the Comcast Tivo rental is $15 a month (which is seriously inflated), it will take 20 months just to break even.
I remember when cable modems first came out and the price on those were about $300. You could rent a modem for $10, and that was the right thing to do at the time. Now these cable modems aren't worth renting even at $3 a month because you can get them so inexpensively.
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My Domain
Nightfall's Hockey and Life Journal |
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inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK
| reply to NPGMBR
Actually no, because by the time you "pay" for what a owned TiVo box would cost there will be a newer and better model out, so you would just take in your old box and get a new one. Sounds good to me!
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"WHEN THE LAUGH TRACK STARTS THEN THE FUN STARTS!" |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to wmcbrine
.. nor will Tivo's relationship with comcast be exclusive. They will eventually get into bed with other providers as well. Additionally, one of the ideas of the Comcast/Tivo relationship (not to mention the DVR in general) is a tool to attract customers to the service in the first place.. if it wasn't an attraction, they never would have offered the DVR service in the first place.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to Shogun00
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits
And whether or not you own your Tivo box, you still pay a monthly fee for it as well. So if you pay off your Tivo box, you will likely still have a monthly fee just to use it.
It's also pretty sad that people would cheat on their taxes to even think about writing off their Tivo.. or that anyone would even think, care, or even have/want to resort to that level in the first place over a DVR.
If I were that concerned over Tivo or a DVR from cable/satellite with what ever software, price wins every time so long as I can find a program, record it, watch it at another time and even possibly control live TV.
Seriously.. what am I missing with the DVR society? Is this another 'thing' like anything Apple? Is the DVR pop culture now or what? Personally, I think there's something to be said about the strong opinions around the DVR.. it's because of what people are forced (or feel they are forced) to pay for them, which says something, for this service and people want tits perfect.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." |
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NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA
| reply to inteller
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits..
Do you own any TiVos? Because if you do then you understand that the only difference between the boxes are their physical capabilities i.e. (storage capacity, HD tuners).
That means that the TiVo Series 2 I purchased in 05 does exactly the same thing as the Series 2 DT that I purchased this year. Buying the boxes outright is the better deal because both boxes get the same software updates and have the same capabilities limited only by their hardware. So essentially, TiVo boxes will always have the lates TiVo software only one can record two shows at onece and one cannot and both boxes are paid for. |
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wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK | reply to CycloneGT
Re: HD Support
If you're talking about the HR10-250, you are right, it's pretty much over for that thing, at least HD wise. For all the other S2 and S2.5 SD DirecTiVos? Nothing will change. |
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wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
| reply to inteller
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits..
That is, nobody who cares about having a reasonably sized hard disk in their unit or whatever features the standalones have that the Comcast TiVo doesn't.
Also, I'm not so sure that the problems with the Motorola and SA boxes aren't the hardware itself rather than the software. I guess time will tell. |
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wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Teliax VOIP
| reply to fiberguy
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits
said by fiberguy :And whether or not you own your Tivo box, you still pay a monthly fee for it as well. A much less expensive monthly fee than what one pays for the cable company DVR, in most cases, though. And the Comcast/Cox/whoever TiVo will be even more expensive than the "normal" cable DVR. |
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inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK
1 edit | reply to NPGMBR
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits..
yes, and when those boxes break out of warranty, who is going to replace them? You are, at full cost. When my Tivo STB breaks, I take it back to the cable co, and I get the latest STB box thats out....for nothing more than my monthly rental fee. And your Series 2 will NEVER record in HD....so every time a major feature like that comes out, you will be stuck buying a new box to take advantage.
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"WHEN THE LAUGH TRACK STARTS THEN THE FUN STARTS!" |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to wierdo
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits
You're looking at it as a monthly fee. What about that other $299.99 cost for the box that you don't pay to the cable or satellite, .. no, wait.. cable.. (Satellite charges some of their customers)
Comcast Dual Tuner HD-DVR $11.99 a month.
Now.. let's look at TIVO..
$12.95 per month
with 3-year commitment
$14.95 per month
with 2-year commitment
$16.95 per month
with 1-year commitment
Reduced from $19.95
$19.95 per month
no commitment. OUCH!
If you want to fork over your money in advance (never a good idea)
1 year for $179
= $14.92 per month
Reduced from $199
2 years for $299
= $12.46 per month
3 years for $349 $299
= $8.31 per month
Wait.. there's more.
Early termination fee.. on a freakin' Tivo???
$200.00
Their 1 year commit plan saves you $3.00 a month for $36.00 per year, but if you cancel, they want $200 for doing so.
Their 2 year commit saves you only $90.48 for the year, but still socks you with a $200 early term.
EVEN THEIR 3 YEAR term saves you only $140.16 a month but hits you with $200 in early term.
Can you say sheeple?
Sorry.. the Tivo is still far more expensive when you calculate EVERYTHING involved in being provided their "service"... you HAVE to include the cost of the hardware no matter WHO provided it to you when you want to make a comparison.
By far, the cost of a provider provided DVR with or with out Tivo software is STILL by far cheaper and a better value than Tivo.
Tivo.. the next Apple product.. want not call it the iTivo?
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." |
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NPGMBR
join:2001-03-28
Arlington, VA
| reply to inteller
Re: When Comcast TiVo hits..
True my Series 2 will never record HD but being as I've had my boxes for some time I already know that. And its not an issue for be because I don't subscribe to HD channels and I don't have a plasma or LCD HD TV. Yes I'll have to replace my TiVos if they break but I'll always have all the features offered by TiVo. Your box supplied by Comcast will likely be locked out of updates just at the DirectTiVo boxes were. Thats the difference! |
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eco
Premium
join:2001-11-28
Wilmington, DE
| reply to inteller
Not to mention the monthly fee TiVo charges would be included in the monthly rental fee from Comcast, I would assume, so even after your pay off the box, you'd only then start paying what would be the equivalent of TiVos monthly fee. I can't see Comcast charging for the box rental and then a TiVo subscription. |
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