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Privately owned TiVoA Tivo Roamio plus is $400 with a lifetime service contract $500 plus two mini's is $300. That is $1200. But if you are paying full price that is $55/month for equipment. So return on investment is about 2 years (less $2 a month for cable card and maintenance). Has anyone done this privately, or does everyone rent? |
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lart
join:2002-08-19
united state Ubiquiti UniFi AP-LR
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter ER-4
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lart
Member
2014-Dec-7 9:36 am
Your missing the cost of the tivo subscription that you need to pay when you buy your own tivo. that adds either 15/month 150/year or 500 for a life time subscription.
The main advantage about renting is if the tivo dies they will replace it. With that said if you pay the tivo subscription per month or year you also get an extended warranty for as long as you have the subscription. |
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said by lart:Your missing the cost of the tivo subscription that you need to pay when you buy your own tivo. that adds either 15/month 150/year or 500 for a life time subscription. No, I included $500 for lifetime subscription. I said $400 for unit + $500 lifetime +$300 for two minis. I believe all you need is $2/month for the Cable card (which all cable companies must make available by law). said by lart:The main advantage about renting is if the tivo dies they will replace it. With that said if you pay the tivo subscription per month or year you also get an extended warranty for as long as you have the subscription. Yes, I realize that. RCN has replaced a TiVo twice already that didn't work. I also am not paying anywhere near the retail rental price as I got in on a good deal when they were first introduced. I am not sure if purchasing the equipment upfront is really a good idea. Hence my question. |
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to Pacomartin
You can find some good deals/discounts on Tivos on ebay and the alike. Check out Tivo Community Forums for more information. I rented when I was with RCN and purchased when I switched to TWC (by no choice of my own). |
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said by RCN website :CableCARD%u2122 cannot support two-way capabilities, therefore services such as ON DEMAND, the Interactive Programming Guide and ordering Pay Per View via your remote control are unavailable. I am still interested in someone replying who owns a personal TiVo and rents a CableCARD. The above statement says that VOD is not available. I would like to know if someone has faced other problems (like no Netflix). |
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I've had several personal HD TiVos with RCN...though only one running right now, as the HDD in my first died after 5 or so years of use. That's the first benefit of using RCNs....that box cost nearly $1,000 after buying it and lifetime service. Now its a over-sized paperweight.
Pros of personal TiVo:
- You don't lose your recordings if/when you change providers.
- Access to Amazon video. And Hulu and Vudu on newer boxes.
Cons on personal TiVo:
- No RCN VOD
- Cable cards can be problematic. With the original Tivo HD box with cable cards, techs would bring 5 or six cards in the hopes of finding one that would work.
- If it has trouble, you're on your own. Tivo does warranty support for a few years, but once its out of warranty, they basically only offer to sell you a new box at a slight discount.
I've resolved to only rent TiVos from now on. Mostly because of the loss of VOD. And on older generation HD models, the Netflix/Amazon streaming is so slow and balky that its borderline useless. I have Apple TV and Roku hooked up to both of my TVs anyway, and there execution of the streaming services is 1,000 times better |
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said by Komosatp:I've had several personal HD TiVos with RCN...though only one running right now, as the HDD in my first died after 5 or so years of use. That's the first benefit of using RCNs....that box cost nearly $1,000 after buying it and lifetime service. Now its a over-sized paperweight. Why not replace the HDD? The Series 3 HD can handle a HDD up to 2TB! If you aren't a hands on person you can have the HDD installed for you by Weaknees. TiVo Series 3 HD DVR TCD648250B TiVo Upgrade Kits» www.weaknees.com/series- ··· hp#path1 |
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I know about the replacement options....but that's plunking down another couple hundred on a box that doesn't get RCN VOD.
Now that I have a Q+ preview setup, I've come to really like managing just one box. I know I could buy newer boxes and get that setup, but that would involve another few hundred dollar investment. I'm happy just renting now. |
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said by Komosatp:I know about the replacement options....but that's plunking down another couple hundred on a box that doesn't get RCN VOD. Actually a 500GB A/V HDD is $39 from NewEgg (1TB is $49). I mentioned it *only* because you mentioned the TiVO S3 was a paperweight. The RCN Q's tiny 500GB (80 HD hrs) meant spending $99 for the WD 1TB expander for 1.5TB (236 HD hrs). Looking back its the best $99 I've ever spent. I agree managing just one box is great and I wish that was my setup. Though my bedroom TiVo Premiere-2TB has Vudu (Ultraviolet) and Amazon Prime apps. |
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to Komosatp
said by Komosatp:I've resolved to only rent TiVos from now on. Mostly because of the loss of VOD. The use of VOD seems like a big thing to give up. I do like VOD because I don't have to worry about keeping my Hard Disk up to date. The only thing that I hate is the disabling of the fast forward button. If I fall asleep with 10 minutes left in the show I have to watch it all over again. I wish they would let you FF through the show, but make you watch the commercials. That way you could watch the last part of a show. So when my 3 year deal on equipment rental ends in 7 months, I will just have to resort to the tried and true temper tantrum and threaten to leave if they don't raise the price too much. |
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said by Pacomartin:said by Komosatp:I've resolved to only rent TiVos from now on. Mostly because of the loss of VOD. The use of VOD seems like a big thing to give up. I do like VOD because I don't have to worry about keeping my Hard Disk up to date. The only thing that I hate is the disabling of the fast forward button. If I fall asleep with 10 minutes left in the show I have to watch it all over again. I wish they would let you FF through the show, but make you watch the commercials. That way you could watch the last part of a show. So when my 3 year deal on equipment rental ends in 7 months, I will just have to resort to the tried and true temper tantrum and threaten to leave if they don't raise the price too much. Just get a Roku or similar for VOD. |
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said by omghi2u:Just get a Roku or similar for VOD. I have ROKU, but I like some stuff that is not a year old |
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said by Pacomartin:said by omghi2u:Just get a Roku or similar for VOD. I have ROKU, but I like some stuff that is not a year old I had to switch to TWC as the result of a move, so maybe RCN has old content? On TWC I get the latest on demand via their TWC TV Anywhere App, Showtime, and HBO on-demand apps. Pretty much every major provider has an on-demand channel on TWC. Some have rules where they won't put a latest episode on-demand until 24 hours or a week after it airs though. Edit: it looks like RCN's RCN2Go is only available on PC not Roku. You still should be able to use SHO/HBO on Roku. |
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said by omghi2u:Edit: it looks like RCN's RCN2Go is only available on PC not Roku. You still should be able to use SHO/HBO on Roku. Everything on RCN2Go (mobile apps) is available on RCNVOD (via an authorized box or TiVo), but there are many more channels available on RCNVOD. The Movie Channel, STARZ, ABC, AMC, FX, FXX, and UNIVISION are only a few examples, but the total is about 20 networks. |
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said by Pacomartin:Everything on RCN2Go (mobile apps) is available on RCN VOD (via an authorized box or TiVo), but there are many more channels available on RCN VOD. The Movie Channel, STARZ, ABC, AMC, FX, FXX, and UNIVISION are only a few examples, but the total is about 20 networks. The problem with RCN VOD is that it's very spotty with TV content. I know it's not RCN's fault but AMC and FX/FXX (among others) only list some of their shows. And when a show is available it only has the last few episodes. YMMV. Just from experience FX's "Fargo" and AMC's "Halt and Catch Fire" were not available on RCN VOD. Now for movies RCN VOD is good with TMC, STARZ, HBO & Cinemax movies being available. Definitely a free perk especially for TMC & STARZ. If they had full season I'd cancel my season passes on the shows I hoard but never watch. Speaking of perks Roku just announced the release of the FX/FXX/FXM channels FXNOW app (blog.roku.com). |
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