said by dahacker:said by keyboards:So based on my bill a single DVR costs $12 for the STB and another $12 for DVR service per month. This is $288/year so it would take 2.8 years to break even on box rental (not counting the monthly cable card charge which would add a few more months).
I think people continuously miss that that a Tivo maintains its value very well. Any cost analysis must include the residual value. I bought my Tivo Roamio Pro in 2013 for ~$900 with lifetime. It is still worth $350 on eBay. Also, most FIOS users I'm guessing are using the FIOS multi-room DVR service, which I believe is $20 per month + the $12 set-top box fee. So minus the $5 cable-card fee, the savings is $27 per month with Tivo and the payback period is less than two years considering residual value.
You guys don't still rent your rotary phones from AT&T, do you? Oh wait, yeah most people are essentially renting their mobile phones and not paying for them outright. They've got you.
You misread the intent of my reply. Most people keep their cable service for well beyond the 2.8 years (I've been with FIOS since 2007), so even without the ability to sell later the amortization is a relatively short time making that specific investment worth considering in the long run. Not commenting on the cost for new vs. the referenced refurbished units - a longer return period. The only potential downside is the loss of VOD from FIOS which is a personal choice over paying for streaming apps.
