HDTV Expert - Made For Each Other

[720pete]

TiVo and digital terrestrial TV, that is!

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[fjkahn]

I love my HD TIVO, the excellent built-in TIVO tuner and terrestial HDTV (and SDTV).

By the way there is no need to purchase a special digital antenna. The standard, old fashioned analog antenna works well if it has both VHF and UHF reception. I purchased and tested 6 special indoor antennas. I returned them all because my geriatric, 25 year old, analog, roof top TV antenna and passive leadin beat them all in my location, 30 miles from San Francisco.

Long live terrestial TV and TIVO, a cost-effective, consumer-friendly combination.

Disclosure 1: a lifetime TIVO subscription costs less than 1 year or less of cable. Disclosure 2: I have no business relationship with TIVO. Disclosure 3: The TIVO user interface for finding and recording programs is effective and easy to use. I especially like the Season Pass Mode for automatically finding and recording regularly watched programs. The only problem is finding enought time to watch a fraction of what I've recorded. However, I never have to sit down and search through 300 channels to find something I want to watch. It's all there and waiting for me any time I want to see it.

[Rodolfo]

Pete,

Thanks for the ideas. I also agree that over-the-air DTV should always exist as it was created for what it was created.

I am not sure where you got this information from:

“(TiVo still offers a lifetime subscription for $299, which you’d hit in about 30 months at the current rate.)”

Tivo’s web site offers that subscription for $499; at the $19.99 monthly rate one would hit it in 25 months. Tivo's customer service or web site had no idea of the antenna offer.

https://www3.tivo.com/store/premiere.do

Also, could you please clarify what exactly you meant with “it’s hard to imagine someone who wants to cut costs agreeing to pay $9.95 per month to get program guide information and a dual DVR.”

Tivo does not offer that rate and a Cisco HD-DVR on my cable company is leased for over $15 per month, I am not sure what scenario you are describing.

Let us view a different scenario that the other poster.

Economically speaking, my 3 SA/Cisco cable HD-DVRs cost me about $45 per month (cable card included). Switching to Tivo the service would be $19.99 + $14.99 + $14.99 (the 2nd and 3rd DVRs are discounted), plus 3 Cable CARD lease, close to $60 total.

Additionally, $300 has to be invested in purchasing 3 Tivo Premieres (or more for XL). For how long one would want to prorate the $300 is anyone’s call, but is not free. Amortizing those in 1 year would be $25 x month; 2 yrs would be $12.50 per month, etc. but again is not free.

On top of that, according to Tivo, the service requires an Internet connection per box, not only for Netflix streaming. Two of my rooms have the RJ-45 outlet across the room, 30-feet Cat-5 wire to the Tivo is unpractical, so 2 Wi-Fi Tivo adaptors for $90 each have to be purchased. Another $180 to be amortized.

One year amortization of all the equipment plus Tivo service would rise to about $100 per month ($60 + $25 + $15), more than double of what I am paying. The $60 service/Cable Card continues after that, $30% more than current cable-boxes. This is an addition to channel services, in my case about another $60.

Someone interested in only on over-the-air would still need to pay $90 for service/3 boxes/3 Wi-Fi adaptors (no CableCards), for at least the first year, then $50 Tivo service for 3 boxes, free over-the-air is not that free anymore. One box would certainly be lower cost, but eveyone would have to see the same TV and channel.

Functionality speaking Tivo clearly offers much more, including an ATSC tuner and multi-room features, and I am not sure if the actual unit-replacement service would be as easy as getting a new box with my cable company when a fried box takes me by surprise. Speed of replacement for me is 20 minutes, would Tivo beat that?

In other words, the offer may seem great in the surface, until the calculator gets warmer.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

[ccclvib]

I started using an antenna because, at the time, the only way I could receive any HD was over-the-air from (first one, then two, etc) local channels. I was a Dish Network subscriber then, and the receiver was HD capable, and included a coax antenna connection to feed my antenna signal directly into the program grid on the receiver. Great setup! I was receiving four channels (more, actually, but they were in Spanish, and I don't speak it well enough to take advantage) in HD with multiple subchannels. Long before Dish or my cable company had HD available. As had been mentioned in other posts, the OTA HD was as good as I could have asked for.

Recently, I changed from Dish to AT&T U-verse. I'm a retired AT&T employee, therefore the price is just unbeatable - plus I get a faster DSL as part of the package. The problem is, AT&T, in their wisdom, has decided they will not carry the subchannels for the local stations. That leaves me with (previously, three, and now two because they did pick up channel 8-2 when it went to ABC) channels I can still only receive off my antenna. The only way past this was Tivo. I got the $99 unit when they had their sale, and am paying $19/month for the whole of the Tivo package. I get all the other services (including an ad-free Pandora, I guess because I'm paying something for it), which I really don't use much of. The two channels I really want, I do use consistently, and find the $19 worth the price. The part I really like about Tivo is its "recommended" recordings. I regularly find something I would never have known about there. The only issue I have found more recently is I've added the Sony NSZ-GT1 Blu-ray player and Google TV box, which has most of the services Tivo has and for free and the one thing I wanted: a means of putting a picture from a computer on my HD TV. (I won't start about ESPN3 just changing to a new format that no longer plays on Google TV - for one thing there is a workaround, but it costs $4.95/month - and that's the reason I purchased the Google box!) So now the only reason for Tivo is the two channels. From my point of view, still worth it, but if U-verse decides to finally carry those channels, I'm afraid Tivo will go.

[Rodolfo]

Pete,

I just read the PR of Antennas Direct and saw the "The TiVo Premiere subscription is available for $9.95 per month, a special rate only available for use with an antenna. This special offer is valid through October 2."

Now there is no need for your clarification of that point, but Tivo has to put their act together though, the day of the announcement Tivo's web site did not even mention the offer, their CS did not have any idea of the antenna offer, neither of the $9.95 special service price, and I talked to two different reps.

Although that changes my math for over-the-air-only subscribers (cutting the service in half of the typical $19.99) it does not alter the math for cable subscribers.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

[rml]

As well as Best Buy and Solid Signals all with new offer date 11/15/11. "Offer valid for TiVo Service activations on TiVo Premiere boxes through 11/15/11."