TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 20:09:33 -0500, Randy S. wrote:

But at $20 a month, it's a bit steep.

I will agree with you on that. But it looks like that's not going to be
the actual service cost (I thought it was a first as well). The serice
cost is still 12.99 per month, the additional cost is the cost of the
hardware amortized over a fixed period. So for the 1 year, 19.95 rate,
$7 per month goes to paying for the box. After one year you will have
paid $84 for the box, and from then on you would pay 12.99 like everyone
else.

Well, there's one little catch there. Once the contract is up, you have to
call and get a new service account for the $12.95 per month. If you don't
call and change it, they will continue to bill you at the higher rate.
This is according to The Tivo Ops Mgr. Now that's really crappy if you ask
me. It should automatically go to 12.95 IMO. I guess they figure they can
make a few extra million on people that forget to call.

The only real negative change here is the loss of the lifetime sub
option, and you can bet that nobody here is happy about that.

Doesn't bother me a bit.:-)
This should also help keep the monthly service charge down

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
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HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

* Scott Seligman wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
"Tony D." wrote:

The "thing" you don't understand is that the thing you want IS the
guide, not the box. You are subscribing to the SERVICE, not buying a
box. There are several boxes you could buy w/o worrying about Tivo. I
have several DVD recorders, etc. with "free" guides. You have to be a
real simp to think those things compare in any way with Replay or Tivo.

What about the DirecTV TiVos? How do you justify the service on
those?

What? $5 a month for up to 7 Tivos which is waived if you have the
premium package? That service? I dont think it needs to be justified,
its insignificant in the scheme of things.

[...]

--
David
BOFH excuse #203:

Write-only-memory subsystem too slow for this machine. Contact your local dealer.

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

* Wes Newell wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
On Fri, 10 Mar 2006 20:09:33 -0500, Randy S. wrote:

But at $20 a month, it's a bit steep.

I will agree with you on that. But it looks like that's not going to be
the actual service cost (I thought it was a first as well). The serice
cost is still 12.99 per month, the additional cost is the cost of the
hardware amortized over a fixed period. So for the 1 year, 19.95 rate,
$7 per month goes to paying for the box. After one year you will have
paid $84 for the box, and from then on you would pay 12.99 like everyone
else.

Well, there's one little catch there. Once the contract is up, you have to
call and get a new service account for the $12.95 per month. If you don't
call and change it, they will continue to bill you at the higher rate.
This is according to The Tivo Ops Mgr. Now that's really crappy if you ask
me. It should automatically go to 12.95 IMO. I guess they figure they can
make a few extra million on people that forget to call.

Yeah, the same way the Gym dosent cancel your memebership if you stop
going without a call. Its SOP for most subscription services. The
consumer must monitor their own use and adjust accordingly.

--
David
Nothing increases your golf score like witnesses.

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

The only real negative change here is the loss of the lifetime sub option,
and you can bet that nobody here is happy about that.

So the question is.....

Is it wise to convert a SA S2 to a lifetime at this point in time. Will
there be a benefit down the road to have a box tied to a lifetime when an S3
comes out?

(Currently, I am monthly on 2 SA boxes - 12.95/6.95)

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

Eli Renfro wrote:
The only real negative change here is the loss of the lifetime sub option,
and you can bet that nobody here is happy about that.

So the question is.....

Is it wise to convert a SA S2 to a lifetime at this point in time. Will
there be a benefit down the road to have a box tied to a lifetime when an S3
comes out?

(Currently, I am monthly on 2 SA boxes - 12.95/6.95)



IMO, yes. If only because lifetimed boxes will become much more
valuable once lifetime is no longer available. Since the sub price
isn't perpetual like I thought at first, the unsubbed boxes won't really
lose any value (if there was no hardware cost at all in the new price
scheme, then they would've been worthless), but they won't be worth very
much. If your thinking about upgrading to the S3 when it's available,
at least a lifetimed box will get you some money on e-bay.

And I don't think the S3 will make the S2 immediately obsolete, there
are lots of people out there for whom TV picture quality is not a
priority, and aren't willing to spend the extra cost for HD programming
from their cable or satellite company. Even I'm finding it a hard time
justifying it since it's such a price hike (almost %100!) to go from
analog cable to digital cable plus HD. The new a-la-carte pricing
scheme that it looks like the FCC may order the cable companies to offer
may help alleviate that some.

And no, free OTA HD will not solve that for most people in the USA. I,
for one, can only get PBS and CBS reliably in digital OTA (SD *or* HD),
and I can't even get NBC in NTSC. That doesn't include 95% of the
channels I want to watch (though CBS is nice for March madness!).

Randy S.

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 09:53:54 -0500, Eli Renfro wrote:

The only real negative change here is the loss of the lifetime sub option,
and you can bet that nobody here is happy about that.

So the question is.....

Is it wise to convert a SA S2 to a lifetime at this point in time. Will
there be a benefit down the road to have a box tied to a lifetime when an S3
comes out?

I'd do some checking. There was mention of transferring lifetime to the
S3. If you are planning on getting an S3 it might save you a lot to get
lifetimes now. Do the math if you plan on not going to HD. Assuming you're
paying 12.95 for one and 6.95 for the second, what's the breakeven time
for $600 up front? Don't forget lost interest on the $600 over the time
frame. It should be close to 33 months.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 10:43:05 -0500, Randy S. wrote:

And no, free OTA HD will not solve that for most people in the USA. I,
for one, can only get PBS and CBS reliably in digital OTA (SD *or* HD),
and I can't even get NBC in NTSC. That doesn't include 95% of the
channels I want to watch (though CBS is nice for March madness!).

What part of the sticks do you live in that you can only get PBS and CBS
reliably? I don't know the exact figures but something like over 80% of
the population lives with 60 miles of major urban areas where all networks
will be digitally available. And I don't know of a place in the US that
one can live that they can't get all major networks with the proper
antenna. When the Cowboy games used to be blacked out here I got them from
stations over 90 miles away with ease. So maybe you need something
besides rabbit ears.:-)

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

Once upon a time, Wes Newell said:
I'd do some checking. There was mention of transferring lifetime to the
S3. If you are planning on getting an S3 it might save you a lot to get
lifetimes now.

I'd say that would be doubtful. TiVo has only offered lifetime service
transfers in the past under a few very specific circumstances. Since
they are discontinuing lifetime service signups before the S3 is
released, I'd doubt they'll ever support lifetime on the S3.

Do the math if you plan on not going to HD. Assuming you're
paying 12.95 for one and 6.95 for the second, what's the breakeven time
for $600 up front? Don't forget lost interest on the $600 over the time
frame. It should be close to 33 months.

For a second box (assuming the $6.95 for additional boxes service
continues), it almost never makes sense to go lifetime. The only reason
in this case would be that the box _probably_ will have additional
resale value down the road (after lifetime is no longer available except
on used hardware). Even that is uncertain at this point. That said, I
would probably switch the primary box to lifetime if you plan to keep it
for at least a year.

People are also painting the S3 as primarily attractive to HD folks.
Remember, a significant portion of digital cable right now is NOT high
def; it is just more channels delivered differently. Right now, the
only way to record them is through a digital cable box and either serial
control or IR blasters and with a drop in quality (because the signal is
going digital-analog-digital). The ability to record those channels
much easier may be a draw for the S3, depending largely on the price
point of course.
--
Chris Adams
Systems and Network Administrator - HiWAAY Internet Services
I don't speak for anybody but myself - that's enough trouble.

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

In article XdGQf.705$%[email protected], Wes Newell
wrote:

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 10:43:05 -0500, Randy S. wrote:

And no, free OTA HD will not solve that for most people in the USA. I,
for one, can only get PBS and CBS reliably in digital OTA (SD *or* HD),
and I can't even get NBC in NTSC. That doesn't include 95% of the
channels I want to watch (though CBS is nice for March madness!).

What part of the sticks do you live in that you can only get PBS and CBS
reliably? I don't know the exact figures but something like over 80% of
the population lives with 60 miles of major urban areas where all networks
will be digitally available. And I don't know of a place in the US that
one can live that they can't get all major networks with the proper
antenna. When the Cowboy games used to be blacked out here I got them from
stations over 90 miles away with ease. So maybe you need something
besides rabbit ears.:-)


Blanket comments are not your friend. I live in western Maryland, in
the mountains, about fifty miles north of Washington and west of
Baltimore. No one here can get anything like an acceptable OTA signal
with any sort of antenna, and they've been trying since just after WW2.
(The exception is the WB station in Baltimore. It comes in snowy but
viewable.) We have no broadcast stations of our own here (other than a
PBS repeater) because the long-time publisher of the local newspaper
hated competition.

TiVo announces new pricing plans
 

What part of the sticks do you live in that you can only get PBS and CBS
reliably? I don't know the exact figures but something like over 80% of
the population lives with 60 miles of major urban areas where all networks
will be digitally available. And I don't know of a place in the US that
one can live that they can't get all major networks with the proper
antenna. When the Cowboy games used to be blacked out here I got them from
stations over 90 miles away with ease. So maybe you need something
besides rabbit ears.:-)



Blanket comments are not your friend. I live in western Maryland, in
the mountains, about fifty miles north of Washington and west of
Baltimore. No one here can get anything like an acceptable OTA signal
with any sort of antenna, and they've been trying since just after WW2.
(The exception is the WB station in Baltimore. It comes in snowy but
viewable.) We have no broadcast stations of our own here (other than a
PBS repeater) because the long-time publisher of the local newspaper
hated competition.

Amen to that. My part of the "sticks" includes 48,000 full time
students and is within 70 miles of Jacksonville, 100 miles of Orlando,
and 130 miles of Tampa. No stations from those major markets are
available here without some major antenna structure (I've tried). The
difference is that I don't live in a top 10 market and delude myself
that everyone else is in exactly the same situation. Fox is available,
but they broadcast in SD only here, not HD.

The ABC station may be available since last I checked, but they *were*
in a low power test mode 3 months ago.

Randy S.