no subscription = useless TiVo .. this is rediculous

*Rant on*

Ok, well my credit card was over its limit, so I canceled it and let
TiVo expire for a while. I understood that I would no longer get the
channel guide, and season passes would cease to work. However, what
happened is beyond unacceptable and as such I will never resubscribe
to TiVo.

Now, when I flip through channels, I get the message that my
subscription expired in the box that normally has the program's info.
I can not minimize the box to show only the channel like I could
before my subscription expired.

If it was just that, I could live with it. BUT, here's what really
gets me. I can't set up TiVo to record by time slot! I had read posts
saying you could do this with an expired unit, so maybe this is a
"new" feature. When I go to Pick Programs to Record - Record by Time
or Channel I get a message screen saying that my TiVo service is
Suspended. Wha?? I payed for the box, I should still be able to record
something if I set up the time.

*Rant off*

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 00:15:17 -0800, Ken wrote:

[Without a subscription,] I can't set up TiVo to record by time slot! I
had read posts saying you could do this with an expired unit, so maybe
this is a "new" feature.

I don't have any experience in this regard, but I've heard the S1s are
more "forgiving" than S2s...

I [paid] for the box, I should still be able to record something if I
set up the time.

The fact that Tivo service is _required_ is pretty common knowledge... it
says so on the box, on the website, etc.

If they tell you something is _required_, they have no responsibility to
provide you with anything if you don't have the required element.

I agree it would be nice to be able to get something without a
subscription, but Tivo is in no way obligated to give it to you...

--
Lenroc

Lenroc wrote:

I [paid] for the box, I should still be able to record something if I
set up the time.

The fact that Tivo service is _required_ is pretty common knowledge... it
says so on the box, on the website, etc.

Is it really required? On my S1 unit, I'm pretty sure I remember that
the subscription was optional. It was required if I wanted the season
features, etc, but I could record by time (like a VCR) with no
subscription.

Reading the website on the DVD-R unit says that is true with it too.
They even had an ad on TiVo a couple weeks back where they said it was
good out of the box, but that you could subscribe to TiVo for even more
features (season pass, etc).

I'd advise Ken to call them up and ask.

--
- Burt Johnson
MindStorm, Inc.
http://www.mindstorm-inc.com/software.html

On Thu, 30 Oct 2003 08:57:51 +0000, Burt Johnson wrote:

Is it really required? On my S1 unit, I'm pretty sure I remember that the
subscription was optional. It was required if I wanted the season
features, etc, but I could record by time (like a VCR) with no
subscription.

If you read my reply, I mentioned that S1 boxes are more forgiving, which
(though I have no experience with it) I assume means you can use it
without the sub.

I should have added a "for S2" to my second paragraph

Reading the website on the DVD-R unit says that is true with it too.
They even had an ad on TiVo a couple weeks back where they said it was
good out of the box, but that you could subscribe to TiVo for even more
features (season pass, etc).

The DVD-R Tivos are a different beast. They add a whole new level of
service, "Tivo Basic", which only downloads 3 days of program data at a
time, and can't do things like Season Passes, etc. (This is all from
memory, so the specifics may be a bit off).

A lifetime of Tivo Basic is included in the (exorbitant) purchase price of
those units.

However, to get "normal" Tivo service (what just about everyone currently
has, I believe it's now called "Tivo Plus" for these units), you must
subscribe as normal.

--
Lenroc

On 30 Oct 2003 00:15:17 -0800, (Ken) wrote:

I payed for the box, I should still be able to record
something if I set up the time.

Why don't you try cancelling your satellite service, or your cell phone
service, and then see how much you get for shouting "but I paid for the
box/phone".

--
"It is more uplifting to find the beauty, wonder, spirituality, and
reverence in what we can see, than to imagine they only exist in what we
can't see." - http://personalpages.tds.net/~huntergreen/

(Ken) writes:

gets me. I can't set up TiVo to record by time slot! I had read posts
saying you could do this with an expired unit,

You can do it with *some* *Series 1* Tivos.

You can't (unless you're planning to cheat by violating the
service agreement you agreed to when you bought the thing)
do this with *any* *Series 2* Tivo.

"new" feature. When I go to Pick Programs to Record - Record by Time
or Channel I get a message screen saying that my TiVo service is
Suspended. Wha?? I payed for the box,

If this is a Series 2 machine or a Series 1 machine that originally
shipped with a TivoOS newer than 1.3 you paid for something that
requires the Tivo service, said requirement being quite explicit.

I should still be able to record something if I set up the time.

If that's what you wanted, why did you buy something whose
terms of service said you couldn't do that?

--
Rich Carreiro

Lenroc ) wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
A lifetime of Tivo Basic is included in the (exorbitant) purchase price of
those units.

I couldn't find the info on the TiVo site, so:

Is the cost of "TiVo Plus" (i.e., regular TiVo for the rest of us) cheaper
than normal, since you've already paid for some of the subscription in the
price of the unit?

--
Jeff Rife | "...the flames began at a prophylactic recycling
301-916-8131 | plant, near the edge of the forest..."
|
| -- "WarGames"

"Ken" wrote in message
om...
*Rant on*

Stop complaining and buy a VCR.

"Frank J. Perricone" wrote in message
...
On 30 Oct 2003 00:15:17 -0800, (Ken) wrote:

I payed for the box, I should still be able to record
something if I set up the time.

Why don't you try cancelling your satellite service, or your cell phone
service, and then see how much you get for shouting "but I paid for the
box/phone".

--
"It is more uplifting to find the beauty, wonder, spirituality, and
reverence in what we can see, than to imagine they only exist in what we
can't see." -
http://personalpages.tds.net/~huntergreen/


Well in this case is TIVO really providing any 'service'? Since he tells it
when to record, the hardware does the job.. what service does he have to pay
for?

Satellite is different. Service content is always provided through
broadcasting the signal. The hardware is not as important as the stream it
is feed.

"Z Man" wrote in message
...

"Ken" wrote in message
om...
*Rant on*

Stop complaining and buy a VCR.



Or replay tv, or something else that doesn't try and sell a supposide
service with the hardware you bought. Or wait 5 years and no one will try to
resell you a service they get for free... like giving you program data that
they just recieve from the networks.