John Thomas

Best deal on a Tivo?

I'm looking for a Series2 40-hour Tivo and was curious where the best deal was on one. Someone in another thread realted to Tivos was saying "he couldn't pass it up even though he was a student - being only $100". Any ideas? Thanks.

Stephen Tu

The $100 Tivo was likely a DirecTV/Tivo combo model, which are going for that price these days.

If you need a standalone model, $199 after rebate is probably about the best you can do, you can get it direct from Tivo. (then another $299 for the lifetime service fee).

I'd recommend the DirecTV route if they offer local channels via satellite in your area.

Pamela

Amazon currently has the 40 HR for 214.95 and the 80 HR for 314.95. Add in the $50 rebate and you've got a pretty good deal!

Jim Far

I bought my 35 hour Hughes DirectTV/Tivo at Circuit City for $99. At the time there was a $50 rebate, which made it $49. I was at Circuit City over the weekend and they still have them for $99, if your interested. Check out their website at Circuit City.com.

Gene S

You can get a refurbished 40hr Series 2 at the Tivo store for $149. Its 199 then with the $50 rebate its quite a good deal. Picked up 2 of them. Get them before they run out.

Gene

Jasmine Meathe

Yeah i agree--$149 for a TiVo is a great idea. you don't have to buy the lifetime subscription either...you can pay a monthly fee if you want.. I think that's $12 a month, which isn't bad at all.

Stephen Tu

You don't have to buy the lifetime, but for standalones you really ought to, because it's a ton cheaper in the long run. The breakeven vs. monthly is only 2 years. Plus, it transfers if you sell it, retaining a lot of its value, so you are ahead even if you sell it well before 2 years. Just consider the lifetime sub part of the purchase price, for a standalone.

I've had a standalone for over 4 years; if I had gone monthly, I think I'd be out over $550 and still have to pay. Instead I paid $200 4 years ago (lifetime cheaper back then) and nothing since. Monthly may seem "not bad at all" now, but I guarantee that eventually it will look quite bad compared to the alternative!

Monthly would only make sense if the monthly pricing was the same as the DirecTivo combos, $5/month making the breakeven in the 5+ year range. (Lifetime hasn't been offered on DirecTivo for quite some time now.)