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Tivo gets it right with new Roamio Pro model (1 Viewer)

DaveF

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But I tell you what, I really hope I don't get more toilet paper ads on my Tivo main menu. Give me good ads relevant to my TV watching. I'm fine with that. But don't put a "Charmin" ad on the top menu of of my DVR. Bleh.

A couple years ago, they tried a feature where some shows had paid-promos where you could THumbs-Up during a TV ad and it would take you to the season-pass manager for that show. But it only appeared for a handful of (sucky) shows I didn't care about. I wish that was a standard feature they integrated with all TV shows.

Everytime an ad for a new series appears, I should be able to THumbs Up and get a season pass for it. And it should also know about shows beyond its 2 week local database. If I know a cool new show is starting this Fall, I should be able to set up a Season Pass for it, and not have to keep searching and hope that it's now in Tivos guide data.
 

Chris Gerhard

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Ronald Epstein said:
Really? It costs Tivo $200 to manufacture their units?I am in no position to know for certain, but I would think
that they are making some kind of profit on their hardware
not to include advertising across the top menu.
The average sales price is nowhere near $200, more like $100 for the basic model and watch for promos to buy at less than $100. Although some small percentage of basic models may be sold at $200, after manufacturing costs, markeeting costs, retail profits, shipping costs, licensing costs, and customer returns, even if it was, that would still be sold at a loss.
 

DaveF

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Chris Gerhard said:
The average sales price is nowhere near $200, more like $100 for the basic model and watch for promos to buy at less than $100. Although some small percentage of basic models may be sold at $200, after manufacturing costs, markeeting costs, retail profits, shipping costs, licensing costs, and customer returns, even if it was, that would still be sold at a loss.
Huh? Even the base model $199 Roamio won't be sold under $100 anytime soon. The year-old Mini still retails for $99. There are some minor bargains through Amazon and Weaknees. But not a 50% discount on new hardware.
 

DaveF

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It just gets better: the Roamio works like a ChromeCast, so I can send YouTube playback from the iPad to the TiVo. Awesome. This saves me $99, as that's the basic feature I was going to get an AppleTV for. I'm very happy about this. Great bonus feature.
 

Chris Gerhard

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DaveF said:
Huh? Even the base model $199 Roamio won't be sold under $100 anytime soon. The year-old Mini still retails for $99. There are some minor bargains through Amazon and Weaknees. But not a 50% discount on new hardware.
I am speaking in general terms for TiVo historically, how the company business plan works. Over the years, I have received dozens of offers from TiVo to buy the Premiere at much less than $100 and in time, I expect exactly the same situation with the basic Roamio. I have been using TiVo for 13 years and if TiVo suddenly changes and discontinues selling the hardware at a loss without reducing service fees, you can probably say goodbye to TiVo. For whatever reason, TiVo decided long ago selling the hardware at a loss and trying to operate at a profit by subscription fees, advertising and licensing to other companies. It isn't unlike Sony selling the PS3 console at a loss and hoping to make a profit from games, accessories and services.

I guess consumers like getting something at a great price initially, even if that means paying more in the long run. The same business plan works for smart phones.
 

McCrutchy

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I have to say, I really don't care about TiVo's ads on my DVRs. I find them small and unobtrusive, and most of the time I hardly notice them. And its not like my FiOS box is ad free, either...there are ads and notifications from Verizon that pop up from time to time. So I'm surprised so many people here are bothered by them.
 

DaveF

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Over a decade of great, problem-free performance from my TiVo Roamio (and subsequent two minis), they’re being sunsetted. I just factory reset my Roamio, and will be uninstalling the three units from their locations.

I’m undecided if I‘m going to put them in recycling or try to sell them. I like to sell and rehome good used electronics, but it’s not really worth my time any more.
 

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