TIVO Fans Pls respond

[nwsteve]

Our Tivo is on it last legs. For example, wifi card must be dead as no longer recognizes. Extended ethernet as a work around.
In this new world of everything being available from streaming does a dvr/tivo still make sense. Currently we use the DVR feature extensively, rarely watching anything live
Just got an offer from TIVO for new unit with service for life for a net cost of $449--supposedly $500 off. Trying to decide if make do until existing Tivo dies or grab the promo.
Thoughts??

 

[Aerides]

We were early TIVO fans and had multiple lifetime units (lifetime of the box, not you of course).

We gave up a couple of years ago. Between streaming and the PITA of having to get cable cards...and the cost vs. a box...eh

And we watch so little actual TV anymore. Almost everything is streaming for us now.

 

[njhowie]

All of the promos for the past 6 months have had the service for life offer. Keep in mind, it's service for life "of the unit". If the unit dies, then so too the service for life.

That being said, we purchased a refurb Roamio OTA direct from Tivo with the service for life included - probably 5 years ago. We use it less and less, however, it's still nice to have to be able to record things. We don't use it for any of its other smart/streaming capabilities, as the Smart TV does it, as does the Roku (which we also rarely use since purchasing the Smart TV).

It sounds that you like having DVR capability, and I think Tivo is among the best. I'd take the promo while it's there. They've had that promo for the same unit you're looking at for a while now, but with prices increasing all over the place, who knows how long it will last? On the other hand, since they've had this promo going for a while now, it makes me think that they may be phasing out the model and preparing to release a new one.

 

[bltkmt]

We were early TIVO fans and had multiple lifetime units (lifetime of the box, not you of course).

We gave up a couple of years ago. Between streaming and the PITA of having to get cable cards...and the cost vs. a box...eh

And we watch so little actual TV anymore. Almost everything is streaming for us now.

Same here - once we cut cable and went with YoutubeTV, we stopped using Tivos. I still have two Tivo Bolts gathering dust. Was a huge fan of Tivo for 15+ years though.

 

[cathy63]

If you "use the DVR feature extensively, rarely watching anything live" and don't want to change your habits, then yes, a TiVo still makes sense for you.

Now, if you do want to change your habits and stream everything (well, first make sure that everything you want to watch is really available via streaming), then a Roku is a lot cheaper than a TiVo.

What makes sense for other people who may enjoy their entertainment differently shouldn't really matter.

 

[Montecfo]

Big Tivo fan going way back. I bought a lot of used Directv combo boxes back in the day. I do not use it currently. The DTV guide is OK, I do not love it.

Try weakknees.com for some used equipment.

I would think you want to stay with Tivo given what you like. There never has been a better interface, but the the company itself has been a bit of a football, feared by the cable companies and unable to establish a profitable niche other than the guide data from way back. Lots for mergers and acquisitions.

Happy searching.

 

[ncbill]

Roamio models w/ lifetime off eBay wold be cheaper & probably more reliable than the new Edge models.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

We still use ours, mostly because my spouse is addicted to "live" TV, but I've gotten them used to being able to pause. If I were single I'd have cut the cord and have no use for them, or maybe just the Edge for OTA recordings. I do sometimes find shows on Hulu or Netflix that I catch up on, and then set up a recording for the next season instead of waiting for it to come out on a streaming channel, but I could probably wait.

I second WeaKnees (one K), I had them send me a replacement hard drive already formatted when one of my TiVos died, and that has gotten me another few years out of it. They're also a good source for modded or refurbished TiVos, and replacement remotes -- one issue with being able to keep them in service for long enough to get your money's worth out of the "lifetime" subscription is that the remotes wear out!

And if you decommission it, consider keeping it for a year or so. TiVo occasionally will have a "sale" where they'll let you transfer a lifetime subscription to a new unit, and in the past I've done that with dead ones, all I needed was the serial #. (That might have changed, but even then you can probably rig it up once to transfer.)

 

[Montecfo]

yes, thank you CosmicAvenger, it is weaknees.com.

Spelling from memory at times not my greatest strength but hoping to keep it from becoming a weakkness.

 

[GTFan]

Our Tivo is on it last legs. For example, wifi card must be dead as no longer recognizes. Extended ethernet as a work around.
In this new world of everything being available from streaming does a dvr/tivo still make sense. Currently we use the DVR feature extensively, rarely watching anything live
Just got an offer from TIVO for new unit with service for life for a net cost of $449--supposedly $500 off. Trying to decide if make do until existing Tivo dies or grab the promo.
Thoughts??

Used Roamio Plus/Pro w/lifetime service from ebay or locally for $200 or less, problem solved. Wouldn't waste the money on the Edge at this point, and both it and the Bolt have had reliability issues. Plus you're locked into their newer UI on Edge which also has issues.

Best box they ever built with best UI. I have one with 4 Minis, it's the most reliable with the older 3.5" drives.

I stick with DVRs over streaming for a number of reasons - my HSI/cable combo from Comcast costs about the same as HSI/streaming, I watch a lot of sports which is cheaper to get on Comcast vs. streaming, and the playback experience is so much better than streaming. Skipping commercials, quick play etc. Just way better than how you have to do it with the limited remote functionality on most services, the Tivo remote is far superior.

YMMV, it all depends on what you watch and how.

 

[foxcreek9]

Went with Tablo, not as slick as tivo but it seems to have a better tuner - getting stronger signal from distant stations. I still have a roamio and one mini with lifetime service that I need to sell.

 

[rodi]

We were in the same boat... Older tivo was dying... it overheated and would freeze/lock up. We cut a hole in the top of the case for more airflow which extended it's life... but it was definitely dying. We bought a new edge with lifetime service (similar deal as you describe.) Unfortunately, it's a newer interface and we're still getting used to it. It does everything and some things are more integrated (apps like netflix, hulu, prime, etc.) But they semi-hid things I use a lot like "to-do list". And they changed how you delete programs and we've accidentally deleted something we didn't want to. (It's retrievable, but still...) But overall - no regrets about replacing the old one.

As for the cable cards - I just transferred the card, called the cable operator, and I was in business.

Funny enough the new Edge's are made by my old Megacorp. (Arris, which was spun off from Mot Mobility, which was a subsidiary of google for a while, which was split from Motorola, which was formerly General Instrument.... Job stayed the same, employer name kept changing.) Turns out one of my favorite managers was in charge of the Tivo project for Arris.

 

[Ncc1701]

I sold my Tivo on ebay. Go Buy a Tablo Quad DVR, hook it up to an antenna, get an Apple TV for every TV. Install the Tablo app, Pluto TV and Netflix. Call cable co to cancel TV.

You'll be glad you did...

 

[nwsteve]

OP here. Many thanks for sharing your experiences. Got say the used Roamio from Ebay looking good but need to check Tablo--first exposure to that option. Which, of course, is why I posted--the collective knowledge of the Forum is phenomenal!

 

[Animorph]

For cable Tivo may be a great choice. We use a Roamio for cable, but I've had to fix it a couple of times.

My current favorite is Channels DVR. The TV-side app runs on Apple TV, Android TV, Fire TV, and browsers. It uses a server app, which can be a PC, a NAS server, or even a few streaming sticks with added storage. An HDHomerun tuner device gives it OTA channels. For cable channels it can connect with TV Everywhere via your cable company (or TV streaming service) sign-on. That gives you most of the cable channels in an officially approved manner. Channels DVR can also play your local video files, similar to Plex. Channels DVR with TV Everywhere also does not require a tuning adapter or cable card, which is very nice.

That is my default for watching TV, though DW is stuck on Tivo. I hope to transition completely to Channels DVR when the Tivo dies.

 

[Breaks]

I gave serious thought to replacing TIVO with a streaming TV service. So far, I am sticking with it because it is reliable, saves time and is more convenient (at least the way I use it).

The commercial skip feature only works about half the time, but I have gotten good at hitting the triple FF and knowing just win to resume. I no longer have patience for commercials.

Multitasking. I can watch two live news shows at the same time by pausing and alternating.

I also like to keep the tuners on channels I watch frequently. If I see something I enjoy which has already started, then I just rewind back to the beginning.

Football may be the single biggest reason. Rather than sit on the couch all weekend, I record games in sequence. When I watch them later, each can be compressed into about an hour by skipping commercials and using the 30-second skip feature, which is about the time between the end of one play and the beginning of another.

 

[GTFan]

Yep, one of the best DVR features is the ability to chase-watch sports, catching up to live or close to it when it ends. No commercials!

 

[MichaelL]

I got rid of my TIVO after I got Uverse with a built in DVR. Then I got rid of Uverse after I got a Firestick TV for $25. I changed what I watch and I'm happier. There is no need for cable TV or a DVR. I watch Youtube, Amazon and Netflix plus some apps that can be loaded on the Firestick.