Cord Cutters - Tivo Finally has a Low Cost Option!

[daschtick]

I recently just canceled by Dish Network service, and switched to Over The Air (OTA) and Hulu Plus/Netflix for television.  My biggest problem with this change has been the loss of a DVR, plus the fumbling with the DVD Player to launch a streaming service when OTA does not cut it.  I have been researching DVRs for the last few weeks, but most have several drawbacks, except for Tivo, which had only one drawback - COST.  Up until THIS MORNING, their OTA solution was $49 + a never ending monthly payment of $14.99 (Roamio OTA), or $199+$499 ($698) for a lifetime subscription (Roamio) - Way too expensive!  Other than cost, Tivo appears to be the perfect solution for cord cutters, as it integrates all of the OTA channels with full DVR functionality, plus several streaming services into a single device.

Well, Tivo addressed the cost issue THIS MORNING with a limited time offer:

https://www.tivo.com/tlp4

$299 for Roamio OTA + Lifetime Service - $400 less than the next cheapest lifetime subscription offer!

I immediately ordered mine, and just received shipping confirmation.  If you have any interest in this device, I suggest that you decide somewhat quickly, as apparently this is a limited time offer, and the only reason I found it was reading through the Tivo forum, as I have not been able to locate this offer through the regular site.

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=528147

[iamsoners]

Would love to hear what other MMMers think about TiVo.  We don't even use Netflix/Hulu/whatever here, we just don't watch enough, but it would be nice to record the kids stuff on PBS, use it for sports and watch some of the shows we watch sans commercials.

[geekette]

Man, I wish this had shown up before I bought a Tablo, although I'm not sure which way I would have gone.  The Tablo's working well and has more capabilities built in, but it's not as "mature" a product as TiVo. 

[Psychstache]

Offer seems to have pulled. :(

[geekette]

I still see it.

[cgc007]

I personally use NPVR (http://www.nextpvr.com/) on my desktop which has a TV tuner card installed in it.

Pros:

-Cost! NPVR is free software, and the TV Tuner card I have is $80-90. There are no monthly fees.
-I get to decide how much information I save, as it's all stored on my hard drives.

Cons:
-Unless you like fiddling with computers this option is probably not for you, since this is free software the support is very limited (forums, which are very helpful)

All in all I'm very happy we switched to using NPVR and creating my own DVR vs. buying one. We've been using NPVR for over a year now, and we broke even from our previous method (using huluplus to watch all of our OTA shows "recorded") just recently. I also like the fact that I can do whatever I like with the files after I watch them. It's the modern equivalent to recording everything to VHS and being able to keep the tapes as long as you like. If I chose to I could even back everything up and save it all to watch far later, DVD binge style :)

[mustachemayhem]

Would love to hear what other MMMers think about TiVo.  We don't even use Netflix/Hulu/whatever here, we just don't watch enough, but it would be nice to record the kids stuff on PBS, use it for sports and watch some of the shows we watch sans commercials.

I never had a dvr and don't think it would provide much. I "cut the cord" 5 years ago. I had hulu plus and netflix which have both been canceled in favor of amazon prime. Even Prime we don't use very much, maybe 5 hours a week total.