TIVO Raises Rates!

[opie]

Saw this on engadget.

TiVo raises rates, limits WPA to own WiFi adaptor

Posted Nov 6th 2006 5:22PM by Darren Murph
Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Wireless
Doing away with the generally well-regarded lifetime subscription was unfortunate albeit bearable, but now TiVo is really pressing its luck. Just in time for folks to slash that pricey Series3 off their holiday wishlist, the widely adored DVR company is not only upping its monthly service rates for new customers and those currently on prepaid plans, but also limiting WPA support to its own TiVo Wireless G Adapter. Just days after teasing high-rollers with its chromed-out $50 "premium remote," TiVo has announced that monthly rates are being raised to $19.95 per month for those in one-year commitments (up from $12.95 monthly), $14.95 per month if you're locked in for 24 months, and $12.95 monthly if you make the huge mistake of signing up for three solid years. For additional units in your crib, the extra $6.95 per month is now up to $13.95, $8.95, or $6.95 depending on your 1/2/3-year commitment. In a move to seemingly further limit your choices (and make things easier on its own tech support personnel), your only option for utilizing WPA on that Series2 / Series3 box is to fork out for TiVo's own 802.11g device. Apparently TiVo either thinks we're all made of money, or there's simply a lack of alternative DVR solutions waiting to take its place on your AV shelf -- both of which are probably incorrect assumptions.

Looks like it's time to build that Media Center.

 

[Mike]

I'm guessing they are going after the high end. They are the only one with an HD recorder that is not proprietary (I think). For the high-end setup, would you balk at $1k for equipment and $20 a month?

I loved Tivo and still have two (on lifetime subscriptions for over 5 years now I think) but I cannot see getting another one. Sage is now my primary.

That is the only justification I can see. This also puts them further from cable company boxes ($9.99 a month?). Seems like a mistake to me.

 

[Digger]

In the long run Sage is a good option but if someone wants something off the shelf Cablevision's box for $10 a month isnt bad.

I have been using Sage for a few months just as a PVR and a few extenders. I cant really complain. The LiveTV doesnt work for me but I havent upgraded to the the Version 6 Beta which I heard fixed that.

I wonder what Verizon will do?

 

[Smarty]

Just a note about Sage. MANY folks (including myself) are unable to get the wireless MVP extenders to work. Go wired or forget it.

Still waiting for the wireless fix.....or the new house with the wired access points......

 

[piper_chuck]

That is the only justification I can see. This also puts them further from cable company boxes ($9.99 a month?). Seems like a mistake to me.

In this area, DVR service is only $6.95 per month. And, it's an HD capable DVR.

 

[Digger]

I have the wired extenders and so far they are fine. If I reboot my computer I find I need to reboot the extenders. Not that big of a deal.

 

[Treetop]

That is the only justification I can see. This also puts them further from cable company boxes ($9.99 a month?). Seems like a mistake to me.

In this area, DVR service is only $6.95 per month. And, it's an HD capable DVR.

Not as many features, or as nice of a GUI, but....

Oh, and as far as I know, as of the time of me typing this, Tivo is the only one with cablecard support?!?

 

[MeSteve]

Why would you need cablecard support if you get the DVR from the cable company in the first place?

 

[piper_chuck]

That is the only justification I can see. This also puts them further from cable company boxes ($9.99 a month?). Seems like a mistake to me.

In this area, DVR service is only $6.95 per month. And, it's an HD capable DVR.

Not as many features, or as nice of a GUI, but....

Oh, and as far as I know, as of the time of me typing this, Tivo is the only one with cablecard support?!?

I've never looked into Tivo, so I don't know what features I'm missing out on. The DVR lets me setup recording directly from the cable schedule, record an entire series, and other things. It lets me fast forward through commercials, rewind while watching a live show, record one show while watching another, etc. I'm not sure there's much more that I really need, especially for the price difference...

 

[opie]

I only have basic cable and don't watch a lot of TV but my wife loves the TIVO. At the time I ordered it, $12.95 seemed very reasonable so I didn't do a lot of research and just went with it. At $19.95, I'm enclined to look at other options. It's still not a huge amount of money but it's more than a 50% increase from what I was paying.

Granted, TIVO can view Photos and play music from your PC but it looks like SageTV (and I'm sure others) will also and I don't really use those features anyway.

 

[IVB]

I generally dislike all UIs that others make for me - they just never seem to get it right. At least with SageTVStudio, you can modify the UI (to a degree)

alas, i am counting down the days until the CQC-sageTV driver developer figures out how to access the sageTV database directly. then, I can toss any pre-made UI altogether, and have a single UI that mimics my DVD screens and shows:
1) mzone control along left
2) elk status, outside weather, and forecast along top
3) recorded TV selection in the main window.

Heck, I might even have a single screen for "video", doesn't matter if it's a TV show or DVD. Now that would be cool...

 

[opie]

Since I am now looking at other options, I have looked at SageTV but only a little. A few things I don't understand.

1) Is SageTV an alternative to Windows Media Center functionality, a componet of it, both or either?

2) Where does the scheduling information come from, TitanTV or their own service; which is free right?

3) The system requirements on SageTV's Web Site look pretty modest. What is the requires for it to really run smoothly.

4) The one thing I dislike about TIVO the most is the lag when changing channels. How fast is channel surfing?


Thanks

 

[MeSteve]

I can't answer most of your questions, but I don't believe you would use SageTV as your MAIN tuner, so the lag would not be an issue.

 

[IVB]

I've been a dedicated SageTV user for over 3 years now - it's the only bit of my setup that remains from my original set-em-up days.

1) Is SageTV an alternative to Windows Media Center functionality, a componet of it, both or either?

An Alternative.

2) Where does the scheduling information come from, TitanTV or their own service; which is free right?

XMLTV, which is free.

3) The system requirements on SageTV's Web Site look pretty modest.  What is the requires for it to really run smoothly.

Depends on your playback resolution, and whether you use dScaler to clean up the image. When I was content with 800x600 on an SDTV, an AMD2500 was good enough. I'm now at 800x600 but using dScaler on my EDTV plasma, I have an AMD3200, and it rarely goes above 50% utilization. However, I absolutely cannot leave dScaler permanently as I also record OTA HDTV, and the AMD3200 cannot handle dScaler on an HDTV stream (not surprising, that's something like 7GB/hour).

4) The one thing I dislike about TIVO the most is the lag when changing channels.  How fast is channel surfing?

Just tried it, I have a DirecTV STB, so it's as fast as the STB is. Honestly though, i've had SageTV for 3 years, and 2.5 years ago is the last time I watched live TV. I just add tons of stuff to my favorites since I have effectively unlimited storage capacity, and pick from there. I believe I have 45 "favorites", although some are more "i'll tolerate watching" than "favorites". That's the upside of a PC DVR - I threw 1.25TB at it.

 

[opie]

Thanks for the feedback. If I had that much soace I wouldn't watch live TV either.