Sprenzy Shopping Blog

Thinking about upgrading to a TiVo HD? Do you have Product Lifetime Service on your current TiVo? Then there’s good news, TiVo has a new offer — purchase a TiVo HD DVR for $299 (from Tivo.com) and transfer your Product Lifetime Service for $199. Additionally, you’ll be able to keep service on your existing TiVo for one year with no charge. The offer expires November 8, 2007. Keep in mind to be eligible for this offer, your Product Lifetime Service had to be activated prior to October 1, 2003.

In their Tivo HD review, PC Magazine concluded…

“All in all, however, the TiVo HD lives up to the promise of finally getting HD programming on a TiVo at a reasonable cost. It does core search, record, and playback functions better than anyone else in the DVR business. I think $300 is the sweet spot that will push current TiVo subscribers into the HD fold and lure new users away from the plain-vanilla boxes offered by most cable companies.”

For additional reviews, take a look at my previous post on the TiVo HD. If you aren’t eligible for a lifetime service transfer, Amazon is selling the TiVo HD for $249. You’ll have to pay a monthly service fee but you’ll get a great dual tuner HD DVR.

Unfortunately, the TiVo HD does not support satellite service. I recently switched to DirecTV to be able to watch Penn State on the Big Ten Network. Otherwise, I would be all over the TiVo HD upgrade offer.

The Tivo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder (S3) has finally arrived. I’ve been waiting for over 4 years for this device. As a big high-definition (HD) fan, I’ve been wanting to upgrade my Tivo Series2 DVR with an HD recordable Tivo. Before the S3’s release, my only option available to record HD programming was through Comcast’s DVR since I’m a Comcast cable subscriber. My excitement of the Series3 (S3) has been tempered by the $800 price. If you are a current owner of a Series1 or Series2 DVR with lifetime service you can transfer the lifetime service to the S3 for $199. The offer is good until December 31, 2006.

Is the S3 worth $1,000? My immediate reaction was no way. I’m usually an early adopter of new gear but the total price tag of $1,000 is too much for the benefits over my Series2 DVR. If you add in the hassle of scheduling an appointment and installing cablecards by Comcast technicians, forget about it. I would definitely wait until Comcast and other cable provider technicians iron out the issues of cablecard installation on the S3.

Despite my reservations on the Tivo Series3 DVR, I did a little research and found several good reviews.

• Tivo Lovers Review by Megazone - this is the best and most comprehensive review I’ve read. They also have a Series3 FAQ page. Just ignore the awful frame-based user interface.

• CNET Review - 8.3 out of 10 with a video review.

• Gizmodo Review - good review with a short video review shown below.

• SeekingAlpha - this is a great list of reviews from editorial sources and bloggers.

Here’s the short Gizmodo video on the S3.

After reading a couple of reviews, I’m a little more excited about the features of the S3. The key benefits that I like are:

• “Quietest DVR available” - my Series2 DVR’s fan is very loud.
• THX certified - improved sound quality recording for HD channels and digital channels.
• Capable of recording two HD channels while watching a previous recording.
• Future ability to add additional storage device to increase capacity.
• Digital Media Receiver moniker - if Tivo and Netflix can get their act together, I would love the ability to get my Netflix movies from the S3.

Despite the great features of the S3 and the potential features, there are still some negatives for the device.

• No TivoToGo, TivoToComeback or Multi-room viewing in the initial release.
• $800 price is very steep.

There are other drawbacks to the S3 but it’s due to the one-way communication limitation of cablecards, which means no pay per view (PPV) or video on demand (VOD) services. So you’ll have to retain your cable company’s set-top box for those services.

The bottom line is a $1,000 total price (including Tivo service) is too much for me. If all of my TV programming were in HD, then I would have to seriously think about getting the S3. But I only get a dozen HD channels right now. So, I’m sitting on the sideline for the S3 until the price drops.

I’ll update this post with pricing information when our merchants start offering the Tivo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder.