Sprenzy Shopping Blog: Tag tivo

TiVo HD - Product Lifetime Service Transfer

Chuck — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:38:00 -0400

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.

180-Hour Tivo HD

Chuck — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 16:34:00 -0400

Tivo is releasing a new 180-hour Tivo HD at the end of August. The new Tivo HD offers almost all the same features of the highly praised Tivo Series 3 HD (S3), but at a more affordable sub $300 price. For the lower price tag, you’ll have to sacrifice THX certification, a larger hard drive and a back-lit remote control. It’s not much to give up, considering you’ll save $300 over the S3 and will still be able to record high definition programming.

Here’s a review roundup on the Tivo HD…

Tivo HD review from PC Magazine
Tivo HD review by PC World
A Review of the Tivo HD by Tivo Lovers

For less than $300, the 180-hour Tivo HD makes it really compelling to upgrade my series2 Tivo. The primary reason I’m hesitating is due to the monthly subscription fee, which is $13 to $17 depending on the commitment time frame. I think I’ll wait a little longer and hope Tivo offers a product lifetime service transfer to a new Tivo HD.

However, if you are currently paying a monthly Tivo fee, upgrading to a Tivo HD is a good deal to be able to record and watch high-definition programming.

Amazon Unbox on Tivo - Needs Improvement

Chuck — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 02:33:00 -0400

As a long time Tivo owner and Netflix user, I had hoped their partnership would provide the ultimate on-demand video service. Unfortunately, the venture ended with nothing to show.

I was naturally excited about Amazon Unbox on Tivo. Amazon Unbox allows you to rent or buy movies and TV shows and download them to your PC. With the new Unbox on Tivo service, you can now download videos directly to a broadband connected Tivo.

The key selling point for me is movie rentals. I have a stack of DVD movies that collect dust because I never re-watch them. I love Netflix, but I don’t watch enough movies to justify the monthly fee anymore. Currently, my preferred video viewing model is my cable provider’s on-demand/pay-per-view service, with instant gratification, decent video and audio quality and complete control of playback for 24 hours. The only negative is the on-demand movie selection is very limited.

With great anticipation, I tested out Amazon Unbox on Tivo today. By registering my Tivo before April 30th, I received a $15 Unbox credit. The cost to rent a movie is $3.99, $14.99 to purchase a movie and $1.99 to buy a TV show. For my Unbox test, I rented The Illusionist and bought Casino Royale. Renting or purchasing a movie is an easy one click process and the movie automatically began downloading to my Tivo within 15 minutes. According to the Unbox on Tivo FAQs, download times vary depending on your Internet connection speed. On my broadband connection, it took over 1.5 hours for a 109 minute video and 2.5 hours for a 145 minute movie. Unfortunately, video playback is not available until the movie is completely downloaded to your Tivo.

Once a movie rental is downloaded, you have a limited window, 30 days, to begin watching it. After you start watching the rental, it’s available for 24 hours and then is automatically deleted, much like a cable provider’s on-demand movie service. Rental can be downloaded to either your PC or Tivo but not both, and therefore not available for re-download from Your Media Library on Amazon Unbox. If you purchase movies, the videos are “available for re-download from Your Media Library and can be downloaded on up to 2 (two) different personal computers or Tivo DVRs and can be transferred to up to 2 (two) portable devices at any one time.”

According to Tivo, Unbox videos “are of better quality than videos recorded at the Best Quality setting on a TiVo Series2™ DVR.” After watching part of the movies on my Tivo, the video quality is about the same as the Best Quality setting. However, the video and sound quality is only adequate for viewing TV shows. I expect DVD quality video and digital surround sound while watching movies. The Tivo Series3 is capable of digital audio; however, I believe Unbox videos are only offered in stereo sound.

The video quality, using the Unbox player to watch videos on a PC, isn’t much better than on the Tivo. But I’m more forgiving of video on PCs versus an HDTV and I usually don’t watch videos on a PC unless it’s free. One positive on the Unbox player is the progressive download feature, which allows you to watch videos while it’s downloading.

Overall, I’m disappointed with the Unbox on Tivo service. I was hoping for a service that would replace my cable provider’s pay-per-view service and Netflix. With a limited rental library, the inability to immediately watch videos and poor video quality, I don’t plan on using Unbox on Tivo unless it’s the last option. Additionally, there’s no point in purchasing a movie from Unbox when you can buy the DVD with superior video and audio at the same price. It’s the same reason I don’t buy any movies or music from iTunes. Why pay the same price for inferior video or audio?

Despite my disappointment, Unbox does allow you to easily download video to your Tivo in just one click. As a movie renter, I’ll add Unbox on Tivo as an option but it will be third on my list after DVD rental (Netflix, etc.) and pay-per-view/on-demand. I’ll gladly move Unbox on Tivo up my list and even to the top with the following improvements:

Improve video and audio to DVD quality
Allow video playback during video downloading
Expand video rental library

If Amazon and Tivo can make these improvements, I would also finally pony up the $650 and upgrade to a Tivo Series3 HD DVR. Until then, I’m keeping my eye on the Apple TV (no rentals is a downer) and the SlingCatcher.

Tivo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder - Is it worth $800?

Chuck — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:45:00 -0400

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.