TiVo temporarily reinstates $400 lifetime subscription for Series3, HD

Call it a quick holiday cash-in targeted at current TiVo owners if you must, but you're not about to kill our buzz about the fact that TiVo's resurrecting the greatly missed Product Lifetime Service (aka lifetime subscription) for Series3 and HD owners -- temporarily, anyway, and for realsies this time. As of today -- but only through January 2nd, 2008 -- current TiVo owners can upgrade their Series2 to a Series3 or HD with lifetime, or simply upgrade the service on their current S3 / HD -- equipment aside, the service will set you back $399. Sorry though, you can't transfer service between boxes, and if you're buying a new TiVo for the lifetime you have to use it under the same account. In other words, it doesn't look like they're leaving any loopholes open on this one. Pricing details after the break.

Current service pricing

• 1yr (monthly) - $16.95/month
• 2yr (monthly) - $14.95/month
• 3yr (monthly) - $12.95/month
• 1yr (prepay) - $179 (one time)
• 2yr (prepay) - $279 (one time)
• 3yr (prepay) - $299 (one time)

New promo pricing

• 1yr (monthly) - $12.95/month
• 1yr (prepay) - $129 (one time)
• 2yr (prepay) - $249 (one time)
• 3yr (prepay) - $299 (one time)
• Web Special - 1yr monthly - $12.95/month
• Web Special - 1yr prepay - $129 (one time)

Multi-service pricing (up to 5 TiVos)

• Multi-service discount - 1yr monthly - $9.95/month
• Multi-service discount - 1yr prepay - $99 (one time)
• Multi-service discount - lifetime service - $399 (one time)
• Web Special MSD - 1yr monthly - $9.95/month
• Web Special MSD - 1yr prepay - $99 (one time)

[wil @ Nov 8th 2007 7:59AM]

Does anyone understand what is written above? That's the least clear post I've ever seen.

[Ben @ Nov 8th 2007 8:30AM]

It is basically saying that if you have a currently active tivo and you have/get a series3 you now have the option of putting it on a lifetime subscription

[Cory @ Nov 8th 2007 9:07AM]

The important note though is that this isn't a lifetime subscription transfer like in the past. This is if you have a Tivo now (with lifetime or without) you can get a new box with a lifetime subscription.

[bryan @ Nov 8th 2007 9:39AM]

The offer to transfer your existing lifetime subscription just ended (http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/11/tivo-offers-lifetime-service-transfers-to-the-hd-if-youve-go/)

This one says that if you're a current Tivo Subscriber and buy a new box you can buy a lifetime subscription for that new box for $399.

[Brian @ Nov 8th 2007 8:35AM]

We really need some clarity on what the impact will be on the $6.95 price a lot of us are paying now for our second TiVo, for those of us for which the first TiVo has lifetime service.

[jed @ Nov 8th 2007 9:03AM]

I love the whole Tivo phenomenon. As far as I can figure, TV broadcasts are free because they are broadcast on public airwaves. Like if I use a walkie talkie to talk to my friend 2 miles away, I don't own the frequency, I'm just using it. Public Airwaves. They make money because they sell soap and cars on their show. Then, someone up and decides to sell those same shows to you on itunes, without the commercials. A fine idea, but just because someone decides to sell you something that was already free, doesn't mean you were retroactively stealing it, nor are you stealing it if you come by it by other means. Its free. I'm not stealing oxygen if I fail to visit the oxygen bar, and I'm not ripping off the Water Company if it rains. The service Tivo sells is very nice, and I'm happy for them, but it bears mentioning that if we privately do exactly what tivo does, having precisely the same rights and owning exactly the same license to our own TV signal, we can be considered criminals. If Tivo started out as an open source program, I think its a good chance it would be similar to the persecution Youtube is getting right now, and the criticism Bittorents are getting. Bravo to them making it so plain faced that they are still in business.

[FrankTheCrank @ Nov 8th 2007 9:07AM]

$400 bucks for lifetime is STEEP. And you have to be a Tivo subscriber already, which means, you've been getting porked all this time and if you want to go HD and lifetime, well, they got to pork you EXTRA good.

Sad. Nothing like a "thank you porking" to upgrade.

What assholes.

[Christopher Hager @ Nov 8th 2007 9:16AM]

Sad...

And I bet the HD Tivo price remains $300.00..at least until 01/02/08...

$700.00 is steep

[Denver_80203 @ Nov 8th 2007 9:25AM]

400 = about 5 years @6.95/month

I've have my series 1 (switched to 3) for 8 years. Now... I paid a fee to transfer my lifetime from 1 to 3 (300$) and my orginal life time was 300... So I have paid 600 for it.

So, I'm still ahead and I will be for a long time to come. The series 3 is GREAT and will certainly last me another 5 years at least. Granted I may dump some cash into updating the hard drive, etc. -that would be no different if I were paying a monthly fee.

[JJ @ Nov 8th 2007 9:15AM]

Lifetime subscription = good. I've already paid off what I'd paid for Lifetime on my Series2 box. I still won't buy an HD TiVo though until they actually release whatever attachment they're planning on releasing to enable the TiVo to handle switched video signals because, as of right now, the HD TiVo can't do it (since the CableCard hardware it has is only uni-directional).

[Drew @ Nov 8th 2007 9:17AM]

So, can I buy a TiVo HD and get HD lifetime or not? If they really want my $400, somebody is going to have to explain what this actually is. I prefer my subscription-free TiVo and can certainly build a MythTV that will do everything HD and whatever they outdate HD with later on.

[glide2flip @ Nov 8th 2007 9:49AM]

I just bought my first Tivo unit - an HD model; and paid the $299 for 3 yrs prepay. Does this mean I can get a lifetime for an extra $100, or do I have to buy another box and THEN have the option of going lifetime on one of them for $399? This is the most unclear pricing scheme I have ever seen...

[bsm0f0 @ Nov 8th 2007 1:24PM]

@glide2flip
You have to buy ANOTHER box and cough up a ANOTHER $399. Now turn your head to the left and repeat ...

[Aaron @ Nov 8th 2007 10:30AM]

FYI: You can get a TiVo HD for about $250 on Amazon so that's a total of $650, not the $700 quoted above...small difference but worth mentioning. I would also say that the average life expectancy of the TiVo hard drive is about 5-10 years. My Series 2 died after about 7 years.

[Ryan P @ Nov 8th 2007 11:25AM]

I'm interested in this for a christmas present, but I don't want it to die on me. Can you just pop a new drive in?

[Brian @ Nov 8th 2007 12:11PM]

You have to have a backup of the drive to put in a new one, because all of the tivo software is also on it. mfslive.org has tools that allow you to do this

[Alex @ Nov 8th 2007 12:48PM]

Ryan P, To add to what Brian said, you can make your own back up (at any point before the disk dies) or you can purchase hard drives from various third party vendors that come pre-formatted for the tivo.

[James @ Nov 8th 2007 12:08PM]

Heh, I'll stick with my MythTV -- subscription is something like 15 dollars for 6 months, IIRC, and they're working to make that same money last a year.

I wonder what "service" Tivo thinks they're providing you? Not to mention that they get to sell demographic information to market research firms on top of the subscription fees they're reaming you out of.

I think there's a market niche here for a decent player that *doesn't* bend you over and ream you on the monthly fees, and I'm wondering why nobody has filled that gap yet.

[coyotej @ Nov 8th 2007 1:51PM]

As far as service is concerned, beyond providing listings, the TiVo boxes offer a host of on-demand (e.g. Amazon Unboxed & TiVoCast video downloads), online scheduling, and a slew of other network applications on the box. If it's not worth it to you, then fine. For those who want to build HTPCs, that's great, it's just more work to maintain , is a noisy thing to have in the living room, and generally still more expensive because of the hardware costs.

As much as TiVo sends information to 3rd parties, a large chunk of this is /anonymous/ information. There is a lot of "big-brother"-esque fear about this, but you have more to worry about with the phone-company and the gov't that with TiVo.

I used to be a MythTV user, but I reached a point where I was actually limited by it (e.g. there will likely never be CableCard support, so forget about recording encrypted QAM channels, which is most digital cable channels & cable HD). I also got tired of supporting the hardware.

[Rob @ Nov 8th 2007 12:18PM]

Make your own damn HTPC and save a couple hundred. There are plenty of good free software alternatives out there. Plus you'll get more functionality out of your HTPC than your ever achieve with your TiVo.

[coyotej @ Nov 8th 2007 1:39PM]

This really isn't cheaper, because you have to buy a whole bunch of hardware (typically a PC, which is way more than $299) and typically still pay for listings (even with MythTV now). I'd done this for years, and I switched to TiVo/Lifetime after having had enough of messing around with that.

Can you cite the (DVR/media-related) functionality that you'd gain from the HTPC that you wouldn't get from the TiVo? Besides streaming video over the network (a la AppleTV) I can't think of anything.

[Rob @ Nov 8th 2007 5:34PM]

Between SageTV, MythTV, BeyondTV, Freevo and Windows MCE, there are a lot of options. Personally I don't like the Tivo interface although it has come a long way, functionality wise, from it's earlier sibling, ReplayTV (which I have).

The biggest thing off the top of my head that you gain from a HTPC is actual web browsing through the TV. On top of that you have:
- direct burning of shows to a CD or DVD
- ability to use themes and edit the interface
- picture-in-picture support
- in-box video editing
- doubles as a media server (mp3, ogg, you name it)
- built in emulators for MAME, NES, SNES, generic PC games
- free placeshifting using ORB
- & built in DVD player & transcoder.

* I also guarantee that I (or anyone else) could build a HTPC with all these capabilities for about $500 - and avoid having to pay lineup charges. My point is that it's cheaper than the $300 you have to pay for a Tivo box + $399 subscription.

[Mike @ Nov 8th 2007 12:25PM]

So for new Tivo customers this lifetime sub wouldn't apply? I've been really debating whether I should go and buy a Series 3 or HD or wait till after 01/08 and see what Tivo comes out with. Amazon keeps fluctuating the price for the series 3 and I have a few coupons I've been saving. Should I just go for the Series 3 or go HD and use the savings to pay for a year plan? Suggestions welcomed.

[coyotej @ Nov 8th 2007 1:57PM]

If you're expecting new hardware after 1/08, I think you'll be waiting quite a while. I _don't_ expect TiVo to be releasing a new HD box any time soon (i.e. within a year), because between the S3 & TiVo HD they have their bases covered. If you're a cable subscriber, it's probably worth getting the TiVoHD or S3 now, and locking in the promotional pricing for now. If you ever need extra storage, you can always hook up the external drive they offer now, which is $199 and adds another 500GB of storage.

[Mike @ Nov 8th 2007 2:53PM]

Cool. I guess I'll stick to the series 3 and wait for amazon to drop the price again. It keeps jumping between 200-280 every so often.

Any of yours feel the lifetime sub is worth it? I'm sorta confused about what happens if the tivo 3 breaks down. Does that mean my lifetime sub is useless since it sounds like it's tied to the hardware box.

[coyotej @ Nov 8th 2007 4:15PM]

They've offered transfers of Lifetime to new boxes in the past, so it is conceivable that this could happen again.

If, after warranty period, the harddrive fails [it's most likely component since it has moving parts], the good news is that these are generally replaceable (people do this all the time just to expand storage) at relatively low cost. If you're comfortable doing that yourself, it's pretty inexpensive (cost of drive), though you may need to get help from a place like Tivocommunity.com to make sure you initialize the drive properly.

[Alan Pinstein @ Nov 8th 2007 3:00PM]

So, I just called TiVo to take advantage of this offer... it didn't go well:

On the first call, the person confirmed that I could upgrade my 3-year monthly TiVo service to the lifetime for $399. HOWEVER, he insisted that I'd have to call Best Buy (where I bought the TiVo) and have them de-activate my account. This is obviously absurd, because Best Buy has nothing to do with TiVo service. I called Best Buy anyway and talked to the Home Theater supervisor, who agreed with me. The only thing they "do" with TiVo is register who buys which units for the purpose of making sure rebates are legit. Nothing to do with TiVo service.

So I call back into TiVo, and this time the person says he'll help me, but he can't because the offer to upgrade to lifetime works only as a Multi-Service discount (or as the $199 lifetime TRANSFER mentioned in a previous post). He says nothing about the Best Buy BS, but won't let me upgrade to lifetime.

So, I am not sure that these facts are legitimate or complete. Or, if they are, maybe this new "offer" starts tomorrow (the day after the $199 lifetime transfer offer expires).

Anyway, if the poster knows a link to this offer on the TiVo web site so I can try it out directly, that'd be great.

Thanks for trying, but that's 45 minutes of my day wasted so far....

Alan

[trunksy @ Nov 8th 2007 10:12PM]

So does this mean, no matter how many machines the customer buys, the customer will always have at least have one Tivo that they have to pay a monthly fee on unless they are a legacy customer who converted an old lifetime account?

Is it possible that Tivo will allow upgrades to lifetime subscriptions in the future rather than just for subscriptions for purchases of secondary Tivo's?

[kevin @ Nov 9th 2007 4:14PM]

This post is correct, Tivo just updated their site to reflect the new option of a lifetime service contract for new Tivos. This option for lifetime service only seems to apply for existing Tivo customers (it is part of their multi-service agreement).

It is unclear to me whether someone could buy a tivo and get the cheapest plan, get a new tivo and active it with lifetime, then update their first tivo plan to lifetime.

[Eric @ Nov 11th 2007 6:29PM]

When I log into my TiVo account it shows I can add a TiVo under the multi-service discount. Which is says I can buy a new TiVo and the Product Lifetime Service would be $399, details under are as follows:
" * Includes a “Product Lifetime Subscription” to the TiVo service which covers the life of the TiVo DVR you buy – not the life of the subscriber. The Product Lifetime Subscription accompanies the TiVo DVR in case of ownership transfer.
* You must be an existing registered account holder with a “Qualifying Subscription” pursuant to TiVo’s Multi-Service Discount Agreement to be eligible for purchase a Product Lifetime Subscription.
* This is a limited time offer available from November 8, 2007 until February 13, 2008. TiVo reserves the right to terminate this offer at anytime, for any reason.
* Money Back Guarantee applies only to initial activations if canceled within 30 days and DVR is returned for a full refund.
* No refunds for cancellations, except as permitted under 30 day Money Back Guarantee.
* A subscription to the TiVo service is required and the TiVo box will not work without a paid subscription to the TiVo service. That means that if you choose to cancel the subscription you are purchasing today, the box will no longer work."

My account only has my existing Series 2 with a Lifetime Subscription (as of now)

[Puja McGriddle @ Nov 11th 2007 10:48PM]

I just called TiVo (Sunday, November 11th) and talked to a CSR and a Disconnection rep over about an hour and a half.

Longest I've EVER waited on the phone to talk to someone (25 minutes). CSR named Jennifer was "unenthused" so speak to me. Slightly smart-a$$ed to me too. Anywho, she says to me "Sorry, only on new purchases. Buh bye." So I said "Wait, I'm'a cancelling my S2 TiVo."

Cancellation Rep says "Wait a tick, this is not for new purchases only. But for people with multi-service accounts (people who own >1 TiVo) too." I said great, sign me up. They said "Sorry charlie" because I was month-to-month.

Say what?

I did not order M2M but they're billing me as such (just ordered my S3 HD TiVo 60 days ago w/3 year prepay). I said "in the least TiVo needs to change me to PrePay". Well they did and in doing so I was eligible for Lifetime Sub.

Phew. I was about to lose faith in TiVo but they did me right.

[Jarrett @ Nov 12th 2007 11:16PM]

So, if I purchase the S3 HD Tivo w/ lifetime subscription it's going to cost me right under $1000? Did I calculate right or could I be missing something?