TiVo's cord-cutting DVR gets more storage and drops subscriptions
The Roamio OTA 1TB should be more affordable in the long run.
TiVo's Roamio OTA was supposed to fulfill the dreams of cord-cutters who wanted a big-name DVR without the burden of a conventional TV subscription, but it didn't quite live up to that ideal. You could only record so many shows on its 500GB hard drive, and that $15 monthly subscription hurt the appeal for the cost-conscious. Thankfully, those two problems have just been solved: TiVo has unveiled a 1TB Roamio OTA model that shakes things up. The new set-top doubles the storage, as you've no doubt guessed, but the big deal is the shift in pricing strategy. Instead of a low up-front price and a monthly fee, you pay $400 outright -- while that's expensive at first, it promises to be less costly in the long run.
The 1TB version carries four tuners as well as the features you'd expect from recent TiVo gear, such as media casting, multi-room video (through TiVo Minis), Stream support and an interface that unifies internet video with conventional TV. If you're determined to ditch cable or satellite and don't want another subscription in its place, you can get the new Roamio on May 2nd through Amazon, Best Buy or TiVo itself.
