Lifetime service for TiVos has been a hot topic since day one. There was early confusion over whether lifetime was related to the owner or the unit itself (long since clarified to be the unit itself) and there have been numerous price changes. Then, TiVo stopped lifetime service altogether for most units. Then it came back as part of special offers from time to time, usually as a transfer. Currently, they have a new type of special offer running, and a transfer option, and a way to get it on some initial units.
Here are the possibilities:
If you have a TiVo.com account, you can add another unit to your account and get lifetime for that unit. The cost is $399 and that’s available until February 13, 2008. If you have a TiVo.com account, that means you have a non-DirecTV TiVo, and you can log in and see your units on TiVo’s site. See the Humax option below if you want a way to get a unit on a new TiVo account with lifetime. Also note that this option only works for units that have never been previously subscribed to TiVo.
If you have a non-DirecTV TiVo that currently has lifetime service, you purchased lifetime service for it before October of 2003, and the unit is currently active, then you can transfer lifetime service from that unit to a new TiVo HD (not a TiVo Series3) for $199. You get one year of service on the older unit, and you can keep it going for the regular secondary-unit prices after that. Click here to see if your old unit qualifies first. For this deal, you have to purchase the TiVo by February 3, 2008 and you have to complete the service transfer by March 8, 2008. This option also only works for never-before-subscribed units. This works with WeaKnees TiVo HD units from 20 hours up to 144 hours (or more . . .).
Last, but definitely not least, is the case of the Humax DVD TiVo. These units are still eligible for lifetime service, even if you don’t already have a TiVo.com account. Lifetime service for these units currently costs $399. We don’t know of a current expiration date for this price or offer, but if it’s something you want, you should do it soon.