Our shipment of TiVo Premiere units is heading toward Los Angeles and we will be shipping units out to all of our TiVo Premiere pre-order customers on 3/28, a day earlier than planned (thanks, TiVo!).
This remote is similar to the Series3 Glo Remote, but has no DVR1/2 switch (used to control two DVRs independently using the same remote), but does have A, B, C & D color-coded buttons used in the new high-def TiVo Premiere user-interface.
The new Series4 Glo Remote IS backward compatible to all TiVos that use a peanut-shaped remote, but from what understand, the A, B, C & D buttons will have no functionality in the older-model TiVo DVRs.
In light of the announcement of the TiVo Premiere, we thought this would be a good time to recap the various service plans available at TiVo!
At WeaKnees, we really recommend the lifetime service option (PLS, or Product Lifetime Service) for your TiVo DVR. At $399 for your first unit (and less for additional units – see below) this pays for itself in 31 months versus the monthly plan option at $12.95.
TiVo Service Plans
Compared to the Annual service plan, the Product Lifetime plan pays for itself in just over three years. You just have to come up with the $399 up front. But if you’re considering Lifetime, make sure you don’t pay for any monthly service first; that money would just be wasted.
Another benefit of Lifetime Service is that, since it’s tied to that box, it’s transferable. So if you decide, down the road, to upgrade to a newer TiVo, you can sell the old one with the lifetime attached. In many cases, that’s what makes the upgrade to a new box financially viable.
Next, for existing customers with TiVo DVRs, or for customers activating more than one DVR, the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth DVR on one account qualify for discounted service – called MSD or Multi Service Discount.
So instead of the pricing as above, these second-through-sixth TiVo DVRs (on the same account, at the same address) qualify for $100 off Product Lifetime Service and other discounted options:
TiVo Multi-Service Discount (MSD)
We make the same argument here that lifetime service is worthwhile, for the same reasons. Again, the lifetime option pays for itself in about 30 months, versus the monthly option.
So how do you activate your new TiVo DVR? Click over to TiVo! and choose the “Activate a TiVo box” link on the very bottom left of the homepage.
There’s no question we get asked here at WeaKnees more than “When is the new DirecTV TiVo HD coming out?”
Man, do we wish we had a good answer.
Both DirecTV and TiVo have generally only gotten as specific as “2010.” And that’s all we’ve been able to repeat to everyone.
But, recently, DirecTV has posted a couple of tweets that narrow down the 12 month window to, maybe, a four month window. They’ve used the terms “early next year” and “first part of 2010” in their posts.
Yes, this is important breaking news, and it’s definitive.
Now, if only we had some clue as to features, pricing, looks, availability, etc. . .
Effective November 15th, TiVo is dropping prices on the TiVoHD to $249.99 from $299.99, and dropped the TiVoHD XL to $499.99 from $599.99.
Effective immediately, we have dropped prices on all stock and upgraded TiVoHD and TiVoHD XL models. In addition, we are providing a compelling alternative to TiVo’s high-end TiVoHD XL by offering a TiVoHD, upgraded to 1TB with a free HDMI cable for $449 (down from $549).
We also have lowered prices on our TiVoHD XLs with up to 2TB of backup storage. With our backup drives, your TiVo will always have two identical drives with all of your data, so the failure of one drive will not cause you to lose data.
