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journal: toy
Should I buy a 80 hr TiVo for $180 or a 320 hr Replay TV for $200 or better yet, Apple iBox?
Best Buy is offering a $100 rebate 10% off many items including TiVo. So that begs the question, should I buy a TiVo or something else? I am in the market for something to time-shift TV programs and I know TiVo is the best out there now but I want something even better. Something only Apple could do---as far as I know from experience buying things.
Did you know TiVo’s display banner ads? I want a clean viewing experience and to escape interruptions. Should I wait for the Apple iBox to come out? I know Apple would be against commercials as they are. They’d have a lot of movie content involved as well. If Apple’s iLife ‘06 with DVR software and a piece of hardware costs the same as an iPod, I’d gladly buy it. I even sold my AirPort Express to get extra cash.
Where is TiVo heading? Will their prices drop? Will the ads disappear? PVRBlog.com reports that at a recent conference call TiVo said they would in the future discount boxes with purchase of a contract, much like cell phones. This is something to wait for and will be happening within a few months. PVRBlog listed other interesting facts which you can check out in the link below.
I’m curious about Replay TV as well, even if the interface isn’t as good. For just $20 more than an 80 hour TiVo, or $200, you can get a 320 hour, their top end model. Do they still offer commercial skip? The monthly fees are the not better---$12.95 which is OK.
Both TiVo and ReplayTV have coupons and rebates that make them better deals but I still don’t trust either brand as far as user experience. I’d like to rent one for a month for free.
Anyone at U of R have a TiVo they can show me?
DealNews Coupon for 10% off
http://dealnews.com/deals/Best-Buy-retail-stores-printable-10-off-coupon/94748.html
TiVo 80 hour
http://www.bestbuy.com
Apple iBox Rumors
http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/01/20040102174411.shtml
PVRBlog on TiVo’s Conference
http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2005/08/yesterdays_inve.html
ReplayTV
http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/shop/_templates/cat_listRTV.asp?cat=52
Wikipedia: TiVo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivo
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thinkback
What’s your TV-watching source? off air, cable, satellite?
If you’re on cable, you should probably just rent whatever DVR box your cable company offers. If you’re on DirecTV, you should get a DirecTV DVR with TiVo. If you’re watching off-air signals, you should get TiVo Series 2.
| UnnDunn | Sep. 04, 2005 | |
| 10:53 am |
I personally don’t expect a TiVo-like device from Apple; at least not anytime soon.
| Nick | Sep. 04, 2005 | |
| 5:09 pm |
You think Apple is going to do something in this market, when all of their products to date are related to computers (yes… even the iPod gets its music from the computer), and the only mention of Apple doing something like this comes from rumor sites. Don’t save for a vaporware product, get something that works now. Apple may release something like this in the future, but right now it hasn’t even reached the stage of vaporware… nothing’s even been announced.
| Sep. 07, 2005 | |
| Arden | 1:04 am |
UnnDunn, Nick, Arden. I took the leap. No more late nights watching TV Land. If my series 2 doesn’t work out I know a place called half.com.
Here’s the “deal” I got:
New 80 hour series 2. $200 upfront including tax, free shipping, $150 rebate, another $11 off. Supposedly $29 total cost. First, I have to fix my aging Linksys WRT54G router in order to get the net working on it. So my total cost is more like $50 plus $13 every month.
http://dealnews.com/deals/Ti-Vo-Series2-80- hour-DVR-for-29-shipped-after-rebate/95073.html< /a>
Also, NewEgg.com may have a better deal.
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| Sep. 07, 2005 | |
| moreApple | 2:07 am |
I for one am looking out for their rumored universal remote control even more so than the iBox.
Hmm? This is one I’ve not heard yet…
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| Sep. 07, 2005 | |
| Arden | 7:32 am |
I canceled the TiVo. It was fate that the order got delayed and I had a chance to sleep on the future of my television.
To be honest, after seeing the iPod nano, I know when Apple makes something it is done right and it is worth it. The cool design factor alone is enough for me to wait for the Apple HD Movie Store and Pixar’s Pixlet movies when the time is right, ideally on a brand new display to boot. If it’s not too bad in revision A I’ll save up for the top of the line when I graduate in 2007.
Now if only the iPod nano was a mature, reliable, well-tested product and I didn’t have two iPods already.
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| Sep. 09, 2005 | |
| moreApple | 3:08 am |
Why don’t you just go with the device that is on the market and works right now, and if Apple does release a TiVo-like device (which I still think is unlikely, since they have announced nothing along those lines), you can sell your TiVo and get it? I can see wanting to use whatever great product Apple has instead of something else, but until one is actually announced, you’re just saving your money for nothing.
And why don’t you send me one of your iPods? 
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| Sep. 09, 2005 | |
| Arden | 11:09 am |
I’m saving my money for nothing but sometimes that’s better than investing in a product that you have to settle on from the beginning.
If TiVo isn’t going to revolutionize television or at least be extremely satisfying, I’d rather skip it and wait for a cheaper, better, faster competitor (Apple or not). Ideally, Apple.
Below is just one unverifiable rumor to support Apple eventually entering the TV market, piece by piece, starting with input options on some desktop computers.
http://www.macosrumors.com/20050802B.php
Even though I am basing my decision on vaporware, I don’t need the product just yet. I am prepared to wait until I graduate, considering I can’t take a TiVo with me to Sweden if I go abroad next semester. Afterward I will be having so much more fun out my senior year that I’ll probably miss many cool programs.
Oh well. Real-life is way more important than TV. I’m in no rush.
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| Sep. 09, 2005 | |
| moreApple | 4:11 pm |
Why don’t you just go with the device that is on the market and works right now, and if Apple does release a TiVo-like device (which I still think is unlikely, since they have announced nothing along those lines), you can sell your TiVo and get it? I can see wanting to use whatever great product Apple has instead of something else, but until one is actually announced, you’re just saving your money for nothing.
What arden said.
| Nick | Sep. 11, 2005 | |
| 9:37 pm |
There’s a 300 hour model here from Humax.
$200 after $150 rebate. So I figure the $80 I have saved will cover the shipping and tax 
I’m going to do it before Chanukah.
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| Sep. 11, 2005 | |
| moreApple | 9:40 pm |
OK. UnnDunn likes the TiVo and either way, owning something now is nice. But I really want the best from the beginning. I want to have my cake and eat it too.
Although I just saw another dealnews.com deal, this time a $50 160-hour ReplayTV, I am seeing signs that the vaporware Apple TV iLife is coming soon. There’s these shuffle-size plugins for laptops and desktops that seem to turn any computer with USB 2.0 into a DVR. If the DVR chipset is so small and cheap ($200?) you can bet the Mac DVR will be consumer-ready sooner.
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| Sep. 19, 2005 | |
| moreApple | 1:50 pm |
Like Arden, I doubt that Apple is going to come out with a DVR—but not because they haven’t announced it! You can’t go by that.
TV isn’t in Apple’s genes. Famously, Steve Jobs hates it. There are other little reasons.
| Sep. 20, 2005 | |
| 9:21 am |
1.
TiVo with 30-second commercial skip for the win.
Press Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select quickly while playing a recorded program. The TiVo will ‘ding’ three times if you did it right. Then, pressing Forward Skip will skip 30 seconds.
If a commercial break comes on, I just press Forward Skip a few times (5 times for most shows, 10 times for TV Movies) and I’m back to the program in 10 seconds or less.