# Woot $60 Premier Arrived-Opinions and Info?



## popeye123 (Dec 17, 2010)

Ordered Woots refurb specials and just received the package. Here is some info and just curious on opinions and info with these units.

Received the Tivos.
Looks like they came directly from Tivo!!!
No Woot box, the box was plain with the stickers on side and stickers looks like the stickers from my first Premier on the side of the boxes.
Unit came wrapped in plastic and held by Styrofoam on the ends and the accessories were in the box just like the new Premier unit.

Definitely looks like this came from Tivo. So should have same as their "factory Refreshed"??? Confirming that these are from Tivo and should offer same pricing and advantages.

If any one who sees this thread who actually bought the "factory Refreshed" directly from Tivo for $99 could confirm their packaging-that would be kind of cool!!
Have to split-will set up tonight.

Hopefully this info assists. Thanks.

PS-both machines dated Nov 2010


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

popeye123 said:


> Ordered Woots refurb specials and just received the package. Here is some info and just curious on opinions and info with these units.
> 
> Received the Tivos.
> Looks like they came directly from Tivo!!!
> ...


Can you give us the first 7 digits on the TSN, than we will know more about these units.


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## bacevedo (Oct 31, 2003)

I received mine yesterday as well (I ordered two). One of them is in mint condition, the other one had a very, very small chip in the finish on the top edge of the case. The front shiny plastic also seemed to have some skuffs on it, nothing major, just noticed that it wasn't at pristine as the other one. 

I put the pristine one in the family room and the other one in the master bed room.

There were no component cables in the box, not sure if the brand new ones come with that or not. I didn't need them, so wasn't worried, just wanted to note that. They came with HDMI, composite, cat5e, power cable and batteries.

The remotes had a little bit of skuffs on them on the bottom and the IR window, but nothing major. Nothing that wouldn't happen to them after I use them for a few weeks.

So far, they are both running great and I really like the HD-UI. It doesn't seem that slow in my system, but obviously not as fast as the SD-UI.

The one in the family room is replacing a Tivo HD. So I got the MSD for both of the new premieres - $99 for the year. My Tivo HD is canceled as of next month (my yearly plan expires), so the family room premiere will bump up to the $129 plan for the year. I assume they just charge me another $30 for it, as the $99 should be charged today.

The first 7 of the TSN for both is 746-0011.

I have to say that for the money, this was a great deal. $115 for 2 premieres and I will sell my Tivo HD and get back some of those costs.

Bryan


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## Indy500 (Jan 20, 2011)

I ordered two and have received one so far. The item came in a plain brown box that appears to be from Tivo directly. There is not a scratch on the unit or the remote. It came with standard AV cables, network cable, power cable and HDMI. This is my attempt to cut the cord from Uverse. I still have to install an antenna in the attic, run cable, activate boxes and get my new internet service up and running.


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## BTDFXD (Oct 31, 2007)

Received mine today and it was well-packaged and looked pristine. Went through guided set-up and all went well UNTIL cable card technician shows up to install M-Card and new unit would not respond to remote entries. Tried other remotes from Series 2 and Series 3 HD and reaction from Tivo box was intermittant/hit or miss/or not at all. Called tech support and went through all the diagnostics and conclusion was the box was kafooey. Tivo is sending replacement box.


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## weymo (Jan 26, 2003)

Got two of these. Trepidation to move away from my 2 beloved DT-80's but Comcast is eliminating expanded basic analog so I leaped.
Unboxed first one today. Same as described in prior posts. Serial number in same series. Was able to activate quickly but then 2 software updates and a reboot warning, so I left it to its thing.
Was able to get a $9.99 plan added on for each, no problem.
A little sticky waiting for everything between the management site at tivo.com and box to sync up, but was able to transfer season passes okay (one at a time...sheesh; more than one shuffles the season passes...reDICKulous)

6 hours out of the box. Transferred a few programs from TiVo to go recorded on older box. No problem. Activated Netflix, but didn't really test it out. Menu easier to read from across the room than the PS3 interface...that's nice.
Started playing around in the YouTube and on the second video
LOCKED UP. Orange light on constantly, unresponsive to the thumb down, thumb up, play play combination I found on TiVo site. It was recording on one tuner at the time.

I seem to remember that the early Series 2 had a problem like this, where if you tried transferring something from another box using MRV and the TiVo to go software happened to be backing up something at the same time...the transfer would hang up. It would sometime work itself out, but mostly it meant pulling the power on both TiVo's.

The cablecard doesn't even come until tomorrow and I've already locked it up. I'm going to close my eyes and cross my fingers that this is rare...but I'm starting to worry a tad.


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## synch22 (Dec 30, 2003)

nice to hear people are having MSD honored. SOme guy on Fat Wallet is claiming $199 lifetime on his... but i really wonder about people over there sometimes, always trying to one up each other and such.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

My user guide looked a little dogeared and the quickstart poster had a tear in it. Everything was present including new batteries for the remote. Plain brown box with TSN sticker on the end, but Fedex label had a Woot return address in TX.

Logging on via TiVo.com to register got me the $9.99 MSD offer but no other options. I called TiVo CS and was able to activate $299 PLS.

The CSR confirmed that discounted PLS does not serve as a qualifying subscription for MSD on other units. I'll need to keep my S2 with PLS around to connect a few times a year to keep the $6.99 rate on my TiVoHD.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

synch22 said:


> nice to hear people are having MSD honored. SOme guy on Fat Wallet is claiming $199 lifetime on his... but i really wonder about people over there sometimes, always trying to one up each other and such.


It's not uncommon to get that at all, just depends on which CSR you get and whether you have upgrade-eligible boxes on your account.


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## poppagene (Dec 29, 2001)

synch22 said:


> nice to hear people are having MSD honored. SOme guy on Fat Wallet is claiming $199 lifetime on his... but i really wonder about people over there sometimes, always trying to one up each other and such.


I'm that "guy" on fatwallet, I called Tivo customer service before ordering from woot and was told I could get lifetime for $299. I inquired further about the eligibility of a woot purchased box for the $199 upgrade to Premiere lifetime and the CSR said I would be eligible for it. She gave me a reference number to the call and made a note that my account could add the lifetime to the premiere for $199.

I called Tivo last night after letting the new box take all of the updates and the CSR was happy that I had a reference number as it made it easier to find account information. CSR confirmed that I would get the $199 price and put the charge on my credit card. My charge card shows the $199 charge pending and tivo.com shows lifetime on my new box.

I was lucky, no doubt -- but others have had similar success.


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## TerpBE (Jan 23, 2003)

So you *transferred *your lifetime rather from another box rather than _*added *_it as a new box? In that case, the $199 makes sense.

When you transferred the service, were you able to keep the lifetime on the old box too? I remember hearing that they did that a while back when people were upgrading to Premiers.

Right now I have a lifetime S3, but it has some significant problems. I'm pretty sure the tuner is hosed, because I can only get about 1/3 of the channels that I should (Yes, I've done a LOT of troubleshooting and pretty much ruled out any cablecard issues or problems with the signal). So I'd like to transfer my lifetime service from my S3 to my Premiere if possible, but I'd also like to keep the S3 around and active for MRV, Netflix, etc. I just don't know if they still do this for $199, or if I'd have to pay the $299 if I want to keep both as lifetime.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

TerpBE said:


> So you *transferred *your lifetime rather from another box rather than _*added *_it as a new box? In that case, the $199 makes sense.
> 
> When you transferred the service, were you able to keep the lifetime on the old box too? I remember hearing that they did that a while back when people were upgrading to Premiers.
> 
> Right now I have a lifetime S3, but it has some significant problems. I'm pretty sure the tuner is hosed, because I can only get about 1/3 of the channels that I should (Yes, I've done a LOT of troubleshooting and pretty much ruled out any cablecard issues or problems with the signal). So I'd like to transfer my lifetime service from my S3 to my Premiere if possible, but I'd also like to keep the S3 around and active for MRV, Netflix, etc. I just don't know if they still do this for $199, or if I'd have to pay the $299 if I want to keep both as lifetime.


The $199 is the upgrade lifetime offer. It keeps lifetime on your old box while adding lifetime to your new box. It is supposed to be if you only use the upgrade offer through TiVo.com, but some have been successful calling in and getting it applied to hardware they bought.


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## TerpBE (Jan 23, 2003)

innocentfreak said:


> The $199 is the upgrade lifetime offer. It keeps lifetime on your old box while adding lifetime to your new box. It is supposed to be if you only use the upgrade offer through TiVo.com, but some have been successful calling in and getting it applied to hardware they bought.


Cool, thanks! Hopefully I can be one of those lucky ones.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

Got mine last night, couldn't activate since TiVo billing was closed and I needed to transfer the TSN from a deactivated box (Long story) to the new one. But I got it working with a CC and using the 7 day trial, works great!

Anyway, the first 7 of my TSN is 746-0011.


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## TheWGP (Oct 26, 2007)

Mine arrived, and I was able to get $199 PLS activated this evening. What seemed to work was just nicely asking the rep repeatedly if he could just look and see if there might be any way to apply it. He finally looked, and voila, it was on there - he was surprised, but good-natured about putting it on.

Got lucky - only my second call, after the first one tried to tell me 12.95 was required for a year... yeah, right.


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## ~kyle (May 15, 2009)

TheWGP said:


> Mine arrived, and I was able to get $199 PLS activated this evening. What seemed to work was just nicely asking the rep repeatedly if he could just look and see if there might be any way to apply it. He finally looked, and voila, it was on there - he was surprised, but good-natured about putting it on.
> 
> Got lucky - only my second call, after the first one tried to tell me 12.95 was required for a year... yeah, right.


Thanks for posting, sounds encouraging. Did you call on the phone or did you contact them through chat?


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

TheWGP said:


> Mine arrived, and I was able to get $199 PLS activated this evening...


That's good for you, but I don't know what TiVo is thinking when they do stuff like that. $199 PLS is/was the rate for Upgrade Program, where the hardware wasn't deeply discounted. Granted, these Woot boxes are refurbs, so a discount seems appropriate for the hardware, but a PLS discount outside of the Upgrade Program guarantees less profit (if any) for the company. I would think the lowest PLS price outside of the Upgrade Program would be the MSD $299 price.


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## shaown (Jul 1, 2002)

Succeeded at 199. I had a HD Tivo with the 199 upgrade left, and after a couple calls they gave it to me. I was not expecting it, was gonna switch the box to my 6.95 one, but hey - bonus.
Thanks,
-Shaown


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## TIVO_GUY_HERE (Jul 10, 2000)

Got cablecard installed, but only getting HD on big 4 networks, and 1 each of HBO and Showtime. No ESPN,USA,FX,TNT etc... TW is coming out again tomorrow to check it out.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

TIVO_GUY_HERE said:


> Got cablecard installed, but only getting HD on big 4 networks, and 1 each of HBO and Showtime. No ESPN,USA,FX,TNT etc... TW is coming out again tomorrow to check it out.


Having TW onsite is probably a waste of time. This sounds like an accounting/authorization issue within the TW system itself. Do you pay truck roll fees?


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## Royski (Jan 24, 2011)

Mine arrived this weekend. I use it with over the air broadcast, no cable or satellite. So far I have been pleased with a couple of fairly minor issues. 

The most annoying is that the top four-way arrow buttons and selector sometimes register a false press and take me to an unwanted selection. Possibly by me being more careful this could be avoided.

I do see some minor compression artifacts in the recorded HD material that is not present in the OTA source. Also, for some reason it took about ten hours after activation before it would download program schedule information beyond the next afternoon.


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## arentol (Jan 24, 2011)

Got mine on Friday. Was packaged so well it looked like it had literally never been opened or touched in any way. 
I am setting it up tonight. I waited until tonight because I am getting the cablecard installed tomorrow and I didn't want to disconnect my existing Tivo too early since I still have stuff to record tonight.


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## Jeremy (Jul 29, 2002)

So what exactly does the first 7 of the TSN tell you? Ive seen 746-0011 and 746-0021 posted in different places. What's the difference?


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## mask2343 (Jan 6, 2003)

Got mine this weekend. It is my last step before cutting the DirecTV cord. I bought a $10 OTA antenna from Radio Shack and hooked it up. Quality is comparable to DirecTV (not better as I had hoped), but I have an older CRT HD rear projection TV. Only membership offered me online was the $12.95 per month deal which is what I wanted anyway.

First impressions.
1) Having Netflix on the box is awesome. The interface isn't as good as my Roku, but I can search for movies using the Tivo interface (or my iPhone).
2) Amazon VOD is confusing, but I think I understand it now. I must use my computer to force download to the Tivo. Wish we could see a list of shows in my library though.
3) YouTube interface is nice, but only 1 of my subscriptions is available. What gives? My Roku shows them all.
4) I REALLY missed the fast forward functions on the Tivo. Mainly that pressing the FF button a fourth time brought me back to play. DirecTV makes you hunt for the play button while fast forwarding.
5) Blockbuster's offerings are laughable...will they just go away already?
6) OTA is gonna need some work. The cheap antenna got the job done and found all the networks, but has some conection issues. I get 50-70&#37; on all the major networks, but CBS cuts in and out sometimes. During the NFL playoffs it was unacceptable. I DID find that watching the recorded channel didn't have the jittering until I caught up with live TV. Is that a tuner issue? I ordered the Terk antenna with amplifier which should solve all my connection problems...I hope.
7) I find it slightly frustrating that many of the menus don't allow the current show to remain playing in the upper right hand corner. I like browsing my menus while watching shows sometimes and I can't do that anymore. It IS pretty lame that Tivo hasn't completed EVERY menu in HD format. Kind of embarrassing for Tivo I must say.
8) Oh! Season Passes to Video Podcasts was a HUGE surprise! Love that feature. No more sitting at the computer watching Revision3 shows! 

One more week and I'll be ready to cut the cord!


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## craigf (Oct 30, 2002)

shaown said:


> Succeeded at 199. I had a HD Tivo with the 199 upgrade left, and after a couple calls they gave it to me. I was not expecting it, was gonna switch the box to my 6.95 one, but hey - bonus.
> Thanks,
> -Shaown


No luck for me. First call only offered $12.95/mo. and no PLS. After 3 calls, I gave up an paid $299.


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## TheWGP (Oct 26, 2007)

~kyle said:


> Thanks for posting, sounds encouraging. Did you call on the phone or did you contact them through chat?


I called on the phone.

As far as not knowing what Tivo is thinking: I completely agree, but I'll take it!


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## amark (Dec 21, 2010)

If you bought two tivos from Woot and wanted lifetime subscriptions would they both be $299


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

I was nicely told that the $199 price was only for units bought from tivo not second party sellers.


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## TheWGP (Oct 26, 2007)

Yeah, if you want it you'll have to essentially short-circuit the discussion, don't get into details and nitpick offers, because the reps will want some bit of info that they can use against you.

Just ask them nicely to look and see if they can apply any $199 lifetime promotions; you'd have to have a lifetimed tivo already that's upgrade-eligible to even have it possible for you. Your luck may vary with one's patience for CSR roulette; I would expect the odds of getting it applied to go down over time. Some CSR's definitely have a can-do attitude and will try anything just to see if it works; others will be the opposite and want to shut you down at every opportunity. Goes with the territory - best of luck and a big YMMV!


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## arentol (Jan 24, 2011)

Went to activate the tivo online and the only option was the $12.95/month option even though the woot sale listed a bunch of other options including PLS for $399.

This has me a little annoyed. I hadn't decided what I wanted, but I did expect to have the ability to chose.


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## joejet (Mar 19, 2008)

arentol said:


> Went to activate the tivo online and the only option was the $12.95/month option even though the woot sale listed a bunch of other options including PLS for $399.
> 
> This has me a little annoyed. I hadn't decided what I wanted, but I did expect to have the ability to chose.


You can activate PLS only with a phone call. Thats how it is for all boxes, not just the woot boxes from what i have seen. I activated mine for PLS over the phone with no questions.


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## kllr13b (Jan 24, 2011)

I just activated my woot premier this morning. The CSR rep told me it would be $20/month. Then I told him that the site I bought it from noted it would be $13/month. He asked me what site I bought it from. I told him Woot.com and he immediately told me Woot wasn't an authorized reseller. I told him the site said it was only going to be $13 and he put me on hold. He came back and signed me up for $13/month.

Brighthouse came out with a cable card but no tuning adapter. Of course the channels that I like to watch don't come thru w/o the adapter. I have another appt tomorrow for the adapter install.


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## arentol (Jan 24, 2011)

joejet said:


> You can activate PLS only with a phone call. Thats how it is for all boxes, not just the woot boxes from what i have seen. I activated mine for PLS over the phone with no questions.


I actually found out this is incorrect.

Here is how you get all the options online:

Sign up for the $12.95 service online. 
Log in to the "My Account" section of the Tivo site.
Refresh every hour or so until the "Future Payment Plan" section for the device quits saying "We're still processing your activation. Try again in 24 hours." 
You should now have a button or link in that section to change your plan
Select that link or button and it will bring you to a list of all the options including the $399 PLS. 
Chose the option you want and it will sign you up for that option and credit back the original $12.95 it charged you.

You have 30 days from the time you sign up for $12.95 to change to any of the other options. However you can only change one time. So make up your mind and go for it.


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## ~kyle (May 15, 2009)

arentol said:


> I actually found out this is incorrect.
> 
> Here is how you get all the options online:
> 
> ...


...or you could just call and be done with it.


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## arentol (Jan 24, 2011)

~kyle said:


> ...or you could just call and be done with it.


Yeah, except that takes longer, and can only be done during business hours.

And when I say "longer" I mean more of my actual time.

Signing up for $12.95 took about 1 minute.
Checking every hour for update to my account status took about 1 minute (checked once right away, then checked again an hour later and it was good).
Signing up for the service of my choice, 1 more minute.

So unless you can call and get it done in under 3 minutes total online is actually faster.


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## joejet (Mar 19, 2008)

~kyle said:


> ...or you could just call and be done with it.


Uh, yea, that is what i meant.. you cant choose the lifetime option, you need to sign-up for the 12.99 plan, or simply call. Honestly, i have no idea how you would have found this if you intended to buy the lifetime plans.... while you "refresh every hour" you could have had it resolved in 10 min?

Nice trick but....oh well.

While we are talking about activating and de-activating.. I have an inactive $12.99 TivoHD.. could i "reactivate" it, then buy an "upgrade" item and deactivate the TivoHD?


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## arentol (Jan 24, 2011)

joejet said:


> Uh, yea, that is what i meant.. you cant choose the lifetime option, you need to sign-up for the 12.99 plan, or simply call. Honestly, i have no idea how you would have found this if you intended to buy the lifetime plans.... while you "refresh every hour" you could have had it resolved in 10 min?
> 
> Nice trick but....oh well.


It's not a trick. It is the way it is intended to work (for some reason).

As to calling taking 10 minutes. That may be true, but that is 7 minutes of your life that is lost, and you have to deal with an annoying human CSR. With the online method since you are signed up at $12.95 already you don't actually lose any service time or anything. You can do everything you could do after making that call, but you get to start 9 minutes earlier and you have 30 days to chose the option you really want. The full $12.95 is returned to you when you chose another option, even if you do so on the 30th day. So there is nothing to lose.

However, my key point is really just that the option is available online so you don't HAVE to call. Do what you want though, see if I care.


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## superflysocal (Nov 26, 2009)

has anybody been successful getting 199 PLS without having another lifetime box (but maybe another box going monthly or yearly)?


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## superflysocal (Nov 26, 2009)

also, if I have a box paying yearly right now and add this premiere with lifetime at $299, if I cancel the yearly at the end of the year, will they charge me $100 when I am down to 1 box (399-299=100)??


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## BrentOMatic (Feb 18, 2004)

Did anyone else get the glo remote? I got the one with the silver outline and backlit keys. I already did the $299 lifetime so I'm a little bummed I didn't try for $199.

Also, it's rebooted twice already today while I was watching Netflix .


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## ~kyle (May 15, 2009)

arentol said:


> So unless you can call and get it done in under 3 minutes total online is actually faster.


I must have done really good on my 6ave unit then, took me about two minutes on the phone...seriously (although I did email them before I got my unit).

I haven't activated my woot player yet, but I'll call for it as well, I don't expect to loose too much of my life actually talking to a person.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

I did the PLS over the phone for $299.


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## zand94 (May 20, 2002)

Most of the posts on this thread appear to be about getting PLS or the 12.95 monthly - but my not seeing any with my situation:

3THDs and looking to "swap out" 2 of them for the 2 Woot Premiers that I got - that are all on month to month. Is that something anyone out there has done yet? If so do I have to do this via phone or is it still possible to change the service number online?

Alex


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## wp746911 (Feb 19, 2005)

those wanting $199 lifetime- yes people do rarely get it, no your probably can't get it, no tivo isnt' really supposed to offer it on these boxes.


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## waterchange (Jun 29, 2010)

I signed up for $9.95/mo plan last night. Logged into account this morning and swapped it over to $299 PLS. Nice option not having to call in.


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## gdeep1 (Jul 18, 2005)

waterchange said:


> I signed up for $9.95/mo plan last night. Logged into account this morning and swapped it over to $299 PLS. Nice option not having to call in.


So you are saying that I can go with monthly service and then switch over to PLS? I actually signed up for PLS for 399 (customer rep wouldn't give me any kind of discount). I get 30 days to cancel my service though.

I'm wondering that I will cancel my PLS (cost me 399) and then sign up for month to month and then upgrade to PLS (for 299). Will this work? Is there minimum requirement to keep monthly service?


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

gdeep1 said:


> I'm wondering that I will cancel my PLS (cost me 399) and then sign up for month to month and then upgrade to PLS (for 299). Will this work? Is there minimum requirement to keep monthly service?


You need a qualifying sub on another box to get the discounted PLS. I forget whether any sub qualifies or just a full-price PLS.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

pdhenry said:


> You need a qualifying sub on another box to get the discounted PLS. I forget whether any sub qualifies or just a full-price PLS.


Any full-price sub I believe qualifies.


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## TwiceOver (Jan 4, 2005)

Hooked both of mine up replacing 2x Series 2 DTs. Called to activate and asked to swap my current plans to the new boxes. One box on the 12.95/mo plan and the other on the old 6.95/mo plan. All is good.

Waiting for my cable company to get cable cards and hopefully they don't eff up my tivos. They are working great. Much faster than the Series2 boxes.


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## Irwin Fletcher (Jan 27, 2011)

I bought two of them, got them activated and all works well. I'm using comcast, and it took them two visits to get the cable cards installed and working properly, also I'm being charged 8.00 per month for the cable cards, even though when I spoke to the comcast CSR I was told there is no charge for them. Futhermore on comcasts website they indicate a price structure as listed here:
http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQViewer.aspx?Guid=5993d5c8-c8a4-44f7-96f4-def06cced0db


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

How can I tell whether my remote is a GloRemote?

I thought it was the normal Premiere remote but it has silver along the sides like a GloRemote. I was browsing on Amazon and I think it depicts a Premiere remote as having an all-black bezel without the silver. Mine also only takes two AA batteries - the GloRemote I got a couple of years ago has 4 AAA cells.


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## BrentOMatic (Feb 18, 2004)

pdhenry said:


> How can I tell whether my remote is a GloRemote?
> 
> I thought it was the normal Premiere remote but it has silver along the sides like a GloRemote. I was browsing on Amazon and I think it depicts a Premiere remote as having an all-black bezel without the silver. Mine also only takes two AA batteries - the GloRemote I got a couple of years ago has 4 AAA cells.


I believe you have the glo now. As far as I can tell, the regular Premiere remote does not have a backlight.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

It glows (duh)!

I thought it glowed when I first put the batteries in but I was put off by only haveing 2 AAs. But now I see that the review of the new GloRemote on Amazon notes that it has 2 AAs rather than 4 AAAs.

That's a bit of a special feature to include a $40 remote with a $60 TiVo.


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## audioscience (Feb 10, 2005)

That is nice. I just got the regular peanut remote, which is a good remote but I'll be using my Harmony remote primarily.


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## MrSkippy53 (Jan 27, 2011)

Got mine last week. Called comcast and they said I could go to the local service center. I was thinking $40 send a truck out fee. When to service center and they had no Mcard and truck was a must. But lady felt bad waived the $40 fee, and gave me the 12 month promo priced channel packages plus HBO showtime in hd for 3 months free. Sweet well worth the drive time. Cable guy got there 2 days later. He did have trouble get some channels working (have almost all because of promo pricing). He left and a few hours later I check the movie channels and dude did not setup. Called again and got second cable guy 2 days later. Took him 5mins to fix. 

Very happy with the woof deal, wish I got two.

Got my 2t harddrive on order. Looking forward to doing the upgrade.


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## ~kyle (May 15, 2009)

Irwin Fletcher said:


> Futhermore on comcasts website they indicate a price structure as listed here:
> http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQViewer.aspx?Guid=5993d5c8-c8a4-44f7-96f4-def06cced0db


Comcast pricing is different in different markets, at the bottom of the page you linked to it says,



> Disclaimer: Regulated Prices quoted above may not apply in all markets. Please call 1-800-COMCAST to learn more about Regulated Prices for your area.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Seems that that disclaimer would appley where there are different *regulated* prices. I'd ask to see the regulation that requires the pricing to be different.


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## ~kyle (May 15, 2009)

pdhenry said:


> Seems that that disclaimer would appley where there are different *regulated* prices. I'd ask to see the regulation that requires the pricing to be different.


I agree, I would also ask.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Irwin Fletcher said:


> I bought two of them, got them activated and all works well. I'm using comcast, and it took them two visits to get the cable cards installed and working properly, also I'm being charged 8.00 per month for the cable cards, even though when I spoke to the comcast CSR I was told there is no charge for them. Futhermore on comcasts website they indicate a price structure as listed here:
> http://customer.comcast.com/Pages/FAQViewer.aspx?Guid=5993d5c8-c8a4-44f7-96f4-def06cced0db


The cost of extra cards is included in the outlet fee, which is $8.50/mo. now here. I'm assuming you already have a set-top box from them on another TV, so that's why you're being charged for the two cards. Yes, it sucks, and we can only hope that this additional outlet fee will go down to a reasonable CC rental fee when the FCC cablecard rules are implemented by Comcast later this year (they have to charge the same for a card whether you rent their box or use Tivos).


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

MrSkippy53 said:


> ....Got my 2t harddrive on order. Looking forward to doing the upgrade.


The commer upgrade method is wicked easy- I love having 317 HD hours!


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## craigf (Oct 30, 2002)

alyssa said:


> The commer upgrade method is wicked easy- I love having 317 HD hours!


Ditto!!! Commer's software is fantastic.


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## BrentOMatic (Feb 18, 2004)

craigf said:


> Ditto!!! Commer's software is fantastic.


Help a brother out who's searches came up empty. What's this commer you speak of?


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

BrentOMatic said:


> Help a brother out who's searches came up empty. What's this commer you speak of?


http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=455968


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## weymo (Jan 26, 2003)

weymo said:


> Got two of these. Trepidation to move away from my 2 beloved DT-80's but Comcast is eliminating expanded basic analog so I leaped.
> Unboxed first one today. Same as described in prior posts. Serial number in same series. Was able to activate quickly but then 2 software updates and a reboot warning, so I left it to its thing.
> Was able to get a $9.99 plan added on for each, no problem.
> A little sticky waiting for everything between the management site at tivo.com and box to sync up, but was able to transfer season passes okay (one at a time...sheesh; more than one shuffles the season passes...reDICKulous)
> ...


Follow-up post.
Comcast will not permit self-installs of CableCard (Scientific-Atlanta) OR for the customer to bring the TiVo box to the local office for installation, so I had to wait on a technician to be scheduled...and I got an aggravated, stomping, huffing, confused one who badmouthed the company and *****ed about TiVo's.
Two and half hours later he left without either card working AND my internet was down. Comcast's automated follow-up call helped though...when I responded that I was not satisfied, I got a call from the local office..probably the dispatcher. 
She was able to get my internet back online and one of the cablecards authorized immediately. The second cablecard remained in "not staged." She said she had to add them to the 'firewall' which sounded ridiculous, but ... whatever.
She told me sometimes it takes a while for hit to go through, just like with boxes...so to give the second one some time.
Two more phone calls over two days...no dice.
One CSR suggested I swap the cablecards to see what happened. The cablecard permitted the channels on the other TiVo, eliminating the refurb as the problem.
(I thought the reason they had to have a tech out there was to 'marry' the cablecard to the serial number of the TiVo, but that sure doesn't seem to hold true.)
A week after the first installer came out, a second installer arrived...had everything working fine in about 30 minutes. My guess was that the first installer read the serial number wrong, substituting a B for an 8.
There simply is no reason, other than they are paranoid out of their minds about these things going into some computer or other device that they don't know about, that these can't be installed by the customer. It's a PCMCIA card for all intents and purposes.
I am, however, convinced that Comcast is doing the hard sell for there native boxes so that customers will hook in to their VOD services.
I suspect that the refurb boxes were going to be produced for an MSO but the software glitch that makes the 2nd CPU unavailable made them miss their deadline and the MSO has bailed on the idea of distributing TiVo.
Their loss is our gain.
The problems I've had with this conversion are completely with Comcast.
The TiVo's are a great step up from the Series 2 80's that I loved so much. The picture quality is stellar, and I'm able to get HD / Netflix all together on one (classic) menu.
I'm happy with the switch despite the service issues from Comcast.
The Season Pass mover online was handy, but I'll spend some time recreated wishlists, thumbs, etc. It would be nice to have a tool that would migrate those, but eh...low priority.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

weymo said:


> Follow-up post.
> Comcast will not permit self-installs of CableCard (Scientific-Atlanta) OR for the customer to bring the TiVo box to the local office for installation, so I had to wait on a technician to be scheduled...and I got an aggravated, stomping, huffing, confused one who badmouthed the company and *****ed about TiVo's


That rule seems to be localized, as they let me self install two cable cards here in Sacramento. I just picked up the cable cards from a Comcast retail store and called 1 (800) Comcast and within 30 seconds of her sending the hit signal to pair them, all the channels were working.


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## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

On the plus side, somewhere in the next 6 months or so all cable companies will be required (by the FCC) to allow self-installs. I can't wait for it to happen :up:


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## bobino (Jul 24, 2002)

I received my Woot TiVo Premier last week and the installation was smooth as silk, almost.

It arrived on Saturday and on Monday I called TiVo Customer Service and requested the $199 lifetime, pointing out politely but repeatedly that this is my 5th TiVo since 2001. The CSR tried to convince me I was cheating the company and I persisted in saying I was a not trying to cheat but just a faithful customer who was asking for the best price available, knowing it was possible because others had received it. He eventually check with a manager and gave me the $199 lifetime subscription but said he was keeping a note in the system that this was a one time only price and that I shouldn't expect it with my next TiVo.

Called Comcast customer service and they suggested the fastest way to get my system up and running was to drop by the local office and pick up an M-Card. I did so during my lunch hour and signed up for a monthly charge of $1.70. My current subscription is for "Expanded Basic" which is for SD cable channels where my S2 TiVo controls the Comcast DTA. We currently pay nothing to Comcast for TV as basic cable in included in our monthly homeowners fee at the condo complex. The CSR at the counter said I would get all of those same channels in HD with the M-Card for no additional cost. I was surprised but happy if it worked.

I installed the M-Card that evening and called Comcast to have the card activated and paired. This took about 15 minutes and worked the first time. The TiVo was receiving two channels simultaneously as expected. After watching for a week I realized I wasn't receiving the expanded basic channels in HD. I am primarily interested in the sports channels for the upcoming baseball season and the big football game this weekend.

Another call to Comcast asking what channels I should receive and I was told what I expected when I first picked up the M-Card from the Comcast office. I have to bump up my subscription to get the HD channels for $10. per month. I agreed and he immediately changed my subscription. I went through the Channels on the TiVo and turned off a bunch of SD channels that are duplicated as an HD channel. 

Total cost for HD with TiVo Premier:

TiVo from Woot: $65
Lifetime subscription: $200.
New LG HDTV from Amazon: $475
Comcast M-Card + Digital HD subscription: $12./month

By the way, the price of the TV purchased from Amazon dropped in price by ~$100 two days after it arrived. I only noticed because I was showing a friend at work which TV I purchased and saw the new price. I wrote to Amazon and they honored their price guarantee for televisions and reimbursed me the $100. Sweet!


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

I made a couple of hard pushes for the $199 upgrade Lifetime pricing (I have a Tivo HD with Lifetime) and got rebuffed by every single CSR. At least I got past the first gauntlet and convinced them at a min I qualifed for the MSD $299 pricing. 

New idea: If I threatened to cancel the Lifetime -- still in the 30 Money Back Guarantee window --- do you it is possible to get the $199 Lifetime pricing that way? My wife doesn't like the HD UI on the Premiere and thinks I am nutz for upgrading. I could say she thinks it isn't worth what I paid, which is the truth...


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

Other notes on my Woot Premiere: 

I too used Comer's method and put in a 2TB Hard Drive. Worked well though it took over 10 hours on my system. No idea why but I think it worked only at USB 1.1 speeds. That would explain a lot of why it took so long. Yes, I do have USB 2.0 ports.

Charter couldn't get the Tuning Adapter to work with the Premiere, so I took the Tuning Adapter from the Tivo HD, which was working fine with the Tivo HD and now works fine with the Premiere. 

Today they came to install install another Tuning Adapter on the Tivo HD to get it back in service but it still doesn't work. The Tech claimed it'd take a day or so before it works, which I admit from experience, that is entirely possible. But 4 hours later, it still isn't working. ---> Tuning Adapters are crap!


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

jonja said:


> I made a couple of hard pushes for the $199 upgrade Lifetime pricing (I have a Tivo HD with Lifetime) and got rebuffed by every single CSR. At least I got past the first gauntlet and convinced them at a min I qualifed for the MSD $299 pricing.
> 
> New idea: If I threatened to cancel the Lifetime -- still in the 30 Money Back Guarantee window --- do you it is possible to get the $199 Lifetime pricing that way? My wife doesn't like the HD UI on the Premiere and thinks I am nutz for upgrading. I could say she thinks it isn't worth what I paid, which is the truth...


I'm not sure why you feel you're entitled to the $199 PLS rate since the Premiere you bought doesn't adhere to the Upgrade Program's criteria, which is: purchase a new Premiere *from TiVo* for $269.99 or a Premiere XL for $449.99. 

You got your discount already on the refurb'ed unit from woot.


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## gdeep1 (Jul 18, 2005)

Here in a update if this is your first Tivo and you want to get lifetime on it (will save you 100 bucks) 

Orginally tivo rep signed me up for 399 lifetime service and wouldn't give me any kind of discount because i was new to Tivo. 

Couple days ago i went into my account settings online and saw an option to change my service plan ( so i clicked on it) and I saw option for monthly - 12.95 , yearly - 199~ and lifetime - 399 and also saw promotion code field. I did a google search to find a promo code and found "PLRS" that said you will get 100 dollars off. I selected the lifetime option and it brought 399 to 299 and so I changed my 399 PLS to 299 PLS and i got 100 dollars back on my credit card.

I guess you only get this option once to change within 30 days of sign up with Tivo.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

orangeboy said:


> I'm not sure why you feel you're entitled to the $199 PLS rate since the Premiere you bought doesn't adhere to the Upgrade Program's criteria, which is: purchase a new Premiere *from TiVo* for $269.99 or a Premiere XL for $449.99.
> 
> You got your discount already on the refurb'ed unit from woot.


Has nothing to do with entitlement. It has everything to do with trying to get the best deal I can. It appears a few others were able to get the $199 lifetime with their woot boxes. Wish I could have; would have been a much better value. I got a great price on the box; but $299 on the PLS was nothing special. Always been able to get that as a Tivo subscriber and got that on my Tivo HD two years ago when upgrading from my S2.

Now that I have a Lifetime'd Tivo HD and a Lifetime'd Tivo Premiere, I can honestly say the Premiere isn't much of an upgrade over what I already had. With my woot discount and MSD on lifetime, this is a marginal value at best. But PLS of $199 would have been a horse of a different color.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

jonja said:


> Has nothing to do with entitlement. It has everything to do with trying to get the best deal *I'm entitled to get*.


FYP


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## TheWGP (Oct 26, 2007)

C'mon, crap like this is pointless. Everyone wants the best deal they can get - that's just capitalism. I got $199 but I was just lucky to get a CSR who would try to apply the promotion and was okay with it when it popped up. More people got $299 than got $199, by a long shot - that's why $199 was YMMV. 

That said, nothing wrong with wanting to try to save the money, but at some point your time on the phone playing CSR roulette becomes worth more than the 100 bucks you save.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

TheWGP said:


> C'mon, crap like this is pointless. Everyone wants the best deal they can get - that's just capitalism. I got $199 but I was just lucky to get a CSR who would try to apply the promotion and was okay with it when it popped up. More people got $299 than got $199, by a long shot - that's why $199 was YMMV.


My $199 deal was guaranteed because my Premiere adhered to the promotional criteria. No variance there.



TheWGP said:


> That said, nothing wrong with wanting to try to save the money, but at some point your time on the phone playing CSR roulette becomes worth more than the 100 bucks you save.


So it's ok to steal food from the grocery store? "Fill-N-Fly" at the gas station? "Dine-N-Dash" at Denny's? Those acts save you money.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

orangeboy said:


> My $199 deal was guaranteed because my Premiere adhered to the promotional criteria. No variance there.
> 
> So it's ok to steal food from the grocery store? "Fill-N-Fly" at the gas station? "Dine-N-Dash" at Denny's? Those acts save you money.


a) You overpaid. No wonder you are acting this way.

b) Not applicable. Getting a good deal != Theft. Your reasoning is...bizarre. No offense; it's just bizarre. See a.)

End of Conversation.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

TheWGP said:


> C'mon, crap like this is pointless. Everyone wants the best deal they can get - that's just capitalism. I got $199 but I was just lucky to get a CSR who would try to apply the promotion and was okay with it when it popped up. More people got $299 than got $199, by a long shot - that's why $199 was YMMV.
> 
> That said, nothing wrong with wanting to try to save the money, but at some point your time on the phone playing CSR roulette becomes worth more than the 100 bucks you save.


I owe to my budget and my family to get the best deal I can, especially on something like this which is just discretionary spending. It's a no brainer. Comparing good shopping and haggling to theft is not only false but pointless. It is capitalism. It's not even worth arguing. If he wanted to pay more than he had to, that's his choice.

As a Tivo HD Lifetime owner, I found the woot deal + $299 LT to be a marginal upgrade at most. But clearly enough for me to make the jump or I wouldn't have done it. If someone stuck to the "Upgrade" plan that Tivo offered, no one wonder he is acting so high and mighty, comparing me to a thief! As far as I am concerned, he overpaid by over a couple of hundred of dollars! I sincerely hope he was upgrading from a Series 2. I now have both a S3 and a S4 --both with Lifetime -- and the Premiere sadly ain't worth a premium. When I get my iPad2, I sure hope that Tivo app for controlling a Premiere is really really cool.

My wife wants me to return it. I won't, but given the huge hassle now of unloading the Tivo HD w/LT on eBay and their exorbitant fees (I HATE EBAY! THEY ARE Thieves!), I can't say it was worth it. Had 2 cable truck rolls for the 2nd Tuning Adapter--and it still doesn't work--and the whole awful business with eBay coming up. This has been a huge hassle and I am still on the fence about whether it is worth it for my family. If the S4 had been even cheaper or a bit more, uh, Premium, it would have been easier to swallow. I had one freeze in the HD menus in less than 5 days, so I may go back to the SD menus. For existing S3 owners, Tivo really needs to make this a *much* cheaper upgrade than it currently offers if they want more S3 people to jump. I think Tivo has bought their own hype on the "Series 4." It is a good Tivo, just not much better than the Series 3.

Clearly I also agree about the upgrade pricing roulette. I tried hard to get the $199 but was prepared to pay the $299, which I did. Disappointed but knew it would be iffy. Tivo is playing hardball; alas it will come out of my willingness to recommend Tivo to others. When I get a great deal, I generally SELL more units of (Tivo, Apple, etc) than whatever that lower profit margin may have "cost" that company.

Generally I find the Tivo Community people to be a great and friendly bunch. Generally. Off to friendlier threads...


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

gdeep1 said:


> Here in a update if this is your first Tivo and you want to get lifetime on it (will save you 100 bucks)
> 
> ...
> 
> Couple days ago i went into my account settings online and saw an option to change my service plan ( so i clicked on it) and I saw option for monthly - 12.95 , yearly - 199~ and lifetime - 399 and also saw promotion code field.


Nice find! Alas I am already getting $299 lifetime pricing so it doesn't help me. I played with it just to be sure ;-)

My Series 2 was only about $60, too; time was that Tivo used to offer big rebates and give the hardware away. Upgrading from a VCR, paying $199 for lifetime, it was a terrific deal. Now you can get as good deals on service from coupon codes as you can being a long-time Lifetime customer.

My ability to get a decent price on my Tivo HD w/ LT on eBay is predicated on that Lifetime costing new subscribers $399. But since almost anyone with a google search box can pay just $299, I may need to lower my selling price that much more. My Premiere upgrade just got that much more expensive!


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

jonja said:


> a) You overpaid. No wonder you are acting this way.


Hardly. 
Total out of pocket cost for MY NEW Premiere + PLS (including tax and FatWallet discount): $501.73

Total out of pocket cost today for a NEW Premiere + PLS (including tax): $718.49 (or $618.49 if you qualify for MSD)

$501.73 < $618.49 < $718.49 = Not overpaid.



jonja said:


> b) Not applicable. Getting a good deal != Theft.


It is when the "good deal" does not adhere to the applicable terms, which is where some cases happen to fall.



jonja said:


> Your reasoning is...bizarre. No offense; it's just bizarre. See a.)
> 
> End of Conversation.


My reasoning has nothing to do with what I paid. It has to do with the terms TiVo has spelled out in the Upgrade Program's policy. Your cheaper USED unit does qualify to the terms that entitles the discounted PLS that is only available to the Upgrade Program. In what way is that bizarre?


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

orangeboy said:


> Hardly.
> Total out of pocket cost for MY NEW Premiere + PLS (including tax and FatWallet discount): $501.73
> 
> Total out of pocket cost today for a NEW Premiere + PLS (including tax): $718.49 (or $618.49 if you qualify for MSD)
> ...


A matter of opinion. You think I am a thief; I think you overpaid (I have another word I could use, similarly insulting to 'Thief', but I will stay above the fray).

Enjoy your new Tivo.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

orangeboy said:


> Hardly.
> My reasoning has nothing to do with what I paid. It has to do with the terms TiVo has spelled out in the Upgrade Program's policy. Your cheaper USED unit does qualify to the terms that entitles the discounted PLS that is only available to the Upgrade Program. In what way is that bizarre?


You need to read what you wrote. You called me a thief for trying to get the best deal. Yeah, that is bizarre.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

I find some of these posts amusing. There is no law or requirement that TiVo charge everyone the same price. Everyone is free to negotiate the best price they can - that's called capitalism. If someone doesn't like the price being offered they are also free to not purchase a TiVo - that is also called capitalism. 

This is no different than many other businesses/products. I can assure you that Hotels charge different people different prices for the same room, the same for auto deals, cable/satellite companies, telephone companies, street vendors, and just about any other type business you can think of.

If you don't like the price don't buy it. 

What other people pay is really none of your business so don't worry about it. 

Thanks,


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

orangeboy said:


> So it's ok to steal food from the grocery store? "Fill-N-Fly" at the gas station? "Dine-N-Dash" at Denny's? Those acts save you money.


Nice strawman.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

slowbiscuit said:


> Nice strawman.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

atmuscarella said:


> What other people pay is really none of your business so don't worry about it.


Thank you! I am really surprised at the hostility by others here.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

slowbiscuit said:


> Nice strawman.


In so far it is basically made of nothing but straw. But scarecrow might be a better word.

If you meant a metaphorical strawman, can't agree. Very poor analogy, entirely emotional. Essentially an ad hominem attack.

Of course you are probably being ironic. That works too.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

jonja said:


> You need to read what you wrote. You called me a thief for trying to get the best deal. Yeah, that is bizarre.


Indeed. You did not outright steal service from TiVo. Purloiner would be more appropriate. Although I do find some definitions that include "thief" in the description or as a synonym to purloiner.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

orangeboy said:


> Indeed. You did not outright steal service from TiVo. Purloiner would be more appropriate. Although I do find some definitions that include "thief" in the description or as a synonym to purloiner.


Purloin is just a synonym of steal. What did I steal? I had to pay $299 for lifetime; I couldn't get the $199 rate like some here (which still isn't theft/purloining; no one forced Tivo to give them that great rate nor was it based on lies. They are just better hagglers than I am).

Do you even listen to yourself?

EOL


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

Merriam Webster:


> to appropriate wrongfully and often by a breach of trust


Getting $199 PLS for a box that didn't meet the criteria for such a discount seems to fit the definition pretty well.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

orangeboy said:


> Merriam Webster:
> 
> Getting $199 PLS for a box that didn't meet the criteria for such a discount seems to fit the definition pretty well.


Wow. I didn't get the $199. I just wish I HAD! Who exactly are you accusing of theft? Are you really that thick?

And it is entirely up to Tivo's discretion as to whether they will give the $199 PLS to someone. The CSRs have all of the info they need: the TSN and what plans you are enrolled in as a current subscriber. It is NOT unethical to call up and ask for a better deal much less to get a better deal. If you think it is, I am pretty sure you sure you are alone in that opinion. You must think using coupons are a criminal act too.

Their formal "Upgrade" pricing is not THE sacred pricing nor does it carry any legal weight. You are deluded if you think so. Tivo has lots of different plans and they are changing them all of the time. Honestly, their ever changing pricing plans and conditions are a befuddled mess. Their formal upgrade pricing has also changed since the Premiere came out. And it will continue to change. Originally you could only get a discount on hardware OR a discount on PLS, NOT both. Then they changed it so you got a modest discount on the hardware too.

With the woot boxes they actually qualified for plans that the boxes at Best Buy don't. The CSRs have discretion in determining which of many plans out there a particular TiVo qualifies for, based on the TSN, the day of the week, the current promos, and any other factors (such as their personal awareness of any of the former items). A few wooters got screwed and had to get the $399 PLS even though those boxes *all *qualified for MSD--but some of the CSRs seemed...confused about that. Nor was that theft; it was just bad customer service.

And no, like your analogies, the definition you looked up doesn't apply either. You are WAY off base.


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## TheWGP (Oct 26, 2007)

I did get the $199. 

My account was eligible in Tivo's systems for the offer; why it was marked eligible is Tivo's problem. Is it a price mistake, data entry error, or other confusion? Very possibly. Does that faze me one bit? Not at all. It happens, and the onus is on the merchant to handle themselves. Not going to get into a moral debate here - there isn't one - they made it eligible at that price and so I purchased it. That's all there is to it, sorry, there just isn't anything more salacious than that.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

jonja said:


> In so far it is basically made of nothing but straw. But scarecrow might be a better word.
> 
> If you meant a metaphorical strawman, can't agree. Very poor analogy, entirely emotional. Essentially an ad hominem attack.
> 
> Of course you are probably being ironic. That works too.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman_argument


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## Irwin Fletcher (Jan 27, 2011)

It's been a week with my two new woot tivo's and they are both running well, and are a huge upgrade from my comcast dvr's. I bought lifetime on one of them for $299 and am paying the $99 annual fee on the other. Also I ended up buying the tivo slider remote, it works really well, and qwerty keyboard provides super fast searching for shows. I have an iphone and am using the itv app to manage my tivos remotely, I've also tried m.tivo.com, but I'd really like a full fledged app for the iphone made by tivo excursively for tivo's. When I had directv, I used their iphone app to mange my dvr's and it was fantastic.


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## bacevedo (Oct 31, 2003)

It's been a little over a week now with my 2 woot premieres and they are working fantastic. I would say it was a worthwhile upgrade from my TiVo HD (which was also purchased as refurb for $199 a year or two ago).

I am using the HD UI on both and I have yet to have any issues. I am only using OTA, no cable (or cablecard), I have 1080i/p as the only format to output (so no resolution switching). It may not be instant in its response, but I don't find navigating it that painful at all. I haven't had the unit lock up at all or even the HD UI lock up. I even think that the Netflix functionality is a little less flaky on my new units as compared to my TiVoHD. I have yet to have it drop out or lock up. We'll see how that goes as time goes on. I have no doubt that the Netflix interface will eventually be upgraded. I can wait for that, as it's working fine for me now.

I think the biggest upgrade will be the transfer speed. I haven't transferred to the PC yet, but between the units, I am getting transfer speeds of around 80.23 Mb/s using my hardwired network when transferring Outsourced. That show is 30 minutes in HD which transfered in 5 min 45 sec.

I installed an AntennaCraft MX1000 antenna from Radio Shack in my attic, and I get excellent signals on all of my channels. Some are down in the low 60s, but many are in the 90s, and none of them break up at all. I am a little less than 20 miles from the transmitters (I live in south-east Chandler, AZ).

Now I am just trying to sell the TiVo HD on craigslist, but so far, not one hit on it!  I think I will have to lower the price, but it doesn't seem that TiVo's are big sellers on craigslist in my area.


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## TerpBE (Jan 23, 2003)

bacevedo said:


> I think the biggest upgrade will be the transfer speed. I haven't transferred to the PC yet, but between the units, I am getting transfer speeds of around 80.23 Mb/s using my hardwired network when transferring Outsourced. That show is 30 minutes in HD which transfered in 5 min 45 sec.


I currently have a S3 and an HD. Will it be faster transferring to/from my new Premier to either of these, or is the transfer speed improvement only applicable between two Premiers?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

TerpBE said:


> I currently have a S3 and an HD. Will it be faster transferring to/from my new Premier to either of these, or is the transfer speed improvement only applicable between two Premiers?


 Transfers both ways between my S3 & Premiere are quite substantially faster than S3<->S3 used to be. Where before I would have trouble for some 1080i recordings doing MRV and being able to skip all commercials without waiting now those same programs transfer in about 30 minutes or less per 1 hour of 1080i HD, a marked improvement. Of course Premiere<->Premiere would be blazing fast compared to that, but it was a pleasant surprise that Premiere on 1 end would speed things up that much.


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

slowbiscuit said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawman_argument


Ah, sure enough!


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

moyekj said:


> Transfers both ways between my S3 & Premiere are quite substantially faster than S3<->S3 used to be. Where before I would have trouble for some 1080i recordings doing MRV and being able to skip all commercials without waiting now those same programs transfer in about 30 minutes or less per 1 hour of 1080i HD, a marked improvement. Of course Premiere<->Premiere would be blazing fast compared to that, but it was a pleasant surprise that Premiere on 1 end would speed things up that much.


It seems transfers are faster from PCs using pyTivo on the Premiere. Haven't benched it. Tivo2go and Tivo pushes are faster. Alas, the Premiere still has just a 100mbps port instead of gigabit port found on all of my Macs and PCs. With the S3, gigabit would have gone to waste since the system was too slow to push it to full 100mps duplex speeds anyway. But if Premiere is that much faster, not adding gigabit is another missed opportunity for the Series 4.

That said, I am badly smacked down by the CCI byte so I have very few programs that CAN be transferred between Tivos or from my Premiere. The byte itself doesn't prevent transfers mind you; it is the Tivo that prevents it when it finds the flag is turned on, a somewhat draconian interpretation of what they think the copyright byte should mean (I believe Moxi allows 1 copy to be transferred---go to www.zataznotfunny.com for more details. I don't have them). So Moxi interpreted the legal intent of that byte one way, and Tivo another; so it is strictly up to the DVR maker what the legal restriction implied by that byte means. So when I sell my old Tivo HD soon, most of its programming will be lost; I can't move 80% of it to the Premiere. Too bad Tivo doesn't have any lawyers that are believers in Fair Use who could advocate for a more liberal interpretation of the copyright CCI byte, like Moxi had. And too bad it looks like Moxi is on their way out, too; not due to losing lawsuits over the CCI byte of course ;-)

For me MRV is more an amusing tell-your-friends feature; it doesn't really work for me unless I record everything from a Network channel or in analog.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

One minor quibble is that when I press the TiVo button as I'm watching a program the sound effect is cut off mid-bling.

I tried the HDUI menu and quickly went back to SD.


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## dave13077 (Jan 11, 2009)

jonja said:


> It seems transfers are faster from PCs using pyTivo on the Premiere. Haven't benched it. Tivo2go and Tivo pushes are faster. Alas, the Premiere still has just a 100mbps port instead of gigabit port found on all of my Macs and PCs. With the S3, gigabit would have gone to waste since the system was too slow to push it to full 100mps duplex speeds anyway. But if Premiere is that much faster, not adding gigabit is another missed opportunity for the Series 4.
> 
> That said, I am badly smacked down by the CCI byte so I have very few programs that CAN be transferred between Tivos or from my Premiere. The byte itself doesn't prevent transfers mind you; it is the Tivo that prevents it when it finds the flag is turned on, a somewhat draconian interpretation of what they think the copyright byte should mean (I believe Moxi allows 1 copy to be transferred---go to www.zataznotfunny.com for more details. I don't have them). So Moxi interpreted the legal intent of that byte one way, and Tivo another; so it is strictly up to the DVR maker what the legal restriction implied by that byte means. So when I sell my old Tivo HD soon, most of its programming will be lost; I can't move 80% of it to the Premiere. Too bad Tivo doesn't have any lawyers that are believers in Fair Use who could advocate for a more liberal interpretation of the copyright CCI byte, like Moxi had. And too bad it looks like Moxi is on their way out, too; not due to losing lawsuits over the CCI byte of course ;-)
> 
> For me MRV is more an amusing tell-your-friends feature; it doesn't really work for me unless I record everything from a Network channel or in analog.


You state Moxi is on its way out....... what evidence do you have?


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## jonja (Feb 23, 2007)

dave13077 said:


> You state Moxi is on its way out....... what evidence do you have?


Passing along just some comments on quite a few threads on www.zatznotfunny.com, including something Dave Zatz wrote about Moxi just today. Read them and make up your own mind if you want to. I thought it was pretty well understood they were struggling.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

jonja said:


> So Moxi interpreted the legal intent of that byte one way, and Tivo another; so it is strictly up to the DVR maker what the legal restriction implied by that byte means.


 No, the difference is Moxi MRV is *streaming* instead of copying, so there is no copy being made and hence no CCI byte implications. The TiVo MRV solution is copying, so they have to abide by copy protections. TiVo could also implement a streaming MRV solution to circumvent MRV CCI problem, at least for Premiere units, but that does not seem to be a top priority for them.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

The jury on Moxi is still out, but it doesn't look good I agree. Ever since Arris bought Digeo there have been few updates after the 3-tuner box came out (which was already in the works), a little presence by Moxi on the AVS forum thread which disappered, and no hype about it from Arris. The thinking is that Arris bought them for the tech and not the hardware, a not uncommon deal - same reason why DirectTV bought the ReplayTV patents and other IP from DNNA after they quit making new hardware.


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## TwiceOver (Jan 4, 2005)

Just a follow up to my last post...

It's been a few weeks. Received 2 cable cards from my provider and absolutely couldn't be happier. Here's a list of things that I am LOVING over my old S2 boxes (probably nothing new to most people...):

MUCH faster transfers between units. The S2s weren't slow by any means, but these Premiere units are ridiculously fast.

Delete Entire Groups <3

View the guide when you are playing back

MUCH faster menus (sd menus)

Enough lights on the front to know what is going on without looking at the menus

Integrated Netflix, though it doesn't seem to work as good as a few other devices I have. Good enough to watch a movie though.

Finally the 15 minute pop marks work on live TV. Still getting used to popping backward to the beginning of the record queue.

Thing I hate:

They changed the Peanut. It changed so much that I still just use my original which is so worn there is no lettering on any of the buttons anymore. But it was such a drastic change that I was hitting the wrong buttons constantly.

Peanut can only control 1 tivo box at a time now. They removed the switch to allow one peanut to run 2 separate boxes. I had a grand plan to put all my equipment in one closet, now this isn't really possible for the TiVos.

They removed the second set of outputs 


Anyway, just some things I noticed.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Most of your comments would apply to an S3/HD, but it is a big step from the S2.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

pdhenry said:


> Most of your comments would apply to an S3/HD, but it is a big step from the S2.


Not the remote, the S3/HD has the 1-2 switch, and you can pick up a used TiVo remote with the 1-2 switch for not much money.


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## TwiceOver (Jan 4, 2005)

lessd said:


> Not the remote, the S3/HD has the 1-2 switch, and you can pick up a used TiVo remote with the 1-2 switch for not much money.


Yeah, I have gone through a stock of S2 boxes so I have 4-5 remotes laying around (have remote wars with the wife).

I didn't look, is the option still there in the Premiere boxes to set the remote to use 1 or 2? I figured since it was gone from the remote, it would disappear from the box.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

TwiceOver said:


> Yeah, I have gone through a stock of S2 boxes so I have 4-5 remotes laying around (have remote wars with the wife).
> 
> I didn't look, is the option still there in the Premiere boxes to set the remote to use 1 or 2? I figured since it was gone from the remote, it would disappear from the box.


You still have the 1 through 9 setting on any Premiere, works the same as all the rest of the Series 2, and Series 3 TiVos. So with 2 remotes with the 1-2 switch you could control 4 TiVos in the same room. With two Premiere remotes you can control two TP in the same room as you can set any TP remote to number 1 through 9. ( setting the remote to 0 will control any TiVo, that the default setting)


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## Tokapeba (Oct 12, 2002)

I tried today and no luck. They say there are a lot of people asking and some get bumped upstairs but no one is getting the $199. The only upgrade they are offering is after 1 year $299.

Andy.


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## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Tokapeba said:


> I tried today and no luck. They say there are a lot of people asking and some get bumped upstairs but no one is getting the $199. The only upgrade they are offering is after 1 year $299.


Not sure what post you might be replying to but with a current subscription you should be able to get $299 LT right off the bat, not just after a year.


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## Tokapeba (Oct 12, 2002)

pdhenry said:


> Not sure what post you might be replying to but with a current subscription you should be able to get $299 LT right off the bat, not just after a year.


I talked with a couple sales people and the best I could get was the $269 for the box and $199 for the PLT.

They did say that if paid the $19.95 monthly service charge for a year that I would be elagible for the $299, and that if I transfered current service from any tivo that was no longer under the required 1 year that it would also be eligable then.

I did find a couple localy that have service paid through the end of their contrat periods, so I think I will buy one of them swich it to my name and then ad lifetime to it for the $299.

Andy.


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## ncbill (Sep 1, 2007)

My woot premiere is now restarting on its own - any advice on what diagnostics to run?

Thanks!


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## Tokapeba (Oct 12, 2002)

I would say call tivo if it's still under warranty.


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

I had to fight last night to get lifetime for $299 on my Woot unit. I just got around to upgrading and activating - serves me right for waiting so long. 
They were only going to let me get LT for the 399 price, I have 14 units (don't ask) on my account so I do qualify for MSD.
They were not going budge until I told them instead of getting $299 from me I would replace one of my SD units with the Premier @ MSD $6.95 and they would gain nothing. That did the trick, but what a hassle. 
I beleive that all future Woot units will NOT be eligible for MSD since the CSR said that they are Tivo Factory refurbs.
I doubt that I'll try again.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

buddhawood said:


> I had to fight last night to get lifetime for $299 on my Woot unit. I just got around to upgrading and activating - serves me right for waiting so long.
> They were only going to let me get LT for the 399 price, I have 14 units (don't ask) on my account so I do qualify for MSD.
> They were not going budge until I told them instead of getting $299 from me I would replace one of my SD units with the Premier @ MSD $6.95 and they would gain nothing. That did the trick, but what a hassle.
> I beleive that all future Woot units will NOT be eligible for MSD since the CSR said that they are Tivo Factory refurbs.
> I doubt that I'll try again.


actually you may have to many units on your account that have already received the MSD. This is from the MSD agreement:

*Limited number of TiVo Service Subscriptions*. The MULTI-SERVICE DISCOUNT is limited to a maximum of five (5) additional TiVo service or TiVo Plus service subscriptions per TiVo customer account. For example, a registered account holder with one Qualifying Subscription may add up to an additional five (5) new TiVo service subscriptions activations at the reduced MULTI-SERVICE DISCOUNT price to his or her account. The sixth (6th) additional TiVo service subscription would not qualify for the MULTI-SERVICE DISCOUNT and would be charged at the full TiVo service subscription price.​
Thanks,


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

I'm having a hard time getting past *14* tivos!


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Yeah, I only have two Tivos actively recording my shows, and I have way more TV and not enough time to watch it all!


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