# Picked Up my Series 3 today @ BBuy!



## jimsocks (Jan 16, 2004)

Called first - said they had 2 "on the floor" - walked in and THERE THEY WERE! - Grabbed one - paid the full $799 + $29.99 for a 4-year replacement warranty - and BAM!!! - I'm now waiting for Comcast to install my 2 cable cards for a one time charge of $9.95....Whoo hoo!


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

Where are you located at? (major city)

Let us know how it goes with the Cable-Cards. 
My good friend purchased a Hitachi TV last weekend, and it took 7 Cable-Cards to get 90% functional (no HBO yet).. with Comcast.


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## etsolow (Feb 8, 2001)

HFC! I wish I had read this before 9pm!


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

Mmmmm....I don't think I'd pay $800+ for a floor model....no matter how short a period of time it's been on the floor. Who knows what those BB morons did to it "setting it up."


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## jimsocks (Jan 16, 2004)

Not a "floor model" per se - but a never-opened Tivo S3 box off the shelf....I wouldn't have purchased an "open box" one...I said "on the floor" as opposed to "in the back somewhere"...btw, Sacramento area...


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## jonvan (Jul 11, 2003)

What was the fee structure for your cards? what package do you have? How much for everything?


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

jimsocks said:


> Not a "floor model" per se - but a never-opened Tivo S3 box off the shelf....I wouldn't have purchased an "open box" one...I said "on the floor" as opposed to "in the back somewhere"...btw, Sacramento area...


Ah....good for you. Enjoy!


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## jimsocks (Jan 16, 2004)

"What was the fee structure for your cards? what package do you have? How much for everything?"


Both cards $9.95 installed (Will try to go by local office though); I'll be transferring lifetime service from one of my 2 S2's...$799 + tax + $29.99 (4-yr replacement warranty from Best Buy)


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

jimsocks said:


> Both cards $9.95 installed (Will try to go by local office though); I'll be transferring lifetime service from one of my 2 S2's...$799 + tax + $29.99 (4-yr replacement warranty from Best Buy)


You can't transfer lifetime if purchased from retail...

www.tivo.com/vip


> TiVo® Series3TM HD DVR purchase required by 12/31/2006 and activation of the DVR is required by 01/31/2007. Series3 HD DVR must be purchased through TiVo.com. DVRs purchased through retail channels are not eligible.


ouch


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## bubba1972 (Mar 28, 2005)

I don't think retail purchased S3s qualify for the lifetime transfer, only tivo.com purchased units.


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## thechiz (Oct 3, 2005)

Can you transfer lifetime using the VIP offer if 
you buy the S3 at retail ?

Guess not.


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## Cheap Flyer (Sep 23, 2003)

thechiz said:


> Can you transfer lifetime using the VIP offer if
> you buy the S3 at retail ?


Nope.

Have fun packing it back up and returning to BB. Doh!


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## thechiz (Oct 3, 2005)

I think Circuit City has a zero restocking fee ?

What about Best Buy ?


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

No restocking fee at Best Buy.


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## jimsocks (Jan 16, 2004)

(Unopened!) - Back it goes!


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

jimsocks said:


> Called first - said they had 2 "on the floor" - walked in and THERE THEY WERE! - Grabbed one - paid the full $799 + $29.99 for a 4-year replacement warranty - and BAM!!! - I'm now waiting for Comcast to install my 2 cable cards for a one time charge of $9.95....Whoo hoo!


What city was the BB located in?


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## jonvan (Jul 11, 2003)

Yes you do have to buy from tivo direct for the transfer. I am a HT dealer and thought I would buy from the distributor and mabye save some $$$ but then noticed the buy from tivo only rule.


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## George Cifranci (Jan 30, 2003)

What difference does it make if you buy it locally or from TiVo.com? You still have to call them after you receive it and give them your old TiVo Service Number and your new S3 TiVo Service Number?? Unless they are keeping track of the TiVo Service Number's of the S3's they are selling on tivo.com. Bizzare.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

George Cifranci said:


> What difference does it make if you buy it locally or from TiVo.com? You still have to call them after you receive it and give them your old TiVo Service Number and your new S3 TiVo Service Number?? Unless they are keeping track of the TiVo Service Number's of the S3's they are selling on tivo.com. Bizzare.


The difference is that's how Tivo qualified the offer. Don't like the terms? Don't accept the offer.


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

jimsocks said:


> Called first - said they had 2 "on the floor" - walked in and THERE THEY WERE! - Grabbed one - paid the full $799 + $29.99 for a 4-year replacement warranty


Please confirm that $29.99 is not a typo on replacement warranty. That seems very inexpensive.


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## Bonsainut (Sep 13, 2006)

George Cifranci said:


> What difference does it make if you buy it locally or from TiVocom?


Because if you buy directly from TIVO, TIVO keeps all the retailer profit margin. Say, for example, their wholesale price to retailers is $699 and retailers sell for $799. If you buy from TIVO, TIVO would make an extra $100 on the deal. Add in the $199 transfer fee and TIVO is really making $300 to transfer your service to the S3. Who knows what their costs are for providing the service, but I would guess that the discounted cost is $300 or less (i.e. if it costs $1 per month, $300 today is the present value of a discounted stream of $1 monthly payments to infinity (and beyond)


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## Dssturbo1 (Feb 23, 2005)

Phantom Gremlin said:


> Please confirm that $29.99 is not a typo on replacement warranty. That seems very inexpensive.


it's not unusual for BB to mess up and underprice the ex warranty on a new product. they did it when the toshiba hd a1 came out. had it at $39 for 4 years then a couple weeks later changed it to like $79.

their system probably still thinks of it as a regualr priced tivo.

jimsocks, what is the bb sku/item/receipt# number for the S3?


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## jimsocks (Jan 16, 2004)

$29.99 is the 4-year price. The gal who helped me had to double-check with her supervisor, but he approved the $29.99 for 4-years. The SKU # was right on the warranty receipt so there was no question that this particular model was covered. 

SKU# 7974418

TIVO S3 now safely returned to Best Buy. THAT was a brief relationship!


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

George Cifranci said:


> What difference does it make if you buy it locally or from TiVo.com?


Well, there have been reports that the wholesale cost to BB is $500. So that's $300 into BB's pocket at retail. When you buy from TiVo, that additional $300 goes to TiVo. Which I'm sure was figured into the costs of providing lifetime on the box as part of the offer.


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## George Cifranci (Jan 30, 2003)

megazone said:


> Well, there have been reports that the wholesale cost to BB is $500. So that's $300 into BB's pocket at retail. When you buy from TiVo, that additional $300 goes to TiVo. Which I'm sure was figured into the costs of providing lifetime on the box as part of the offer.


That makes sense I guess. Now I have to decide if I want to drop $1000 now and transfer my Lifetime from my S1 over or wait and maybe get a discount locally and just pay $6.95 a month.


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## lemketron (Jun 24, 2002)

greg_burns said:


> You can't transfer lifetime if purchased from retail...
> www.tivo.com/vip


OK, but what if you have a "grandfathered" lifetime with a *free* transfer?

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=290723 says:


> Grandfather transfer: The one-time "Grandfather transfer" (for people who purchased Product Lifetime on or before January 21, 2000 [as in, more than six years ago], and who have not already used their one-time transfer) is still allowed and will also be honored for future hardware releases from TiVo, such as the Series3. If you have any trouble when you call, please mention KDB code 09-07-04 to the agent.


Doesn't sound like I have to buy my S3 from TiVo.com. Guess I'll find out... 

I hope to pick up a pair of cable cards before the S3 arrives (on Thursday from CC, as I ordered there before I read about Best Buy having them in stock, darn it) but then I'm going to be held hostage looking for an affordable 10' HDMI cable (or waiting for a $20 one from buy.com). I haven't seen them at retail for much less than $100. 

Kudos to TiVo for (allegedly) including an HDMI cable, but did you have to make it so short?


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## tunnelengineer (Jul 21, 2006)

what is the length on the included HDMI cable???? If it's less than 6' I need to pick up another one asap.


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## lemketron (Jun 24, 2002)

tunnelengineer said:


> what is the length on the included HDMI cable???? If it's less than 6' I need to pick up another one asap.


See http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4363742&&#post4363742 (which admittedly was not easy to find -- the LENGTH should be in the FAQ!):


megazone said:


> Definitely not 8'. Around 3' I think, maybe a little longer than that.


I ordered a 10' cable from MonoPrice.com based on other recommendations here. BlueJeansCable also sounded good but MonoPrice is closer for me, and the cable might actually get here when the S3 does...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Monoprice. A good quality, inexpensive cable.


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## tunnelengineer (Jul 21, 2006)

THanks guys, I will check them out. I've had good luck with bluejeanscable in the past as well. Highly recommended.


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## Scopeman (Oct 22, 2002)

FYI - in Austin TX the Fry's has 3 in stock right now.


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## hsache (Jul 25, 2003)

jimsocks said:


> Called first - said they had 2 "on the floor" - walked in and THERE THEY WERE! - Grabbed one - paid the full $799 + $29.99 for a 4-year replacement warranty - and BAM!!! - I'm now waiting for Comcast to install my 2 cable cards for a one time charge of $9.95....Whoo hoo!


 I purchased 3 HD Tivos from Tivo's VIP website. Called Comcast to come out with 6 cable cards and found out that the first 2 cards are free and the other 4 cards will cost me 9.95 each a month. How were you able to get 2 cards for a one time fee of 9.95?

Thanks for any help.
Herb


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## jasontivo (May 5, 2005)

Talked to someone who bought their series 3 at ABT. They called last night and did the lifetime transfer from a series 1.


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## RCflier (Feb 17, 2004)

jasontivo said:


> Talked to someone who bought their series 3 at ABT. They called last night and did the lifetime transfer from a series 1.


the VIP Transfer, or was it a grandfathered S1?


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## jeffrypennock (May 18, 2006)

greg_burns said:


> You can't transfer lifetime if purchased from retail...
> 
> www.tivo.com/vip
> 
> ouch


I talked to someone at the phone number you call to do the lifetime transfer. Told him that I'd pre-ordered my S3 from BB which I'd pick up tomorrow and asked him if that'd be a problem when I tried to do the transfer. I pointed out that the details of the transfer hadn't been made public at the time I placed my pre-order. He said no problem.

Has anybody actually tried and failed/succeeded in transferring service from an S2 to a retail-purchased S3?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

jeffrypennock said:


> Has anybody actually tried and failed/succeeded in transferring service from an S2 to a retail-purchased S3?


Denied for lifetime

Edit: see your in that thread.


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## lawilson2 (Oct 6, 2005)

aaronwt said:


> Monoprice. A good quality, inexpensive cable.


Ditto on Monoprice.com .I forget where I heard about them from, but I originally bought my two HDMI cords from Radio Shack at $40 each, a $60 savings from the big retail store. Then I find Monoprice, which was: $16.30 for* 2* 6 ft cables! Their cables are thick and excellent quality. Definitely invest if them if you need extra!


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

lemketron said:


> I ordered a 10' cable from MonoPrice.com based on other recommendations here. BlueJeansCable also sounded good but MonoPrice is closer for me, and the cable might actually get here when the S3 does...


I think it may be a 6' cable - I suck at length estimates. I know it isn't 8', because I'm 6'6" and it wasn't longer than I am tall. Actually, it must be longer than 3' because one of the other cables I'm using is 3' and it was just long enough, but the TiVo cables had slack.


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## Brett (Mar 5, 2002)

jimsocks said:


> $29.99 is the 4-year price. The gal who helped me had to double-check with her supervisor, but he approved the $29.99 for 4-years. The SKU # was right on the warranty receipt so there was no question that this particular model was covered.
> 
> SKU# 7974418
> 
> TIVO S3 now safely returned to Best Buy. THAT was a brief relationship!


I can see how this coverage would be fine if you are a monthly renter, but what if you have lifetime service...

Suppose you transfer lifetime (from your old box to a S3) and then you purchase this 4-year warranty from Best Buy. What if the machine breaks at some point during the 4 years, can that lifetime service be transfered to the replacement box?


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## debbie6754 (Nov 1, 2002)

I spoke to Comcast Cable and they charge $1 per month for each cablecard. The cost is not for the card but for the HD signal. You cannot pick up the cards, the tech has to bring them to your house. Now please tell me what else I have to buy to hook up the series 3. I want to tie it into my computer. I have a wired network with a router. What is an HDMI cable for?


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

debbie6754 said:


> I spoke to Comcast Cable and they charge $1 per month for each cablecard. The cost is not for the card but for the HD signal. You cannot pick up the cards, the tech has to bring them to your house. Now please tell me what else I have to buy to hook up the series 3. I want to tie it into my computer. I have a wired network with a router. What is an HDMI cable for?


The HMDI cable connects the Tivo to your television. Depending on your TV you may also be able to use component video cables.

You should be able to connect your S3 to your wired network with a normal ethernet cable.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

I just picked up an S3 from BB and am on hold trying to cancel my Tivo.com/vip order.

Funny, I asked about the BB extended warranty. She asked if this S3 was a new product because it is not in the extended warranty database yet. She pulled out pamphlet and saw "TiVo/Replay = $29 for 4 yrs". I remained quiet, but I'm thinking that that line was for the S2 and S2DT units not an $800 HD TiVo. I guess my guilt will subside but I took the offer.


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## lemketron (Jun 24, 2002)

megazone said:


> I think it may be a 6' cable - I suck at length estimates. I know it isn't 8', because I'm 6'6" and it wasn't longer than I am tall. Actually, it must be longer than 3' because one of the other cables I'm using is 3' and it was just long enough, but the TiVo cables had slack.


I think it's worth measuring, and putting the exact lengths into the FAQ. HDMI cables are way expensive at retail ($50-$100 or more) so people will want to know in advance if they need to order one in advance in order to have it when they unbox their new S3.

Actually, between ordering a longer HDMI cable, the S3 itself, and scheduling the CableCard installation (after dealing with the cable company), there's a fair bit of choreography to getting everything lined up!


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## tunnelengineer (Jul 21, 2006)

-New 8' HDMI cable to be delivered Friday
-S3 to be delivered friday due to overnight shipping
- Cablecard install scheduled for Monday/Tuesday

Pretty good scheduling. Should be recording all the new shows in HD next tuesday night at the latest.


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## jeffrypennock (May 18, 2006)

ah30k said:


> I just picked up an S3 from BB and am on hold trying to cancel my Tivo.com/vip order.


SOOO? Did it work?!? Did they let you do a lifetime transfer to your S3 from BB?


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

jeffrypennock said:


> SOOO? Did it work?!? Did they let you do a lifetime transfer to your S3 from BB?


Never asked for that. I have an old Grandfathered S1 I'll transfer from instead. I was on the fence between GF and VIP anyway.

I couldnt cancel my order, but they told me to just return it.


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## Gregor (Feb 18, 2002)

lemketron said:


> I think it's worth measuring, and putting the exact lengths into the FAQ. HDMI cables are way expensive at retail ($50-$100 or more) so people will want to know in advance if they need to order one in advance in order to have it when they unbox their new S3.
> 
> Actually, between ordering a longer HDMI cable, the S3 itself, and scheduling the CableCard installation (after dealing with the cable company), there's a fair bit of choreography to getting everything lined up!


HMDI cables are pretty reasonable if you buy them from the right places. I've had great experience with BlueJeanCables.com and other folks like monoprice.

No need to spend the $100 for a Monster.


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## lemketron (Jun 24, 2002)

Gregor said:


> HMDI cables are pretty reasonable if you buy them from the right places.


Yes, I realize that, and ordered one already that should arrive today.


> I've had great experience with BlueJeanCables.com and other folks like monoprice. No need to spend the $100 for a Monster.


Depends on how patient you are. If you have your S3, and your cable cards, and the only thing keeping you from using it is a long-enough HDMI cable but you discover (too late) that the included HDMI cable is too short, then how long are you willing to wait for a cable vs. overpaying for one you can get "right now" (at retail)? I don't know about you but I HATE being in that position.

Conversely, if you didn't realize there was an included cable, you'd probably like to know that (and how long it is) so you didn't waste time/money ordering one in advance that you might not even need.

It was just a suggestion for the FAQ (which I realize is a separate thread). The FAQ does already say that there's a (HDMI) cable in the S3 box, but not how long it is (and it seems we still don't know as nobody has measured it). It's clearly not long enough for everyone...


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

ah30k said:


> I just picked up an S3 from BB and am on hold trying to cancel my Tivo.com/vip order.
> 
> Funny, I asked about the BB extended warranty. She asked if this S3 was a new product because it is not in the extended warranty database yet. She pulled out pamphlet and saw "TiVo/Replay = $29 for 4 yrs". I remained quiet, but I'm thinking that that line was for the S2 and S2DT units not an $800 HD TiVo. I guess my guilt will subside but I took the offer.


Same thing happened when the DT came out. Then the warranty went up.

Not your fault they don't have their act together.

Besides, what do you think would happen if a customer said "No, I think you should charge me more"?


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

Brett said:


> Suppose you transfer lifetime (from your old box to a S3) and then you purchase this 4-year warranty from Best Buy. What if the machine breaks at some point during the 4 years, can that lifetime service be transfered to the replacement box?


So far, Tivo has been allowing lifetime transfers for the duration of an extended warranty period. No guarantee that will continue, but a good bet.


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## lemketron (Jun 24, 2002)

megazone said:


> I think it may be a 6' cable - I suck at length estimates. I know it isn't 8', because I'm 6'6" and it wasn't longer than I am tall. Actually, it must be longer than 3' because one of the other cables I'm using is 3' and it was just long enough, but the TiVo cables had slack.


Well, the HDMI cable that came with my S3 was (connector tip to tip) 80", or 6'8". So, the cable I found in the S3 box IS longer than you are tall.  In fact, this cable might just be long enough to reach the S3 once it goes into my cabinet, but I already ordered a beefier 10' cable from MonoPrice so I guess I'll use that one instead.


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## vman41 (Jun 18, 2002)

lemketron said:


> Well, the HDMI cable that came with my S3 was (connector tip to tip) 80", or 6'8".


Sounds like a 2 meter cable.


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