# Lifetime subscription or not?



## Mellifera (Jan 22, 2006)

Hi
I have purchased a second hand tivo PVR 10 UK that was sold with possible lifetime subscription as the previous owner has not had to take out a subscription and works! How do I confirm this? I have seen some screen shots on ebay that show Tivo mAccount Status as '5: Lifetime' but mine says '3: Account in good standing'. What does this mean?


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

It's probably a "VIP lifetime" (account status 11) machine.

See this thread for further details.


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## Glesgie (Feb 3, 2003)

I also have a TIVo with a lifetime sub that shows up as 3 : Account in good standing.

The acid test is if it continues to load daily updates for more than one month then it is lifetime.


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## b166er (Oct 24, 2003)

This is slightly OT, but not too much, I thought I'd tag along onto this thread...

Has anyone ever heard of any kind of discount when upgrading from monthly to lifetime ? When I got this box a few years ago I was feeling unsure about the future of TiVo in the UK , and also unsure about whether I'd have to move back to the states permanently, so I went for monthly. I've more than paid the cost of a lifetime sub, does that buy me any kind of discount at all? Even if it's only 50 quid off, it's something. I know they say at the UK website that previous payments don't count but I thought there maybe some flexibility.


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## aerialplug (Oct 20, 2000)

Be careful if it's a VIP status machine - I believe TiVo treat these differently to the standard lifetime in that the lifetime status is only valid while the TiVo is with the person it had been set up for.

I don't have any direct evidence of this, but I have seen a VIP status machine's "lifetime" status be revoked when TiVo thought the machine was no longer in use and the only way it could be re-instated was to buy a new lifetime account for £200.


In all probability it's a normal lifer though - a lot of lifetime subs were set up and all they've ever shown is "Account in good standing".


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## Paul Stimpson (Aug 19, 2002)

Hi,

If you have bought a second hand machine that is showing "account in good standing" but keeps on working for over a month then the likely thing is that it is a lifer. If it's on a VIP account and you transfer it out of the VIP's name to a new owner then it is quite possible that TiVo will take the lifeime service away from it and you will have to resubscribe. I've never really seen any benefit from being the registered owner of my unit; We don't get a free magazine or any special offers and I do all my own work on it or would use Pacelink if I had a serious fault. My gut feeling would be that if you get an "account in good standing" unit I would recommend not calling CS to register it in your own name just in case it has a VIP sub and you cause it to be terminated. I think the chances of the account getting terminated if you do nothing are hopefully quite low as there are no new sales happening so whoever the unit is registered to is very unlikely to get a new unit and try to transfer their VIP sub to it.

Cheers,
Paul.


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## dogsbody (May 2, 2005)

b166er said:


> Has anyone ever heard of any kind of discount when upgrading from monthly to lifetime ? When I got this box a few years ago I was feeling unsure about the future of TiVo in the UK , and also unsure about whether I'd have to move back to the states permanently, so I went for monthly. I've more than paid the cost of a lifetime sub, does that buy me any kind of discount at all? Even if it's only 50 quid off, it's something. I know they say at the UK website that previous payments don't count but I thought there maybe some flexibility.


When I first got my TiVo a year ago and signed up to monthly (as you I wanted to try it out) I was told that if I upgraded to lifetime in the first month they would refund me my £10. Unfortunately I didn't make the jump until four months in and go no discount.

As long as you plan on keeping TiVo for the next year and a half then it still makes sense to go lifetime! Plus it adds to the value of the box.


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## b166er (Oct 24, 2003)

dogsbody said:


> As long as you plan on keeping TiVo for the next year and a half then it still makes sense to go lifetime! Plus it adds to the value of the box.


I know, just been putting it off, which is crazy. I'm still waiting to see how the whole Internet Video thing plays out. I was thinking I might one day, perhaps before the end of this year even, just cancel Sky & TiVo and legally download only the shows I want to watch. With download prices settling (on itunes at least) at around $2 per episode that might NOT be a worthwhile alternative. Ah what the heck, I'm gonna do it tomorrow


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## Ian_m (Jan 9, 2001)

What I thought in December 2000.......



b166er said:


> I know, just been putting it off, which is crazy. I'm still waiting to see how the whole Internet Video thing plays out. I was thinking I might one day, perhaps before the end of this year even, just cancel TiVo and legally download only the shows I want to watch.


I am still waiting for the Internet Video type thing...............


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## b166er (Oct 24, 2003)

Ian_m said:


> I am still waiting for the Internet Video type thing...............


2005 was certainly the year things started happening on the "legal" TV download scene though. Itunes offering ABC and NBC shows, google video offering some CBS shows, and the BBC even offering some shows on a trial basis. I think they got the pricing wrong though. At $2 per episode it's not a viable alternative to a cable/satellite subscription package.


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

b166er said:


> 2005 was certainly the year things started happening on the "legal" TV download scene though. Itunes offering ABC and NBC shows, google video offering some CBS shows, and the BBC even offering some shows on a trial basis. I think they got the pricing wrong though. At $2 per episode it's not a viable alternative to a cable/satellite subscription package.


Telewest cable now does "teleport", which is effectively video on demand streamed over their broadband infrastructure.

Only problem is they only make a tiny amount of selected programmes on it at present.

If it contained all the current days programmes (yes, that is feasable IMO) then I`d not need tivo.


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

Teleport is substantially better than I expected but it's not a Tivo replacement at the moment IMHO.
The interface is very slow and there are no sensible search options.
Crucially there are only a few programmes (as you point out) and a few days available.
I've been known to keep a whole series for many weeks before watching the whole lot in a few sittings. I also have some programmes that I've kept for months to rewatch.
I understand that the pay per view movies have all moved across which is better than the previous 24 hour access to a rolling movie - you get to start when you want, pause, rewind etc. but I prefer DVD quality and 5.1 audio so I'm a DVD fan.

At least Telewest have the right idea in not charging a fee for watching each programme from regular TV.

I understand that BT will be launching a combined Freeview DSL video on demand box soon - which will be a major competitor IF they can get the rights to a substantial amount of good programming.

IPTV is definitely the future but I reckon you could still get 20 months value out of a Tivo Lifetime sub and a standard definition Tivo before the next step becomes a viable alternative.


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## Lou2 (Jan 29, 2006)

Okay. This is probably a stupid question, but having paid monthly for the last 3 years, I'm thinking that perhaps I ought to do the lifetime subscription  .

Tivo sort of does everything itself. The money comes out by DD. Who on earth do I contact to move over to lifetime sub? How do I go about it?


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

You do the same thing you did when you set up for monthly, but tell them you want the Lifetime sub  Call Tivo Customer Services: 0870 241 8486


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## Lou2 (Jan 29, 2006)

Thank you cwaring. :up:


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## KiNeL (Feb 6, 2006)

I recently bought an early 601E advertised without sub but to my delight it works and reports:-

*3: Account in Good Standing*

Below is copied from the TiVo site itself (Google for *tivo 3: Account in good standing*)

Quote:

"Check your TiVo Account Status from the System Information screen. To access the System Information screen, go to TiVo Central. Select TiVo Messages & Setup, then System Information. Scroll down the screen as needed until you see TiVo Account Status.

If your TiVo Account Status is 1: New, 2: Not Set Up, or 19: TiVo Basic (Free Trial Not Possible), you must activate service. You can activate online at www.tivo.com/activate . If you have already activated service and you still see this TiVo Account Status wait at least 2 hours, and make a connection to the TiVo service. For help, see How Do I Connect to the TiVo Service?

If your account status is 3: Account in Good Standing, 5: Product Lifetime, or 18: TiVo Basic (Free Trial), you do have active TiVo service. Be sure your DVR is making regular connections to the TiVo service. If you need to force a connection to the TiVo service, see How Do I Connect to the TiVo Service?

If your account status is 6: Past Due or 10: Past Due - Deactivated, you probably need to update your credit card information. You can do so through Manage My Account. For instructions, see How Do I Update my Credit Card Information? After you have updated your credit card information wait at least 2 hours, and make a connection to the TiVo service. For help, see How Do I Connect to the TiVo Service?"

As I only paid £120 for it I'd call that a result !


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

I wouldn't  As far as I know, Status 3 simply means that the Tivo you purchased has been used with a monthly sub and this could run out at any time. Of course, if the previous owner doesn't cancel this sub for a while then you could be okay


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## Glesgie (Feb 3, 2003)

Some lifetime subs show up as Status 3. I have 2 lifetime subs, one status 5 one status 3.


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## KiNeL (Feb 6, 2006)

I hear what you say but the previous owner specifically said that he'd never paid a sub on it and advertised it as in demo mode but I also suspect he didn't know too much about it and assumed status 3 = demo.

Fingers crossed....................!


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Fair enough you lucky bar-person


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