# Tivo Premiere selling at Bestbuy?



## richklein (Feb 9, 2001)

Hi,

I was sort of surprised to see a Premiere (not XL) at bestbuy. They have 3 in 
stock locally. Are they not selling well or do people not know they are in stock?

I wasnt ready to buy as I am debating going to fios from my regular cable & dont know where that would fit in.

Thanks,
Rich


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Sounds like your store put them on shelves early. They aren't supposed to put them out for several weeks yet.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Really? They're not supposed to be released until the end of the month, so if those are legit Premieres you can take home right now, I'd say nobody knows they're in stock.


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## richklein (Feb 9, 2001)

Hrmm, I was going to pick one of the three they had up but I figured i would wait. I am heading back to get a TV in about 30 minutes. I will try to snap a pic (not that its so exciting). 

If i buy one at bestbuy, can I still take advantage of my lifetime discount offer on the tivo website, or is that only if i buy it direct?

i am in NY btw.


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## richklein (Feb 9, 2001)

I even spoke to the sales person about it, he also said they were so new that they didnt have the tags out yet for them. $299 was the best buy price & I am a little on the fence as my series 2 is still working out OK. 

Aside from HDMI I dont really get what the big upgrade is & if its worth it for me?


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

richklein said:


> I even spoke to the sales person about it, he also said they were so new that they didnt have the tags out yet for them. $299 was the best buy price & I am a little on the fence as my series 2 is still working out OK.
> 
> Aside from HDMI I dont really get what the big upgrade is & if its worth it for me?


If you have a Series2 on a monthly or yearly subscription, you can get 20% off at TiVo.com.

See the FAQ in my signature for an overview of the what's new in the Premiere.


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## Mike-Mike (Mar 2, 2010)

you should buy one and sell it on ebay, some mega fanboy will probably pay more to have it before the release date


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

richklein said:


> Aside from HDMI, I dont really get what the big upgrade is & if its worth it for me?


Seriously? You think an HDMI jack is the only difference between a Series 2 and a Series 4?


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

richklein said:


> Aside from HDMI I dont really get what the big upgrade is & if its worth it for me?


The biggest feature is the ability to record HD.


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## paulnelson20 (Oct 18, 2007)

richklein said:


> Hi,
> 
> I was sort of surprised to see a Premiere (not XL) at bestbuy. They have 3 in
> stock locally. Are they not selling well or do people not know they are in stock?
> ...


Sounds like the PS3 Slim. Many BB's put it on the shelves for sale a week or so before the scheduled street date.


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## richklein (Feb 9, 2001)

gweempose said:


> Seriously? You think an HDMI jack is the only difference between a Series 2 and a Series 4?


Sorry, I know there are more differences but they both record shows, they both do multiroom, etc. The core functionality is the same & by HDMI, I did also mean HD.

I assume the S3, S4 are faster than the S2 (which mine is painfully slow with its 500gb drive).

My cable provider now started to put everything in HD (all sd channels).

The dual tuner portion kinda sucks as it barely works (the cable end, the box end is OK).

Thanks,
Rich


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## Test (Dec 8, 2004)

That's pretty cool. Mike-Mike is right, I bet you can make a little extra cash on ebay before the release.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Hmm I wonder if TiVo would even let you activate it. You should buy one just to play with it, do an unboxing, and then return it before the 30 day return limit if you aren't sold on it.


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## richklein (Feb 9, 2001)

I was thinking about that but I think I would want to either take advantage of moving my lifetime on my S1 that has been collecting dust for years, or get that 20% off. 

I hate returning things to best buy. I also am not 100% sure I want to be a guinea pig, though after reading about the OS being flash based it sounds like updating should be much easier for Tivo.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

I think I would be too tempted to do it if I saw them assuming they would even let you purchase it. 

I checked ebay just to see and there are two "premiere" TiVos on there but they definitely aren't premiere.


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## t1voproof (Feb 6, 2010)

The packaging looks nice


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## ilkevinli (Jan 6, 2001)

WHat was the location of the store in NY if you don't mind me asking ?



richklein said:


> Hrmm, I was going to pick one of the three they had up but I figured i would wait. I am heading back to get a TV in about 30 minutes. I will try to snap a pic (not that its so exciting).
> 
> If i buy one at bestbuy, can I still take advantage of my lifetime discount offer on the tivo website, or is that only if i buy it direct?
> 
> i am in NY btw.


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## AandFDakota2001 (Sep 6, 2008)

Has anyone else checked their local Best Buys yet to see if they are out. The TiVos may only have a soft release date meaning that they can be placed out whenever a Best Buy store receives them. Since TiVo said early April, I can safely say that it sounds like they are a soft release. So maybe we will be seeing more and more TiVo Premieres in the coming days.


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## melissa12345 (Sep 9, 2007)

richklein said:


> I was thinking about that but I think I would want to either take advantage of moving my lifetime on my S1 that has been collecting dust for years, or get that 20% off.
> 
> I hate returning things to best buy. I also am not 100% sure I want to be a guinea pig, though after reading about the OS being flash based it sounds like updating should be much easier for Tivo.


i would check but i think Best Buys has a new thing about returning its a restocking fee now....so does office max


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## richklein (Feb 9, 2001)

http://stores.bestbuy.com/1029/

3105 E Main St
Mohegan Lake, NY 10547 
Phone: 914-528-3807


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## BlackBetty (Nov 6, 2004)

I would go back to that store and buy all 4 units and put them up on ebay as 1 day auctions. I bet you get minimum of $600 for each one.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

Next time you see something like that, take a moment to snap a picture with your cell phone, so you can post it up here and make all of us insane with jealousy that we can't get it yet.


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## richklein (Feb 9, 2001)

jmpage2 said:


> Next time you see something like that, take a moment to snap a picture with your cell phone, so you can post it up here and make all of us insane with jealousy that we can't get it yet.


http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12614&d=1268784232

There you go.

I am OK sitting this one out. Hey its a bad economy, & someone from this site could make a few dollars & thats OK with me. I bet they will all be gone tomorrow too & on ebay tomorrow evening.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

richklein said:


> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=12614&d=1268784232
> 
> There you go.
> 
> I am OK sitting this one out. Hey its a bad economy, & someone from this site could make a few dollars & thats OK with me. I bet they will all be gone tomorrow too & on ebay tomorrow evening.


Awesome, will post this to Gizmodo so the whole Interwebs know about it.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

melissa12345 said:


> I would check, but I think Best Buy has a new thing about returning ... it's a restocking fee now.


According to Best Buy's website, they only charge a restocking fee on certain items ...

* 25% for Special Order Products, including appliances
* 15% for opened notebook computers, projectors, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, GPS navigation and in-car video systems
* 10% for Apple® iPhone

Here is a link to their full in-store exchange and return policy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Help-To...cy/pcmcat204400050028.c?id=pcmcat204400050028


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## Johnwashere (Sep 17, 2005)

I want mine. NOW


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## DCIFRTHS (Jan 6, 2000)

t1voproof said:


> The packaging looks nice


It is nice.


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## ItsRounder (Feb 28, 2010)

So then why do I have to wait until April for my order through Tivo.com? Why have there been zero reviews of the new units? WTF? Best Buy must have paid them lots of cash.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Best Buy invested more than $20 million in marketing.

Also it is possible they are trying to get as much of the new UI done as possible before they ship. They are also probably shipping to Best Buy as they get them in so that all stores will have stock when the first weekly ad has it listed just like they do with Wii's, PS3's, and 360s.


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## bkdtv (Jan 9, 2003)

Looks like at least one person got the Ebay idea. And they used my images.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

bkdtv said:


> Looks like at least one person got the Ebay idea ...


It will be interesting to see how much it goes for. I certainly wouldn't pay a lot extra just to get it a couple weeks early, let alone a $200 premium. Nevertheless, I'm sure there are plenty of people that would.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

bkdtv said:


> Looks like at least one person got the Ebay idea. And they used my images.


The box has a Best Buy label on it..so guess where he got the unit.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

bkdtv said:


> Looks like at least one person got the Ebay idea. And they used my images.


I remember doing that when the HDTiVo for DirecTV was released. I bought eight from Bestbuy at $1k each and sold six on ebay for around $1500 each. So the money I made covered my two units and most of the cost to upgrade it to two hard drives.

I guess that isn't going to happen with the Premiere, but then I wouldn't expect it to either. the HDTIvo was the first TiVo that could record HD and that was in 2004. HD is the norm now.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I think I'll go by BestBuy tonight to see if they have a Prremiere. I see one of the ebay auctions is from a person in my area. And then I can either return it in a week or sell it at cost or a slight loss on eBay.

I figure with the no interest financing there will be no out of pocket cost for me.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Is the auction gone? I don't see any when searching for TiVo Premiere.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

innocentfreak said:


> Is the auction gone? I don't see any when searching for TiVo Premiere.


there were two or three ended auctions with no buyers since they were asking too much for it.

Of course on the BB website they are asking $2k for the lower Premiere right now. I have no idea why it's showing as $2000 for the price. The XL is showing the proper $499 price.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Oh that would be why then. I was only looking at ongoing auctions since I figured they would have just listed them.


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## oViTynoT (May 18, 2007)

Yeah, and someone is selling an old DirecTivo using the keywords "HD" and "premiere DVR." I just reported the listing. (Item 270548099336)

I didn't know DirecTV ever sold an HD TiVo DVR?


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

oViTynoT said:


> I didn't know DirecTV ever sold an HD TiVo DVR?


Yes, DirecTV had an HD TiVo unit.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

I believe the one I was following was a three day auction. The seller must have ended it early. I almost bid 99 cents last night just for the hell of it. The main reason I didn't is because I was curious to see if someone was going to grab it at the "Buy It Now" price of $499.99.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

innocentfreak said:


> Is the auction gone? I don't see any when searching for TiVo Premiere.


This person (wgcrosby) ended the auction without a single bid at $0.99 or the BIN price.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

lessd said:


> This person (wgcrosby) ended the auction without a single bid at $0.99 or the BIN price.


That's because the Buy It Not Price was outrageously high.


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## Dreamin (Sep 14, 2006)

...too funny...


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

aaronwt said:


> Of course on the BB website they are asking $2k for the lower Premiere right now. I have no idea why it's showing as $2000 for the price. The XL is showing the proper $499 price.


Maybe they hit their initial allotment of Premieres but still have plenty of XLs?

Also the online store isn't or at least didn't used to be tied to retail so they wouldn't need to change the online price to change the in-store price.


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

Could it be that HQ has gotten word on the premature stocking so they've jacked the price up in some central system to prevent sales until they can get the word out?


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

They shouldn't have to if both systems are separate still. It will be interesting to see how long it remains that way.


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## TiVoJerry (Jul 26, 2005)

It looks like the excitement about HDUI was too hard to keep bottled up. These boxes are definitely being sold too early. Best Buy was asked to remedy the situation because we are still in the process of finishing the software to provide the best possible experience from the start. We expect to have the software ready for distribution in early April. Until then, the user experience will not be the cool HD we want you to see. 


The April release will allow software to be installed during Guided Setup, and you will be able to see the HDUI as soon as this process is complete instead of having to wait like this. For those of you who have the box now, we hope you can be patient just a little longer. The cake is done but we&#8217;re still working on the frosting!


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Thanks for the update. 

I know personally I would be happy to get mine now even before the HDUI is available well since I don't have a HDTV set yet. Anyone we can talk to lol?

My mother would also thank you so she can have my TiVo HDs and stop using her FiOS DVR.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

TiVoJerry said:


> Best Buy was asked to remedy the situation because we are still in the process of finishing the software ...


I wonder if the dude selling it on eBay was asked to "remedy" the situation as well.


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

gweempose said:


> I wonder if the dude selling it on eBay was asked to "remedy" the situation as well.


Asked in a friendly, "We are gonna make you an offer you won't refuse," kinda way?  He wanted too much anyway...


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

TiVoJerry said:


> The cake is done but were still working on the frosting!


And if the frosting isn't good, it ruins the whole cake.


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

daveak said:


> And if the frosting isn't good, it ruins the whole cake.


I wonder what kind of filling it has. I don't like strawberry filling.


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## paulnelson20 (Oct 18, 2007)

TiVoJerry said:


> These boxes are definitely being sold too early. Best Buy was asked to remedy the situation...


Definitely should have gone another way. Now, their killing all their preorders. I was going to but, I don't have that kind of money in my account(granted it would be the lower price charged at time of shipping, but I don't have an extra two-grand for the authorization.)


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## gamo62 (Oct 12, 2002)

They are indeed "Legit" Premieres. I have attached a couple of photos. Perhaps the second photo explains why they aren't moving!


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## ilkevinli (Jan 6, 2001)

There are a lot of Best Buys that now have the Premiere in stock. However they raised the price to 2,000 to stop the stores from selling them. I was told the price would drop back to 299 on the release date which for Best Buy is 03/28 from what I was told.


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## scummybear (Mar 3, 2010)

TiVoJerry said:


> We expect to have the software ready for distribution in early April


Do we have an actual date? I have seen April 12th as ship date on amazon, but nothing official on TiVo.com yet. Was just wondering if we can get an actual date instead of "Early April".


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## Stormspace (Apr 13, 2004)

scummybear said:


> Do we have an actual date? I have seen April 12th as ship date on amazon, but nothing official on TiVo.com yet. Was just wondering if we can get an actual date instead of "Early April".


$2000.00? Are you kidding me? Even IF BB is doing this to prevent sales, it'll be a PR and marketing nightmare. People who saw the announcement but don't follow things closely will see it and be completely turned off. I'm a little put out about it, just as I was with the 900.00 S3. If my choice was 2000.00 for a TiVo or no TiVo, I'd do without. It would be funny but having a price on them at all means that BB is willing to gouge people.


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## scummybear (Mar 3, 2010)

Stormspace said:


> $2000.00? Are you kidding me? Even IF BB is doing this to prevent sales, it'll be a PR and marketing nightmare. People who saw the announcement but don't follow things closely will see it and be completely turned off. I'm a little put out about it, just as I was with the 900.00 S3. If my choice was 2000.00 for a TiVo or no TiVo, I'd do without. It would be funny but having a price on them at all means that BB is willing to gouge people.


I'm not paying $2,000.00. I have mine pre-ordered through TiVo.com. I just wanted to know if there was an official shipping date from them. And not just "Early April" still. Early April to me is between the 1st and the 10th. Right around there. After that is the middle, and after the 20th would be the end. I really just want to know if I will have it in my possession by May. lol


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

I doubt this was TiVo's idea and probably more Best Buy's logic on how to solve it. 

I can see it now.

TiVo: Yes Mr Best Buy, we have heard some stores are putting out the TiVo Premiere units early. We realize customers really want these but we are waiting for the new UI before rolling them out. I would also like to remind you that you did spend $20 million on marketing so you may want to wait until the marketing rolls out.

Best Buy: Well My TiVo that is definitely a problem and I will get right on that. 

Mr Best Buy sends out a tweet based off his wife's suggestion since she heard about how it is the new thing. One of his regional managers sees it and passes the word via email and telephone tree to address the problem. Finally after much passing and shuffling it lands on one of the web guys desk.

He turns to his manager who was just promoted over him the day before from the Geek Squad, and asks how would he like him to fix it since he has several options. The manager cuts the guy off since he obviously knows better and says "make it $2000."


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

Pretty much as I'd guessed. Not sure what channels BB has for communicating to stores, but jacking up the price was probably a much more quick and effective way to stop sales than counting on stores to not sell them or remove them from the shelves. 

Of course I'm not sure having that price out there is a good thing for TiVo.

Because everything is always their fault.


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

gweempose said:


> I wonder if the dude selling it on eBay was asked to "remedy" the situation as well.


He may have tried to activate one himself, wasn't able and realized that he would have a problem if he sold a unit that couldn't be activated at a premium.

Hope he enjoys his extra TiVo Premiere.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

One can only hope that the frosting (and program guide!) is fairly free of ads!!!


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## texasboy1022 (Mar 3, 2010)

I found them at my local BB today and tried to buy one. It rang up $2K and after 15 minutes of "price checking", they came back to tell me that they aren't for sale till the 28th and they pulled all 10 of them. Oh well....


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## gamo62 (Oct 12, 2002)

Imagine what Best Buy's Price Match Guarantee would reap. $2000-$299. 10% of the difference? $170 sounds about right. Not a bad way to make a few extra bucks. There are always those people who have the old web page with the actual price cached away somewhere.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

gamo62 said:


> Imagine what Best Buy's Price Match Guarantee would reap. $2000-$299. 10% of the difference? $170 sounds about right. Not a bad way to make a few extra bucks ...


That's some funny stuff! Unfortunately, I don't think they do that 10% price matching thing anymore. I guess I better check before I load up on $20,000 worth of Premieres.


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## caddyroger (Mar 15, 2005)

I guess bet buy changed their sell price. It is $299.99 now.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I would love to buy several at $2k from BB. With their 30/45 day pricematch policy you get a percentage of the difference off. So in a couple of weeks when the price drops $1700 to $300, that would be a huge savings.


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## NotVeryWitty (Oct 3, 2003)

TiVoJerry said:


> We expect to have the software ready for distribution in early April.


This is not encouraging. It's already changed from late March to early April. 

Come mid-April, if the software isn't ready yet, it's not going to be pretty around here.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

NotVeryWitty said:


> Come mid-April, if the software isn't ready yet, it's not going to be pretty around here.


You can say that again. Given how many whiners we already have around here, I can only imagine the uproar if TiVo starts pushing back the release date.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

gweempose said:


> You can say that again. Given how many whiners we already have around here, I can only imagine the uproar if TiVo start pushing back the release date.


It is inevitable that it will ship before it's "done". It will probably be ready enough for public consumption but it would not surprise me even a little if entire applets weren't available yet at the time it is rolled out, not to mention the ever typical bugs.

This is simply the state of business in an age when companies expect 50 software engineers to do the work of 100 in 1/2 the time it used to take to complete a project.


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## riekl (Jan 29, 2001)

The $2000 price is in the system to prevent stores from selling them early.


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## pjanthony (Mar 18, 2010)

I bought on from bestbuy in pittsburgh on Tuesday. It's nice but it still has the interface from the Series3 Tivo. I am guessing that they will update the interface in April when they actually ship them.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

pjanthony said:


> I bought on from Best Buy in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. It's nice but it still has the interface from the Series3 TiVo. I am guessing that they will update the interface in April when they actually ship them.


Based on TiVoJerry's post, it sounds like this is precisely why they have delayed the official release. They don't want people's first experience with the box to be with the older SD GUI. Unless they are looking at a huge delay, I don't think they are going to allow these things be sold until the new HD GUI is ready to be downloaded and installed upon initial setup.

By the way, do you happen to own any other TiVos? Have you noticed any differences in MRV or TTG speeds?


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## pjanthony (Mar 18, 2010)

gweempose said:


> By the way, do you happen to own any other TiVos? Have you noticed any differences in MRV or TTG speeds?


I also have a Tivo HD. I used MRV for the first time yesterday to transfer my recorded shows off of the HD and onto the premiere. So I can make a comparison on speed. I can say it took about 8 hours to transfer 16 shows(High quality recordings).

I havent used TTG before.

The premiere is noticeably quicker than the HD when I'm going through the menus or searching for shows. I havent really used it that much yet.


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## pjanthony (Mar 18, 2010)

Since I cant PM yet I'll answer the questions here.

I didnt take any unboxing photos, but the box contained the tivo, hdmi cable, composite cables, cat5e, power cable, remote, batteries, and manual.

The software version of the Tivo Premiere is 14.1.AB4-01-3-746


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## Mr. Broflovski (Mar 2, 2010)

pjanthony said:


> I bought on from bestbuy in pittsburgh on Tuesday. It's nice but it still has the interface from the Series3 Tivo. I am guessing that they will update the interface in April when they actually ship them.


If you are comfortable opening the unit and taking pictures of the inside, it would be appreciated (understandable if you don't feel comfortable doing so).


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

any chance you could time how long a reboot takes?


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## pjanthony (Mar 18, 2010)

Mr. Broflovski said:


> If you are comfortable opening the unit and taking pictures of the inside, it would be appreciated (understandable if you don't feel comfortable doing so).


I don't want to open it and void any warranty it may have, sorry.


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## pjanthony (Mar 18, 2010)

innocentfreak said:


> any chance you could time how long a reboot takes?


It took 7 minutes to reboot, but that seemed longer than the last time i rebooted. I may have been installing an update or something.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Thanks. It is probably still indexing the guide data some. 

Also do you see anything in the manual or on the remote that makes reference to using multiple TiVos like the DVR switch on the previous remotes?


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

The March 21-27th ads have leaked from Best Buy and it isn't in there. 

Now I will be curious if the TiVo is listed in the Best Buy ad for the 28th since that seems to be the date people are seeing and being told from Best Buy. Since these ads are planned way in advance though maybe not as much as they used to be, what will TiVo do?

If Best Buy promotes it front page, I can't imagine them not selling it even if the UI isn't finished. This of course leads to the question of whether or not TiVo will wait to ship units until it is finished. 

Thinking about it now, it bothers me some that they won't ship the hardware now at least to us since it is obviously done and ready to go. Then again assuming the hardware was finished I would have shipped before Christmas with no announcement. I would have done just like the series 2 where all of the sudden they were just seen in the wild. Then when the UI was finished and ready to roll out you make the announcement about a new UI.


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

gweempose said:


> Based on TiVoJerry's post, it sounds like this is precisely why they have delayed the official release. They don't want people's first experience with the box to be with the older SD GUI.


Didn't TivoPony already say (in the betanews demo) that the default interface would be the old one?


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

innocentfreak said:


> Thanks. It is probably still indexing the guide data some.
> 
> Also do you see anything in the manual or on the remote that makes reference to using multiple TiVos like the DVR switch on the previous remotes?


The Viewer's Guide on the TiVo site makes no mention of it.

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1600

I wouldn't rule out that it's capable but not explained in the manual. The remotes were always addressable so maybe you can change the address with a button combination.


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## Dreamin (Sep 14, 2006)

NotVeryWitty said:


> This is not encouraging. It's already changed from late March to early April.
> 
> Come mid-April, if the software isn't ready yet, it's not going to be pretty around here.


When did it slip?? The date on the Tivo site has *always* been "early April".


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## NotVeryWitty (Oct 3, 2003)

Dreamin said:


> When did it slip?? The date on the Tivo site has *always* been "early April".


Hmmm, I could have sworn that they originally said late March. Maybe it was Best Buy saying it...


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## gamo62 (Oct 12, 2002)

Well, I went to Best Buy last night, and the in store price was still $2000. After looking in their system, which has a release date of 3-28, they promptly pulled the units off of the shelves.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I really need to try and get by BB. If I can get them to sell me a Premiere for $2K that would be sweet with the price match discount.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

TiVoJerry said:


> The April release will allow software to be installed during Guided Setup, and you will be able to see the HDUI as soon as this process is complete instead of having to wait like this. For those of you who have the box now, we hope you can be patient just a little longer. The cake is done but were still working on the frosting!


awesome! very excited. Please let us know if you hear about a solid ship date. I removed my 500GB external and I'm living on 40 Hours between two Tivos right now in anticipation for my new box


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## gamo62 (Oct 12, 2002)

Perhaps the ones who ordered "Direct" from Tivo might have the updated software when the unit(s) ship in April.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

it will auto update anyway.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

gamo62 said:


> Perhaps the ones who ordered "Direct" from Tivo might have the updated software when the unit(s) ship in April.


Highly unlikely. But sounds like it will update during initial setup.

Tivo has a history of sending new boxes with old software. Way too much work to unpackage and update them.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

gamo62 said:


> Perhaps the ones who ordered "Direct" from Tivo might have the updated software when the unit(s) ship in April.


I think it's already been stated in this thread, by someone with TiVo, that the setup process when you take it out of the box will upgrade you to the HD guide during setup, in April.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

The question is how big of a download is it going to be and also how long will it take. I can see now the potential for people complaining like they do when they first hook-up a PS3 and have to wait for all the updates before they can use it.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

I've had to update mine tivo's immediately before. It doesn't take much longer than a regular Tivo call for guide data.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

innocentfreak said:


> The question is how big of a download is it going to be and also how long will it take. I can see now the potential for people complaining like they do when they first hook-up a PS3 and have to wait for all the updates before they can use it.


The way they will probably do it is as long as the TiVo sees the mothership when you plug it in (network connectivity) it will begin the update in the background while guiding you through setup, with the goal being that by the time you're done with guided setup it is downloaded, installed and ready to be rebooted with the new software.

I doubt it will pose a problem for people who have a modern internet connection. Dialup users can scream bloody murder for all I care, they are Luddites!  (and yes, I know some people can't get anything OTHER than dialup!).


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Some major updates from what I remember do take a while to install though. I believe the TiVo HDs I bought had 9.0 and it took a good amount of time to install the updates with the new UI features. I want to say 30+ minutes.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

innocentfreak said:


> Some major updates from what I remember do take a while to install though. I believe the TiVo HDs I bought had 9.0 and it took a good amount of time to install the updates with the new UI features. I want to say *30+ minutes*.


say it ain't so! go outside for a walk and come back


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

innocentfreak said:


> Some major updates from what I remember do take a while to install though. I believe the TiVo HDs I bought had 9.0 and it took a good amount of time to install the updates with the new UI features. I want to say 30+ minutes.


Well, you could potentially download a 200MB new software load in just a few minutes or substantially less.

You might not be taking into account the dramatically faster processor in the TiVo Premiere and how it will probably impact the speed of doing software updates.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Oh I know if could be much faster due to the processor, but it is something to be aware of. The downloads tend to be pretty quick, but installing a new UI I imagine would still take time especially since I don't think it could do it while you are doing the initial setup. Then again with the new Premiere who knows what they can and can't do.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

innocentfreak said:


> Oh I know if could be much faster due to the processor, but it is something to be aware of. The downloads tend to be pretty quick, but installing a new UI I imagine would still take time especially since I don't think it could do it while you are doing the initial setup. Then again with the new Premiere who knows what they can and can't do.


Loading an entirely new set of OS or UI files and then booting up and using them with the same configuration information is in fact a rather trivial thing in the software world.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

jmpage2 said:


> Loading an entirely new set of OS or UI files and then booting up and using them with the same configuration information is in fact a rather trivial thing in the software world.


:up:

For a small example, updating iPhone is easy as heck.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

b_scott said:


> :up:
> 
> For a small example, updating iPhone is easy as heck.


Yes, correction, when using a modern and non bloated (*MS Windows* *cough*) OS it's pretty simple stuff really and even more so with embedded devices.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

jmpage2 said:


> Loading an entirely new set of OS or UI files and then booting up and using them with the same configuration information is in fact a rather trivial thing in the software world.


But aren't we kinda figuring this is going to be running the same old tivoapp with just a different GUI? If so, I would not expect it to behave too much differently during guided setup, etc... Hope to proven wrong.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

greg_burns said:


> But aren't we kinda figuring this is going to be running the same old tivoapp with just a different GUI? If so, I would not expect it to behave too much differently during guided setup, etc... Hope to proven wrong.


no, it's a whole new architecture. Hence why it will not work on S3.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

b_scott said:


> no, it's a whole new architecture. Hence why it will not work on S3.


I don't agree. I cannot believe this is a complete rewrite. The reason it won't run on the S3 is because of the Flash based UI. The heart of the system may still be very much based on the old tivoapp code base.

I, of course, could be dead wrong.


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

greg_burns said:


> I don't agree. I cannot believe this is a complete rewrite. The reason it won't run on the S3 is because of the Flash based UI. The heart of the system may still be very much based on the old tivoapp code base.
> 
> I, of course, could be dead wrong.


as could I, I'll admit that. But it just seemed like from what I gathered this was a rewrite. Not 100% but a good chunk of the inner workings. Which is what I said they should do about 2-3 years ago and was told it would never happen because it would take too much time for them.


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## jrm01 (Oct 17, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> I really need to try and get by BB. If I can get them to sell me a Premiere for $2K that would be sweet with the price match discount.


BB changed their policy on 1-1-2010. They still price match, but no longer offer the 10% bonus on the difference.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

b_scott said:


> as could I, I'll admit that. But it just seemed like from what I gathered this was a rewrite. Not 100% but a good chunk of the inner workings. Which is what I said they should do about 2-3 years ago and was told it would never happen because it would take too much time for them.


I haven't a clue- but seems they had to 'rewrite' everything for the comcast moto boxes. Is it possible that they could reuse some of that as the 'base' and so it would be a somewhat newer?


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## riekl (Jan 29, 2001)

MichaelK said:


> I haven't a clue- but seems they had to 'rewrite' everything for the comcast moto boxes. Is it possible that they could reuse some of that as the 'base' and so it would be a somewhat newer?


No and No .. Tivo core is the same as it was before, they didnt rewrite it for the Comcast or for the Premier. Premier is the Tivo HD with (eventually) a flashy busy menu system (guide will still be the same old guide) .. yipee !


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

thanks for the information. clueless so much appreciated.

So what is "tivoapp" written as ? is it like an assembly program for the particular hardware? Or do they write it in some language (sounds like c from what people posted here and other places)- and they convert it (is that 'compiling'?) to run on the specific chips involved?


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## T1V0 (Jun 14, 2006)

MichaelK said:


> Or do they write it in some language (sounds like c from what people posted here and other places)- and they convert it (is that 'compiling'?) to run on the specific chips involved?


yup, pretty much

you can run it thru a cross-compiled objdump to spit out the raw assembly code, add some strings, etc, makes it almost readable again


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

riekl said:


> (guide will still be the same old guide) .. yipee !


wrong. If you watch the narrated preview, the guy says that they are still working on the new menus and overlays, etc, and that will be ready and updated too.


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## Unseen Llama (Nov 29, 2005)

They have both the Premium and Premium XL in stock at my local BestBuy...same $2000 price in the system. I asked if I could price match on their site and they wouldn't let me...even tried to say that you could order from tivo.com already...nada 

Release date is 3/28 in the stores so I guess I'll be going back this Sunday to pick mine up.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

Unseen Llama said:


> They have both the Premium and Premium XL in stock at my local Best Buy ... same $2000 price in the system. I asked if I could price match on their site and they wouldn't let me ...


I suppose if you really want one now, you could always pay the $2,000 and then have them do an adjustment when it comes down to the normal price in their system. Since you have 30 days to do the price match, there is absolutely no risk involved. Your only real roadblock would be if you don't have enough credit available on your charge card to fund the initial purchase.


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

gweempose said:


> I suppose if you really want one now, you could always pay the $2,000 and then have them do an adjustment when it comes down to the normal price in their system. Since you have 30 days to do the price match, there is absolutely no risk involved. Your only real roadblock would be if you don't have enough credit available on your charge card to fund the initial purchase.


The real risk is that there is a giant note in the system that says DO NOT SELL. The $2,000 price is just a further tool to prevent a sales clerk from ringing it up by accident.

The HD software won't be ready and released until the product launches. The boxes sitting in the best buy inventory right now are running a non HD version of the UI that will completely change in about a week.

Little to no point paying $2,000 so you can use an SD menu box for an extra week.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

jmpage2 said:


> Little to no point paying $2,000 so you can use an SD menu box for an extra week.


It would be insane to pay that price, but you would have your Premiere up and running (cable card and all) by the time the new software is ready.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Kablemodem said:


> It would be insane to pay that price, but you would have your Premiere up and running (cable card and all) by the time the new software is ready.


Actually it would be a savy consumer to buy at that price. using the BB credit card you have no upfront cost plus no interest for 18 months. And when the price drops, BB will match the new price and give you the difference plus a litte more. So in the end you would get a nice discount on the box from purchasing it for $2K.


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## scummybear (Mar 3, 2010)

aaronwt said:


> Actually it would be a savy consumer to buy at that price. using the BB credit card you have no upfront cost plus no interest for 18 months. And when the price drops, BB will match the new price and give you the difference plus a litte more. So in the end you would get a nice discount on the box from purchasing it for $2K.


Apparently, they will price match but won't give you any extra off anymore. So all you would really benefit is having the Premiere without new UI or anything a little early.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

scummybear said:


> Apparently, they will price match but won't give you any extra off anymore. So all you would really benefit is having the Premiere without new UI or anything a little early.


When did they change that?


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## b_scott (Nov 27, 2006)

Jan 1, apparently.


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## scummybear (Mar 3, 2010)

aaronwt said:


> When did they change that?


I didn't look into myself, but someone in this thread said that they changed it the beginning of this year.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

jmpage2 said:


> Well, you could potentially download a 200MB new software load in just a few minutes or substantially less.
> 
> You might not be taking into account the dramatically faster processor in the TiVo Premiere and how it will probably impact the speed of doing software updates.


Just to follow up now with news from the Gizmodo review. Assuming this includes the UI update this isn't looking to be the case as far as doing the update.

Gizmodo TiVo Premiere Review


> Remember how your old TiVo took a really long time to process your programming update when you manually connected to the service? And then the download took forever to process? That's still true. (Which is one reason why it took me over an hour to get the Premiere up and running.)


I am definitely interested to see if this is true for everyone and also how quickly they get some of these issues worked out.


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## Unseen Llama (Nov 29, 2005)

BestBuy 3/28 ad is up now...no mention of the Tivo Premier. Local shops still won't sell them before 3/28 which is starting to bug me.

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1937610


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## jmpage2 (Jan 21, 2004)

Maybe Best Buy doesn't want to taint their ad.


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## i2k (Apr 3, 2008)

Lol, maybe its not going to be the 28th!?


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## Dr_Diablo (Nov 24, 2003)

innocentfreak said:


> Hmm I wonder if TiVo would even let you activate it. You should buy one just to play with it, do an unboxing, and then return it before the 30 day return limit if you aren't sold on it.


An ex lent idea, just as I plan to do


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## sghrush (Mar 8, 2005)

i2k said:


> Lol, maybe its not going to be the 28th!?


I checked about 10 best guy within a 50 mile radius and none have the Tivo Premiere today. Darn. Does any bestbuy have it today?


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## bobrt6676 (Dec 31, 2007)

sghrush said:


> I checked about 10 best guy within a 50 mile radius and none have the Tivo Premiere today. Darn. Does any bestbuy have it today?


Here in the Dayton area Premiere is available but the XL is on backorder.


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## gothaggis (Mar 3, 2010)

the best buy in baltimore city had 5 premiere units on the floor and no xl units


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## videojanitor (Dec 21, 2001)

I checked the BB site earlier today and none of the stores in my area showed availability. Just looked again, and now it says it is available at ALL of them! (Sacramento area) Premiere only -- not the XL.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

I wonder if there was a delay with the XL because I am showing the same thing. This is even true for the Magnolia store which is supposedly the only Best Buy stores that will carry the XL. Best Buy also shows backordered so maybe they never got their shipment. 

I really hope TiVo has some to ship since that is what many of us ordered, maybe more than they expected.


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## JackStraw (Oct 22, 2002)

I reserved the Tivo Premiere XL this morning at Best Buy in Newark, DE which is about 50 miles from house. The reservation was confirmed about 30 minutes after the store opened. I just got back from Best Buy with unit in hand. No sales tax in Delaware. $499 out the door. Monday I'm calling Verizon to set up a switch to FIOS for my TV and Internet. I'm dropping Comcast. My living room will have the TIVO with the Multi-Stream card. My bedroom will have the FIOS DVR so I can still access OnDemand. It's still cheaper than Comcast. It's like getting my bedroom set up for free. In my living room I have a Sling Box and Sling Link Turbo so I can connect the TIVO through the powerline to the router in my bedroom.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

videojanitor said:


> I checked the BB site earlier today and none of the stores in my area showed availability. Just looked again, and now it says it is available at ALL of them! (Sacramento area) Premiere only -- not the XL.


The same thing here in Northern Virginia.


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## Dr_Diablo (Nov 24, 2003)

First impressions of this model? Are you satisified that you made the switch?


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## videojanitor (Dec 21, 2001)

Dr_Diablo said:


> First impressions of this model? Are you satisified that you made the switch?


I used to have a Series 3, but sold it last year as I only used it for OTA. As I did not have lifetime service, I didn't want to keep paying for it. Fast-forward to today, when I am back in the game with a Premiere. The thing that sold me on it was the tremendous increase in the ethernet transfer speed -- I used that all the time on the Series 3, but the slow transfers killed me.

I've only had it hooked up for a few hours, but my first impressions are favorable. The interface isn't as sluggish as I had feared, and the HD menus (at least as many as there are) look great. I look forward to them updating the entire menu structure.


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