# Deal on Refurb Roamios



## philt56 (Aug 22, 2008)

Tivo now has a deal on factory renewed Roamios. $0 for Roamio, $99 for plus, $199 for Pro. However, it requires a 2 year service agreement, no lifetime option. I called to see about lifetime and basically the price factors in the rental cost, so no lifetime.

He suggested calling black Friday to see if any new deals are added.


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## troasti (Nov 13, 2008)

"We wanted to give thanks this Thanksgiving week by offering you our most popular promotion ever, our $0 down pricing. That's right! Zip, zilch, nada is what you'll put down for a TiVo-renewed Roamio when you choose our $19.99/mo. service plan and agree to a 2-year commitment1. Or splurge this holiday season and get a TiVo-renewed Roamio Plus or Pro for just a little bit more. But hurry, offer ends December 1, 2014!"

20$ a month for a refurb? No thanks.


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## philt56 (Aug 22, 2008)

Then the sales guy says you can always get the lifetime after the 24 months! Right, pay $400 more after $480!


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## cjgadd3 (Mar 30, 2008)

What happens after the two years are up? Does the monthly fee stay at $20?


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## flashedbios (Dec 7, 2012)

you guys always crititicize the zero down offer and do all this math to show why. YOu dont get it. its not about the total cost. nobody i know has 400 dollars up front to buy a tivo and lifetime and all that. its about what fits in your montly dough.


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## fred2 (Jan 20, 2006)

flashedbios said:


> you guys always crititicize the zero down offer and do all this math to show why. YOu dont get it. its not about the total cost. nobody i know has 400 dollars up front to buy a tivo and lifetime and all that. its about what fits in your montly dough.


A number of years ago, a Subaru dealership tried that method on me. I wanted to know the price of the car, total. He kept saying can you afford xxx per month. And I said yes, but was that for one year, two, five, ten or for life? I wanted the damn bottom line and then I would figure out how much I could afford monthly.

Obviously, there are different ways of buying things and no one way is right in all instances.


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## pppingme (Apr 21, 2012)

cjgadd3 said:


> What happens after the two years are up? Does the monthly fee stay at $20?


Drops to whatever the current fee will be at that time. Probably will be $14.99, or a little cheaper if you're MSP.


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## scottfll954 (Jul 31, 2012)

I did it about a month ago....

I had 2 basic roamios ..

I got a Pro and MINI

now my monthly is less ..plus I can stream and all shows in 1 spot...

works perfect for me.. Box was perfect ..zero issues at all


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

pppingme said:


> Drops to whatever the current fee will be at that time. Probably will be $14.99, or a little cheaper if you're MSP.


That's only if you remember to call and ask for the going rate, at the time your commitment ends. If you forget/neglect to, they have a history of billing the same rate, for as long as the credit/debit card still works, or service is cancelled.

There is no automatic reduction when on monthly, in a commitment period, or not. The subscriber must take action, period.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

flashedbios said:


> you guys always crititicize the zero down offer and do all this math to show why. YOu dont get it. its not about the total cost. nobody i know has 400 dollars up front to buy a tivo and lifetime and all that. its about what fits in your montly dough.


You could be right, but it doesn't seem to matter. TiVo loses retail customers, year after year after year. Their subscriber count remains at 2003 levels, but with presumably fewer homes as a Mini counts a subscription.

The weirder thing is that this deal does not incentivize (those with the means) to gift a TiVo - these are used models and no option for Lifetime.



nooneuknow said:


> That's only if you remember to call and ask for the going rate, at the time your commitment ends. If you forget/neglect to, they have a history of billing the same rate, for as long as the credit/debit card still works, or service is cancelled. There is no automatic reduction when on monthly, in a commitment period, or not. The subscriber must take action, period.


And if you change up your rate, you may give up "month to month" and be locked into a 12 month contract.


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## DawnW (Nov 28, 2008)

We do that with home buying. The realtors and the mortgage brokers are always talking about the monthly payments.

I say, "And what is the bottom line amortized amount?"

I can't tell you the number of times I get, "Oh, don't look at that!" comments with little chuckles.

I then pull up a 30 year amortized loan vs. a 15 year with a lower interest rate and say, "SEE! This is why I want a 15 year loan on a lower priced house."



fred2 said:


> A number of years ago, a Subaru dealership tried that method on me. I wanted to know the price of the car, total. He kept saying can you afford xxx per month. And I said yes, but was that for one year, two, five, ten or for life? I wanted the damn bottom line and then I would figure out how much I could afford monthly.
> 
> Obviously, there are different ways of buying things and no one way is right in all instances.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

DawnW said:


> We do that with home buying. The realtors and the mortgage brokers are always talking about the monthly payments.
> 
> I say, "And what is the bottom line amortized amount?"
> 
> ...


Moreso with cars. I still remember that car dealer reality show where the hero went, "I put them in a new nnnn for only $280 a month." I began to believe that even the salesmen didn't know the whole story.

My buddy who was a star car salesman says that they do. He could do the whole calculation in his head. (I brought him along when I bought my car. The dealer hated him.)


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## andyw715 (Jul 31, 2007)

"Monthly Payments" and "Co-pays" is what has brought this country to its knees.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yes but you have to consider that most people looking to buy a TiVo will likely be paying $20+/mo to their cable company to rent a DVR anyway, so it's really a wash when you think about it from that perspective.

Lifetime is a better deal, but almost any TiVo plan is a better deal then what you'll pay to rent a box from the cable company. Especially once you start using Minis to replace DTAs and eliminate "outlet fees".


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## DawnW (Nov 28, 2008)

MikeAndrews said:


> Moreso with cars. I still remember that car dealer reality show where the hero went, "I put them in a new nnnn for only $280 a month." I began to believe that even the salesmen didn't know the whole story.
> 
> My buddy who was a star car salesman says that they do. He could do the whole calculation in his head. (I brought him along when I bought my car. The dealer hated him.)


My husband sold cars for a while. He thinks it is fun to mess with them.......it is maddening to me. I was so glad when we didn't need another car for over 10 years.

We just got another car this past March, but thankfully it wasn't quite so bad. I warned DH that if he started messing with anyone for his own enjoyment, I was walking out.


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## DawnW (Nov 28, 2008)

Dan203 said:


> Yes but you have to consider that most people looking to buy a TiVo will likely be paying $20+/mo to their cable company to rent a DVR anyway, so it's really a wash when you think about it from that perspective.
> 
> Lifetime is a better deal, but almost any TiVo plan is a better deal then what you'll pay to rent a box from the cable company. Especially once you start using Minis to replace DTAs and eliminate "outlet fees".


True.


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## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

If I buy a TiVo Roamio Plus for a somewhat temporary need... Say, a 2-3 year period, at which time I may end up continuing cable...but there is a risk that I want to switch to OTA and "cut the cord", does lifetime still make sense?

My sense is "YES", because the box still has resale value, the breakeven point is 3 years, and I might just end up not cutting the cord at all...

Am I thinking about this correctly?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yes. The resale value alone pretty much always makes lifetime a better deal. The only thing that might kill that is the possibility of CableCARDs being replaced by some alternative downloadable security system. However that's pretty unlikely to happen in the next 2-3 years.


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

I remember ebaying my 3 1 TB premiere lifetime untis for nearly enough money to pay for a roamio plus and 2 minis all with lifetime. I think I sold them for $1200 bucks. Each was a 2 tuner model.


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