# Roamio OTA now available with Lifetime?



## Bwatford141

Is this new?

https://www.tivo.com/TLP4


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## cp2k

It let me place an order and the confirmation clearly shows Lifetime Service included. Thanks for the heads up!


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## foghorn2

Great News! Way to go Tivo!


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## pfiagra

Since I'm OTA only, it makes me wonder if I should sell my Roamio Basic with lifetime (which I got on the 10 year loyalty deal and have had for 5 months) and pick up a Roamio OTA?

[Probably not worth the hassle. With selling fees, will probably only make <$50]


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## nooneuknow

I'm curious if this will lead to a rush to buy up $50 priced retail OTA Roamios, in order to get the "service included", like what happened with Minis...

One would think it could be possible, if TiVo doesn't limit "service included" (aka: Product Lifetime Service) to TiVo-direct purchases, and retail units are soon to see a price increase...


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## tarheelblue32

nooneuknow said:


> I'm curious if this will lead to a rush to buy up $50 priced retail OTA Roamios, in order to get the "service included", like what happened with Minis...
> 
> One would think it could be possible, if TiVo doesn't limit "service included" (aka: Product Lifetime Service) to TiVo-direct purchases, and retail units are soon to see a price increase...


Someone will need to try activating service on a Roamio OTA purchased from a 3rd party for us to know for sure, but I doubt TiVo will allow it to happen. They probably learned their lesson from the Mini service included change.


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## pfiagra

Bwatford141 said:


> https://www.tivo.com/TLP4


As of tonight, if you click on the Roamio OTA links from the TiVo web pages, it still links the following page with the old pricing ($49 + $15/mo. service): https://www.tivo.com/roamio-ota-tlp


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## tarheelblue32

pfiagra said:


> As of tonight, if you click on the Roamio OTA links from the TiVo web pages, it still links the following page with the old pricing ($49 + $15/mo. service): https://www.tivo.com/roamio-ota-tlp


And here is a link that shows a $400 lifetime service option on the OTA:

https://www.tivo.com/TLP3

...and one with a $9.99/month service charge:

https://www.tivo.com/TLP1

...and one with a $6.95/month service charge:

https://www.tivo.com/TLP5

...and one with $0 down and $19.99/month for 2 years:

https://www.tivo.com/TLP6

TiVo appears to have a number of different price points in mind for the OTA, and hasn't yet decided on one.


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## osu1991

Thanks for the heads up. I just ordered one also. I was hoping to see a deal on a Roamio Basic before mid June, but this will be perfect as it was going to be used OTA only anyway. 

Could have saved me a few hundred dollars if this would have been available 6 weeks ago. I've ordered 3 Roamio basics and 3 mini's since the first of March. 2 as gifts for my parents and 1 for myself. My dad was just saying this morning if i saw a deal he wanted another one to take and leave at our Condo in Vegas in mid June when he goes back out there.


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## DG3

One thing's for sure. This is not good news for Channel Master. Before getting my Tivo recently, I looked at CM's DVR options. Many people buying these on outlets like Amazon are stating that they like Tivo, but not the monthly fee. CM's base unit is $249, and you still need to add a USB external drive to get full DVR functionality. So essentially, it's at least the same price as the OTR. But of course, you now get lifetime Tivo service for that price. And, a much more refined and capable product than what Channel Master has. 

I think were getting ready to see an influx of new Tivo users if this pricing holds up.


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## telemark

I would call that a market research / pricing experiment.

If so, based on the response rate of each they'll decide on an optimal pricing model to market more heavily going forward.

Reposting the links might mess up their tally counts, but that would be a bad system since they could easily exclude if desired.

PS. https://www.tivo.com/TLP2 was missing from your list:
"Annual service $149.99 Make one payment a year. Average of just $12.50 a month"


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## dianebrat

pfiagra said:


> Since I'm OTA only, it makes me wonder if I should sell my Roamio Basic with lifetime (which I got on the 10 year loyalty deal and have had for 5 months) and pick up a Roamio OTA?
> 
> [Probably not worth the hassle. With selling fees, will probably only make <$50]


I'm curious as to why you would do that since they're 99% the same hardware and you already have lifetime what do you gain?


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## Chris Gerhard

This is a big surprise to me but it is a great deal.


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## Random User 7

Man this could have saved me $300. This is a game changer!


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## pfiagra

dianebrat said:


> I'm curious as to why you would do that since they're 99% the same hardware and you already have lifetime what do you gain?


I have no intention to switch to cable, and if I could net $100+, then why not do it?

However, even though I purchased under the 10-year loyalty deal, I don't think I could resell my basic even for the same price I paid. Based on comments from this board, I think most cable users are interested in the Pro and Plus, and the risk to put it up on eBay and not sell at my target price is too high.


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## pfiagra

I presume another effect of this deal is that the resale price of a 2-tuner Premiere just dropped. My guess is the saving feature of that model's resale value is the capability to use OTA and cable.


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## heisman6183

I just ordered a Roamio OTA with the lifetime and will sell my Roamio with lifetime. Like the posts above said, might not exactly make a killing on it, but it will be a net gain. I will only ever use OTA and my 1 year experiment with Tivo has been a success, I can't imagine Channel Master matching the functionality and ease of use, and now with $300 for the Roamio OTA, it's a no brainer.


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## confinoj

Interesting. I've had a base Roamio for about 5 months that I use for OTA. Got the 10 year loyalty deal for total of $400. How much are people thinking we can get for a base Roamio with lifetime?


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## djtweed

I just pulled the trigger on the lifetime Roamio OTA. I can finally put my TivoHD to rest. It's been a great 6 years!


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## daschtick

Bwatford141 said:


> Is this new?
> 
> https://www.tivo.com/TLP4


I am new to Tivo and this exactly what I want, however is this offer only available to existing customers?


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## heisman6183

confinoj said:


> Interesting. I've had a base Roamio for about 5 months that I use for OTA. Got the 10 year loyalty deal for total of $400. How much are people thinking we can get for a base Roamio with lifetime?


More than $300 which is all I need to justify it. I'm not expecting to recoup the cost of my box with lifetime, but if I can have the same box with the same functionality (for me) and make a little money I'm in. Plus I can't stop tinkering with my A/V setup so this appeals to that irrational desire I have


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## confinoj

heisman6183 said:


> More than $300 which is all I need to justify it. I'm not expecting to recoup the cost of my box with lifetime, but if I can have the same box with the same functionality (for me) and make a little money I'm in. Plus I can't stop tinkering with my A/V setup so this appeals to that irrational desire I have


I'll probably just keep mine unless I was going to make a large profit. Having the option of cablecard is nice in case I started having too much trouble with reception. Adding a basic local channel tv plan is relatively cheap. I too like to fiddle with my equipment but replacing with an OTA roamio would be essentially swapping for an identical box so no fun there.


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## daschtick

Nevermind - The checkout button didn't work on Chrome for some reason - Worked fine on IE11.

Order placed!


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## djtweed

daschtick said:


> Nevermind - The checkout button didn't work on Chrome for some reason - Worked fine on IE11.
> 
> Order placed!


LOL! Same thing happened to me. Let me guess, you're running Ghostery? I had to whitelist the site to get the button working.


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## djtweed

daschtick said:


> I am new to Tivo and this exactly what I want, however is this offer only available to existing customers?


It's available to anyone.


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## Random User 7

Use https instead and it works better


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## aaronwt

Bwatford141 said:


> Is this new?
> 
> https://www.tivo.com/TLP4


 Wow!! That is a sweet deal. I wish it was available back in 2013. It's much better than the $6.95 a month I pay for my OTA Roamio BAisc. Which also cost me $175 up front.

At least I know if my GFs two Series 3 TiVos takes dump I can replace it for very little now with a Lifetime ROamio Basic for $300. And I would give her a spare TiVo Mini I have.

I guess I shouldn't have held onto my lifetime Premiere for the last 18 months. I should have sold it right away. I wonder how much I can get for it now?


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## bradleys

nooneuknow said:


> I'm curious if this will lead to a rush to buy up $50 priced retail OTA Roamios, in order to get the "service included", like what happened with Minis...
> 
> One would think it could be possible, if TiVo doesn't limit "service included" (aka: Product Lifetime Service) to TiVo-direct purchases, and retail units are soon to see a price increase...


Interesting question - is this a TiVo.com only deal or is Best Buy / Amazon selling the $299 OTA Roamio as well?

Is the $50 model with monthly fee still an option to purchase from TiVo?

Note: It is interesting, if you go directly to TiVo.com and follow the links to the store, the $50 OTA Roamio is the only option available. You have to go to https://www.tivo.com/TLP4, to find the lifetime deal.


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## kgvickers

I'm a relatively new TiVo Roamio OTA owner, only three months or so. I've already added two Mini's and a Stream so obviously I've really bought it.

But these shell games they play with the pricing? This is nuts.


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## Mikeguy

This pricing really is pretty amazing: $299.99 for the Roamio OTA box and lifetime subscription. That's better than the price I paid for an S2 box (one tuner) + lifetime subscription ten years ago. In essence, it's a rollback to the lifetime subscription pricing 10 years ago, with a free box thrown in. Wow!

Have been considering picking up a Mini to add to a Roamio standard, but keep on running into the connection/wiring issues. Thinking, now, why not pick up this deal instead? In the end, the cost difference would be $100 (figuring in $50 for a MoCA box to add to the Roamio standard in a Roamio standard-Mini (at $150) configuration), and for that, escape wiring configuration issues and be able to put devices anywhere, get another 4-tuners, get another 500GB storage (which can be expanded by slipping in a larger capacity hard drive at some point, if needed/desired), and be able to stream between the 2 Roamios. Any downsides with that/other thoughts?


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## foghorn2

The only downside I see is no Lincoln Continental warranty since there is no MRC. No biggie, the new boxes are rock solid.


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## kettledrum

Mikeguy said:


> Have been considering picking up a Mini to add to a Roamio standard, but keep on running into the connection/wiring issues. Thinking, now, why not pick up this deal instead? In the end, the cost difference would be $100 (figuring in $50 for a MoCA box to add to the Roamio standard in a Roamio standard-Mini (at $150) configuration), and for that, escape wiring configuration issues and be able to put devices anywhere, get another 4-tuners, get another 500GB storage (which can be expanded by slipping in a larger capacity hard drive at some point, if needed/desired), and be able to stream between the 2 Roamios. Any downsides with that/other thoughts?


I am thinking the same thing after hearing about this news. I still need to process it all in my brain.


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## waterchange

Mikeguy said:


> This pricing really is pretty amazing: $299.99 for the Roamio OTA box and lifetime subscription. That's better than the price I paid for an S2 box (one tuner) + lifetime subscription ten years ago. In essence, it's a rollback to the lifetime subscription pricing 10 years ago, with a free box thrown in. Wow!
> 
> Have been considering picking up a Mini to add to a Roamio standard, but keep on running into the connection/wiring issues. Thinking, now, why not pick up this deal instead? In the end, the cost difference would be $100 (figuring in $50 for a MoCA box to add to the Roamio standard in a Roamio standard-Mini (at $150) configuration), and for that, escape wiring configuration issues and be able to put devices anywhere, get another 4-tuners, get another 500GB storage (which can be expanded by slipping in a larger capacity hard drive at some point, if needed/desired), and be able to stream between the 2 Roamios. Any downsides with that/other thoughts?


If you channel surf, a Mini would access all of the cable stations on your existing Roamio seamlessly because it's grabbing one of its tuners. With this OTA Roamio, I'm not sure how you channel surf anything but the OTA stations from the local tuners. That's really the only downside I can think of.


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## whitepelican

waterchange said:


> If you channel surf, a Mini would access all of the cable stations on your existing Roamio seamlessly because it's grabbing one of its tuners. With this OTA Roamio, I'm not sure how you channel surf anything but the OTA stations from the local tuners. That's really the only downside I can think of.


So, are you saying that it is not possible to watch a live TV stream from one Roamio on another Roamio? I'm trying to wrap my head around how all these boxes work together. I ordered a Roamio Plus with 3 minis just the other day, but the Roamio Plus came in DOA and now I'm starting to regret losing the OTA capabilities (currently have TWC & OTA hooked up to three Series 3's). Wondering if I should replace one of the minis with a Roamio OTA. But I just don't understand how they all function together.


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## waterchange

whitepelican said:


> So, are you saying that it is not possible to watch a live TV stream from one Roamio on another Roamio? I'm trying to wrap my head around how all these boxes work together. I ordered a Roamio Plus with 3 minis just the other day, but the Roamio Plus came in DOA and now I'm starting to regret losing the OTA capabilities (currently have TWC & OTA hooked up to three Series 3's). Wondering if I should replace one of the minis with a Roamio OTA. But I just don't understand how they all function together.


You can initiate a live recording on your Roamio Plus and then watch it on the other Roamio OTA via streaming. But that's a little more work than using a Mini to tune to any station on the Roamio Plus. Hopefully others can chime in if I'm wrong.

(full disclosure: I own a Plus and Mini's so I don't 100% know that one Roamio can't somehow seamlessly grab and stream a tuner from another Roamio from channel surfing propective.)


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## bradleys

waterchange said:


> (full disclosure: I own a Plus and Mini's so I don't 100% know that one Roamio can't somehow seamlessly grab and stream a tuner from another Roamio from channel surfing propective.)


It cannot...


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## LeonC

CNet news.

http://www.cnet.com/news/tivo-roamio-ota-now-selling-for-300-with-no-service-fees/


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## bradleys

"Special Pricing" "limited time", without an end date... Sounds familiar! 

http://zatznotfunny.com/2015-05/tivo-now-offers-roamio-ota-lifetime-service/


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## Mikeguy

waterchange said:


> If you channel surf, a Mini would access all of the cable stations on your existing Roamio seamlessly because it's grabbing one of its tuners. With this OTA Roamio, I'm not sure how you channel surf anything but the OTA stations from the local tuners. That's really the only downside I can think of.





waterchange said:


> You can initiate a live recording on your Roamio Plus and then watch it on the other Roamio OTA via streaming. But that's a little more work than using a Mini to tune to any station on the Roamio Plus. Hopefully others can chime in if I'm wrong.
> 
> (full disclosure: I own a Plus and Mini's so I don't 100% know that one Roamio can't somehow seamlessly grab and stream a tuner from another Roamio from channel surfing propective.)





bradleys said:


> It cannot...


Thanks, that's a good point that I hadn't thought of, and good to know.

A question/scenario: And so, as a sorta workaround, one could record a cable program on the Roamio standard and then stream it to the Roamio OTA--can the streaming be started as soon as the Roamio standard starts recording, or (as with a show transfer) do you have to wait until the program has been completely recorded?


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## turbobuick86

Great deal. I saw this on slickdeals.net this morning and grabbed one. We've had lifetime tivohdxl in bedroom, but I've been shelling out $99 for the last 6 years for the tivohd in the home theater.

One question. Can I move my WD expander 1TB drive from the tivohd to the roamio? I realize I will lose recordings, but I can transfer the few recordings that I want to save to the bedroom xl unit. Mostly saved concerts and such.


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## tarheelblue32

bradleys said:


> "Special Pricing" "limited time", without an end date... Sounds familiar!


It does indeed sound familiar, but this is such a good deal that I really do expect it to end at some point. If you are in the market for a Roamio OTA, now is definitely the time to buy.


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## telemark

Anyone know where this offer initially came from?
Randomizers are usually done by email blast.

edit: Yes, official WD eSata expanders (up to 1TB) work with Roamio's.
PS: be cautions how you internally expand if you want to externally expand


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## Dan203

Can we get lifetime on an existing OTA? Or can it only be gotten via this deal?


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## Dan203

Screw it I ordered one. Its a good deal and if I don't end up using it like I think I'll be able to sell it and recoup most/all of my money.


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## Diana Collins

Mikeguy said:


> Thanks, that's a good point that I hadn't thought of, and good to know.
> 
> A question/scenario: And so, as a sorta workaround, one could record a cable program on the Roamio standard and then stream it to the Roamio OTA--can the streaming be started as soon as the Roamio standard starts recording, or (as with a show transfer) do you have to wait until the program has been completely recorded?


Yes, you can stream from one TiVo to another as soon as the recording begins.


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## AZ Buckeye

I'm 6 months into my 1 year contract($49.00 Roamio OTA). I wonder if they will offer a pro-rated lifetime option at the end of the 12 months?


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## pfiagra

AZ Buckeye said:


> I'm 6 months into my 1 year contract($49.00 Roamio OTA). I wonder if they will offer a pro-rated lifetime option at the end of the 12 months?


Couldn't hurt to call and ask about getting a deal now.


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## user31621

I bought an OTA from Aamzon and activated it 3 weeks ago. I can still cancel the subscription, correct? If so, would I be better off doing that and buying one with the lifetime?


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## Mikeguy

Diana Collins said:


> Yes, you can stream from one TiVo to another as soon as the recording begins.


Many thanks--making the alternative of getting an OTA Roamio rather than a Mini, as an adjunct to a "main" Roamio, continue to seem attractive . . . . 

I wonder if there is much stuttering in watching a streaming program, where the streaming is over WiFi?


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## bradleys

user31621 said:


> I bought an OTA from Aamzon and activated it 3 weeks ago. I can still cancel the subscription, correct? If so, would I be better off doing that and buying one with the lifetime?


3 weeks ago? Isn't it still in the return policy window?

I would wipe it, return it, and buy a lifetime version. TiVo is absolutely NOT going to start converting monthly's to lifetimes.

A guy already called and asked!


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## joblo

djtweed said:


> I can finally put my TivoHD to rest.





aaronwt said:


> At least I know if my GFs two Series 3 TiVos takes dump I can replace it for very little now





whitepelican said:


> currently have TWC & OTA hooked up to three Series 3's





turbobuick86 said:


> Can I move my WD expander 1TB drive from the tivohd


*Anyone looking to sell series 3 machines* to take advantage of this offer, please PM me.

HD XL and local to northern VA preferred but not necessarily required.

Thanks.


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## Dan203

user31621 said:


> I bought an OTA from Aamzon and activated it 3 weeks ago. I can still cancel the subscription, correct? If so, would I be better off doing that and buying one with the lifetime?


Absolutely! Payback for the $250 difference is only 17 months. You're in the cancellation window. I'd order the new one now using you're existing account. If you get it before the 30 days is up you can transfer all your shows and 1Ps to the new one then call and cancel the old one, then return it to Amazon. Or if the timing isn't right you can transfer all your shows and 1Ps to a PC using kmttg and then cancel the current one right away. However there will be a gap where you wont be able to record stuff that way.


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## Mikeguy

Has anyone learned: is this deal exclusively available through TiVo directly, or will it be making its way to Amazon.com as well?


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## Dixon Butz

What is the early termination fee for OTA sub?


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## tarheelblue32

Dixon Butz said:


> What is the early termination fee for OTA sub?


I think it's $75.


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## jakep_82

bradleys said:


> 3 weeks ago? Isn't it still in the return policy window?
> 
> I would wipe it, return it, and buy a lifetime version. TiVo is absolutely NOT going to start converting monthly's to lifetimes.
> 
> A guy already called and asked!


I too would return it and buy a lifetime box. I'm one of the people that checked with TiVo this morning, and I was told they aren't offering any upgrade options. If I wanted an OTA with lifetime I had to buy another box for $300. I do think they'll eventually offer lifetime upgrades for existing OTA users, but not at a price anywhere near this deal.


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## trip1eX

Yeah I'm thinking I'drather have a Roamio OTA than a Mini at least in one room. I could record network shows on it thus giving me more tuners on my Roamio Plus. I'd get some extra storage on top of it. 

Can 1 Mini talk to 2 different Roamios? And if so, how seamless is it?

How is the experience of using a 2nd Roamio as essentially an extender?


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## Dan203

jakep_82 said:


> I too would return it and buy a lifetime box. I'm one of the people that checked with TiVo this morning, and I was told they aren't offering any upgrade options. If I wanted an OTA with lifetime I had to buy another box for $300. I do think they'll eventually offer lifetime upgrades for existing OTA users, but not at a price anywhere near this deal.


One of the other links in the group had the OTA at $50 and then offered lifetime for $400 extra. Which is inline with current lifetime pricing with non-OTA units. More likely then not if they do start offering lifetime on retail OTA units it will be at that price and not the $250 difference we're seeing here.


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## waterchange

trip1eX said:


> Yeah I'm thinking I'drather have a Roamio OTA than a Mini at least in one room. I could record network shows on it thus giving me more tuners on my Roamio Plus. I'd get some extra storage on top of it.
> 
> Can 1 Mini talk to 2 different Roamios? And if so, how seamless is it?
> 
> How is the experience of using a 2nd Roamio as essentially an extender?


Mini viewing recordings from two different Roamios is very seamless. When you have multiple TiVo's in your network, they will show up at the bottom of the My Shows window. Just choose the other Roamio and then select whatever recording you want to stream from that other box.

A 2nd Roamio will behave the exact same way; easy to stream any show recorded on the first Roamio. Again, only main difference between a Roamio and a Mini is that a Mini can channel surf on the hosts's tuner. An OTA Roamio can't do that to say a cable connected Roamio (although you can stream a show that is actively being recorded).


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## jakep_82

Dan203 said:


> One of the other links in the group had the OTA at $50 and then offered lifetime for $400 extra. Which is inline with current lifetime pricing with non-OTA units. More likely then not if they do start offering lifetime on retail OTA units it will be at that price and not the $250 difference we're seeing here.


This is why I'm thinking about buying the $300 lifetime box and writing off the $230 investment I have in my current box. If they do ever offer a substantial discount on a lifetime upgrade for my current OTA I would end up with a second good box. In the meantime I drop my monthly fee, and I have a backup box that I can re-activate at any time in case I need it.


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## Dixon Butz

jakep_82 said:


> This is why I'm thinking about buying the $300 lifetime box and writing off the $230 investment I have in my current box. If they do ever offer a substantial discount on a lifetime upgrade for my current OTA I would end up with a second good box. In the meantime I drop my monthly fee, and I have a backup box that I can re-activate at any time in case I need it.


Do it. I just did.


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## Random User 7

turbobuick86 said:


> Great deal. I saw this on slickdeals.net this morning and grabbed one. We've had lifetime tivohdxl in bedroom, but I've been shelling out $99 for the last 6 years for the tivohd in the home theater.
> 
> One question. Can I move my WD expander 1TB drive from the tivohd to the roamio? I realize I will lose recordings, but I can transfer the few recordings that I want to save to the bedroom xl unit. Mostly saved concerts and such.


You're welcome


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## user31621

Thank you to all that replied! I will go for the deal! How long will it take to get the new TiVo? I really can't imagine going without. I activated it April 14th.


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## Dan203

So you've still got 13 days. In my experience they ship quickly, but from like Texas so it could take a few days to get to you depending on where you are. So you're going to be cutting it close.


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## Random User 7

People who bought today have already received shipping notices.


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## user31621

Dan203 said:


> So you've still got 13 days. In my experience they ship quickly, but from like Texas so it could take a few days to get to you depending on where you are. So you're going to be cutting it close.


 I ordered it, had some trouble with their web site, got it on the 3rd try. They said I should have it, with standard shipping, next Thursday.


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## vanndamage

I literally just setup my system within the last 30 days. This is a no brainer. What is Tivo going to do for existing OTA customers? I am ready to give you my $250.


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## Dan203

user31621 said:


> I ordered it, had some trouble with their web site, got it on the 3rd try. They said I should have it, with standard shipping, next Thursday.


It failed for me on the first try too, but worked the second. I wonder if they're getting a bunch of orders for this?


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## wizwor

Dan203 said:


> I wonder if they're getting a bunch of orders for this?


Well, I ordered a couple. My guess is they are getting a bunch of orders and page visits.


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## CoxInPHX

The $299.99 link is no longer working for me?
https://www.tivo.com/TLP4

It redirects to https://www.tivo.com/roamio-ota-tlp


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## wesmills

CoxInPHX said:


> The $299.99 link is no longer working for me?
> https://www.tivo.com/TLP4
> 
> It redirects to https://www.tivo.com/roamio-ota-tlp


It just worked for me. Perhaps try in a "private browsing" window?


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## CoxInPHX

It's working again, damn TiVo website.

There is a major mistake in the Footnotes for the Roamio OTA - Footnote #4, pointed out by an interested buyer: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/42-hdtv-recorders/1658977-tivo-roamio-ota-dvr-6.html#post33926786
Also no option when purchasing to add the Extended Warranty.

_4. TiVo Mini sold separately. TiVo Roamio/Roamio Plus/Roamio Pro DVR (*but not the TiVo Roamio OTA DVR*) works with up to 11 TiVo Minis; separate TiVo Mini required for each TV. Multi-network adapter may be required._​


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## Mikeguy

Question re streaming between 2 Roamios:

How do people find the streaming speed between 2 TiVo Roamios connected by WiFi, including the streaming of a program currently being recorded? Is there any stuttering/buffering? Am asking because TiVo recommends against connecting a Mini to a Roamio over WiFi, presumably for transfer speed reasons, but doesn't seem to state likewise (as far as I've seen--maybe I've missed it) for 2 Roamios and the streaming or transferring of programs. Thanks--


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## JoeKustra

Mikeguy said:


> Question re streaming between 2 Roamios:
> 
> How do people find the streaming speed between 2 TiVo Roamios connected by WiFi, including the streaming of a program currently being recorded? Is there any stuttering/buffering? Am asking because TiVo recommends against connecting a Mini to a Roamio over WiFi, presumably for transfer speed reasons, but doesn't seem to state likewise (as far as I've seen--maybe I've missed it) for 2 Roamios and the streaming or transferring of programs. Thanks--


Two things. This is not the thread for that, and it depends on the quality of your router and the environment. My Roamio is on a ASUS 802.11ac adapter and my Premiere is wired (it's next to the router). My Mini is using the AN0100 adapter. So, start a thread and I will gladly give you more detail.


----------



## Mikeguy

JoeKustra said:


> Two things. This is not the thread for that, and it depends on the quality of your router and the environment. My Roamio is on a ASUS 802.11ac adapter and my Premiere is wired (it's next to the router). My Mini is using the AN0100 adapter. So, start a thread and I will gladly give you more detail.


Thanks, JoeKustra, but with any due respect, the inquiry indeed is relevant and proper here, for people considering the new OTA Roamio deal for an extension to a current Roamio, rather than purchasing a Mini. Perhaps a current multi-Roamio user will be able to provide information as to that, informing the deal purchase decision (for both me and others, who also have inquired as to this, as shown in comments above).


----------



## Diana Collins

Mikeguy said:


> Question re streaming between 2 Roamios:
> 
> How do people find the streaming speed between 2 TiVo Roamios connected by WiFi, including the streaming of a program currently being recorded? Is there any stuttering/buffering? Am asking because TiVo recommends against connecting a Mini to a Roamio over WiFi, presumably for transfer speed reasons, but doesn't seem to state likewise (as far as I've seen--maybe I've missed it) for 2 Roamios and the streaming or transferring of programs. Thanks--


The issue for wireless is less about speed and more about consistency. Because it is a radio signal it is subject to myriad interference sources. TiVo recommends against wireless because they can't support it across all the different environments that their customers might encounter.

WiFi CAN work quite well, with no pauses, stuttering or errors. It just needs to be properly installed (access point location, number of simultaneous terminals per access point, reasonably clear radio frequencies, etc.). If you live in a single family home, with wood frame construction, and the distance between the TVs and the nearest AP is not too large, WiFi can work well. But if you live in a steel frame apartment building, the odds of success go way down. If you have coax near the TV location, I'd invest in a MoCA adapter for the OTA instead.


----------



## JoeKustra

Mikeguy said:


> Thanks, JoeKustra, but with any due respect, the inquiry indeed is relevant and proper here, for people considering the new OTA Roamio deal for an extension to a current Roamio, rather than purchasing a Mini. Perhaps a current multi-Roamio user will be able to provide information as to that, informing the deal purchase decision (for both me and others, who also have inquired as to this, as shown in comments above).


I understand. Then I would say: if your router can handle the speed and there isn't overwhelming interference, streaming is easy. My speed, when transferring programs, always gets 70Mbps to the wired Premiere and 90+Mbps when I transfer to a PC. But I'm using 802.11ac except for the Mini. My Roamio is on second floor, router and Mini on first floor. Router is Netgear R7500. I can get equal performance using the internal WiFi of the Roamio except to the Mini where it fails completely. Since I have a base Roamio, a 1Gb connection would not be possible, but I have seen posts where 160+Mbps can be reached with a Plus or Pro.


----------



## Tinker15

Not anymore


----------



## Mikeguy

Tinker15 said:


> Not anymore


Still there: https://www.tivo.com/TLP4


----------



## cp2k

Mikeguy said:


> Still there: https://www.tivo.com/TLP4


It redirects back to the main page with the traditional $49 offer for me as well


----------



## Mikeguy

cp2k said:


> It redirects back to the main page with the traditional $49 offer for me as well


You might try clearing your cache or using a different browser--no issue when I just went back again.


----------



## voodoomonkey

Mikeguy said:


> You might try clearing your cache or using a different browser--no issue when I just went back again.


They're using IP lookup / geolocation to not show the offer to everyone. I couldn't see it (Southern CA) until I used a web proxy to hit the site from a different location.


----------



## tarheelblue32

voodoomonkey said:


> They're using IP lookup / geolocation to not show the offer to everyone. I couldn't see it (Southern CA) until I used a web proxy to hit the site from a different location.


Well that's sneaky. I wonder why they would care about that.


----------



## bradleys

tarheelblue32 said:


> Well that's sneaky. I wonder why they would care about that.


It's all about the contract terms...

Distributors and content owners are very paranoid about piracy.


----------



## joblo

bradleys said:


> Distributors and content owners are very paranoid about piracy.


No doubt.

But what exactly does that have to do with regionally restricted marketing?


----------



## bradleys

joblo said:


> No doubt.
> 
> But what exactly does that have to do with regionally restricted marketing?


This happens with sports a lot. Distrobution rights are negotiated and sold - controlled delivery allows regional contracts. Higher density areas can negotiate a better deal then lower density areas and so forth.

Accessing (and distributing) content in regions where the content hasn't been licensed (or is licensed under another deal) is the piracy I a, talking about.


----------



## joblo

bradleys said:


> Accessing (and distributing) content in regions where the content hasn't been licensed (or is licensed under another deal) is the piracy I a, talking about.


I still don't understand what this has to do with the price of OTA DVRs. TiVo doesn't need a license to sell devices that record OTA television.

Are you saying TiVo is making contracts with local broadcasters that require it to maintain a higher price for an OTA DVR in some DMAs than others?

Are you saying that broadcasters are dictating TiVo's DVR pricing as part of their advertising deals with TiVo?

Please clarify.


----------



## daschtick

user31621 said:


> Thank you to all that replied! I will go for the deal! How long will it take to get the new TiVo? I really can't imagine going without. I activated it April 14th.


I ordered mine at 9:00am yesterday., and it shipped less than 6 hours later. According to the package tracking, it is expected to be delivered on Wednesday (shipping from Texas to Wisconsin).


----------



## telemark

Theory: There's no Geo IP restriction.
Evidence: I'm able to trigger the redirect or not using the same IP.
Explanation: The proxy someone used just so happen to avoid the trigger, but the difference is not the source IP.


----------



## HarperVision

telemark said:


> Theory: There's no Geo IP restriction. Evidence: I'm able to trigger the redirect or not using the same IP. Explanation: The proxy someone used just so happen to avoid the trigger, but the difference is not the source IP.


Exactly.


----------



## AZ_Tivo

Got one. I haven't been watching TV since my TivoHD died a few months ago and PS Cap replacement could not revive it.

Been a Tivo customer since 2003 and I am glad to get one again!!


----------



## Dan203

If they can make a profit on these then this should be the normal price. They could essentially put ChannelMaster and Tablo out of the market at this price.


----------



## tarheelblue32

Dan203 said:


> If they can make a profit on these then this should be the normal price. They could essentially put ChannelMaster and Tablo out of the market at this price.


I think that's their goal.


----------



## JBDragon

wesmills said:


> It just worked for me. Perhaps try in a "private browsing" window?


It didn't work for me at first. TIVO kept trying to get me to go to 
https://www.tivo.com/roamio-ota-tlp

Of course that's the normal page, with the poor deal. You need to go to 
https://www.tivo.com/TLP4

The problem is Tivo wants to keep re-directing you to the other link without the good deal!!! 
Control C the correct link. Go into the Browser and Control V to enter the correct link again and hit Enter. It'll more then likely bring you to the wrong link again a few times. Don't just click on the reload page as you'll keep loading up the wrong page. Just keep Control V the correct Link and hit enter and after a number of times, the correct link will STAY and the deal will be shown!!!

I ordered one up myself, on May 3rd a little after midnight. After I ordered, I tried again about about 1AM. Doing it my way, and I'm using Chrome on Windows, I was able to bring up the right page once again. Keep Control V 
https://www.tivo.com/TLP4 into your browser hitting return until that link actually stays!!! Tivo seems to be trying to sucker people into the other deal.


----------



## cherry ghost

bradleys said:


> Accessing (and distributing) content in regions where the content hasn't been licensed (or is licensed under another deal) is the piracy I a, talking about.





joblo said:


> I still don't understand what this has to do with the price of OTA DVRs. TiVo doesn't need a license to sell devices that record OTA television.
> 
> Are you saying TiVo is making contracts with local broadcasters that require it to maintain a higher price for an OTA DVR in some DMAs than others?
> 
> Are you saying that broadcasters are dictating TiVo's DVR pricing as part of their advertising deals with TiVo?
> 
> Please clarify.


Yes, please clarify.


----------



## Dan203

TiVo does not license content, so that's a bad argument. However they may have deals with BestBuy that prevents them from offering better deals in certain markets. Remember the OTA was a BestBuy exclusive when it first came out. Or it could just be that there is still a lot of retail stock in those markets and they don't want to deminish demand before it's dried up. Or it could just be a market research thing that has nothing to do with contracts of any kind.


----------



## fcfc2

"Or it could just be that there is still a lot of retail stock in those markets and they don't want to deminish demand before it's dried up. Or it could just be a market research thing that has nothing to do with contracts of any kind."
I would suspect that one of these is what's going on or possibly a combination to possibly deal with sluggish sales of the standard OTA. The $50 price of the standard OTA is subsidized by requiring the $14.99 monthly rental for 1 year as the only subscription option and / or an early termination fee of $75. The $300 OTA with lifetime is clearly a more economical option as a purchase of the standard OTA, $50 + 12x $15= $230 in one year. Tivo could change the available service options to allow for purchase of the lifetime on the OTA, but then they will have to give up the locked in customers and waive the early termination fee. They may not want to do this but I think it would be a good idea if they could find the right price point for the lifetime service on the OTA.


----------



## gespears

I can't get that link to stick anymore. Just the 50 dollar deal comes up.


----------



## atmuscarella

gespears said:


> I can't get that link to stick anymore. Just the 50 dollar deal comes up.


still works fine for me in Firefox and chrome both of which I am using add blockers with. Tested with IE and was redirected.


----------



## Dixon Butz

Try this link. You may get warnings.
https://208.73.180.110/TLP4


----------



## Photo_guy

fcfc2 said:


> "Or it could just be that there is still a lot of retail stock in those markets and they don't want to deminish demand before it's dried up. Or it could just be a market research thing that has nothing to do with contracts of any kind."
> I would suspect that one of these is what's going on or possibly a combination to possibly deal with sluggish sales of the standard OTA. The $50 price of the standard OTA is subsidized by requiring the $14.99 monthly rental for 1 year as the only subscription option and / or an early termination fee of $75. The $300 OTA with lifetime is clearly a more economical option as a purchase of the standard OTA, $50 + 12x $15= $230 in one year. Tivo could change the available service options to allow for purchase of the lifetime on the OTA, but then they will have to give up the locked in customers and waive the early termination fee. They may not want to do this but I think it would be a good idea if they could find the right price point for the lifetime service on the OTA.


I have to admit I feel Tivo has screwed over customers like me that went for the $50Roamio/$15per mo/1yr commit plan a few months ago. I know 'timing is everything' but if this plan was available I would have jumped on it. It seems unfair that we did not get the choice then and will not have a reasonable offering now.
I understand I committed to the 1yr service to get the discounted Roamio price, no issue there, but now I am faced with $15 monthly payments forever unless I scrap my old box and go for this new one. Seems that a bridge plan - i.e. complete the 1yr as committed and then buy up to lifetime for a reduced price ($150?) would be reasonable.
Perhaps they will offer something like that soon. In the mean time I am less happy with my purchase than I was a week ago. [BTW, I am generally very happy with my Tivo, it was a good choice.]


----------



## fcfc2

Photo_guy said:


> I have to admit I feel Tivo has screwed over customers like me that went for the $50Roamio/$15per mo/1yr commit plan a few months ago. I know 'timing is everything' but if this plan was available I would have jumped on it. It seems unfair that we did not get the choice then and will not have a reasonable offering now.
> I understand I committed to the 1yr service to get the discounted Roamio price, no issue there, but now I am faced with $15 monthly payments forever unless I scrap my old box and go for this new one. Seems that a bridge plan - i.e. complete the 1yr as committed and then buy up to lifetime for a reduced price ($150?) would be reasonable.
> Perhaps they will offer something like that soon. In the mean time I am less happy with my purchase than I was a week ago. [BTW, I am generally very happy with my Tivo, it was a good choice.]


Hi,
If I were a recent OTA monthly customer, I would call and complain big time but frankly, you might be better off just cutting your loses, cancel the OTA, pay the $75 termination charge and ordering the OTA with lifetime. You would have a useable power supply, hard drive, and a remote control to soften the blow a bit. It's a bitter pill to swallow but it may be the most economical in the long run.


----------



## Dan203

Photo_guy said:


> I have to admit I feel Tivo has screwed over customers like me that went for the $50Roamio/$15per mo/1yr commit plan a few months ago. I know 'timing is everything' but if this plan was available I would have jumped on it. It seems unfair that we did not get the choice then and will not have a reasonable offering now.
> I understand I committed to the 1yr service to get the discounted Roamio price, no issue there, but now I am faced with $15 monthly payments forever unless I scrap my old box and go for this new one. Seems that a bridge plan - i.e. complete the 1yr as committed and then buy up to lifetime for a reduced price ($150?) would be reasonable.
> Perhaps they will offer something like that soon. In the mean time I am less happy with my purchase than I was a week ago. [BTW, I am generally very happy with my Tivo, it was a good choice.]


The early termination fee is only $75. If you buy the lifetime unit and just pay the early termination fee the payback period on the whole $375 is only 2 years. Might be worth it. And if you keep the old one subbed until you get the new one you can transfer everything over, so there will be no real loss, and you'll have a spare for parts if something fails.


----------



## Photo_guy

Dan203 said:


> The early termination fee is only $75. If you buy the lifetime unit and just pay the early termination fee the payback period on the whole $375 is only 2 years. Might be worth it. And if you keep the old one subbed until you get the new one you can transfer everything over, so there will be no real loss, and you'll have a spare for parts if something fails.


I considered that. Actually the $75 early term fee is equal to 5 months of fees. I am 4 months in so it might just be worth riding the rest of the year out at this point. 
The risk decision is to buy the current offer and transfer everything over(I recently upgraded my HD to 3TB so I'd have to re-do all of that); or to wait and see what is available in 7 months.


----------



## aaronwt

Photo_guy said:


> I considered that. Actually the $75 early term fee is equal to 5 months of fees. I am 4 months in so it might just be worth riding the rest of the year out at this point.
> The risk decision is to buy the current offer and transfer everything over(I recently upgraded my HD to 3TB so I'd have to re-do all of that); or to wait and see what is available in 7 months.


It's all OTA content right? So it shouldn't be restricted. Just transfer it to a PC and put the 3TB drive in the new Roamio when you get it. Then transfer the content back to it.


----------



## krkaufman

DG3 said:


> CM's base unit is $249, and you still need to add a USB external drive to get full DVR functionality. So essentially, *it's at least the same price as the OTR*. But of course, you now get lifetime Tivo service for that price. And, a much more refined and capable product than what Channel Master has.


From what I can tell, the rates listed for the OTA w/ Lifetime are either $450 or $480, but you could buy a 500GB HDD for less than $50, so the CM DVR+ would still be $100 cheaper than the Roamio OTA.

That said, the DVR+ is just 2 tuners; lacks Netflix, Amazon, OnePass, and integration tools such as kmttg, pytivo, TD+, etc. So the CM DVR may be cheaper, but there doesn't seem to be a sufficient difference in total price to warrant the downgrade.

edit: NEVERMIND! I now see that the original TLP4 link was for a $300 OTA/Lifetime offer. Got it!


----------



## krkaufman

heisman6183 said:


> ... and now with $300 for the Roamio OTA, it's a no brainer.


Ok, where are you seeing this price, *$300 for OTA w/ Lifetime*?

edit: Ah, I expect it was the "TLP4" link... which now appears to redirect back to the default OTA pricing, $50 + $15/month service.


----------



## Dixon Butz

krkaufman said:


> Ok, where are you seeing this price, *$300 for OTA w/ Lifetime*?


https://www.tivo.com/TLP4

Use an adblocker to avoid the redirect to the $50 OTA. Like Chrome with adblock plus. 
Or you can use any browser with AdGuard. www.adguard.com
Mine is coming Thurs. Already see the lifetime sub on my account.


----------



## bradleys

Dixon Butz said:


> https://www.tivo.com/TLP4
> 
> Use an adblocker to avoid the redirect to the $50 OTA. Like Chrome with adblock plus.
> Or you can use any browser with AdGuard. www.adguard.com
> Mine is coming Thurs. Already see the lifetime sub on my account.


Has this been "anounced" by TiVo or was this simply stumbled upon?


----------



## Dixon Butz

bradleys said:


> Has this been "anounced" by TiVo or was this simply stumbled upon?


Never officially announced that I know of. I found out from here. 
The OP seems to have discovered it first. Then the deal was on slickdeals.net.


----------



## Mikeguy

I've also seen a pretty nice online news article on it (last week), including quotes from TiVo.


----------



## krkaufman

Dixon Butz said:


> https://www.tivo.com/TLP4
> ...
> Mine is coming Thurs. Already see the lifetime sub on my account.


Argh... so close.



> *We are facing technical issues at the moment. Please try again later.*


Ah... 2nd time was the charm.



> TiVo Package, Product Lifetime Roamio OTA TiVo Series 5 (Tarvos OTA)


----------



## osu1991

Mine arrived this afternoon, will get it setup later tonight. It showed up on my account last night


----------



## Dan203

Mine shipped, no tracking info on UPS yet so not sure when it will get here. If it's coming from Texas then it will be a few days.


----------



## krkaufman

Photo_guy said:


> I have to admit I feel Tivo has screwed over customers like me that went for the $50Roamio/$15per mo/1yr commit plan a few months ago.


Not that it will make you feel any better, but consider anyone who paid retail + Lifetime for a Roamio Basic as an OTA DVR under a year ago. $300 with this deal vs $700? Even w/ the marginal discounts I scraped together, I think I paid around $575 for a Basic for my mom. (And then there's the Mini, for which a single lifetime unit is $80-100 less than it was a year ago.)


----------



## osu1991

krkaufman said:


> Not that it will make you feel any better, but consider anyone who paid retail + Lifetime for a Roamio Basic as an OTA DVR under a year ago. $300 with this deal vs $700? Even w/ the marginal discounts I scraped together, I think I paid around $575 for a Basic for my mom. (And then there's the Mini, for which a single lifetime unit is $80-100 less than it was a year ago.)


Not a year ago, I just bought 3 Roamio basics + lifetime for OTA use within the last 2 months. I would have saved a lot if this pricing had been around then.


----------



## Dan203

krkaufman said:


> Not that it will make you feel any better, but consider anyone who paid retail + Lifetime for a Roamio Basic as an OTA DVR under a year ago. $300 with this deal vs $700? Even w/ the marginal discounts I scraped together, I think I paid around $575 for a Basic for my mom. (And then there's the Mini, for which a single lifetime unit is $80-100 less than it was a year ago.)


I bought two Minis for $100/ea + $150/lifetime. Now you can get them for $120 total with lifetime, so less then half what I paid. That's the price of being an early adopter.


----------



## Mikeguy

LOL, not just an early-adopter matter, but a matter of TiVo's stock market-like marketing and pricing strategies.  But so nice, when they're down.


----------



## Photo_guy

krkaufman said:


> Not that it will make you feel any better, but consider anyone who paid retail + Lifetime for a Roamio Basic as an OTA DVR under a year ago. $300 with this deal vs $700? Even w/ the marginal discounts I scraped together, I think I paid around $575 for a Basic for my mom. (And then there's the Mini, for which a single lifetime unit is $80-100 less than it was a year ago.)


Point taken.
"Ya pays your money and takes your chances"


----------



## Bwatford141

Dixon Butz said:


> Never officially announced that I know of. I found out from here.
> The OP seems to have discovered it first. Then the deal was on slickdeals.net.


Yeah, I just kinda stumbled upon it. My grandmother has a summer home in Virginia and I was looking at OTA options for her.


----------



## Peter G

Deal is still there. Use the link posted above by Dixon B. Im sorely tempted. Just bought 2 more minis to get them with service before May the 4th possible cutoff. If I buy another Roamio I could return a mini for $150 credit. Two Roamios, 3 minis, plus drive expander ought to serve. 

Any idea how long this deal will last?


----------



## joblo

joblo said:


> *Anyone looking to sell series 3 machines* to take advantage of this offer, please PM me.
> 
> HD XL and local to northern VA preferred but not necessarily required.
> 
> Thanks.


<sigh> 

So I haven't spent much time in this forum for years, and it turns out I had private messaging disabled. Can't remember why, when, or even if I did that myself, or whether I needed to opt-in and never did.

In any case, I think this is now fixed. Meanwhile someone replied to this with something called a "visitor message" which I didn't even know existed, but I was busy when I first saw it and before I could respond it disappeared. Whoever did that, I apologize for not responding, and I apologize generally to anyone who may have tried to PM me and been unable to do so. If anyone tried and failed, please try again.

Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience.


----------



## joetekcor

I was one of the first to get the Roamio OTA when it was released last September. It's been a great box and I've been paying my $15 a month since. 
I really doubt they will prorate to this deal but it would be nice to see a reasonable lifetime offer for us early adopters.


----------



## Mikeguy

I understand your sentiment, but note that TiVo isn't offering a killer lifetime pricing for other Roamio purchasers, so I'm not so clear that TiVo really (needs) to be doing so for prior TiVo OTA purchasers, who purchased a box for $50. It would be nice, though, if TiVo would offer such an after-sale prorated special for everyone . . . (yeah, right).

The answer for earlier TiVo OTA purchasers would be to cancel their current subscription at the $75 cancellation charge and then buy anew under the current TiVo OTA deal--the pricing still, then, is less than anything else out there, even taking the cancellation fee into account (and you have the old box, remote and external power adapter around to boot, should you ever need them--or, for that matter, try to sell them and recoup part of the cancellation charge). In the meanwhile, then, you've already had use of your Roamio OTA for 8 months, and the $50 Roamio OTA box has cost you $6.25/month (although $15.63 if you add in the cancellation fee). The answer for someone like you might also be just to wait the year commitment out and then buy the deal (assuming it's still around then).


----------



## RonH

krkaufman said:


> Argh... so close.
> 
> Ah... 2nd time was the charm.


I got the same thing, but with a "pending" charge on the card, I'm afraid to "try again"


----------



## Dixon Butz

I got an error the first time I tried to order. 2nd time went through
I have 2 pending $299.99 charges. Not worried about it. The total is actually 317.99 with tax. I am sure that those 2 pending charges will disappear and a 317.99 will be charged.


----------



## Dan203

Looks like mine will be here Friday.


----------



## Dixon Butz

Will anything work on my deactivated OTA? Like streaming or anything?


----------



## RonH

Dixon Butz said:


> I got an error the first time I tried to order. 2nd time went through
> I have 2 pending $299.99 charges. Not worried about it. The total is actually 317.99 with tax. I am sure that those 2 pending charges will disappear and a 317.99 will be charged.


2nd time was a charm. TiVo confirmed the other charge will "go away" since no order exist to support it. Told me this was a 'web only' offer and that they "test" different pricing from time to time and the deal can come/go even during certain times of any given day.

Glad I could help with their "test"


----------



## Dan203

Dixon Butz said:


> Will anything work on my deactivated OTA? Like streaming or anything?


No. You can watch any previously recorded shows on that box itself, but that's it. All network functionality and recording functionality are disabled. (internally TiVo refers to a unit without service as being in "boat anchor mode")


----------



## Dixon Butz

Dan203 said:


> No. You can watch any previously recorded shows on that box itself, but that's it. All network functionality and recording functionality are disabled. (internally TiVo refers to a unit without service as being in "boat anchor mode")


Thx
Would the tuners still function?


----------



## zroger73

Dixon Butz said:


> I got an error the first time I tried to order. 2nd time went through
> I have 2 pending $299.99 charges. Not worried about it. The total is actually 317.99 with tax. I am sure that those 2 pending charges will disappear and a 317.99 will be charged.


Same here. I used Chrome on Windows in an incognito window. I had to reload the page several times before the $299 deal appeared. Once it did, I ordered. It said something about my credit card didn't authorize. I called TiVo directly. The girl I talked to said something about this being a "web only test" and that they've had lots of calls about it. Her only suggestion was to "keep trying" until the order goes through. I figured I'd try ONCE more. The second time worked and I got an order confirmation. Just to make myself feel better, I went directly to TiVo.com and logged in to my existing account. The order for the $299 lifetime OTA shows up. It's supposed to arrive Thursday.


----------



## Dan203

Dixon Butz said:


> Thx
> Would the tuners still function?


For live TV only


----------



## RonH

Dan203 said:


> Looks like mine will be here Friday.


Seems like I'm always ordering from west cost warehouses. Not this time, next day delivery for me


----------



## Dan203

Yeah a lot of stuff comes from CA for me, so 1-2 days. It's rare to have something come from so far away.


----------



## 4d3fect

We are incidentally getting rid of dish next month and I've been investigating options to keep the wife from strangling me, This looks like a good option, although we only have three good OTA signals here. We do have a Roku which we are enjoying various services on. Will this integrate well with other streamers, or does it require other equipment?

-Thanks for looking


----------



## NashGuy

4d3fect said:


> We are incidentally getting rid of dish next month and I've been investigating options to keep the wife from strangling me, This looks like a good option, although we only have three good OTA signals here. We do have a Roku which we are enjoying various services on. Will this integrate well with other streamers, or does it require other equipment?
> 
> -Thanks for looking


The TiVo Roamio OTA won't integrate with your Roku or any other box but it doesn't really need to because many of the most popular streaming apps are built into the Roamio. You can use Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube, Aol On, Yahoo Screen, and MLB.tv, plus music apps like Pandora. The Roamio lets you search across live TV, recorded TV, and the titles on all those streaming apps at once. And you can save titles from those apps to watch later right alongside your TV recordings thanks to the OnePass feature. TiVo Roamio is really the only thing on the market that fairly well unifies regular TV plus the ability to record TV plus streaming TV.

However, some popular streaming apps, like Showtime Anytime, HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Vevo, Watch ABC, Fox Now, Starz Play, and Crackle still aren't available on TiVo, so you'll still need to use your Roku or Apple TV for those. Hopefully some or all of them will eventually be added to TiVo.


----------



## Random User 7

You will most likely want to keep other streaming boxes. The interface of the Roku and FireTV is much better. TiVo is good enough and better than Chromecast but if you like Roku now you will most likely want to keep it.


----------



## 4d3fect

Thanks, folks, just what I was looking for. I think if I can get this deal, it will work out fine for us. 2-person household, don't need any extra boxes or accessories, should work fine for our purposes.


----------



## 4d3fect

OK, order just went through, initial glitch, CC co. already got charged (twice!) before the order finalized. pretty much zroger73 experience. Will call Tivo in the AM to work out any billing kinks. Otherwise, we're on our way!

Thanks all for the help, pleased to become a part of the forum!


----------



## krkaufman

Yeah, if you already have a Roku, keep it around to see if it adds sufficient value beyond the streaming integration offered by TiVo's Roamio. Just be wary of loaning it out, should you find the TiVo sufficient, since you'll have a devil of a time getting it back.



NashGuy said:


> However, some popular streaming apps, like Showtime Anytime, HBO Go, Watch ESPN, Vevo, Watch ABC, Fox Now, Starz Play, and Crackle still aren't available on TiVo, so you'll still need to use your Roku or Apple TV for those. Hopefully some or all of them will eventually be added to TiVo.


Of course, if you've gone OTA (or "cut the cable"), content from most of the above streaming apps wouldn't be accessible to you, anyway. (Showtime, HBO, Starz, Fox Now, FXNOW, ESPN)

However, with the right cable provider, content from most of these same channels may be available through TiVo integration with the provider's on-demand library -- and possibly then integrated with the "unifying" OnePass listings. In the specific case of Comcast, their *Xfinity On Demand content *does* appear along with all the other streaming and recorded content in the OnePass-upgraded My Shows listing* -- which is a bonus, since the XOD content often provides HD programming where Comcast has otherwise failed to do so for the live channel. (see: FX, Comedy Central, among many others) There are limitations and hiccups*, but the XOD OnePass integration was one of the features that put me over the top a couple months back, when deciding on providers and whether to go with TiVo or provider set-tops.

-----

* limitations and hiccups of XOD integration I've experienced...

only one active XOD stream per TiVo DVR (and all its currently-connected Minis);
XOD streams often don't allow FastForward/Rewind, which is significantly more painful for streams that don't allow resuming;
starting XOD streams can be hit-or-miss, and sometimes XOD is just plain unavailable; (you'll become familiar with various "GSM" and "CL" error codes)


----------



## Dan203

Random User 7 said:


> You will most likely want to keep other streaming boxes. The interface of the Roku and FireTV is much better. TiVo is good enough and better than Chromecast but if you like Roku now you will most likely want to keep it.


I prefer the TiVo. The simple fact that you don't have to change inputs and use a different remote makes it much more likely for me to use these apps on TiVo. If TiVo had HBO Go and Showtime Anytime then I'd be all set.


----------



## Dixon Butz

I can't get to the lifetime OTA deal anymore. Getting redirected even with no script extension.


----------



## tarheelblue32

Dixon Butz said:


> I can't get to the lifetime OTA deal anymore. Getting redirected even with no script extension.


Hmm yeah me neither. The other special OTA deal links still seem to work, but the one for the $300 lifetime option isn't accessible any longer. I guess it was just too good to last. I hope everyone that wanted one jumped on the deal while they had the chance. If not, an OTA w/lifetime will now cost you $150 more.


----------



## 4d3fect

Dixon Butz said:


> I can't get to the lifetime OTA deal anymore. Getting redirected even with no script extension.


Geez, I must have just got in under the wire. Anyhoo, thanks db (can't say that name out loud without laughing, sorry)

Hope it works out all right, guess I'll believe it when it shows up on my doorstep.


----------



## Dan203

Same here. They seem to be redirecting it at the server level now, so this deal is dead.


----------



## 4d3fect

krkaufman said:


> Yeah, if you already have a Roku, keep it around to see if it adds sufficient value beyond the streaming integration offered by TiVo's Roamio. Just be wary of loaning it out, should you find the TiVo sufficient, since you'll have a devil of a time getting it back.
> 
> Of course, if you've gone OTA (or "cut the cable"), content from most of the above streaming apps wouldn't be accessible to you, anyway. (Showtime, HBO, Starz, Fox Now, FXNOW, ESPN)


Charter is available to us here. If the TW/CC merger had been approved we would have been switched to Comcast. We tried Charter last year but the PQ and the DVR experience was surprisingly bad. Think after installing the Roamio may give them another chance, but ATM we're happy with our blend of TV content.

Also, we'd never loan out our Roku, for the very reason you mentioned.


----------



## Dixon Butz

4d3fect said:


> Geez, I must have just got in under the wire. Anyhoo, thanks db (can't say that name out loud without laughing, sorry)
> 
> Hope it works out all right, guess I'll believe it when it shows up on my doorstep.


That name is from a SNL skit. One of the funniest skits ever!


----------



## JPA2825

How would the Roamio OTA interact with an S3?

I have 3 S3 TiVos (2 tuner) w/ PLS that I replaced with a Roamio Plus and 4 TiVo Minis. I plan to give the S3 TiVos to my kids.

Q: would the S3 TiVos be able to communicate with the Roamio OTA in such a manner to allow the OTA to record the OTA shows and the S3 w/ cablecard to focus on recording the cable shows? 

Depending on copyright flags, if I could access all shows from either box, that might be an ideal 2 TV / Room solution at a reasonable price.

Thoughts (in case this or a similar deal comes up again).


----------



## HarperVision

JPA2825 said:


> How would the Roamio OTA interact with an S3? I have 3 S3 TiVos (2 tuner) w/ PLS that I replaced with a Roamio Plus and 4 TiVo Minis. I plan to give the S3 TiVos to my kids. Q: would the S3 TiVos be able to communicate with the Roamio OTA in such a manner to allow the OTA to record the OTA shows and the S3 w/ cablecard to focus on recording the cable shows? Depending on copyright flags, if I could access all shows from either box, that might be an ideal 2 TV / Room solution at a reasonable price. Thoughts (in case this or a similar deal comes up again).


They can see each other on the network, but an S3 can only transfer programs to/from other S3-5 tivos, no streaming programs between them.


----------



## Dan203

JPA2825 said:


> How would the Roamio OTA interact with an S3?
> 
> I have 3 S3 TiVos (2 tuner) w/ PLS that I replaced with a Roamio Plus and 4 TiVo Minis. I plan to give the S3 TiVos to my kids.
> 
> Q: would the S3 TiVos be able to communicate with the Roamio OTA in such a manner to allow the OTA to record the OTA shows and the S3 w/ cablecard to focus on recording the cable shows?
> 
> Depending on copyright flags, if I could access all shows from either box, that might be an ideal 2 TV / Room solution at a reasonable price.
> 
> Thoughts (in case this or a similar deal comes up again).


You're better off just using the S3 units to do OTA. They can do both OTA and cable simultaneously. The only way a S3 can communicate with a Roamio is via the old MRV, which means they'd have to manually transfer every OTA show they wanted to watch on their S3 units. Only Premiere and Roamio units support streaming between devices.


----------



## zroger73

Roamio OTA lifetime arrived this morning.


----------



## krkaufman

tarheelblue32 said:


> I hope everyone that wanted one jumped on the deal while they had the chance.


I *had* been toying with picking-up a second one.


----------



## telemark

The other TLP codes are still online: 1,2,3,5,6 
What's the cheapest now?

Given the media pickup of TLP4, its days were doomed.


----------



## tarheelblue32

telemark said:


> The other TLP codes are still online: 1,2,3,5,6
> What's the cheapest now?
> 
> Given the media pickup of TLP4, its days were doomed.


The only others that will give you lifetime service are 3 and 6. 3 is $450 total upfront and 6 is $20/month for 2 years ($480 total).

https://www.tivo.com/TLP3 ($449.99)

https://www.tivo.com/TLP6 ($19.99/month for 2 years)

Monthly/yearly service options include:

https://www.tivo.com/TLP1 ($99.99 down, $9.99/month)

https://www.tivo.com/TLP2 ($49.98 down, $149.99/year)

https://www.tivo.com/TLP5 ($149.99 down, $6.95/month)

and of course the standard price:

https://www.tivo.com/roamio-ota-tlp ($49.99 down, $14.99/month)


----------



## Dan203

Most of the monthly plans work out to about the same price after a year. TPL1 = $220, TPL2 = $200, TPL5 = $235, Standard = $230. Long term the TPL5 deal is best as the pay back period compared to the lifetime unit is 42 months. 

Honestly if I were faced with any of the remaining deals I probably wouldn't buy. The $300 price point seemed just right for this.


----------



## miketx

Strange....I just found out about this deal via Tivo's own Facebook page, quoting a CNET article about the $299 price. How can Tivo themselves boast about the $299 price if it is gone? I can't find it, yet they just posted it. Come on Tivo.....get your facts straight. Don't play games.


----------



## miketx

Tivo deleted the FB post....I can't see it anymore. Guess too many people were asking where the deal went (including me).


----------



## bradleys

I have the post from TiVo up on my Facebook page, but it looks like they have pulled it. I tired to make a comment and it will not let me! 

Absolutely a case of the social media team not communicating with the sales team.

This is really an odd situation. I don't think TiVo ever intended that sales page to leak to the public at this time.

It does make you wonder if this isn't a program planned for the near future. That said, those that jumped on this plan should feel very lucky!


----------



## delgadobb

After many aborted attempts, I managed to finally place an order yesterday. I was looking at adding a Mini, but I figured for the extra nominal expense I could use this like a Mini on steroids, streaming from the other Roamios when necessary. The rest of the time I can record OTA stuff & also transfer most shows I enjoy or want to archive from the other Roamios (CAT5 to all rooms in house). 

I manually entered the TLP4 web page numerous times, placed the Roamio OTA into the cart then while trying to check out it would kick me out into a sign-in screen even tho I was already signed into my account! After numerous trial-and-error methods of messing around, eventually I got it to take by manually logging out using a button in the upper right part of the browser (Chrome), then logging back in with the same button/area. 

It finally let me pay & check out, then on the confirmation screen it gave me an error "We are facing technical issues at the moment. Please try again later." I was planning to try again later, but then noticed a pending charge of $316.xx on my credit card. Haven't received any e-mail confirmation. 

Any idea if mine got into the system properly & how likely it is to ship? I figure the pending charge is a good sign as it obviously got my credit card info correct & processed the order, at least on some automated level.


----------



## series5orpremier

Has anyone booted up their $299 OTA yet? I'm wondering if TiVo has their act together with having lifetime service already activated on these.


----------



## Dixon Butz

series5orpremier said:


> Has anyone booted up their $299 OTA yet? I'm wondering if TiVo has their act together with having lifetime service already activated on these.


I don't have it yet but my account shows "TiVo Package, Product Lifetime".
It's preactivated when it ships.


----------



## zroger73

series5orpremier said:


> Has anyone booted up their $299 OTA yet? I'm wondering if TiVo has their act together with having lifetime service already activated on these.


Ordered yesterday. Received this morning. Booted up this evening. System information screen shows "5: Product Lifetime Service" and it's working just fine.


----------



## LeonC

It's not the great $300 deal, but I think the promotion of $149.99 with $6.95 monthly (includes TiVo Continual Care Warranty) is not bad.

https://www.tivo.com/TLP5


----------



## Dan203

Yeah that was the second best deal. It's got a 22 month break even point with the $300 lifetime deal.


----------



## delgadobb

Brief update ... after reading the discussion on here about the TLP4 promotion link no longer working, I happened to go into my account in my other browser (window still open). The Roamio OTA was still in my cart in that browser, so on a hunch I went & completed that order with a different credit card. Worked fine, gave me an order #, it shows up in my account & I got a confirmation e-mail. 

Moral of the story? If you were one of the ones trying to order this & frustrated cuz you couldn't get it to go through, check your account if you had one in your cart & in process. Even though the TLP4 promotion link may no longer work, if you were far enough along in the process it looks like you can still execute the order. 

With my first order, it gave me a generic error on the confirmation screen & no confirmation e-mail, even tho there is a pending charge for that credit card. 

Fingers crossed. Worst case I wind up with two Roamio OTA boxes; if for some reason I don't use the second one, SOMEONE will want it - probably give first option to friends/family if that happens.


----------



## Photo_guy

delgadobb said:


> After many aborted attempts, I managed to finally place an order yesterday. I was looking at adding a Mini, but I figured for the extra nominal expense I could use this like a Mini on steroids, streaming from the other Roamios when necessary. The rest of the time I can record OTA stuff & also transfer most shows I enjoy or want to archive from the other Roamios (CAT5 to all rooms in house).
> 
> I manually entered the TLP4 web page numerous times, placed the Roamio OTA into the cart then while trying to check out it would kick me out into a sign-in screen even tho I was already signed into my account! After numerous trial-and-error methods of messing around, eventually I got it to take by manually logging out using a button in the upper right part of the browser (Chrome), then logging back in with the same button/area.
> 
> It finally let me pay & check out, then on the confirmation screen it gave me an error "We are facing technical issues at the moment. Please try again later." I was planning to try again later, but then noticed a pending charge of $316.xx on my credit card. Haven't received any e-mail confirmation.
> 
> Any idea if mine got into the system properly & how likely it is to ship? I figure the pending charge is a good sign as it obviously got my credit card info correct & processed the order, at least on some automated level.


I'd say the charge on your card is a very good sign. The email could be delayed or in your spam folder.

However, I caved and placed an order this morning - an email with shipping info came within a few hours.


----------



## Dan203

I've got the opposite "problem". Just looked at my CC statement and I don't see the TiVo charge at all. Woohoo, free TiVo. 

I'm sure they'll figure it out and charge me eventually.


----------



## NashGuy

series5orpremier said:


> Has anyone booted up their $299 OTA yet? I'm wondering if TiVo has their act together with having lifetime service already activated on these.


Yep, mine arrived today and it was activated when I booted it up. Ordered Sat morn for $299. This is my first TiVo, and so far I'm really pleased overall. That said, there are some weird things about the remote/menu system but the overall feature set, PQ, etc are great. It took some playing around for awhile with three different antennas I have, plus a pre-amp, but I was finally able to tune in all the stations I want perfectly with no antenna adjustments, something I couldn't do with two other tuners. A nearby strong station has a ton of multi-path problems and a low-power station is so weak, it's super hard to lock in but the Roamio OTA is now pulling in both, plus lots of others, perfectly!

I do wish there was more uniformity in controls among the streaming apps. As TiVo is closing in on all the must-have apps (only Showtime and HBO are ones I really hope get added soon), their next priority should be getting apps to work similarly. For instance, the replay button should work in all video apps, jumping back the same (or similar) number of seconds. In Amazon Instant, that button exits the app! In other apps, it does nothing.

But, again, I think this unit nails down the big things. After having my eye on the TiVo Roamio OTA for a few months, I'm tickled I was able to get this great deal on one!


----------



## 4d3fect

delgadobb said:


> Brief update ... after reading the discussion on here about the TLP4 promotion link no longer working, I happened to go into my account in my other browser (window still open). The Roamio OTA was still in my cart in that browser, so on a hunch I went & completed that order with a different credit card. Worked fine, gave me an order #, it shows up in my account & I got a confirmation e-mail.
> 
> Moral of the story? If you were one of the ones trying to order this & frustrated cuz you couldn't get it to go through, check your account if you had one in your cart & in process. Even though the TLP4 promotion link may no longer work, if you were far enough along in the process it looks like you can still execute the order.
> 
> With my first order, it gave me a generic error on the confirmation screen & no confirmation e-mail, even tho there is a pending charge for that credit card.
> 
> Fingers crossed. Worst case I wind up with two Roamio OTA boxes; if for some reason I don't use the second one, SOMEONE will want it - probably give first option to friends/family if that happens.


More or less what happened to me last night, couldn't get to any CSR until this AM and Chat rep noted just the one charge (two "pending" on my card) and one box.

Shipped this afternoon, expect to see it early next week. UPS.


----------



## RonH

CoxInPHX said:


> Also no option when purchasing to add the Extended Warranty.


Now that it's showing on My Account, there's an option there to call in and add the warranty.

This deal caught me off guard so now I gotta wait a few more days for a 3TB drive to show up


----------



## bioGuru

series5orpremier said:


> Has anyone booted up their $299 OTA yet? I'm wondering if TiVo has their act together with having lifetime service already activated on these.


yes. First time TiVo user.

It took an extra day but it shows activated for lifetime service on both on the device and on the website.

$300 was the price point I needed to get on board. I played with a few other options including WMC with TV tuner and a standalone DVR unit with no sub service but found both options lacking.


----------



## miketx

If the $299 deal comes back, I'll buy the OTA.....but only if the $299 deal comes back. The current prices on Tivo.com are a big NO-GO. I'm a lifetime subscriber and won't buy anything else.


----------



## eeagle

Mine too came yesterday and it is almost everything I had hoped.

I say almost because the remote has no decimal point ??

All the OTA channels in the nation seem to have a decimal point in their number.

The only way to tune a station is to pull up the TIVO guide and select.

Anyone know of a way to reprogram one of the abcd buttons to produce a decimal point?


----------



## aaronwt

eeagle said:


> Mine too came yesterday and it is almost everything I had hoped.
> 
> I say almost because the remote has no decimal point ??
> 
> All the OTA channels in the nation seem to have a decimal point in their number.
> 
> The only way to tune a station is to pull up the TIVO guide and select.
> 
> Anyone know of a way to reprogram one of the abcd buttons to produce a decimal point?


use the dash button. A channel can be listed as xx.1 or xx-1. But whether a remote has a decimal or a dash it accomplishes the same thing.


----------



## Dan203

Yeah it's the skip button that looks kinda like this...

(->|)


----------



## daschtick

Mine came yesterday, and it works fantastic! The picture is perfect, the menus are snappy, and best of all, my wife loves it too! The one remote and system solution for all of our OTA and streaming needs is the clincher - I am so glad I jumped on this offer!


----------



## Dan203

Dan203 said:


> I've got the opposite "problem". Just looked at my CC statement and I don't see the TiVo charge at all. Woohoo, free TiVo.
> 
> I'm sure they'll figure it out and charge me eventually.


They figured it out. The charge showed up on my CC this morning.


----------



## eeagle

Dan203 said:


> Yeah it's the skip button that looks kinda like this...
> 
> (->|)


Thanks Dan & aaronwt,

A quick search on TCF found the same answer as well as a blog on other shortcuts. I'm actually quite happy with the TIVO remote

The OTA was very easy to set up. I have already ordered a WD 3TB and an antenna for the attic.

Goodbye to all the crazy little cable bill charges; I like so many can get by in today's age with internet only.


----------



## jmbach

Just called TiVo about the $299 lifetime pricing. They stated it was a market test only available for a few days. Probably testing to see what the best price point will be.


----------



## zroger73

Common sense and my gut instinct tells me that this was far from a mistake. Otherwise, they'd have reacted much more quickly and thoroughly to the error - if not cancelling all "under-priced" orders as many companies do. It wouldn't surprise me to see this deal return in the not-too-distant future.


----------



## tarheelblue32

zroger73 said:


> Common sense and my gut instinct tells me that this was far from a mistake. Otherwise, they'd have reacted much more quickly and thoroughly to the error - if not cancelling all "under-priced" orders as many companies do. It wouldn't surprise me to see this deal return in the not-too-distant future.


I'm not so sure we'll see this price again. At $300, I just don't think there is enough profit in it for them.


----------



## b-ball-fanatic

tarheelblue32 said:


> I'm not so sure we'll see this price again. At $300, I just don't think there is enough profit in it for them.


Really? I would think that those boxes are pretty low cost....outsourced to the lowest bidder. Beyond that, they're just allowing access to guide data.


----------



## Dan203

Yeah I think it was intended to be a small market test and it just got away from them which is why they had to shut it down. At least they know there is significant demand at that price point. Might even be able to go up $50-$100 and still have interest.


----------



## tarheelblue32

Dan203 said:


> Yeah I think it was intended to be a small market test and it just got away from them which is why they had to shut it down. At least they know there is significant demand at that price point. Might even be able to go up $50-$100 and still have interest.


Yeah I pretty much take them at their word that this was a marketing test and the pent up demand at $300 was greater than they anticipated once word started spreading about it on the internets. The other "marketing test" links are still working, at least for now, so I assume the test is still ongoing for those other price points. I think we will soon see several different pricing options, including a lifetime option, on the official OTA page, but I doubt it will be for $300. I agree with you that maybe we see something in the $350-$400 range.


----------



## Dan203

I would have paid $350. $400 would probably have made me think twice though. But my usage scenario is different then most. This TiVo will be used as a Mini in a room that doesn't currently have one and as a way to record a single channel I can only get in HD via OTA. I'll likely use it as a backup for my network shows just because I can, that way if the cable is out or screwing up I'll have an alternative, but that's not really a selling point for me.


----------



## krkaufman

Dan203 said:


> At least they know there is significant demand at that price point. *Might even be able to go up $50-$100* and still have interest.


Exactly what I was thinking. If we see "this" again, I expect the next test would be more in the price range you suggest, $350-395.


----------



## Dixon Butz

Mine came today. 
Took out the 3TB from the old OTA. Popped it in a USB dock to delete partions. Put in in the new OTA which I never booted with the original HD. I didn't have time. 
Booted and let it prep.
Now I am transferring from PC to TiVo. Pulling with pyTivo. Some of the pulls have the wrong show name and metadata. Like the Tonight Show shows up as Late show with Seth Meyers.


----------



## zroger73

It's been 3 days since I ordered my Roamio OTA w/ lifetime and 2 days since I received it and set it up. It's been working just fine, even though the website still says "processing activation - try again in 24 hours" and both the failed and successful orders still appear as pending on my CC. I would have expected the successful one to have posted by now.


----------



## RonH

5/4 pending charge from the first (failed) attempt, dropped off as expected.

5/5 charge still 'pending', received the box on 5/6 and it's on my account. 

5/8 new charge, about $5 more than the previous charges. No email from TiVo, but it looks like the original two charges used the wrong tax rate as My Account shows today's amount for the order. Now waiting/watching for the 5/5 charge to fall off. 

No surprise I guess considering the chaos we likely contributed to 

Is it just me or is TiVo's site slow as lasses in winter


----------



## Dan203

When managing your account the speed of the site depends on the account. I have two, one for me and one for my family. When I log into mine it's super slooooow, but when I log into my families it's relatively snappy. Not sure what it is about my account that makes it so slow.


----------



## Random User 7

Dan203 said:


> Not sure what it is about my account that makes it so slow.


It's running on an old Windows 2000 server.


----------



## Random User 7

Still available if you know what you are doing

http://slickdeals.net/f/7839025-tiv...99-tivo-free-shipping?p=75904747#post75904747


----------



## confinoj

Random User 7 said:


> Still available if you know what you are doing
> 
> http://slickdeals.net/f/7839025-tiv...99-tivo-free-shipping?p=75904747#post75904747


Can someone explain how to do this? I didn't understand instructions in link.


----------



## zroger73

RonH said:


> 3/4 pending charge from the first (failed) attempt, dropped off as expected.
> 
> 3/5 charge still 'pending', received the box on 3/6 and it's on my account.
> 
> 3/8 new charge, about $5 more than the previous charges.
> 
> Is it just me or is TiVo's site slow as lasses in winter


Tivo's website has been _extremely_ slow for me since I got my first TiVo in 2012. It also _never_ remembers my login name despite checking the "remember my email" box. After I log in, things speeds up, but nowhere near as snappy as other websites. Sometimes it will log me out for no apparent reason and I have to start over.

Another error on the website occurs when I click "Add extended warranty" beside my TiVo. After a long lag, I either get a blank page that reads "2015 2015" or a 404 error. This behavior occurs on Safari on a Mac at home and Chrome on Windows at work.

Today, I noticed a third pending charge on my credit card. This one is for $324 (the correct amount including tax). The other two (incorrect) pending charges of $319 have been sitting there for 5 days now. One of those appeared after my first failed order attempt, the other appeared following a successful order.

(I assume your meant May instead of March in your posts?)


----------



## RonH

zroger73 said:


> Another error on the website occurs when I click "Add extended warranty" beside my TiVo. After a long lag, I either get a blank page that reads "2015 2015" or a 404 error.
> 
> (I assume your meant May instead of March in your posts?)


Duh, yeah, May, thanks for pointing that out!!!

Saw the same thing too when clicking on Add extended warranty.

Based on the script I had to allow at the very last step - submit order - I'm guessing a third party handled the order processing and might have gotten the wrong tax for many since the deal was really only (supposed to be) targeted to certain regions?


----------



## Random User 7

confinoj said:


> Can someone explain how to do this? I didn't understand instructions in link.


someone did it here
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showpost.php?p=75923251&postcount=48


----------



## Dixon Butz

Tivo waived the $75 early termination fee for my monthly OTA since I have a lifetime OTA!


----------



## Photo_guy

Dixon Butz said:


> Tivo waived the $75 early termination fee for my monthly OTA since I have a lifetime OTA!


Interesting. Did you just call and ask after turning on the new Lifetime OTA box?

I have a new $300 OTA/lifetime box arriving tomorrow. I was planning to keep the old OTA until the end of the 1 year commit and just run them both since the $75 penalty was about the same as my remaining monthly fees. 
This may change my plan.


----------



## Dixon Butz

Photo_guy said:


> Interesting. Did you just call and ask after turning on the new Lifetime OTA box?
> 
> I have a new $300 OTA/lifetime box arriving tomorrow. I was planning to keep the old OTA until the end of the 1 year commit and just run them both since the $75 penalty was about the same as my remaining monthly fees.
> This may change my plan.


I got the lifetime OTA last Thur and it was pre-activated. 
My monthly OTA was activated in March. 
When I called this morning, I didn't even ask about waiving the fee. I was going to ask, but didn't have to. The rep said she will ask someone if the fee can be waived. She said the fee was waived and gave me a case number.


----------



## heisman6183

So glad I jumped on this when it was first offered, got my OTA fast and set it up quickly, transferred recordings from Roamio and was all set. Best of luck to all who weren't able to get it at the $300, hopefully it comes back around soon.


----------



## RonH

Yeah, this was kindof like Black Friday, but May Madness instead I guess. Wonder if those making the call on this were in marketing and really had no clue what they had created or if they really just had a bunch of inventory and someone knew exactly how to move it - fast. I'm picturing someone in IT saying, hey everybody, watch THIS, as they click the mouse. 

Totally lucked out myself since I'm not lurking that often and don't remember what brought me here. But the thread title got my attention right away.


----------



## foghorn2

I don't think it was a blowout of inventory, its more like- let create excitement of the brand, sell some Tivo streams and attract more aerolas.


----------



## b-ball-fanatic

foghorn2 said:


> I don't think it was a blowout of inventory, its more like- let create excitement of the brand, sell some Tivo streams and *attract more aerolas.*


 How does _that _work?? lol


----------



## Dan203

LOL 

I think he was referring to Aereo users.


----------



## jroysdon

I was able to pick up one of these OTA units with a Lifetime sub for $299 . I ordered mine on May 4 and it shipped May 5. It arrived yesterday (I shipped to work, otherwise it'd have been to my house on Saturday) and we hooked it up last night.

I saw the info on Slickdeals, and to get it to work I did the following:

Created a Tivo account through the normal site.
Visited https://sjwww.tivo.com/TLP4 and was able to see the deal and order it.
Note that the first time I tried this I was accessing from the https://208.73.180.110/TLP4 link, and this glitched out after I submitted my credit card info. 

I suspect it has been completely pulled offline for now as I cannot repeat the same order. 

However, glad to have purchased mine and glad to have no fees "forever."


----------



## eric_n_dfw

Dang it! I wish I had seen this - I'm still within my initial 30 days on my OTA box and would have exchanged it to get the deal.


----------



## Brianone

It clearly states that the OTA is $15/month and does not have a lifetime subscription--- it is also $50.

the Pro however does have a lifetime subscription of $499 and costs $180


----------



## HarperVision

Brianone said:


> It clearly states that the OTA is $15/month and does not have a lifetime subscription--- it is also $50. the Pro however does have a lifetime subscription of $499 and costs $180


There was a temporary special offered for a Roamio OTA with Lifetime service for $299. Quite a few people took advantage of it, so it was real.

The Pro is not $180, more like $480 or so.


----------



## jroysdon

HarperVision said:


> There was a temporary special offered for a Roamio OTA with Lifetime service for $299. Quite a few people took advantage of it, so it was real.
> 
> The Pro is not $180, more like $480 or so.


Yup.


----------



## dslunceford

The slickdeals walkthrough works. Have two sitting in my cart right now. Trying to decide if there's any reason to grab - I already have a Roamio and three minis with LT, and one of those minis is new in box. Will definitely be keeping FiOS/cable for another 18 months, so no real reason to grab other than getting the deal...


----------



## zroger73

dslunceford said:


> Trying to decide if there's any reason to grab


They've been fetching about $400 on eBay over the last couple of weeks.

$299 + 8% tax = $324 investment

$400 - 10% eBay fee - 5% PayPal fee = $340 net sale

If you offer free shipping, then you might break even. Otherwise, you might make $25.

There's probably a lot of people who bought these at $299 thinking they'd make a profit on eBay only to be very disappointed.


----------



## dslunceford

zroger73 said:


> They've been fetching about $400 on eBay over the last couple of weeks.
> 
> $299 + 8% tax = $324 investment
> 
> $400 - 10% eBay fee - 5% PayPal fee = $340 net sale
> 
> If you offer free shipping, then you might break even. Otherwise, you might make $25.
> 
> There's probably a lot of people who bought these at $299 thinking they'd make a profit on eBay only to be very disappointed.


Yeah. too much work for that. I'm just wondering if I grab to replace then sell off the minis. On the flip side, 18 months is a long time and there may be better hardware or pricing at that time.


----------



## 4d3fect

Box arrived Tues (Was sitting in Mesquite for almost five days, weird), only just now have had time to unbox and install. Picked up our three OTA channels from our indoor Monoprice antenna no prob. Not bad interface, seems to work well enough on my wireless network. Linked to my Amazon, MLB, Vudu, Netflix, Pandora, Vimeo. So far, so good. We'll see how the WAF plays out over the next 30 days. Would like a more centralized GUI like the ROKU we've become accustomed to. If we keep this, it'll pay for itself in under a year. Thanks all for the help.


----------



## confinoj

I can't believe it but I signed in to my Tivo account today and last week I must have added the Roamio OTA for $299 to my cart without realizing it and it was still there! So I ordered it. It's actually going to be a house warming gift for a friend who is ditching cable. I had told her we could get it for her but the deal went away too fast. I have a Roamio basic with lifetime that I got for $400 with loyalty deal that I use just OTA.


----------



## Random User 7

How about that it is in my cart too


----------



## SilverPony

This is really great news for those currently buying. Bad news foe those like me- that shelled out over $350 for the Roamio with. 3 GB hard drive but still had to pay $500 for lifetime service less than 2 months ago!!:down: I have been a long time TiVo customer and could not get any type of discount on lifetime service because my TiVo series 2 broke so I did not have any active equipment to qualify for the $399 lifetime service. Feel really like I got ripped off....


----------



## aaronwt

SilverPony said:


> This is really great news for those currently buying. Bad news foe those like me- that shelled out over $350 for the Roamio with. 3 GB hard drive but still had to pay $500 for lifetime service less than 2 months ago!!:down: I have been a long time TiVo customer and could not get any type of discount on lifetime service because my TiVo series 2 broke so I did not have any active equipment to qualify for the $399 lifetime service. Feel really like I got ripped off....


How so? How about those of us that got launch Roamios? We paid even more.


----------



## HarperVision

SilverPony said:


> This is really great news for those currently buying. Bad news foe those like me- that shelled out over $350 for the Roamio with. 3 GB hard drive but still had to pay $500 for lifetime service less than 2 months ago!!:down: I have been a long time TiVo customer and could not get any type of discount on lifetime service because my TiVo series 2 broke so I did not have any active equipment to qualify for the $399 lifetime service. Feel really like I got ripped off....


You could have used the PLSR discount code to get $100 off lifetime service.

I think you mean 3 TB drive no?


----------



## leechildfan

The slickdeals walk through as mentioned at the bottom of page 7 of this thread still works to get the OTA "deal". Just bought one.


----------



## master_yoda13

leechildfan said:


> The slickdeals walk through as mentioned at the bottom of page 7 of this thread still works to get the OTA "deal". Just bought one.


I tried to follow instructions and it didn't work. Any chance you can post a video of the walk-through? I purchased tablo dvr and not too happy with it. I'd switch to Tivo for $300 if I can get that deal.


----------



## Random User 7

I still have one in my cart if you can't figure it out. Not sure how we would work the payment out but I'm sure it's possible.


----------



## master_yoda13

Random User 7 said:


> I still have one in my cart if you can't figure it out. Not sure how we would work the payment out but I'm sure it's possible.


Can you add one more to the cart? My brother maybe interested in one as well. I'm sure we can figure something out via paypal.


----------



## master_yoda13

master_yoda13 said:


> Can you add one more to the cart? My brother maybe interested in one as well. I'm sure we can figure something out via paypal.


On second thought, paypal + shipping to a different address may be too expensive. Arrrrrr, why does it have to be so complicated???


----------



## bradleys

master_yoda13 said:


> On second thought, paypal + shipping to a different address may be too expensive. Arrrrrr, why does it have to be so complicated???


Easiest way would be to contact via PM the guy that has this figured out. Offer him $5.00 via pay pal to log into your account and put it in your cart. Once he is done, change your password.


----------



## eric_n_dfw

master_yoda13 said:


> I tried to follow instructions and it didn't work. Any chance you can post a video of the walk-through? I purchased tablo dvr and not too happy with it. I'd switch to Tivo for $300 if I can get that deal.


Make sure you note the "edit" in the slickdeals page that mentions a different pastebin link. The original pastebin one fails.

(I just used it successfully too)


----------



## DTxAg

No luck, fails on the credit card authorization. Says it can be charged but I can't complete the order. There are 3 pending charges to my card but no confirmed orders. This is true even with the edited pastebin.


----------



## JBDragon

Is there any Benefit for having more then one TIVO? If you for example have 2 Roamio Boxes, does that mean you could record up to 8 programs at once and access the content on both Tivo's? Would recording a show on one Tivo show up as being recorded so it doesn't record on the other Tivo? Or stick with 1 Tivo and use Tivo Mini's?

Right now I've been using Media Center for the last 3 years and Xbox 360's for Extenders for my HDTV's. To I assume TIVO is basically my Computer and the Tivo Mini's are acting like the Extenders. So throwing another TIVO in the Mix wouldn't be best? I've already thrown in a 3TB WD Green drive into it before I even plugged the new TIVO in and it's been working great. It'll be a few months yet before I start to make the switch over to TIVO from Media Center for everyone. I'm just wondeirng if there is any Benifit for a second Tivo Roamio over just getting a Tivo Mini.

I did get the Tivo Stream. and I guess it allows you to stream to up to 4 devices at once. Though it would be mostly to only 1. Took a bit to get it working, but now works great on my iPhone and iPad to stream content or download which would come in handy and it's Simple to use. No plugging into a computer and transferring or anything.
I have 1 Tivo Mini so far that I haven't hooked up yet. Just wondering if another Tivo is worth wild or just get another Tivo Mini.


----------



## krkaufman

JBDragon said:


> Is there any Benefit for having more then one TIVO?


Might I suggest you repost this as its own thread? I think you'd get more attention and responses were it not hidden down inside this unrelated thread, and the pros/cons of 2 DVRs vs DVR/Mini would be good information to capture.


----------



## L David Matheny

JBDragon said:


> Is there any Benefit for having more then one TIVO? If you for example have 2 Roamio Boxes, does that mean you could record up to 8 programs at once and access the content on both Tivo's? Would recording a show on one Tivo show up as being recorded so it doesn't record on the other Tivo? Or stick with 1 Tivo and use Tivo Mini's?
> 
> Right now I've been using Media Center for the last 3 years and Xbox 360's for Extenders for my HDTV's. To I assume TIVO is basically my Computer and the Tivo Mini's are acting like the Extenders. So throwing another TIVO in the Mix wouldn't be best? I've already thrown in a 3TB WD Green drive into it before I even plugged the new TIVO in and it's been working great. It'll be a few months yet before I start to make the switch over to TIVO from Media Center for everyone. I'm just wondeirng if there is any Benifit for a second Tivo Roamio over just getting a Tivo Mini.


As krkaufman says, this is OT for this thread, but I'll answer it here anyway. With 2 Roamio (basic) boxes, you could record up to 8 programs at once, and you could stream or copy content from one to the other for viewing, but the boxes would record independently. The "cooperative scheduling" which you describe has been requested but never delivered by TiVo, and they probably don't consider it a high priority feature.

I'm OTA only. For antenna users, the potential benefit of using two TiVo boxes is that you could connect two antennas (aimed at two different nearby markets) to the two boxes without the compromises involved in trying to combine antenna signals. You would set up different OnePasses on the two boxes. I suppose you could do the same thing with feeds from two different cable companies, but it seems unlikely that anybody would actually do that. So for most people in most situations the TiVo Mini probably makes more sense, unless you really need lots of extra tuners.


----------



## leechildfan

bradleys said:


> Easiest way would be to contact via PM the guy that has this figured out. Offer him $5.00 via pay pal to log into your account and put it in your cart. Once he is done, change your password.


master_yoda13: I was thinking the same thing but won't need a PayPal payment to do this. I've sent you a PM so you can reply back to me with your log in info if you would like and I can add an OTA to your cart. I would recommend you change your password first to something else and then after I'm done you can change it back to your normal password.

I've already got a cart loaded up with one OTA and I just need to access your account for you to get it. You will be able to change the number for more OTA's if you desire. I've tested it and the items will remain in your cart after I log out. Just standing by to hear from you!


----------



## Brudha

I don't believe you can actually complete placing an order any longer. 'Processing your order...' spins forever and never goes through. Update if anyone is successful and gets confirmation.


----------



## eric_n_dfw

Brudha said:


> I don't believe you can actually complete placing an order any longer. 'Processing your order...' spins forever and never goes through. Update if anyone is successful and gets confirmation.


Did you use the newer JSON content? That behavior sounds like that of the original one.


----------



## leechildfan

It still works for me. I just purchased another one and have a confirmed order in my account for $299.99 plus tax.


----------



## master_yoda13

leechildfan said:


> It still works for me. I just purchased another one and have a confirmed order in my account for $299.99 plus tax.


Finally was able to purchase one. Also got Stream from Amazon, so I'll check out both devices this week.


----------



## Dan203

Looks like they've bumped the price to $399 and made it permanent.

http://www.tivo.com/roamioota2176

I think that's a good call. :up: I wish they would lower the lifetime fee for cable devices too.


----------



## DallasGG

Dan203 said:


> Looks like they've bumped the price to $399 and made it permanent.
> 
> http://www.tivo.com/roamioota2176
> 
> I think that's a good call. :up: I wish they would lower the lifetime fee for cable devices too.


I bought my first Tivo with the $299 Roamio OTA/lifetime deal. I doubt I would have paid $399 for the same deal. For me $299 was the price that got me to bite. At $299 it's a little more expensive than the Channel Master DVR+ (which I also have and paid $175 for last Black Friday) and I was willing to pay a little more to try a Tivo based on having 4 tuners instead of 2 with the DVR+.


----------



## HarperVision

Now it may be worth looking into adding a third party PCMCIA socket to the OTA to use a cablecard. If it's under $100 to do the mod maybe.


----------



## johnner1999

Dan203 said:


> Looks like they've bumped the price to $399 and made it permanent.
> 
> http://www.tivo.com/roamioota2176
> 
> I think that's a good call. :up: I wish they would lower the lifetime fee for cable devices too.


what if you just bought an OTA but didn't activate it yet.... you can still go monthly correct?


----------



## aaronwt

Dan203 said:


> Looks like they've bumped the price to $399 and made it permanent.
> 
> http://www.tivo.com/roamioota2176
> 
> I think that's a good call. :up: I wish they would lower the lifetime fee for cable devices too.


That is weird. That page has the Roamio OTA for $400 with lifetime.
But just below it there is still a $500 one time payment option which looks like it gives you service for two years. Or even if that's actually lifetime I don't understand why it's on the same page.

EDIT: whoops... I guess the $500 deal is for the Roamio BAsic.


----------



## krkaufman

HarperVision said:


> Now it may be worth looking into adding a third party PCMCIA socket to the OTA to use a cablecard. *If it's under $100 to do the mod maybe.*


Is the CableCard adapter on the Roamio Basic removable? At that price threshold, I'd expect one could find a non-Lifetime Roamio Basic on eBay with which to experiment.

(edit: though the value of such a mod for a $400 OTA w/ Lifetime is somewhat diminished given a Basic w/ Lifetime can easily be had for $550, or even less)


----------



## bradleys

krkaufman said:


> Is the CableCard adapter on the Roamio Basic removable? At that price threshold, I'd expect one could find a non-Lifetime Roamio Basic on eBay with which to experiment.
> 
> (edit: though the value of such a mod for a $400 OTA w/ Lifetime is somewhat diminished given a Basic w/ Lifetime can easily be had for $550, or even less)


Yes, as an initial purchase - but if a guy several years down the road wanted to convert his OTA TiVo to a cable card TiVo - it would be a viable option.


----------



## HarperVision

krkaufman said:


> Is the CableCard adapter on the Roamio Basic removable? At that price threshold, I'd expect one could find a non-Lifetime Roamio Basic on eBay with which to experiment. (edit: though the value of such a mod for a $400 OTA w/ Lifetime is somewhat diminished given a Basic w/ Lifetime can easily be had for $550, or even less)


At worst it's nothing a soldering iron couldn't take care of! 

I agree on the cost vs a basic, which is why I haven't really pursued it much further other than as a fun experiment.


----------



## krkaufman

HarperVision said:


> I agree on the cost vs a basic, which is why I haven't really pursued it much further other than as a fun experiment.


Has anyone really "pursued" it? Or only pondered it?

I haven't seen any reports of anyone actually installing a CableCard adapter into an OTA, yet, whether of 3rd party or Roamio Basic origins.


----------



## HarperVision

krkaufman said:


> Has anyone really "pursued" it? Or only pondered it? I haven't seen any reports of anyone actually installing a CableCard adapter into an OTA, yet, whether of 3rd party or Roamio Basic origins.


I haven't installed the Cablecard port, but I have hooked up a TA which kicked in the menu to do guided setup for cable TV, which I did and watched clear QAM mapped to its correct channel numbers. To me that points to being able to plug in a CC and have it do the same thing but with encrypted channels.


----------



## krkaufman

HarperVision said:


> I haven't installed the Cablecard port, but I have hooked up a TA which kicked in the menu to do guided setup for cable TV, which I did and watched clear QAM mapped to its correct channel numbers. To me that points to being able to plug in a CC and have it do the same thing but with encrypted channels.


Ah, ok, good to know. (So I'll continue stalking eBay for a Basic that strays from the pack.)


----------



## GregNOLA

I know this is a very old thread.

In May of 2015 I bought a Roamio OTA Lifetime with TLP6 ($19.99 for 2 years $480 total). I noticed that TiVo was still charging me $19.99. I'vd paid $520 to date on this box. I called yesterday and they told me they have no record of TLP6 (they didn't even know what it was) and they told me I had a 2 year subscription at $19.99/mo. They automatically put me in a monthly fee of $19.99/mo FOREVER. Or I could pay an additional $150 for lifetime. I argued for what seemed to be an hour and repeatedly asked to talk to her boss. Eventually the rep said she will escalate this to the "back office" and they should be able to "work with me on this one."

Has anyone else had a similar experience or some insight on this?


----------



## sfhub

GregNOLA said:


> In May of 2015 I bought a Roamio OTA Lifetime with TLP6 ($19.99 for 2 years $480 total). I noticed that TiVo was still charging me $19.99. I'vd paid $520 to date on this box. I called yesterday and they told me they have no record of TLP6 (they didn't even know what it was) and they told me I had a 2 year subscription at $19.99/mo. They automatically put me in a monthly fee of $19.99/mo FOREVER. Or I could pay an additional $150 for lifetime. I argued for what seemed to be an hour and repeatedly asked to talk to her boss. Eventually the rep said she will escalate this to the "back office" and they should be able to "work with me on this one."


For those that don't know what a TLP6 plan was (like me)
TiVo Roamio OTA DVR - Page 11 - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews

Just curious, do you have records for signing up on the TLP6 plan. I think if you do, eventually you can escalate high enough that it'll get fixed (you should get a refund IMO). If not, you might still get it done, but will probably be more effort.

I am always a bit nervous on these plans where the payout is not until much later because many times the terms are no longer available down the line so I like to get everything in writing up front when I make the purchase because I know one week later I will forget everything until a problem arises.


----------



## mdavej

GregNOLA said:


> I know this is a very old thread.
> 
> In May of 2015 I bought a Roamio OTA Lifetime with TLP6 ($19.99 for 2 years $480 total). I noticed that TiVo was still charging me $19.99. I'vd paid $520 to date on this box. I called yesterday and they told me they have no record of TLP6 (they didn't even know what it was) and they told me I had a 2 year subscription at $19.99/mo. They automatically put me in a monthly fee of $19.99/mo FOREVER. Or I could pay an additional $150 for lifetime. I argued for what seemed to be an hour and repeatedly asked to talk to her boss. Eventually the rep said she will escalate this to the "back office" and they should be able to "work with me on this one."
> 
> Has anyone else had a similar experience or some insight on this?


Show them this or screen capture or print and email to them if they have no record of such an offer:
OTA Pricing Tests


----------



## GregNOLA

Thank you very much. I felt like I was arguing my case well but I didn't have the actual offer in hand.

Now I do. Thanks again !!!


----------



## GregNOLA

A quick update:

Tivo said they would call me back within 24 hours of my conversation Friday. I called back today and the representative from Friday did not make the case number or make any notes on my account. That's a bit frustrating. So I went through all the details with the new representative. I now have a case number and a contact and I sent an email to the "back office" with mjdave's link and an explanation of my situation.


----------



## GregNOLA

Tivo has responded. They said my understanding of this plan is incorrect. It was essentially a "rent-to-own plan" (their words) where I paid nothing for the box and paid $19.99 for 2 years service included. At the end of the term, I own the box but have no service and that's why it went month-to-month. Why they charged me $19.99 instead of the typical $14.95 since the 2-year had expired seems wrong to me.

I said "Wow, that's a terrible offer. Who would pay $19.99 forever for an OTA box!"

The only thing they would offer me is a lifetime membership for an additional $199.99 which would put my total all-in cost for a lifetime membership at $760.00 or a monthly fee of $9.99 FOREVER.

I've been a TiVo customer (actually my wife) for 10 years. This is sickening.


----------



## tampa8

GregNOLA said:


> Tivo has responded. They said my understanding of this plan is incorrect. It was essentially a "rent-to-own plan" (their words) where I paid nothing for the box and paid $19.99 for 2 years service included. At the end of the term, I own the box but have no service and that's why it went month-to-month. Why they charged me $19.99 instead of the typical $14.95 since the 2-year had expired seems wrong to me.
> 
> I said "Wow, that's a terrible offer. Who would pay $19.99 forever for an OTA box!"
> 
> The only thing they would offer me is a lifetime membership for an additional $199.99 which would put my total all-in cost for a lifetime membership at $760.00 or a monthly fee of $9.99 FOREVER.
> 
> I've been a TiVo customer (actually my wife) for 10 years. This is sickening.


As an outsider reading it, looks like you paid nothing for the receiver, then for two years paid $9.99 for service and $10 for the payment of the box for a total of $19.99 per month. After two years you paid $240 for the receiver and would continue to pay $9.99 a month, stop service or get the all in deal. I don't think TIVO was giving away service after two years, they don't for anyone else. The deal looks like it made the purchase easier by making it installments and requiring you to keep service for that period. After the deal is over the cost should be $9.99 a month if you continue - or $199 one time for all in.


----------



## WS65711

GregNOLA said:


> Tivo has responded. They said my understanding of this plan is incorrect. It was essentially a "rent-to-own plan" (their words) where I paid nothing for the box and paid $19.99 for 2 years service included. At the end of the term, I own the box but have no service and that's why it went month-to-month. Why they charged me $19.99 instead of the typical $14.95 since the 2-year had expired seems wrong to me.
> 
> I said "Wow, that's a terrible offer. Who would pay $19.99 forever for an OTA box!"
> 
> The only thing they would offer me is a lifetime membership for an additional $199.99 which would put my total all-in cost for a lifetime membership at $760.00 or a monthly fee of $9.99 FOREVER.
> 
> I've been a TiVo customer (actually my wife) for 10 years. This is sickening.


I posted to AVS about this to see if anyone has had a positive experience with TiVo regarding the terms of this offer...

AVS post


----------



## aaronwt

$19.99 sounds right. You would need to change the subscription to get a lower price. It has worked for me at the opposite end of the spectrum. I have a $6.95 a month plan on a Roamio. Which is charged to the box indefinitely. To change it I need to sign up for different subscription pricing. But for me all those prices are higher.

I remember when that no money down pricing plan came out. I remember thinking that it was a very, very bad deal


----------



## GregNOLA

From my perspective, any monthly plan for a Tivo is bad plan.

I was after a lifetime plan at the time and the way it was explained to me on the AVS forum and from Tivo when I called and set it up was not the way it turned out to be.


----------



## NashGuy

I do remember that back then a Roamio OTA could be bought for $99 from Best Buy and monthly service could be bought for $15/mo. So under the "TLP6" deal, it looks like they were charging $20/mo for two years for both service and hardware and at the end of the two years, you owned the hardware. That's basically like charging you the regular $15/mo service charge and a total cost of $120 for the box spread out at $5/mo over 24 months. Based on what I can see of the archived webpage, I don't see any indications that the deal was supposed to include lifetime service at the end of the 24 months.

It does seem wrong, though, if TiVo continued to charge $20/mo after the initial 24 months. It seems like the ongoing monthly charge should have lowered to whatever was the regular price for monthly service alone at that time.


----------



## sfhub

GregNOLA said:


> Tivo has responded. They said my understanding of this plan is incorrect. It was essentially a "rent-to-own plan" (their words) where I paid nothing for the box and paid $19.99 for 2 years service included. At the end of the term, I own the box but have no service and that's why it went month-to-month. Why they charged me $19.99 instead of the typical $14.95 since the 2-year had expired seems wrong to me.
> 
> I said "Wow, that's a terrible offer. Who would pay $19.99 forever for an OTA box!"
> 
> The only thing they would offer me is a lifetime membership for an additional $199.99 which would put my total all-in cost for a lifetime membership at $760.00 or a monthly fee of $9.99 FOREVER.
> 
> I've been a TiVo customer (actually my wife) for 10 years. This is sickening.


Did you point out to them that the TLP3 offer was for
$50 + $400 = $450 for Roamio OTA + Lifetime
and you chose to finance that offer using the TLP6 offer at
$20 * 24 = $480 for Roamio OTA + Lifetime

OTA Pricing Tests - TLP3

So basically they are claiming you chose to pay
$0 + $20 * forever
because you didn't want to "splurge" and buy the unit (without service) for $50 then pay monthly?
$50 + $15 * forever

After 10 months, you would be paying more on TLP6. That makes zero sense.


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## GregNOLA

I see. I changed my monthly plan to what they offered ($9.99/mo) while I figure out what I ultimately want to do. My break even on the $199.99 offer is 20 months. I wasn't sure what to do and wanted a cool head when I decide.

I tried every angle possible to make them understand that TLP6 they way they see it is a horrible offer. I just couldn't get them to budge on it.


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## aaronwt

sfhub said:


> Did you point out to them that the TLP3 offer was for
> $50 + $400 = $450 for Roamio OTA + Lifetime
> and you chose to finance that offer using the TLP6 offer at
> $20 * 24 = $480 for Roamio OTA + Lifetime
> 
> OTA Pricing Tests
> 
> So basically they are claiming you chose to pay
> $0 + $20 * forever
> because you didn't want to "splurge" and buy the unit (without service) for $50 then pay monthly?
> $50 + $15 * forever
> 
> After 10 months, you would be paying more on TLP6. That makes zero sense.


Which is exactly why it was an extremely bad deal.

But I guess it allowed a person to get a TiVo for nothing up front. And obviously some people took advantage of it. But the long term result was to get severely reamed.


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## sfhub

GregNOLA said:


> I tried every angle possible to make them understand that TLP6 they way they see it is a horrible offer. I just couldn't get them to budge on it.


You may want to file a "dispute" with TiVo that eventually will go to arbitration, but often will get you someone with more sense contacting you to resolve the issue.

Tivo Unresponsive to Fixing Issues - Try Dispute Resolution


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## sfhub

GregNOLA said:


> I see. I changed my monthly plan to what they offered ($9.99/mo) while I figure out what I ultimately want to do. My break even on the $199.99 offer is 20 months. I wasn't sure what to do and wanted a cool head when I decide.
> 
> I tried every angle possible to make them understand that TLP6 they way they see it is a horrible offer. I just couldn't get them to budge on it.


You should point out that TLP4 used the exact same language "Service included" for Service Plan as TLP6. TLP4 had the footnote that Product Lifetime service is included with the purchase of your Roamio OTA.

Only TLP4 and TLP6 did not include any service plan options for you to choose. The others (except for TLP3 where you were explicitly buying lifetime as the service) specified the initial pricing and the terms after the pricing expired.

This is strong evidence TLP4 and TLP6 "Service included" was meant to include lifetime service. They use the same language and both do not specify the terms after the period in question.

The folks you are speaking with now are claiming that the footnote on TLP6
*2 includes payments of $19.99 per month with a 2-year payment plan. No service subscription required.

Means no further commitment required, whereas the language of TLP4 matching TLP6 (ie "Service Plan: Service included") as well as no specification of the service options after the initial period, make the case that "No service subscription required." means the unit would continue to function with no service subscription required.

My guess is they messed up the billing programming for this offer and they are screwing over more people than you.

BTW after this price experimentation exercise, the pricing model they ended up going with was TLP4, $300 for Roamio OTA 500 with lifetime included.

Here is a summary of the 6 offers TLP1-TLP6


Code:


TLP1 = $100 + $10/mo (1yr commit, mo-2-mo after)
TLP2 = $ 50 + $150/yr (1yr commit, avg $12.50/mo)
TLP3 = $ 50 + $400 one time (pay once for lifetime of your unit)
TLP4 = $300 (service included *2) [*2 Product Lifetime service is included with the purchase of your Roamio OTA.]
TLP5 = $150 + $7/mo (1yr commit, mo-2-mo after)
TLP6 = $  0 + $20/mo (2yr payment plan *2, service included) [*2 includes payments of $19.99 per month with a 2-year payment plan. No service subscription required]

OTA Pricing Tests - TLP1
OTA Pricing Tests - TLP2
OTA Pricing Tests - TLP3
OTA Pricing Tests - TLP4
OTA Pricing Tests - TLP5
OTA Pricing Tests - TLP6


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## GregNOLA

Bingo, I checked my original order confirmation and this is what the fine print says:

"Your monthly service plan of $19.99 per month comes with a 2-year commitment. An early termination fee of up to $150 ($150 during the first 12 months reduced to $75 during months 13-24) applies if you choose to terminate prior to the end of your 2-year commitment. Your monthly subscription will continue after the 2-year commitment period at the same monthly rate until you cancel by calling TiVo."

I don't have any other proof I actually ordered TLP6. Somehow I got signed up for $19.99/mo forever. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.


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## sfhub

GregNOLA said:


> Bingo, I checked my original order confirmation and this is what the fine print says:
> 
> "Your monthly service plan of $19.99 per month comes with a 2-year commitment. An early termination fee of up to $150 ($150 during the first 12 months reduced to $75 during months 13-24) applies if you choose to terminate prior to the end of your 2-year commitment. Your monthly subscription will continue after the 2-year commitment period at the same monthly rate until you cancel by calling TiVo."
> 
> I don't have any other proof I actually ordered TLP6. Somehow I got signed up for $19.99/mo forever. This is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.


 you are right, from the confirmation text you listed as receiving, this sounds like one of the worst deals out of the bunch. Now there is always the question of what the offer you signed up for intended. The confirmation you received may not have matched the offer. With the recent PLS transfer offer, they said the unit you are transferring the lifetime from would be deactivated some time period after you *connected* your new unit, but then they sent out all this email that basically said you have until this date before we deactivate your units, but then only some people got deactivated and others didn't.

You can still make the case that the offer was one thing and the confirmation said something else, but it is a weaker case because you waited so long to notice the terms in the order confirmation.

I think the best argument you can make is you signed up for TLP6 based on the footnote in the offer and the confirmation email added terms to the footnote that weren't in the original offer without making absolutely clear that the terms of the offer were being modified and giving you a chance to cancel.


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## GregNOLA

I called Tivo back and took them up on the $9.99/mo they offered. This was 7-10 days before my billing date. I specifically asked and they assured me it would be reflected on my next bill. But rest assured, they billed and charged me for $19.99 again.

So I called them back... again... and they said the $9.99 was approved by the "back office" but not applied to my account. It would have to go to the "back office" again. And it would take 14 business days to refund the $10 they overcharged me.

Has anyone else dealt with this infamous "back office" and why can't the people in the billing department do anything? They kept telling that don't they have the authority to change the monthly price but they are the billing department.


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## shwru980r

GregNOLA said:


> I called Tivo back and took them up on the $9.99/mo they offered. This was 7-10 days before my billing date. I specifically asked and they assured me it would be reflected on my next bill. But rest assured, they billed and charged me for $19.99 again.
> 
> So I called them back... again... and they said the $9.99 was approved by the "back office" but not applied to my account. It would have to go to the "back office" again. And it would take 14 business days to refund the $10 they overcharged me.
> 
> Has anyone else dealt with this infamous "back office" and why can't the people in the billing department do anything? They kept telling that don't they have the authority to change the monthly price but they are the billing department.


The only leverage you have is to cancel the service. At that point, they might offer you a discounted rate on lifetime service to retain you as a customer.


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