# Tivo Premier at Walmart



## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

My local WM has the Tivo Premiers discounted to $98. Been a while since I've purchased a Tivo. If I do get one of these, what are the procedures to go through as far as setup? Is it just a matter of calling Tivo with the particulars of the new unit? My Tivo HD was setup by the cable guy a few years ago. Is this something I can do, or will the cable guy have to do it again? Also, am I able to keep paying the $12.xx monthly fee I've been paying or a new price?


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## Coolgrnmen (Feb 26, 2014)

I'm also interested in this answer.


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

A Roamio would be a smarter choice, $98 for a Premiere with no service is not a good deal. I believe $99 was the retail price.

If you are really sold on a Premiere the following Member/Moderator has one with Lifetime and Extended Warranty For Sale for $350 OBO
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=514067


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

CoxInPHX said:


> A Roamio would be a smarter choice, $98 for a Premiere with no service is not a good deal. I believe $99 was the retail price.
> 
> If you are really sold on a Premiere the following Member/Moderator has one with Lifetime and Extended Warranty For Sale for $350 OBO
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=514067


No service? Not sure what that means. My main reason for wanting the Premier is for OTA capability.


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## WVZR1 (Jul 31, 2008)

mp11 said:


> No service? Not sure what that means. My main reason for wanting the Premier is for OTA capability.


Your HD should do OTA also and if you're paying $12 you need to call TiVo - I don't believe you would have any trouble getting a $99 lifetime. How long have you been paying $12?

The comment "no service" means there is no subscription to TiVo services included. The $98 Walmart isn't a deal.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

WVZR1 said:


> Your HD should do OTA also and if you're paying $12 you need to call TiVo - I don't believe you would have any trouble getting a $99 lifetime. How long have you been paying $12?
> 
> The comment "no service" means there is no subscription to TiVo services included. The $98 Walmart isn't a deal.


Yes my TivoHD is connected to OTA, but it's starting to show it's age, and my understanding is Premier is the only OTA capable Tivo available. I've been paying $12/mo since I got the TivoHD(about 5 years now). 
I know nothing about this $99 lifetime. What is it and how does it work, and would I be able to get it with this WM Premier? Thanks.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

mp11 said:


> Yes my TivoHD is connected to OTA, but it's starting to show it's age, and my understanding is Premier is the only OTA capable Tivo available. I've been paying $12/mo since I got the TivoHD(about 5 years now).
> I know nothing about this $99 lifetime. What is it and how does it work, and would I be able to get it with this WM Premier? Thanks.


I would not buy a new Premiere that didn't come with lifetime- if you did I would return it. The Base Roamio is a 4 tuner unit that does OTA *OR* cable. Regarding the $99 lifetime, TiVo many times offers this to owners of older units who upgrade and transfer/cancel their service on the older unit.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

atmuscarella said:


> I would not buy a new Premiere that didn't come with lifetime- if you did I would return it. The Base Roamio is a 4 tuner unit that does OTA *OR* cable. Regarding the $99 lifetime, TiVo many times offers this to owners of older units who upgrade and transfer/cancel their service on the older unit.


OK I didn't know the Roamio had OTA input. And with 4 tuners...nice! However the Roamio price of $200 vs $98? Maybe the better deal comes with Roamio with a $99 lifetime? Can someone explain the lifetime? I'm assuming it to mean $99 per year?


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

mp11 said:


> I've been paying $12/mo since I got the TivoHD(about 5 years now).


You've then paid $600 in monthly fees, and 'lifetime' means for the lifetime of the unit. If you should get a Roamio, you would likely be offered a $99 lifetime deal on the HD since you have made payments for >3 years, meaning for a $99 fee you'd pay no more monthly ever on that unit. It is not transferable to a Roamio. Lifetime on a new unit is $500, but can often be had for $400.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

moonscape said:


> You've then paid $600 in monthly fees, and 'lifetime' means for the lifetime of the unit. If you should get a Roamio, you would likely be offered a $99 lifetime deal on the HD since you have made payments for >3 years, meaning for a $99 fee you'd pay no more monthly ever on that unit. It is not transferable to a Roamio. Lifetime on a new unit is $500, but can often be had for $400.


1- I've noticed in photos that the roamio only shows 1 RF coax input. How will it accept a cable and antenna coax together? Or am I missing something?
2- Let me get this straight...they wouldn't give me the $99 lifetime on the new Roamio? My idea was to ditch the HD and use the Roamio(don't need 2 units). Is the $99 offered only on the near extinct units? Sorry this is sounding a bit confusing.


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## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

Throw a few more dollars at it and get a Roamio. The Roamio is the nicest, fastest and smoothest TiVo yet. The Premiere is much slower in every regard, still better than a cable box DVR but not that much better than a TiVo HD. IMHO
The Roamio, or in my case the Roamio Pro is the *Rock Star* of the DVR world.


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

mp11 said:


> 1- I've noticed in photos that the roamio only shows 1 RF coax input. How will it accept a cable and antenna coax together? Or am I missing something?
> 2- Let me get this straight...they wouldn't give me the $99 lifetime on the new Roamio? My idea was to ditch the HD and use the Roamio(don't need 2 units). Is the $99 offered only on the near extinct units? Sorry this is sounding a bit confusing.


The Roamio basic model has a single coax connector, it can do either Ota or digital cable, just not both. Unlike the older models when you do the guided setup you must choose between OTA or digital cable, the higher end Roamio Plus and Pro don't permit OTA and are only digital cable.

The $99 lifetime offer is to upgrade your existing HD and add the new Roamio, you can then either keep both TiVo's or sell the HD that has lifetime to recoup some of your expense from buying the Roamio. The Tivo HD typically sell for around $200 if it has lifetime otherwise it's not worth much.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

eboydog said:


> The Roamio basic model has a single coax connector, it can do either Ota or digital cable, just not both.


THAT I don't get. I mean, who would go through the trouble of disconnecting and reconnecting coax cables to switch between the two? Not me. :down: At least with the Premier, with both coaxes coming in, the EPG has realtime programming info for both. Tivo missed the boat on this one IMO.



eboydog said:


> The $99 lifetime offer is to upgrade your existing HD and add the new Roamio, you can then either keep both TiVo's or sell the HD that has lifetime to recoup some of your expense from buying the Roamio. The Tivo HD typically sell for around $200 if it has lifetime otherwise it's not worth much.


so it sounds like I can only get the $99 lifetime on my TivoHD *IF* I also purchase another Tivo? 
From what I'm hearing guys, it sounds like the best choice for me, is to go with the Premier. If I had the spare cash, I'd probably go with the $400 lifetime on a Roamio. I have to admit...my hopes were up for a minute  I appreciate everyone's input.


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

I agree, I suspect it was a marketing move were they crunched the numbers of subscribers who used both and decided they could afford to ($%# them off as I might suspect Ota only users are a small base who aren't upgrading to the Roamio. 

You will have to call Tivo and see if f you can get the $99 deal, common practice seems to be calling and requesting your HD canceled. Then if they give you lifetime, then go out and buy a Roamio BUT if you are going monthly with the Roamio you will pay full price. 

If I was you I would just call, ask for the best deal in upgrading and go from there as you might be able to get a new Roamio in at a better monthly as rate if you have been a long term customer with your hd.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

mp11 said:


> so it sounds like I can only get the $99 lifetime on my TivoHD *IF* I also purchase another Tivo?
> From what I'm hearing guys, it sounds like the best choice for me, is to go with the Premier. If I had the spare cash, I'd probably go with the $400 lifetime on a Roamio. I have to admit...my hopes were up for a minute  I appreciate everyone's input.


Another purchase is not necessarily required. Call TiVo when you go to activate that Premiere. Once the Premiere is activated, tell the CSR that you are considering cancelling the service on the TivoHD, unless they are willing to give you the $99 Lifetime deal.

If you plan to just do a service swap, call TiVo. You still may be able to lifetime the TivoHD for $99 if you get the right CSR (you may have to play CSR roulette).



mp11 said:


> THAT I don't get. I mean, who would go through the trouble of disconnecting and reconnecting coax cables to switch between the two? Not me. :down: At least with the Premier, with both coaxes coming in, the EPG has realtime programming info for both. Tivo missed the boat on this one IMO.


Yep, if you are using both cable *and* OTA, the Roamio is worthless.
I can understand you wanting to stick with the Premiere.


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

steve614 said:


> Yep, if you are using both cable *and* OTA, the Roamio is worthless.


Not worthless, but expensive. There are several people using 2 Roamios for this setup, and reporting that it works quite well because of all the streaming capabilities.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

Another thought here...would anyone know if a diplexer would work? I.E. come into the diplexer with both coaxes and out to Tivo Roamio with another single coax?


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

mp11 said:


> Another thought here...would anyone know if a diplexer would work? I.E. come into the diplexer with both coaxes and out to Tivo Roamio with another single coax?


No, the guided setup forces you to choose OTA or digital cable, it's not that the box can't physically do both, the problem it that the Tivo software that Tivo Inc. run on it won't permit both at the same time like the Premiere and HD do.

The only way to to due both is run the guided setup for digital cable and when you want OTA, you run the guided setup again and pick OTA.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

Well OK then, looks like I'll try my best to get the $99 lifetime with a new Premier. If it doesn't happen...it doesn't happen.


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## ncfoster (Jan 22, 2011)

Actually, in all likelihood, your best bet is to find someone (like me, or someone on eBay), who has replaced their Premiere, and already got the lifetime on it.  I think it would be a 1-in-a-million shot to get $99 lifetime on a new Premiere. That is simply not how it is supposed to work.


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## PCurry57 (Feb 27, 2012)

That's nearly the new price when it was new. I recently saw a Premiere XL (the two tuner model) at Fry's and was strict with sticker shock. They were asking $248 for it wish was the full new pride two years ago. I think there are better deals on eBay.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

PCurry57 said:


> That's nearly the new price when it was new. I recently saw a Premiere XL (the two tuner model) at Fry's and was strict with sticker shock. They were asking $248 for it wish was the full new pride two years ago. I think there are better deals on eBay.


TiVo still sells the Premiere 4 and XL 4 on their website for $249.99 and $399.99 respectively, which seems completely ridiculous to me since the base Roamio is only $199.99.

https://www.tivo.com/shop/outlet


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

mp11 said:


> My local WM has the Tivo Premiers discounted to $98. Been a while since I've purchased a Tivo. If I do get one of these, what are the procedures to go through as far as setup? Is it just a matter of calling Tivo with the particulars of the new unit? My Tivo HD was setup by the cable guy a few years ago. Is this something I can do, or will the cable guy have to do it again? Also, am I able to keep paying the $12.xx monthly fee I've been paying or a new price?


Check Craigslist and see if you can't find someone selling a used one for $50.

If you do, find out how long they've had it in service--maybe they can get the $99 lifetime on it and sell it to you for $150, but don't plan on getting it and then trying to get the deal yourself, you probably need the leverage of being the person who's threatening to not pay them anything on it at all to get them to decide that $99 is $99 more than $0.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I got one from cr for $25 and since they only had it on service for two years I was offered lifetime for $199. They noted if it had three years I would have been able to get the $99 offer, as its just a parts box otherwise.


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