# TiVo Premiere getting 500GB HDD?



## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

New TiVo Premiere 75hrs HD posted, TCD746500 (I assume 500GB HDD)

http://www.amazon.com/TiVo-TCD746500-Premiere-DVR-Black/dp/B007JPCL88

http://www.jr.com/tivo/pe/TVV_TCD746500/


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Very nice...


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## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

Wonder how they have it before Tivo has it on their website?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

$100 extra for 180GB extra.

What's not to yawn about?

For that price you can almost buy a regular Premiere and add a 2TB drive yourself.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Oh interesting! This must've slipped out early.

But I wonder why? Any intel on it having something other than just a bigger HDD?


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

unitron said:


> $100 extra for 180GB extra.
> 
> What's not to yawn about?
> 
> For that price you can almost buy a regular Premiere and add a 2TB drive yourself.


Where are you getting $100 extra? Amazon shows $149 and the 320gb Premiere MSRP is $99.


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

I wonder if this is simply a HDD swap, or if the motherboard has also changed to be more like the Elite's motherboard design.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

innocentfreak said:


> Where are you getting $100 extra? Amazon shows $149 and the 320gb Premiere MSRP is $99.


There's a least one outfit selling new 320GB Premieres for $50.

I certainly wouldn't dream of paying $100 for one.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

unitron said:


> There's a least one outfit selling new 320GB Premieres for $50.
> 
> I certainly wouldn't dream of paying $100 for one.


This one, for example. I can recommend them.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

I really don't understand why the new price is $150, if the monthly sub is still $20. Perhaps it's a reflection of the spike in HD prices, but it's a head-scratcher otherwise.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I guess they could have been planning this for a while. And the hard drive prices put a wrench in their plans. Maybe they planned on it being the same price as the 320GB version, but with the inflated hard drive prices they were forced to increase the retail price.


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## Torgo (Dec 31, 2001)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/23/tivo-premiere-500gb-149-leaked/


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

slowbiscuit said:


> I really don't understand why the new price is $150, if the monthly sub is still $20. Perhaps it's a reflection of the spike in HD prices, but it's a head-scratcher otherwise.


What is not to understand? The 320gb version is $100 MSRP and the 500gb is $150. That seems about right to me. I would imagine you will see the new ones around $125 at various outlets before too long.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I am betting this is more then just a hard drive upgrade. I think we will see the Elite become the new design standard. 

With that said, my guess is that this model will have on board MoCa.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

bradleys said:


> I am betting this is more then just a hard drive upgrade. I think we will see the Elite become the new design standard.
> 
> With that said, my guess is that this model will have on board MoCa.


I was wondering about that as well last night, but dismissed it as wishful thinking. It would be nice, and it's desirable for MSO setups.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

What else was upgraded in the Elite?

I know the design was somewhat simplified and they upgraded the memory from 512MB of DDR2-800 to 1GB DDR2 SDRAM - anything else?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Premiere model number

TCD746320

Model number of this new 500GB version

TCD746500

Going by the precedent of models such as the 240xxx, 540xxx, and 649xxx, I'm convinced it's just the same old Premiere with a slightly bigger drive.

Which probably means that it's easier or cheaper for them to get 500s right now than 320s.

Or they're just trying to generate some buzz.


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## sbiller (May 10, 2002)

bradleys said:


> What else was upgraded in the Elite?
> 
> I know the design was somewhat simplified and they upgraded the memory from 512MB of DDR2-800 to 1GB DDR2 SDRAM - anything else?


The memory in the Elite is the same as the base and XL Premiere. It was a mistake early on in the thread discussing the Elite tear-down when we thought it had double the memory.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

The Elite has the same amount of RAM. It was thought to be doubled at first but there was some early confusion.

I think the networking was also upgraded to true gigabit along with the moca.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

unitron said:


> Premiere model number
> 
> TCD746320
> 
> ...


Good observation...


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

unitron said:


> There's a least one outfit selling new 320GB Premieres for $50.
> 
> I certainly wouldn't dream of paying $100 for one.


Right but you are comparing the sale price to the MSRP of a product that isn't available yet. There is nothing that says the 500gb won't be $79-$99 on sale.

I believe did say that with the Premiere they listened to their customers and plan to do refreshes more often so I could easily see them slowly replacing the 320gb as they sell out.


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## bensonr2 (Feb 4, 2011)

I'm not sure if anyone else picked up on this, but in the write up on Engadget they incorrectly list the monthly service price as 15 dollars.

And if you look through the comments there are several mentions from readers that they were interested until they saw the 15 dollar a month charge (which would actually be a decent discount from the actual monthly price).


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

rainwater said:


> What is not to understand? The 320gb version is $100 MSRP and the 500gb is $150. That seems about right to me. I would imagine you will see the new ones around $125 at various outlets before too long.


Because HW gets cheaper over time, and the Premiere is at least 2 years old now. One would think (I certainly would) that the expense for the bigger HD would be offset by lower costs for the box, but again this may not be true with the inflated HD market now.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2012-03/tivo-premiere-sees-hard-drive-boost-fee-reduction/#more-30375

Looks like Dave has confirmed a couple of our guesses.

This will replace the 320gb model and the 14.99 price is correct for monthly with MSD at $12.99.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

The article mentions $100 reduced price on Elite. tivo.com still doesn't show the $100 reduced price for the Elite and it's not yet discounted much at Amazon either, but perhaps that will change starting Mar 25.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

Interesting, I like the new service price but still feel it could be lower. Meh...

The only way that they can still justify taking $15.00 for a single DVR is if the Preview sees a retail release and it doesn't have any monthly fees or is very cheap ($5/month). Then I'd get a single Elite and sprinkle a few Previews around the house.

They also need to stop playing around with their pricing all the time.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Philmatic said:


> Interesting, I like the new service price but still feel it could be lower. Meh...
> 
> The only way that they can still justify taking $15.00 for a single DVR is if the Preview sees a retail release and it doesn't have any monthly fees or is very cheap ($5/month). Then I'd get a single Elite and sprinkle a few Previews around the house.
> 
> They also need to stop playing around with their pricing all the time.


I think we will see a Preview though probably called something else. My guess is they will do a lifetime box only, but no idea what price. Maybe $199?

The price is relatively the same for the year. Customers are just paying up to $50 more upfront for a $5 savings per month or $60 for the year.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Semantics - but it will not be called a Preview, those are being marketed specifically to MSO's.

This will be an IP Set Top Box without a tuner.

I do agree with innocentfreak, I expect that it will not have a monthly service fee related to it. I am expecting something more in the range of $150 per device, but we will not know until they release it.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

If this IP set top box that people have been talking about comes out later this year, I will probably sell my XL Premiere and my upgraded Premiere. Then I will pick up another lifetime Elite along with one of the IP STBs.

If the STB is priced right, and I can basically get them for no money out of pocket. I know I would certainly love to get another Elite.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Yep... I will sell my lifetimed S3 and HD and replace them with an Elite + 2 extenders.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

bradleys said:


> I am betting this is more then just a hard drive upgrade. I think we will see the Elite become the new design standard.
> 
> With that said, my guess is that this model will have on board MoCa.


Yeah, but if the Elite were the design standard, wouldn't that mean dropping OTA tuning? I can't see that being a good idea, at all...


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

unitron said:


> Premiere model number
> 
> TCD746320
> 
> ...


Agreed. 320GB drives probably cost the same or even more than 500's now. Plus, TiVo does need to occasionally increase storage to keep relevant. I wouldn't be surprised if TiVo dropped the 320 model completely, once stock is depleted.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

crxssi said:


> I wouldn't be surprised if TiVo dropped the 320 model completely, once stock is depleted.


yep

http://blog.tivo.com/2012/03/new-up...-now-record-even-more-of-your-favorite-shows/


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

cherry ghost said:


> yep
> 
> http://blog.tivo.com/2012/03/new-up...-now-record-even-more-of-your-favorite-shows/


That explains why folks like me have been able to pick up the 746320 lately for a discounted $50. If there are no other improvements, however, the 746500 is not worth an extra $100 or so to me, given that I will probably never max out the 2 teras on my other TiVo Elite.


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## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

So I guess the people that are already on the $19.99 a month wont be able to get the $14.99/$12.99MSD without having to cancel service and wait a few months and try to get service again? Or will that price only be for people that have never had Tivo before?


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

MeInDallas said:


> So I guess the people that are already on the $19.99 a month wont be able to get the $14.99/$12.99MSD without having to cancel service and wait a few months and try to get service again? Or will that price only be for people that have never had Tivo before?


Why would they have to wait a few months?
Tivo has never had different rates for new customers only and there is no reason to think they'd start now.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

scandia101 said:


> Why would they have to wait a few months?
> Tivo has never had different rates for new customers only and there is no reason to think they'd start now.


But with the introduction of the Premiere, they also introduced "it depends on the model number" pricing, so this could lead to people with 500GB S4s paying less per month than people with 320GB S4s, some of whom may have paid more purchase price wise than the $150 the new one is supposed to go for.

Could be some hard feelings.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

scandia101 said:


> Why would they have to wait a few months?
> Tivo has never had different rates for new customers only and there is no reason to think they'd start now.





unitron said:


> But with the introduction of the Premiere, they also introduced "it depends on the model number" pricing, so this could lead to people with 500GB S4s paying less per month than people with 320GB S4s, some of whom may have paid more purchase price wise than the $150 the new one is supposed to go for.
> 
> Could be some hard feelings.


I'm with unitron, they have had "different models = different rates" and it was really one of the worst things I've seen them do, I can only hope they're not heading back there.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

scandia101 said:


> Why would they have to wait a few months?
> Tivo has never had different rates for new customers only and there is no reason to think they'd start now.


That depends if you are under contract or not. Many people did not buy their TiVo, they "financed" with a contract payment plan. I don't think TiVo will allow them to switch to a LOWER monthly payment to finish out their contract. Why would or should they?


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

crxssi said:


> That depends if you are under contract or not. Many people did not buy their TiVo, they "financed" with a contract payment plan. I don't think TiVo will allow them to switch to a LOWER monthly payment to finish out their contract. Why would or should they?


What depends on whether they are under contract or not? Nothing I said is dependent on contract status.


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## crxssi (Apr 5, 2010)

scandia101 said:


> What depends on whether they are under contract or not? Nothing I said is dependent on contract status.


Perhaps I misread the thread.

It appeared that you were saying that the service pricing for everyone is the same and if it changed, people should be able to change plans. I was trying to say that someone can change plans (rates) as long as they are not in a contract.

And as a few others pointed out, there HAVE been different contracts with different monthly plans, depending on the model and what the owner paid for the box since TiVo started playing the "financing" game by offering a lower purchase price with a more expensive first year service contract.


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## jmill (Feb 22, 2010)

The monthly service fee was lowered on *all* TiVo Premieres, not only on the new 500Gb unit.


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## CoxInPHX (Jan 14, 2011)

Has anyone purchased the new 75HR Premiere yet?

Hopefully someone will open one and see if any other hardware changes were made.

My suspicion that the reason TiVo made the change was because the MSO branded TiVo Q also uses a 500GB HDD, and they could save money by simply using the same parts bin for both.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

jmill said:


> The monthly service fee was lowered on *all* TiVo Premieres, not only on the new 500Gb unit.


Existing TiVo Premieres with subscriptions, with or without a commitment, are still paying the higher rate.

The monthly service fee was lowered on all *new* TiVo Premiere subscriptions, not only on the new 500Gb unit.


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## cwashizawa (Apr 4, 2012)

bradleys said:


> Yep... I will sell my lifetimed S3 and HD and replace them with an Elite + 2 extenders.


Do you already have the extenders? I thought Tivo discontinued the extenders.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

They haven't been released yet. they are supposed to be out sometime in the second half of this year.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

cwashizawa said:


> Do you already have the extenders? I thought Tivo discontinued the extenders.


You're probably thinking of the external eSATA hard drives made by Western Digital.

What's being referred to here is a sort of tunerless (and perhaps hard drive-less) TiVo to which you wirelessly stream from a TiVo in order to watch on a TV not connected to that TiVo.

They haven't actually been released yet.


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