# Why are TiVo Premiere's on sale?



## desiboy (Oct 3, 2007)

Seems like retailers are trying to get rid of Premiere (non elite). Is this the end of OTA units, or perhaps quad tuner with OTA is in the works?

Thoughts?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

More because they need the cash flow of more subscribers, sometimes it's that easy, they have never made money on the hardware, it's subscribers and then keeping them that pays the bills.


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

They are, Where?


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## xtoyz (Dec 28, 2008)

HomeUser said:


> They are, Where?


Amazon, I guess. I just bought one for 80 bucks to test out as an experiment and to potentially unload DTV.


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## uw69 (Jan 25, 2001)

Electronics Expo has them for $49, not sure if it's a return or not

http://www.electronics-expo.com/tivo-tcd746320-premiere-dvr-black


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## desiboy (Oct 3, 2007)

dianebrat said:


> More because they need the cash flow of more subscribers, sometimes it's that easy, they have never made money on the hardware, it's subscribers and then keeping them that pays the bills.


Note, its retailers, not TiVo. Something is up.

Electronics Expo $50...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Still $100 and $300 at Best Buy. $85 and $300 and circuit City.


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## dave13077 (Jan 11, 2009)

uw69 said:


> Electronics Expo has them for $49, not sure if it's a return or not
> 
> http://www.electronics-expo.com/tivo-tcd746320-premiere-dvr-black


They are new. I just received my Premiere and Elite from them last week. Both are new in the retail boxes.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

Will the Expo $60 with shipping Premiere qualify for lifetime?


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## lillevig (Dec 7, 2010)

Tivo even puts them on sale every now and then. I got a new one from them last September for $49 plus the MSD price of $399 for lifetime.


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## ncsercs (May 5, 2001)

Not a bargain, especially with a $20/month service fee.


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

ncsercs said:


> Not a bargain, especially with a $20/month service fee.


while I'd rather pay less it's cheaper than paying cable/Sat monthly fees.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

ncsercs said:


> Not a bargain, especially with a $20/month service fee.


Nothing requires paying monthly on these discounted boxes. Being able to get a Premiere with lifetime for $450 seems like a pretty good deal to me. Heck there are some people over on the AVS CM7400 DVR forum that think paying $400 for the CM7400 and $50/yr for guide data is a great deal. The reality is that DVRs cost lots of money unless they are being used as loss leaders by a pay TV provider.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

It's all about subscribers. The standard Premiere boxes are loss leaders for TiVo, they just want to get you hooked and get you to buy service. $20x12=$240 and lifetime costs $499 unless you have another box and qualify for MSD. And once hooked most TiVo subscribers are pretty loyal, so they're likely to sell additional boxes or many years of service to a new subscriber.

I'm guessing we're a year, or more, from another major hardware refresh.

Dan


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## tomm1079 (May 10, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> It's all about subscribers. The standard Premiere boxes are loss leaders for TiVo, they just want to get you hooked and get you to buy service. $20x12=$240 and lifetime costs $499 unless you have another box and qualify for MSD. And once hooked most TiVo subscribers are pretty loyal, so they're likely to sell additional boxes or many years of service to a new subscriber.
> 
> I'm guessing we're a year, or more, from another major hardware refresh.
> 
> Dan


i tend to think "or more". Mainly because the last thing the MSO partners are going to want is an outdated box


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

The price of electronics always goes down. The Premiere is a few years old now. 

Price should be cheaper. 

Might be introducing a new model with bigger hard drive?


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

trip1eX said:


> The price of electronics always goes down. The Premiere is a few years old now.
> 
> Price should be cheaper.
> 
> Might be introducing a new model with bigger hard drive?


That does seem to be the over all pattern either prices go down or you get a new more advanced product for the same price or both.

Regarding a refresh of the Premiere's hardware, if all it was going to be was a DVR I would say why bother, but if they are going to move into the world of "apps" they may need more horse power to provide an exceptable experience. So I wouldn't rule out an update maybe they will pull an Apple and call it the New Premiere .


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

trip1eX said:


> The price of electronics always goes down. The Premiere is a few years old now.
> 
> Price should be cheaper.
> 
> Might be introducing a new model with bigger hard drive?


The Elite is $100 cheaper now, and the Premiere is on sale for $50. Not following you.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

It seems like this would be a bad time to introduce a model with a higher capacity hard drive. Since hard drive prices are still inflated.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Don't forget EE and Amazon have always sold the Premeire for less than MSRP. 

There was a thread dedicated to tracking the EE sales so people knew when to buy since they would have it for $149 after coupon when it was $299.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

slowbiscuit said:


> The Elite is $100 cheaper now, and the Premiere is on sale for $50. Not following you.


OP is asking why they are cheaper.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

aaronwt said:


> It seems like this would be a bad time to introduce a model with a higher capacity hard drive. Since hard drive prices are still inflated.


Yes it might be costing them more for a 320gb drive now than what 1 tb drives cost them a year ago.


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## vip007 (Mar 21, 2012)

My first post, although I've been a tivo customer and forum visitor since mid 2000s.

I just upgraded service on one of my HD boxes to lifetime (the $99 deal) and the customer rep mentioned I would be very glad because something really nice is coming our way very soon. I tried to get some more information about what it could be and when but he said he could not tell me more.

New boxes maybe? New service plans? I could not speculate.

But maybe that's one reason these Premiers are going on sale (and I bought one at Expo for $49.)


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

vip007 said:


> My first post, although I've been a tivo customer and forum visitor since mid 2000s.
> 
> I just upgraded service on one of my HD boxes to lifetime (the $99 deal) and the customer rep mentioned I would be very glad because something really nice is coming our way very soon. I tried to get some more information about what it could be and when but he said he could not tell me more.
> 
> ...


They are probably just talking about the extender and transcoding boxes, though not sure why that would be a good thing for the TiVo HD.


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## Johncv (Jun 11, 2002)

vip007 said:


> My first post, although I've been a tivo customer and forum visitor since mid 2000s.
> 
> I just upgraded service on one of my HD boxes to lifetime (the $99 deal) and the customer rep mentioned I would be very glad because something really nice is coming our way very soon. I tried to get some more information about what it could be and when but he said he could not tell me more.
> 
> ...


Let speculate, I dont think there will be a new box, unless TiVo somehow come up with a box that has a built in tuning adapter. What l think may happen (this is a BIG May) is that Cox and/or Comcast will officer the TiVo as a set top box options. Remember both Cox and Comcast sign agreements to provide VOD for the TiVo and to promote TiVo. The only way this will happen is if Cox and Comcast start providing TiVo boxes.


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## 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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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Interesting. I wonder why they are doing this unless they plan on eventually dumping the 320gb model.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

They also want a premium for that extra 180GB. Or maybe it's just that the 500GB version is being listed at retail price while the 320GB has been typically sold below the current $100 retail price.

Now if they would just come out with a 3TB Elite.


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

ncsercs said:


> Not a bargain, especially with a $20/month service fee.


wow what keen business sense you have. You can always pay your cable company that fee for their box and DVR service perpetually for the rest of your life along with their fee increases and own nothing, ever.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

aaronwt said:


> They also want a premium for that extra 180GB. Or maybe it's just that the 500GB version is being listed at retail price while the 320GB has been typically sold below the current $100 retail price.


That is my guess. They also need to put it high enough that people have to decide versus what is an extra $20.


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## petew (Jul 31, 2003)

There's a world shortage of disk drives so prices are rising. It probably makes more sense to sell a bigger box at a higher price than try and justify a price hike on the existing box.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

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


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## brosamj (Sep 26, 2005)

innocentfreak said:


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


It shows that the Elite may only be $349. I called TIVO and they say that their sale ends today and that the price is $399. The press release says that the new sale starts on Sunday. I guess the question is - is the Elite dropping down to $349 or will it stay at $399?


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

brosamj said:


> It shows that the Elite may only be $349. I called TIVO and they say that their sale ends today and that the price is $399. The press release says that the new sale starts on Sunday. I guess the question is - is the Elite dropping down to $349 or will it stay at $399?


It is $399. I believe he has since updated the page.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Still, even at $399, with a BestBuy 12% off coupon, that brings it close to $350. If that happens, I might go ahead and pick another Elite up sooner rather than later. Although I need BestBuy to send me a 12% off coupon first, and still drop their price to $399.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

$399 for Elite now.

$250 for Premiere XL.

$150 for bottom end Premiere but now with 500gb hard drive.

Monthly fee now $15/mo.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

aaronwt said:


> Still, even at $399, with a BestBuy 12% off coupon, that brings it close to $350. If that happens, I might go ahead and pick another Elite up sooner rather than later. Although I need BestBuy to send me a 12% off coupon first, and still drop their price to $399.


I don't have any Elites.. and currently I only have one digital tivo working (still need to try to fix/revive my dead S3 -- likely power supply).. But anyway, I thought I was the only one who could actually imagine using TWO Elites eventually..


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## nexus99 (Oct 17, 2002)

vip007 said:


> My first post, although I've been a tivo customer and forum visitor since mid 2000s.
> 
> I just upgraded service on one of my HD boxes to lifetime (the $99 deal) and the customer rep mentioned I would be very glad because something really nice is coming our way very soon.  I tried to get some more information about what it could be and when but he said he could not tell me more.
> 
> ...


Why would you be happy you have lifetime on a HD... maybe because you will be able to move it over to a new box? Maybe hey are going to have a lifetime transfer deal?


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

brosamj said:


> It shows that the Elite may only be $349.


The initial email blast had $349.99 and I called one of my contacts to ask how $100 off came to that... which is when realized they had a typo and sent out a corrected press release.


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## anthonymoody (Apr 29, 2008)

Cablevision customer here, thinking of coming back to TiVo after two years in the cable co wilderness. 

The new pricing of $399 for the Elite, and $15/mo service got my attention. On a monthly basis it's now exactly the same price at the margin for me. $15 TiVo plus $3 cable card = $7 cable box + $11 DVR service. 

Question: I know TiVo announced some sort of ip streaming boxes and other stuff not that long ago. Sorry to be dense but will these things work with the elite or be something of a replacement?

TIA


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

anthonymoody said:


> Question: I know TiVo announced some sort of ip streaming boxes and other stuff not that long ago. Sorry to be dense but will these things work with the elite or be something of a replacement?


Yep, the streaming box is a companion device. Stream recordings, netflix/hulu support, and apparently can also borrow a tuner from an Elite/Premiere to stream live TV to it.


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## StuffOfInterest (Jul 18, 2007)

nexus99 said:


> Why would you be happy you have lifetime on a HD... maybe because you will be able to move it over to a new box? Maybe hey are going to have a lifetime transfer deal?


I wish they would offer a lifetime transfer deal from my old Series 2 DT. It has been a single tuner since I switched to FiOS two years ago and has been relegated to a TV in the kitchen now. I actually purchased this Series 2 when TiVo offered a lifetime transfer deal from my even older Sony SVR 2000 (purchased back in 2000).


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## StuffOfInterest (Jul 18, 2007)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> Yep, the streaming box is a companion device. Stream recordings, netflix/hulu support, and apparently can also borrow a tuner from an Elite/Premiere to stream live TV to it.


Depending on any monthly sub price for the companion device this could shift the price dynamic back in favor of TiVo over the cable company DVRs. Being able to redirect a live channel to a remote box would be perfect for my house as usually only one TV is on.


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## Len McRiddles (Dec 21, 2002)

New version went on sale today with increased memory.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Len McRiddles said:


> New version went on sale today with increased memory.


You mean increased hard drive space.


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## anthonymoody (Apr 29, 2008)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> Yep, the streaming box is a companion device. Stream recordings, netflix/hulu support, and apparently can also borrow a tuner from an Elite/Premiere to stream live TV to it.


Thanks!



StuffOfInterest said:


> Depending on any monthly sub price for the companion device this could shift the price dynamic back in favor of TiVo over the cable company DVRs. Being able to redirect a live channel to a remote box would be perfect for my house as usually only one TV is on.


For me it's already breakeven. Cable box is $7, DVR $11 so $18 total.

Cable card is $3, TiVo would be $15, so exactly the same.

If I could redirect a live channel to a remote box that indeed would be wonderful and definitely tilt it squarely to TiVo!


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## Xebec01 (Mar 23, 2012)

I went to Best Buy yesterday looking for the new 500GB Premier box, and they had no idea what I was talking about. Granted, my local BB is hideous when it comes to customer service, but BB is specifically mentioned in the TiVo press release.

I'll try a different tactic today: I'll bring the new model number and ask them to look it up in their inventory system.

Has anyone seen the new 75hr box in a retail store?


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

Xebec01 said:


> I went to Best Buy yesterday looking for the new 500GB Premier box, and they had no idea what I was talking about. Granted, my local BB is hideous when it comes to customer service, but BB is specifically mentioned in the TiVo press release.
> 
> I'll try a different tactic today: I'll bring the new model number and ask them to look it up in their inventory system.
> 
> Has anyone seen the new 75hr box in a retail store?


Best Buy online does not have it, so I would assume that the brick & mortar stores won't have either. Amazon does have it for the same price as TiVo and both offer free shipping. It seems unlikely to me that any retail store will have it any time soon, if ever, for a low enough price to make up for having to pay sales tax.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

I got a notice of the new monthly service pricing and thought at first that they had done away with any kind of monthly service MSD for the Premiere. But when I checked the "schedule a future plan" for my Premiere, I discovered that there is an MSD discount of $12.95/mo with a 1-year commitment.

Please refrain from informing me that I should get PLS. I have neither the COH nor any kind of credit to do so.


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## Xebec01 (Mar 23, 2012)

lpwcomp said:


> Best Buy online does not have it, so I would assume that the brick & mortar stores won't have either. Amazon does have it for the same price as TiVo and both offer free shipping. It seems unlikely to me that any retail store will have it any time soon, if ever, for a low enough price to make up for having to pay sales tax.


Normally, I would agree with you. But I have $150 in Best Buy gift certificates that have been gathering dust, so I thought this would be a good use of them.

EDIT: The amazon page seems to indicate that it will ship in 1-3 weeks. I'll check my local stores again at that time...


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

Xebec01 said:


> Normally, I would agree with you. But I have $150 in Best Buy gift certificates that have been gathering dust, so I thought this would be a good use of them.


It'll eventually be there are the 320GB model is basically discontinued.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

Xebec01 said:


> Normally, I would agree with you. But I have $150 in Best Buy gift certificates that have been gathering dust, so I thought this would be a good use of them.


In your position, I would just get the 320GB model and use the rest for something else. $50 for an extra 180GB seems excessive, even at current drive prices. You can always upgrade it later once drive prices come back down. Although, with the current state of the US dollar, they may come down in real price but not as much in dollars as everyone (including me) hopes.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

The other option is use the $150 in Best Buy Giftcards to buy Kindle Giftcards and then apply those to your Amazon account.


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## Xebec01 (Mar 23, 2012)

Found one! From what I can tell, they were just being stocked today, about 2 per store.

Now to tangle with Time Warner to get a cable card...

-X


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

The 500GB models are also available from BestBuy online now, with a purchase limit of two.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/TiVo&#1...lp=2&ci_src=11138&ref=39&CJPID=4169845&loc=01


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