# Regrets with the lifetime subscription?



## macgreg (Apr 22, 2010)

I've been researching the premiere and the moxi. I am leaning toward the Tivo because of some of the features I want over what moxi offers. My question is about the lifetime subscription. I like the idea of not paying a monthly service fee, and I wondered what those of you who have it think. Do you regret it for any reason? i.e.... such as the tivo box broke down and you had to spend more money for a refurb unit or that the black technology hole we're in made you wish you did monthly for a better box in the future...etc. thanks for your thoughts.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Lifetime is worth it if you plan on keeping the box more the 2.5 years.
At least with TiVo you have a choice to get Lifetime or pay monthly. With Moxi you don't have a choice. It's either Lifetime or nothing at all.


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## SoBayJake (Feb 6, 2002)

I've had lifetime since 2002. Originally it was an S2, then transferred to an S3 (for $99) when they first came out, in 2006. So I'm over 8 years on that lifetime (which cost a little more, b/c of the transfer).

I also activated a TiVoHD in June 2008, so that will take 30 months (2.5 years) to break even, but it will. I already swapped out the hard drive for that one, so hopefully it will last for years to come!


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## fatlard (Jun 30, 2003)

macgreg said:


> I've been researching the premiere and the moxi. I am leaning toward the Tivo because of some of the features I want over what moxi offers. My question is about the lifetime subscription. I like the idea of not paying a monthly service fee, and I wondered what those of you who have it think. Do you regret it for any reason? i.e.... such as the tivo box broke down and you had to spend more money for a refurb unit or that the black technology hole we're in made you wish you did monthly for a better box in the future...etc. thanks for your thoughts.


The Moxi is a good box. If you need more information on the Moxi you can always join us here.

Among the features are
-3 Tuners
-Live Streamin/Recordings to Moxi Mates
-DLNA
-Easy internal drive/external drive expansion.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1095015


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## curiousgeorge (Nov 28, 2002)

macgreg said:


> I've been researching the premiere and the moxi. I am leaning toward the Tivo because of some of the features I want over what moxi offers. My question is about the lifetime subscription. I like the idea of not paying a monthly service fee, and I wondered what those of you who have it think. Do you regret it for any reason? i.e.... such as the tivo box broke down and you had to spend more money for a refurb unit or that the black technology hole we're in made you wish you did monthly for a better box in the future...etc. thanks for your thoughts.


We've had lifetime on every box since Series 1 in 1999. Wouldn't have it any other way. Short of a motherboard failure, the boxes run until you get the next model, and lifetime units fetch a premium when sold on Ebay. We've always come out ahead.


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## moonscape (Jul 3, 2004)

Lifetime is worth it no matter how long you keep the box because lifetime pretty much keeps its resale value whereas monthly fees are just down the drain.


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## Mike-Mike (Mar 2, 2010)

i have only had my TiVo for 2 days, but I feel really good about the lifetime. I got the TPXL and lifetime and 3yr warranty, so I had a large upfront cost. But, when I think, "man I just spent a lot of money" I quickly find comfort from thinking, well, I'll never have any more bills from this box


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## EAnglum (Nov 25, 2006)

No regrets here as our last Tivo (Series 2) lasted 7+ years - easily got our $$$ out of that investment.

I have a Premiere unit arriving today and we signed up for another lifetime subscription.

Its nice to pay up front and not having to deal with monthly bills - that alone makes it worth it! :up:


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## retired_guy (Aug 27, 2004)

I've bought seven TiVos for my own use and put lifetime on all of them. The only case where it was a mistake was on a S2 I bought late in the S2 product cycle. The disk failed and I could have fixed it but didn't bother to since I was well into the S3 generation by then and S2s no longer had much interest for me. However, because it had lifetime, a friend wanted it and he fixed the disk and then gave it to his son. A key advantage of lifetime not often mentioned is that used TiVos you've replaced with a newer generation box make a good gift with lifetime but are an awkward gift if the recipient has to start paying a monthly fee in order to use it.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

retired_guy said:


> A key advantage of lifetime not often mentioned is that used TiVos you've replaced with a newer generation box make a good gift with lifetime but are an awkward gift if the recipient has to start paying a monthly fee in order to use it.


:up: I've given away four lifetimed Replays over the years, and I'm sure I'll be giving away some of my lifetimed TiVos in the future. It does indeed make a great gift. Conversely, a TiVo without service on it is a horrible gift.


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## puckettcg (Feb 10, 2006)

I was worried about buying a lifetime on a box that could die before you get the money back or could get replaced by a newer version. I have lifetimed my Premieres after realizing that of 5 boxes, only one hadn't hit 3 years yet (and its the newer HD and the only other box I've lifetimed). Lifetime wasn't available when I bought my first two S2's, but I don't think I would have done it anyway because I knew at the time I bought them that I would upgrade to HD as soon as it was available. Did the math on the Premieres and its a good deal.


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## DPF (Mar 20, 2003)

Coming up on 8 years with my LT'd Series 2 and still going strong. Didn't hesitate to go with LT on the new Premiere. For me, it would be silly to do anything else. I plan to have this thing going for years to come. The S2 still gets very heavy usage on the SD set in the playroom as well. No regrets here.

-DPF


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## DeWitt (Jun 30, 2004)

I am one of the crazy one that like to not have such a long lock in. The 1year plan made it easy for me to upgrade to newer faster hardware.

In the S1/S2 days when things in TV where more stable it made perfect sense to me. Now with HD, internet convergence etc. The Tivo feels more like a cell phone or PC that may need to be upgraded regularly to stay with the technology curve.

That's why I like the Tivo model better than Moxi, it allows me to choose which type of payment/lock in is the best for me.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Hd was around in the S1 and S2 days. Only TiVo didn't have a box to record HD. Back in 2001 I had to use a couple of digital tuners to record my HD programs and it wasn't until 2004 that TiVo finally came out with a box that could record HD.


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## steinbch (Nov 23, 2007)

DeWitt said:


> I am one of the crazy one that like to not have such a long lock in. The 1year plan made it easy for me to upgrade to newer faster hardware.


I'm also all about the latest and greatest. However, a lifetime TiVo gets a much higher sale price than one without it if you decide to sell your older TiVo. I sold my lifetime TiVo HD a couple months ago for the same price it cost to buy a NEW TiVo Premiere with lifetime. In the end I'm making out much better than if I was to stick to a year-to-year sub.


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## retired_guy (Aug 27, 2004)

One thing to remember is that the cable companies have customers who will not rapidly change their TVs to get new technology. In addition, the cable companies themselves also have an expensive base of set top boxes and DVRs that they can't afford to rapidly replace. Those facts point to a reasonably long useful life for Premiere boxes--at least a long enough useful life to make lifetime support a good investment at this early stage in their product cycle. I suspect a good portion (but not all) of those that don't pick lifetime do it because they don't have the cash available at the moment. It's also worth again noting that most box failures are due to disk failures which are easy for an individual to fix for anyone with minimal skills with a screwdriver.


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

no regrets
6 + years enjoying my lifetime. Best $300(?) I've spent.


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## SoBayJake (Feb 6, 2002)

alyssa said:


> no regrets
> 6 + years enjoying my lifetime. Best $300(?) I've spent.


You got me curious. Looking at the billing history is a little off, because of how they swapped around the S2/S3 lifetime transfer.

I paid $199 for lifetime on my S2 in March 2002. Then $199 in Sept 2006 to transfer from S2 to S3. That equals $4.06/month, so not bad.

Then for my TiVoHD, I redeemed (June 2008) a gift card ($299) from the days before PLS went away. That is still paying for itself, as my monthly cost equals $13.59.

PremiereXL is not even a month old, so it's monthly cost equals $299!! 

All told, that is 121 months of service for $996, or $8.23/month, so it's working in my favor.


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## Mike-Mike (Mar 2, 2010)

SoBayJake said:


> PremiereXL is not even a month old, so it's monthly cost equals $299!!
> 
> .


hahhahahhhaha


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

My oldest unit is an old Weaknees upgraded S1 with lifetime that's been running since December 2000. That was obviously worth it. I do not have lifetime service, yet, on my current HDXL or PXL. I had two out of three units fail within a month and a half as I was upgrading to HD.....so the latest two are on a one year plan for flexibility in swapping service numbers until I'm convinced they're solid.


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## TivoDaddy (May 3, 2000)

Count me as another satisfied lifetime subscription TiVo owner since 2000. We have 4 TiVos (two S1's, 1 S2, and 1 DVD/Recorder combo). I've only had to replace one of the HDs from all combined.

I gave my Dad one of the S1's and now he will be upgrading it to a Premiere with lifetime. I wish we still had cable so we could upgrade to the Premieres, but so far they're (knock on wood) still going strong. We may be selling a couple of them now that they're basically going to be collecting dust.


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## Goldwing2001 (Sep 30, 2006)

I purchased the Lifetime Service in 2000 for my Sony TiVo S1 and it's still going strong. :up:


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## cydeweyz (Mar 15, 2010)

The series 2 Tivo I inherited would have been in the garbage long ago if it didn't have a lifetime Subscription attached to it. It sits on the bottom shelf now, unplugged, unwanted, but still valued for that lifetime subscription


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Happy here with lifetime as well. Started with 1 Sony Series 1 in 2000 and then added a second Philips Series 1 in 2002. Tranferred both lifetimes to 2 Series 3 units in 2007. 

The Sony Series 1 was still working on the original 30GB hard drive when it was retired after 7 years. The Philips Series 1 is still working fine unsubbed in my son's game room on an upgraded 120GB hard drive after 7 years.

Scott


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## hooper (Sep 22, 2007)

Having a second box with $6.95 MSD makes lifetime a tougher sell. Guaranteed to have an upgraded unit in the time it takes to break even, no?


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## SoBayJake (Feb 6, 2002)

hooper said:


> Having a second box with $6.95 MSD makes lifetime a tougher sell. Guaranteed to have an upgraded unit in the time it takes to break even, no?


Most likely, yes. But with lifetime now being $299 MSD, and MSD now being $9.95, you break even in 30 months. And if a new unit comes out before then, you can sell your lifetime unit for more than a non-lifetime, so you can recoup some of that money.


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## endobrian (Sep 18, 2006)

None. I have had my lifetime since 2001. I squeezed every dime out of it...still am.


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## Austin Bike (Feb 9, 2003)

3 lifetimes. All boxes are more than 2.5 years old. I am much better off for not having paid monthly fees.


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## brianric (Aug 29, 2002)

Have lifetime on series 2 since 2002. Got lifetime on my Premiere XL for under $200. Have no regrets.


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## Tambourineman (Mar 18, 2009)

Excuse my noobie ignorance, but if the box dies or is totally destroyed and cannot be repaired are you SOL? After any warranty is up, what's the cost to get one of these fixed (if they are fixable)? Do you have to send it back? Who pays shipping? Is it a flat fee, a flat labor fee plus parts, or what?


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## mkstretch (Apr 11, 2005)

Hey guys, I was wondering how many Tivo's can you put under one Lifetime Subscription?


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## mkstretch (Apr 11, 2005)

mkstretch said:


> Hey guys, I was wondering how many Tivo's can you put under one Lifetime Subscription?


 Ok I just saw that each box needs its own subscription. Do they at least give you a discount on the lifetime sub for each additional box you add?


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

mkstretch said:


> Ok I just saw that each box needs its own subscription. Do they at least give you a discount on the lifetime sub for each additional box you add?


Yes. Additional Service (up to 5 subscriptions) would be eligible for Multi Service Discounts (MSD) pricing as long as there is one qualifying subscription on the account.


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