# $0 down Roamio?



## majinbuu147 (Nov 22, 2005)

Got this in my email this morning. Links do not work, also unable to find on TiVo's website. Is this over already?


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

Try calling TiVo and tell them you got the email and see if they will honor it.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

It's a bad deal anyway. After two years you've paid $480, $580, or $680 and you still don't have lifetime service on the TiVo.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

That's the same as the military deal they sent out:

www.tivo.com/military


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

They had that deal for one of the older models years ago. I'm not sure, but it might have been for HD or Premiere, but certainly not a new promotion. They have done that pricing before. Agreed that it is pretty bad economically in the long run. I can't remember if in the past promotion, the monthly fee stayed at $19 even after the 2 year commitment, but I think it did. However, you could buy a Lifetime after the 2 year commitment. Wow, pretty hefty after 24 months of $19.99, and then a Lifetime purchase. I suppose it is an option for someone who really wants a TiVo, but can't shell out the purchase price.


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## eboydog (Mar 24, 2006)

There are a lot of consumers who don't consider the long term cost and the major obstacle with retail TiVo I hear all the time is the upfront cost. From a pure marketing concept I bet they will sell a respectable amount of Romaios this way


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## DeltaOne (Sep 29, 2013)

eboydog said:


> There are a lot of consumers who don't consider the long term cost...


Same with smartphones.

Rather than buy a $199 or $99 smart phone they'll chose the $50 phone. $75 (or more...) a month for two years? No problem! ...even though this cost comes to more than $2,000.


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## GameGuru (Dec 12, 2003)

Actually it works out that you are just paying $120 for the entry level unit because you would be paying the $15/m anyway so you are only paying $5/m for the unit. Then after the two years you could buy into the lifetime and the unit only costs $120. If my math is correct.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Full price Roamio Plus without Discount is $400 + $500 = $900 total

So under this program $20 a month with a 2 year committment - over 2 years you would pay $480 in service plus the original $99 for the box for a total of: $579 If you then immediately added lifetime service, total cost of ownership is $1,079

If you stayed on monthly and IF you converted back down to $15 a month fee - in another 21 months you would be completely upside down (and that does't take into account the significant resale differential)

Now, this is a better deal than the normal month to month pricing.

Normal pricing you are under water @33 months
This special program under water @ 45 months


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## GameGuru (Dec 12, 2003)

Here is my math.

Tivo Roamio Basic - $199
24 Months of service at $15 - $360
Grand total - $559

Tivo Roamio Basic Promotion - $0
24 Months of service at $20 - $480
Grand Total - $480

Yes if you plan on going Lifetime right away it is cheaper but if you plan on paying month to month you do save a little bit going with the promotion. After the two years is up you could switch to lifetime. It's not a bad idea if you don't have $600 today to buy and get lifetime.


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## GameGuru (Dec 12, 2003)

I pulled the trigger and got this deal, it is arriving wednesday.


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## randymac88 (Feb 29, 2004)

Realizing this thread has been inactive for a few months...but, my premiere crapped out on me last night (Premiere TCD746320 w/Lifetime), and I was able to use the code from spherular to get a Roamio Plus w/lifetime and the 3 year warranty for $696 all-in. But I did labor over the decision between the lifetime vs. the $20 month to month plan.

Isn't this sort of like a question of lease vs. buy? Based on my math (spherular price and my cable co. costs) I show a break-even at ~44 months for both units versus what you would pay Time Warner Cable for a terrible box - probably when you're going to be in-market for a new device anyway. 

The big difference being whether you intend to re-sell. If you're like me and you probably won't realistically end up selling, then it might be easier financially to just take the monthly plan. Or, you can pretend you're going to actually sell it (like me) and bite the bullet.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I just sold two S3 models that had been sitting around for several months @ $200 each. I put them on Craigslist and they sold in a day. But I absolutely understand good intentions can fall away with the bother of actually selling a unit.

A TiVo with lifetime service has a residual value, a used TiVo without has none. If you stay with TiVo, eventually you will want / need to upgrade... Resale of the lifetime TiVo makes the upgrade process a lot easier!


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

Reselling is pretty easy nowadays.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

With the uncertainty surrounding the cable industry and the fate of CableCARDs unknown, these TiVos might not have much resale value in 3 years. I bought lifetime for the convenience of not having to worry about it but I'm not sure it's going to have the same pay off that buying lifetime had in the past.


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## randymac88 (Feb 29, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> With the uncertainty surrounding the cable industry and the fate of CableCARDs unknown, these TiVos might not have much resale value in 3 years. I bought lifetime for the convenience of not having to worry about it but I'm not sure it's going to have the same pay off that buying lifetime had in the past.


Dan - I'm with you, but do you think the changes with regards to cabl cards will render these units obsolete? I would have a hard time believing that they would simply phase out cablecards without providing a path forward for legacy hardware, similar to the SDV debacle from a few years ago.

I'll be the first one to rejoice the end of the tuning adapter and cablecards - and conceptually I agree with you that it will probably hit the resale value. However, I don't see that resale value going to zero, which means the economics will always be in favor of the lifetime option.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

randymac88 said:


> Dan - I'm with you, but do you think the changes with regards to cabl cards will render these units obsolete? I would have a hard time believing that they would simply phase out cablecards without providing a path forward for legacy hardware, similar to the SDV debacle from a few years ago.
> 
> I'll be the first one to rejoice the end of the tuning adapter and cablecards - and conceptually I agree with you that it will probably hit the resale value. However, I don't see that resale value going to zero, which means the economics will always be in favor of the lifetime option.


My concern is mainly with the Charter waiver. The FCC basically told them that if they come up with a downloadable system, and that system is used in at least one retail device, they can stop issuing new CableCARDs. So those of us with cards already in our possession will be able to continue to use our TiVos but potential buyers may not be able to get the card required to make it work which would seriously diminish the resale value.


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