# TIVO BOLT OTA Release Date



## jjakusz (Jan 9, 2009)

From what I heard, the OTA version should be out this year. I haven't found a more precise prediction. I am itching to pull the trigger but since I only use OTA, I am hoping I can have the BOLT OTA installed before Thanksgiving and save a few bucks along the way. Anyone heard of a release date?

I am ready to replace my TIVO HD and TIVO HD XL with a TIVO BOLT OTA and a mini. Looking forward to the new hardware!


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Nothing more specific yet, sadly.


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## worachj (Oct 14, 2006)

Check the new service pricing before buying, you may want to get a Liftetime Roamio OTA from Amazon instead.

Lifetime Roamio OTA $299 (Temporarily out of stock.)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0148ZRFVO...=UTF8&colid=MUG0SDO321YO&coliid=IHECE2HBQCSVE



> 1 year of TiVo service included
> 
> New TiVo BOLT Series UESs and Roamio Pro DVRs include 1 year of service in the purchase price, which automatically rolls over to the Annual Plan at the end of the first year.
> 
> ...


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## solutionsetc (Apr 2, 2009)

worachj said:


> you may want to get a Liftetime Roamio OTA from Amazon instead.


Better act fast... I just noticed the Roamio OTA has been taken down from the TiVo site.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

solutionsetc said:


> Better act fast... I just noticed the Roamio OTA has been taken down from the TiVo site.


I wonder if that means they have cleared inventory and are now getting ready to release an OTA only Bolt?


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## solutionsetc (Apr 2, 2009)

Where is this OTA Bolt rumoured? I ask as since the current Bolt is either/or (OTA/Cable), why would they have designed it this way if there was an OTA only planned. Seems it would have been more cost effective to have a cable only and a OTA only.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

solutionsetc said:


> Where is this OTA Bolt rumoured? I ask as since the current Bolt is either/or (OTA/Cable), why would they have designed it this way if there was an OTA only planned. Seems it would have been more cost effective to have a cable only and a OTA only.


The only thing we have seen is this: http://zatznotfunny.com/2015-08/tivo-bolt-to-replace-roamio/ and this: http://zatznotfunny.com/2015-08/tivo-bolt-clears-the-fcc/

Which shows 3 Bolt boxes one appearing to be OTA only.

As far as the tuners are concerned it looks like the Bolt is using the same tuner pack that the Roamio did. The only reason for an OTA only version of either the Bolt or Roamio is because of the cost savings in not paying cable card costs (hardware and fees).


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

On the Roamio side they seemed to have found that certain OTA users like the fact the box is OTA only. While, essentially, it was the same box with the cablecard bracket removed. I elected for the basic, no idea why anyone went with the OTA only, but they did.

This is just the same marketing repeated. Perhaps with the AEREO name used, perhaps not.


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## solutionsetc (Apr 2, 2009)

atmuscarella said:


> because of the cost savings in not paying cable card costs (hardware and fees).


Makes sense I guess... I've no idea what those costs are but I suppose they could be substantial. Anyway, after seeing what is on the Aereo home page, I believe it's coming.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

jrtroo said:


> I elected for the basic, no idea why anyone went with the OTA only, but they did.


It was cheaper.


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

See post 43 on this thread (which I've copied below):
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=532368&page=2

Q: When is TiVo planning to release the Bolt Aereo Edition?
A: You should hear something by end of the year. May or may not be called "Aereo."

Given that the Roamio OTA is no longer available in the online TiVo Outlet and that Amazon appears to be sold out of it too, I'd expect the new OTA-only Bolt to come along pretty soon now. I'm curious what the pricing model for it will be. If it can be bought with lifetime service for $400 or less, I guess I'll regret having paid $300 earlier this year for my Roamio OTA with lifetime. But given TiVo's antipathy toward lifetime service lately, I doubt we'll see that kind of pricing on the Bolt Aereo/OTA.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

NashGuy said:


> See post 43 on this thread (which I've copied below):
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=532368&page=2
> 
> Q: When is TiVo planning to release the Bolt Aereo Edition?
> ...


My guess is $199 with one year of service. That would put it at about the same price that they wanted for the Roamio OTA before the clearance deals ($49 plus service of $15/mo). I would say the chances of it being $400 with "all in" are zero, at least for awhile.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

solutionsetc said:


> Better act fast... I just noticed the Roamio OTA has been taken down from the TiVo site.


The Roamio OTA can apparently still be ordered for $400, via this old link (previously a good sale price):
https://www.tivo.com/roamioota2176​
I got as far as the page to enter my credit card information, and the $400 Lifetime OTA was still in my cart.

---
_Provided as an FYI, not a recommendation._


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

But then it looks like the Lifetime'd OTA is available via Amazon, again, at the $300 rate.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0148ZRFVO​


krkaufman said:


> The Roamio OTA can apparently still be ordered for $400, via this old link (previously a good sale price):
> https://www.tivo.com/roamioota2176​
> I got as far as the page to enter my credit card information, and the $400 Lifetime OTA was still in my cart.
> 
> ...


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## NashGuy (May 2, 2015)

I wonder if TiVo isn't just transferring whatever remaining inventory they had of Roamio OTAs over to Amazon and letting them finish selling out the remainder. Maybe folks are more likely to discover them there than at TiVo.com?


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## mickinct (Sep 14, 2015)

NashGuy said:


> I wonder if TiVo isn't just transferring whatever remaining inventory they had of Roamio OTAs over to Amazon and letting them finish selling out the remainder. Maybe folks are more likely to discover them there than at TiVo.com?


MY #3 TIVO OTA is due in next week.


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## KimHedrick (Oct 12, 2014)

I have a Roamio Plus and five minis that work very well for me but everytime I see this thread and others like it I think: "Do I need to get one of these Roamio OTAs while they're still around for possible future use?" It's a good deal with the Lifetime Service but do I really need to get this? How long could I leave it unactivated before it's not possible to do so? It could be years before I needed it. I'd hate to miss the chance to get it but I guess I don't _really_ need it.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

With the Roamio OTA at $300 with lifetime, if someone is OTA they might just as well buy one for each TV as buy a mini for $150. Even if you are cable if you have a TV you don't need "live" cable on and you get good OTA reception might just as well have a Roamio OTA instead of a mini for the $150 difference in cost.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

atmuscarella said:


> With the Roamio OTA at $300 with lifetime, if someone is OTA they might just as well buy one for each TV as buy a mini for $150. Even if you are cable if you have a TV you don't need "live" cable on and you get good OTA reception might just as well have a Roamio OTA instead of a mini for the $150 difference in cost.


Newp. Either the Roamio OTA or an OTA-fed basic Roamio would prevent, as you say, any live viewing of cable channels, but it would also block access to on demand content from the cable provider -- for those who have access (Comcast, Cox, ???).

Not to mention that you can get Minis for South of $120, so the cost difference is pretty extreme as the number of screens increases.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

KimHedrick said:


> I have a Roamio Plus and five minis that work very well for me but everytime I see this thread and others like it I think: "Do I need to get one of these Roamio OTAs while they're still around for possible future use?" It's a good deal with the Lifetime Service but do I really need to get this? How long could I leave it unactivated before it's not possible to do so? It could be years before I needed it. I'd hate to miss the chance to get it but I guess I don't _really_ need it.


Speaking for our setup only, we've added a $300 Lifetime'd Roamio fed from an OTA antenna to our Roamio Pro/Mini(x8) setup to grab a couple PBS subchannels that Comcast doesn't provide, and to grab one channel in HD that Comcast only broadcasts in SD.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

KimHedrick said:


> I have a Roamio Plus and five minis that work very well for me but everytime I see this thread and others like it I think: "Do I need to get one of these Roamio OTAs while they're still around for possible future use?" It's a good deal with the Lifetime Service but do I really need to get this? How long could I leave it unactivated before it's not possible to do so? It could be years before I needed it. I'd hate to miss the chance to get it but I guess I don't _really_ need it.


I actually was in the same boat back when they were selling the $300 Roamio basic refurbs. I was very happy with my Plus and 3 Minis, and really didn't _need_ a basic Roamio at all. I went back and forth, but finally decided to go ahead and buy it. I figured if I didn't need to use it, I could always just give it to someone else or sell it on ebay.

After getting it all hooked up in the same room as the Plus just to test everything out, I actually found out I really enjoyed having those extra OTA tuners. I set up some season passes to free up some tuners on my Plus and transferred some shows to free up some HD space.

About a week after getting the basic, our cable TV went out for a few hours. It wasn't a huge deal, but it was really nice being able to just switch all 3 Minis over to using the basic with the OTA antenna and still being able to watch the local networks during the outage. So I have gone from planning on giving it away or selling it, to loving it and keeping it. Now I have 10 tuners and OTA capabilities when before I had only 6 tuners and no OTA capabilities, and am quite happy with my new setup.


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I actually was in the same boat back when they were selling the $300 Roamio basic refurbs. I was very happy with my Plus and 3 Minis, and really didn't _need_ a basic Roamio at all. I went back and forth, but finally decided to go ahead and buy it. I figured if I didn't need to use it, I could always just give it to someone else or sell it on ebay.
> 
> After getting it all hooked up in the same room as the Plus just to test everything out, I actually found out I really enjoyed having those extra OTA tuners. I set up some season passes to free up some tuners on my Plus and transferred some shows to free up some HD space.
> 
> About a week after getting the basic, our cable TV went out for a few hours. It wasn't a huge deal, but it was really nice being able to just switch all 3 Minis over to using the basic with the OTA antenna and still being able to watch the local networks during the outage. So I have gone from planning on giving it away or selling it, to loving it and keeping it. Now I have 10 tuners and OTA capabilities when before I had only 6 tuners and no OTA capabilities, and am quite happy with my new setup.


I like the backup antenna idea. Do you have cable setup on the basic or do you run it OTA all the time? My roamio basic is on cable I would expect setup changes would be needed.


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## eric102 (Oct 31, 2012)

My Roamio basic has been doing OTA backup service as well ever since I got a Roamio Pro and more recently a Bolt.

I'll usually watch the Bolt for the commercial skip feature but if a show has been clipped or didn't have skip I'll watch the OTA version since the picture seems a tad better than cable.

We also have plenty of power outages during the winter so its nice to have OTA recording capabilities for when the cable and power are down.


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## jacksails54 (Jun 3, 2015)

eric102 said:


> My Roamio basic has been doing OTA backup service as well ever since I got a Roamio Pro and more recently a Bolt.
> 
> I'll usually watch the Bolt for the commercial skip feature but if a show has been clipped or didn't have skip I'll watch the OTA version since the picture seems a tad better than cable.
> 
> We also have plenty of power outages during the winter *so its nice to have OTA recording capabilities for when the cable and power are down*.


How are you recording OTA when the power is down? Battery/generator backup system??


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## eric102 (Oct 31, 2012)

jacksails54 said:


> How are you recording OTA when the power is down? Battery/generator backup system??


Battery backup (UPS) until I can fire up the generator.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I was under the impression that OTA and cable versions were all included in each Bolt.



jjakusz said:


> From what I heard, the OTA version should be out this year. I haven't found a more precise prediction. I am itching to pull the trigger but since I only use OTA, I am hoping I can have the BOLT OTA installed before Thanksgiving and save a few bucks along the way. Anyone heard of a release date?
> 
> I am ready to replace my TIVO HD and TIVO HD XL with a TIVO BOLT OTA and a mini. Looking forward to the new hardware!


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

zerdian1 said:


> I was under the impression that OTA and cable versions were all included in each Bolt.


They are. This thread is about the OTA *ONLY* version of the Bolt that is due to be released sometime later this year.


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

Right, the new Tivo Bolt Zebra Aereola Edition 

It gonna have a longer name than most of Trump's deportees.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I thought that OTA Only version was dropped when they decided to combine OTA and Cable into the same Bolt.
There is less need for the OTA version.

The only reference I could find to Tivo Bolt Zebra Aereola Edition was in this thread.
The next two changes we have heard from TiVo is 
the new Series 6 Bolt 4K Mini and 
the new TiVo Series 6 4K Bolt PRO, 
both in about a year.

I did hear there was development work on Aerola.

We also heard the there was development work on a TiVo and Comcast research project to come up with a new TiVo and Comcast DVR that would not require a CableCard.

Comcast says they already have one that works without a CableCard in their new DVR unit.
My understanding it is being field-tested in the different markets by Comcast technition personnel.



tarheelblue32 said:


> They are. This thread is about the OTA *ONLY* version of the Bolt that is due to be released sometime later this year.


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

zerdian1 said:


> I thought that OTA Only version was dropped when they decided to combine OTA and Cable into the same Bolt.
> There is less need for the OTA version.


The base Roamio was OTA/Cable, yet they still released the Roamio OTA.


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## gigaguy (Aug 30, 2013)

OTA is a segment that might be helping Tivo sales and is cheaper to produce. I thought they would continue this with an OTA Bolt.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

gigaguy said:


> OTA is a segment that might be helping Tivo sales and is cheaper to produce. I thought they would continue this with an OTA Bolt.


They are. OTA Bolt is expected soon.


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## hooper (Sep 22, 2007)

I don't get this OTA stuff or cord cutting. Do folks who go OTA not subscribe to broadband? Do they live in areas without cable?

Everywhere I look Comcast prices are better for Internet when they include limited basic. The cable card is free, you get VOD, better base speed tier. Most of the packages also include HBO. 

To really see any savings you would have to drop to the 6 MB package or whatever the essentials speed is. 

Not looking to start a war here. Just trying to understand some of the logic.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

hooper said:


> I don't get this OTA stuff or cord cutting. Do folks who go OTA not subscribe to broadband? Do they live in areas without cable?
> 
> Everywhere I look Comcast prices are better for Internet when they include limited basic. The cable card is free, you get VOD, better base speed tier. Most of the packages also include HBO.
> 
> ...


Depends on your provider what makes sense. I happen to live in a "cable free" zone so when I "cut the cord" it was the "cord" to dish network. I have DSL for Internet from Frontier that maxes out at 9.5Mbs.

Technically I live in a TWC area (even through they will not bring their lines out to my house) and I know several people who use Dish or Direct and TWC Internet because they want something faster than DSL but don't want anything to do with TWC cable TV.

But you are correct anyone looking to reduce their pay TV costs needs to consider Internet access costs before they cut the cord, as cord shaving may make more sense.


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## jth tv (Nov 15, 2014)

Actually it is hard for me to believe that most people don't just use TWC $15 3Mbps internet if it is available. 3Mbps internet for Netflix is "720", YouTube is 720p. Faster than that for internet-only costs $45/mth. That is a lot more for a very little noticeable difference in Netflix picture quality.


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## gigaguy (Aug 30, 2013)

Been with TWC for years, first I heard of a $15 internet access rate, maybe that's rural? I got them down to $35 I think, and thought I did better than what most people tell me they pay for access.


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## zerdian1 (Apr 19, 2015)

I had a promotion of 25Mbps for $19.99.
I just went from 25Mbps to 85MBps with Docsys 3.0

They asked me if I wanted to get at least double that rate if I committed for a 2 year contract.
Normally, I do what I can to avoid contracts.
But since we just got our oceanfront condo, we intend to be here a very long time.
Comcast said that I would be guaranteed double speed of at least 50Mbps.
A Docsys 2 modem will get a little over 50Mpbs.
But I have a Docsys 3 modem and they said I will get 75Mbps in the the new system upgrade with DocSys 3.0.

In the first week I sampled it a few times each day and 
I was getting 86Mbps to 88Mbps.
Today I got closet to 86Mbps.


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