TiVo Announces High-Def Series3 DVR 225
prostoalex writes "Catching up with the competition, TiVo is set to unveil a high-definition digital video recorder. The unit will feature dual tuners, 250 GB, and a hefty price sticker: 'The long-awaited product will be $800 and available in mid-September, the company said. Subscription fees for the TiVo service are separate ... TiVo officials attributed its long development time in part to waiting for certain technologies to mature and the lengthy process of getting industry-related approvals, such as for the set-top-box's two built-in CableCARD slots. CableCARD slots allow users to access digital programming from a cable TV provider without the need for a separate receiver. The Series3 HD box also represents TiVo's first major product upgrade since it released its networked Series2 DVR in 2002.'"
Re:That DIY HTPC just became economical! (Score:2, Informative)
I'm assuming you consider more as not being able to record about 75% of the HD content out there.
Re:That DIY HTPC just became economical! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:That DIY HTPC just became economical! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Satellite? (Score:3, Informative)
But it's not out yet (just recently announced)...
E.
Looks about right... (Score:4, Informative)
And for all of the posts bitching about "$800 PLUS subscription!??!?!?", remember that this is a set-top box replacement. You already pay Comcast or [insert other cable behemoth here] $10/month for that POS DVR that they provide with a clunky unreliable interface. $2 more gets you a better interface, suggestions, downloadable content, more guide data, the ability to program over the internet, the ability to download shows to your laptop or other device, the ability to display slide shows, mp3 playback, mp3 streaming, podcast streaming, and so on and so on and so on. And that's not even including the features in the pipeline, like (official) storage upgrades and a ton of other unannounced projects.
For $3 more a month, bring me my TiVo. And as far as the $800 initial fee, if you can't afford it - just wait for the first round of rebates. Or do what I always do, upgrade when they offer unbelievably cheap factory refurb units. Every TiVo I've ever owned has been a refurb - and with proper cable surge protection and a Smart-UPS, my units have never failed me.
Already for sale on Tivo.com (Score:4, Informative)
According to TivoBlog, some Best Buy stores are taking preorders showing a delivery date of 9/17/06. There have also been rumors over the past few weeks that Best Buy and CircuitCity will have the Series3 Tivo in stock on the 17th or 19th.
Despite the heavy price tag, the need to rent 2 CableCARDs from my local Cable Company, and the expensive $12.95 Tivo monthly fee, I placed my order within a few minutes of Tivo making the change to their website. I bought one of the first 14-hour Tivos when they went on sale in 1999, and in all that time I have not seen another DVR that has a UI as good as the Tivo one. I finally abandoned Tivo in favor of a Cable Company DVR in 2004 when my local Cable Company started to offer HD programming. Finally Tivo is catching up 2 years later.
By the way, you can thank design firm IDEO [ideo.com] for many of the UI innovations of the Tivo (and early Macs as well).
Re:800$ plus subscription?? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Related stories... (Score:3, Informative)
The CableCARDs are rented from the local cable company at something like $5 - $15/month.
The Tivo is essentially commodity hardware stitched together with solid software and a fantastic UI. As the cost of those commodity parts drop, so will the retail price of the Series3 Tivo.
In the past, Tivo has been willing to sell the hardware at a loss hoping to make up the cost with their $12.95/month service fee. It hasn't really worked out that well for them, so they are not willing to sell the Series3 at a loss like they did with the Series1 and Series2. I suspect this is one of the reasons why Tivo is allowing (for the first time ever) to transfer "lifetime" subscriptions to the Tivo service bought in 1999-2000 to the new Series3 boxes. They actually make money selling a new box now.
Re:800$ plus subscription?? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:That DIY HTPC just became economical! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:That DIY HTPC just became economical! (Score:1, Informative)
There are efforts to create a new license that does not rely on OCAP, but until then, I doubt TiVo will support bidirectional CableCARD.
Re:Not quite (Score:4, Informative)
Re:That DIY HTPC just became economical! (Score:3, Informative)
sure you can!
Re:800$ plus subscription?? (Score:3, Informative)
Just got email from Tivo saying if I buy a new HD Tivo, for $199 they'll transfer my lifetime sub to the new HD unit. Offer appears to be good for purchases of new HD unit through 12/31/2006, and you must activate new service by 01/31/2006.
They will also allow your older Tivo to work no charge for service for 12 mos, after which you can deactivate it, or pay monthly on it.
I might do this....just to have HD content going while the issues for MythTV and encrypted HD content on cable is 'worked' on...
Review, FAQ, and photos (Score:2, Informative)