Tivo £99??? WHY?

TopMeTom

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As most people on here would have heard,Dixons are doing tivo over the net for £99. So just one question,WHY?.
In my experience companies like dixons never give anything away,so why is it so cheap? Has tivo gone down the pan?is it worth 99 squids?:confused:
Phil
 
Seems these companies want shot of all the stock they have.

No TiVo have not gone down the pan, and there ain't no way they're going to either.

Good God yes it's worth £99! Not forgetting the added £200 lifetime (the machine, not you) subscription or the monthly £10 one (which is how they make their profit).
 
Originally posted by philb
is it worth 99 squids?:confused:
Phil


Yes it is.
The problem was that the hardware alone wasn't worth the £400 asking price when launched hence the thousands of unsold units stacked up in retail stockrooms and at the manufacturers warehouses.
It had to be that price of course for Thomson to make any profit or at the very least pave the way for a second generation machine which would benefit from lower production costs and a higher profit margin.
The £99 - £150 deals are a result of this overstocking by retailers and there comes a time when any return on an item is better then paying the storage costs.
 
I got mine last week, and it's better than I expected. Easily worth the £££.

I'm already looking at picking up another 120 GB HD for it.
 
Ive been offered a new one for £60 and not really sure if i need one. id like sky+ just for recording programmes whilst watching something else. not sure what to do. Sky+ is too much money
 
£60? How can you not give it a go?

I'm sure you could resell it for more than that if you didn't like it. Definitely worth a try.
 
I could not resist one of these.

So far very happy with it, worth every penny.

Soon time to open it up and slap in a couple of 120Gb disks.
 
Did I read somewhere that Pace are about to release a hard disk recorder, not tied into Sky though, but a general use one? Apologies if Ihave the wrong end of the stick...

mikef
 
You did read about a Pace disk recorder. It may have been here at AVForums.

Not tied to Sky Digital but Freeview.

Sounds a bit pricey (rrp £350) :(
 
Thanks - yes, £350 is a bit too much for only 10 hours record time. I think th eother boxes available have nearer 30 hours? Perhaps if it appears in stores cheaper/on special offer it will be worth it.

mikef
 
Originally posted by kevenh
You did read about a Pace disk recorder. It may have been here at AVForums.

Not tied to Sky Digital but Freeview.

Sounds a bit pricey (rrp £350) :(

Just a general observation:)
Amazing how many people have complained about a subscription being part of a PVR type device and then balk at paying the true market value of the hardware.
SKY+ is sold below cost and PACE get a percentage of the subscription revenue, TIVO is being sold at a huge loss just to get rid of stock so both PVR's prices do not reflect their actual retail value. I would have paid £500-£600 without hesitation last year if SKY+ did not require a £10/month subscription.

The significant drop in price of reasonable quality VCR's and DVD players make this new PACE DTT recorder look expensive on the surface but I think it's very reasonable for a first generation ground breaking piece of hardware although I think PACE have made a mistake with such a low capacity HD.
 
Originally posted by Starburst
Amazing how many people have complained about a subscription being part of a PVR type device and then balk at paying the true market value of the hardware.

The hardware is mostly cheap, commodity kit.

It's the software and intellectual property that goes into making it work that is expensive!
 
Originally posted by Starburst
I think PACE have made a mistake with such a low capacity HD.

Definitely, 20GB is useless.
To say it isn't aimed at archiving ( Pace CS ) is nonsense, anyone who has a PVR knows how easily filled it is.
A simple upgrade may save it, otherwise it is a turkey.
 
Thanks for the replies all.

Do things like Tivo have Digital Tuners so you can watch 'free to air' channels, or do they have to be linked into services like Sky? Part of the appeal of the Pace box for me was the integrated tuner.

cheers

mikef
 
Thanks Gringotts. The Pace box could be tempting for a digital tuner plus hard disk, but it's still out of my reach price wise. I'll see if anyone has deals when it comes out.

mikef
 
I don't know whether i remembered right but there is an article on the US TIVO website about TIVO 2!

If this is old news please excuse my ignorance
 
Allegedly Tivo 2 is not coming to U.K.
Expect Tivo operating system to be built in to other products instead from Sony and Toshiba, plus others...
 
Originally posted by Mikef
Thanks Gringotts. The Pace box could be tempting for a digital tuner plus hard disk, but it's still out of my reach price wise. I'll see if anyone has deals when it comes out.

mikef

In fact a main plus point of the Pace HD recorder is that it has two digital tuners. That makes it the first digital one box solution for watching and recording at the same time. Shame about the small HD though.
It will probably not have software as sophisticated as the TIVO or even Sky+. With a 20gig HD that may almost be an advantage ie it will not be able to decide to record things for you so will not fill up quite as fast as a real PVR.
Also it should have slightly better replay quality than a TIVO as like the SKY+ it records and replays digitally without the analogue conversion as I understand it (which isnt very much!). In fact it is a SKY+ box with Free to Air tuners and different software.
I will be getting one as soon as they come out unless something similar and better appears. Without a subscription the price is what I would expect for a 'new' product.
 
I have found some for 150 squids! What do you reckon...worth it?? Anything to watch out for?
:D
Phil
 
Originally posted by philb
Anything to watch out for?

Allegedly Thomson have ceased production a while back, Tivo CS has no stock to offer " swap-out " replacements so a refund may be the only solution to a faulty box.

Keep an eye out, £99 or less is perhaps more realistic, although personally £150 is still a bargain if brand new unopened stock not refurbished re-packs.

New Sony Tivos rumoured for U.K. early next year, remember it is Thomson hardware drying up not Tivo itself.
 
Now it has been discontinued,is it worth buying or should i leave it see what happens?:confused:
Phil
 
My opinion is that it is definitely worth buying.
The worst that can happen is that the Tribune listings will cease and then you will only be able to perform manual recordings and pause " live " tv etc.
Tivo have just stressed their commitment to provide U.K. listings, personally I believe they will ( gulp ! ).
Early next year new Tivo products should appear anyway so the listings should keep going.

I suppose you could always get Skyplus+
 

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