Tivo looking at business model change:

[lovingHDTV]

Pulled from the news, that they are looking into a no upfront/with monthly fees model. I'm sorry, but I don't like them monthly fees, but maybe it will get someone in the door.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060227/...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl

[aperry]

If they did the opposite, pay up front and no monthly fees (and less than it costs now), I think they'd have more success getting new people to join.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by lovingHDTV

Pulled from the news, that they are looking into a no upfront/with monthly fees model. I'm sorry, but I don't like them monthly fees, but maybe it will get someone in the door.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060227/...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl

One of the reasons why I gave up on TiVo.

I mean, just think about it. You want to setup your house with say 3 TV's. That's a freaking $900 bucks just for the subscription alone, not counting the cost of the boxes.

[lovingHDTV]

I agree, I just find it not meeting my needs, and wondering how many people will want to sign up. They are doing this in an attempt to put more boxen in homes. That is why I was wondering about the no up front, I know "everyone" in america wants it now/pay later. Maybe this will work for them?

Not my bag of tea.

[dbfresh23]

Well any way you slice it at $13.99 /mo per box it's just not worth it. If they were to give away or rent the boxes for $5.99/mo I could easily see that as a winner. $5.99 plus a cable card rental would compete with the prices charged by most cable companies for their STB rentals and could probably put Tivo back at the top.

[lovingHDTV]

Sure I would bite at $6.00 per month. I figure my computers running Sage depreciate quicker than that

[aperry]

Originally Posted by dbfresh23

Well any way you slice it at $13.99 /mo per box it's just not worth it. If they were to give away or rent the boxes for $5.99/mo I could easily see that as a winner. $5.99 plus a cable card rental would compete with the prices charged by most cable companies for their STB rentals and could probably put Tivo back at the top.

I don't know what the new rate would be, but currently it is $12.95 a month for the first box and $6.95 for each additional box. Hopefully, they'd still offer some sort of discount.

[elaw]

Originally Posted by joe123

One of the reasons why I gave up on TiVo.

I mean, just think about it. You want to setup your house with say 3 TV's. That's a freaking $900 bucks just for the subscription alone, not counting the cost of the boxes.

Okay playing devil's advocate a little here...

Hate to say it but your logic seems a little backwards. How about pricing the same 3 sets with Sage? A basic HTPC costs a grand. Add Sage, Purevideo, a few other bits of software maybe $200 total. Compared to $3600 your number sounds cheap! Yes Sage does more but not that much more - Tivo with HMO can network, play music files and display pictures. Sage does all that and plays DVD's but how much does a DVD player cost?

Don't get me wrong - I love Sage. But keeping the wife at bay when I've got $2500 invested in two HTPC's that can get all the way through a TV program maybe 40% of the time without experiencing a problem where our "free" DTivo does it 99.9% of the time can be quite a challenge!

[jominor]

Originally Posted by elaw

Okay playing devil's advocate a little here...

Hate to say it but your logic seems a little backwards. How about pricing the same 3 sets with Sage? A basic HTPC costs a grand. Add Sage, Purevideo, a few other bits of software maybe $200 total. Compared to $3600 your number sounds cheap! Yes Sage does more but not that much more - Tivo with HMO can network, play music files and display pictures. Sage does all that and plays DVD's but how much does a DVD player cost?

Don't get me wrong - I love Sage. But keeping the wife at bay when I've got $2500 invested in two HTPC's that can get all the way through a TV program maybe 40% of the time without experiencing a problem where our "free" DTivo does it 99.9% of the time can be quite a challenge!

Well, I'll say not quite. First, the MVP sells for a $100 dollars. Two, you can draft older PCs. For example, I brought back a P3-500 laptop and I use it in my daughter's playroom. Cost, a wireless PC card and a Sage client.

Where I would say the cost comes in on the PC is growth. I have 7x200g drives(4 for divx movies, 3 for Sage TV) and a 160gig for Sage TV because it is easy to add storage.

I just wait for a sale when I need a drive and buy it.

[elaw]

Well you've got a point, but neither comparison is apples-to-apples. While my high-cost comparison included hardware that does a bit more than a Tivo, yours goes the other way - the MVP has no tuner(s) and no storage. Cheaper, yes, but totally unable to function on its own. I also fear that by bringing an MVP into the equation, the stability situation could only get worse.

Re hard drives... sigh... right now all my drives are busting at the seams with Olympics recordings! Was hoping Compusa would have a good deal this week to fix the problem, but no such luck!



Eric