TiVo Community Forums Archives - TiVo Disk Upgrade Program Survey

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TiVo Disk Upgrade Program Survey
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Posted by: Sorcerer

Check your mail for a invitation to a Tivo survey...

A Tivo plush toy is your reward for completing the survey!

Seems as though Tivo/Philips is looking at judging response to getting into the upgrading disk space business... http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

-Sorc

Posted by: TiVoOpsMgr

As with any survey, we select participants from our subscriber database using specific criteria, so please don't forward the survey URL to anyone. For those folks invited to participate, thanks for taking the survey! Only a small percentage of customers were invited to participate this time around, so please don't take it personally if you didn't receive a survey e-mail.

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E. Stephen Mack, Sr. Operations Manager at TiVo
estephen@tivo.com

Posted by: mitchb2

Then I'll take the survey right now:

"Disk upgrade program?"

YES YES YES!!!! :-)

The only regret we have is not getting the 60-hour unit, but we will probably get a DirecTiVo for upstairs.

Posted by: Sorcerer

I remember reading of a few surveys in the past, which is why I didn't post the link to the survey..

I just thought folks should know that Tivo/Philips are looking into providing such a service..

The other reason I mentioned it is my email client (which happens to be Microsoft's Outlook) placed the Tivo Survey mail in my Junk Items bin..... http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

Hmmm... coincidence??? You decide!

-Sorc

Posted by: sbourgeo

I got it too... If they do go forward with this, I wonder what this will do to TiVo's current stance of looking the other way for self-upgraders?

Heck, then self-upgraders would be costing TiVo/Philips revenue that they really need.

Steve

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Steve

Philips 312-03 30 hour
2.0.1-002-000

Posted by: seern

Phillips? Well I guess that us Sony people aren't invited! Will there be an opportunity to upgrade Sony machines?

Posted by: StanSimmons

quote:
Originally posted by sbourgeo:

Heck, then self-upgraders would be costing TiVo/Philips revenue that they really need.

Not if they stick to the 200hr/$800 price point that the survey mentions... Too steep for many people. I think a smaller hr/$$$ upgrade would work well.

Posted by: DCIFRTHS

What were some of the other upgrades mentioned?

quote:
Originally posted by StanSimmons:
Not if they stick to the 200hr/$800 price point that the survey mentions... Too steep for many people. I think a smaller hr/$$$ upgrade would work well.

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DCIFRTHS -- if you can.

Posted by: dschmoldt

quote:
Originally posted by DCIFRTHS:
What were some of the other upgrades mentioned?

I recall a 60 hour/$169 cost being mentioned. With a 4 day turnaround. Warranty would not be voided.

They were toying with the idea of being able to transfer your existing shows/preferences/etc. to the upgraded system, but weren't definite.

My response was that my warranty had long expired on my machine, and I didn't want to give it up for 4 days. But if they wanted to sell me an authorized do-it-yourself upgrade kit for that price, I'd be all for it.

Posted by: Sorcerer

FYI, my survey was upgrade to 100 hours for $399 .. and based on some other posts in the Underground, it looks like the survey is searching for an acceptable price point...

Also thought I'd mention it looked to me based on the questions of the survey that it was geared towards standalone units...

-Sorc

Posted by: Nauts

Thanks for the "heads up" on this. It was placed in my "spambox" because of the wording (doesn't everyone use `procmail` to eliminate spam?).

I just wish they would send something else besides a plush doll. I have four of them so far, and I've run out of computers to place them on (it keeps falling off of my laptop screen).

How about a gift certificate for the TiVo store?

Posted by: sbourgeo

My survey was to upgrade to 100 hours for $350, but you would lose your shows and settings.

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Steve

Philips 312-03 30 hour
2.0.1-002-000

Posted by: tivoupgrade

Hmmm. I haven't been 'invited' yet. This could put me in direct competition, I suppose -- but my suspicion is that TiVo will continue to go for more of a 'sweet spot' in the market -- ie lower prices; whereas I've pretty much stuck to the 'high-end' and will continue to do so as the larger drives become available.

Lou

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http://www.ptvupgrade.com

Posted by: johnsom

Yes! Official upgrades!!! No more 30 hours.

Posted by: TVdude

Did it mention anything about which units they can upgrade? I have a Phillips SA and a directivo and "lucky me" they are 2 drive units. I would love to get a factory upgrade on the directivo! http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

Posted by: Randy Given

I would go for some of those price-points, especially the lower ones. We occasionally exceed our 30 hours and could give ours up for 4 days during the summer months. If this offer happens during the fall (new season), don't expect many takers.

Posted by: martinp13

It wasn't a "this is what it will be" kind of thing. It was more along the fuzzy lines of "would you upgrade if it cost $X for Y hrs and took Z days turnaround and you lost all/some/none of your settings/recordings". I imagine different people got different values, so it would zero in on "acceptable to most people" as more responses came in.

I got a survey like that for work... it was funny to read some of the questions: "would you like a 30% raise in base pay but have to move to another country to work? How about a 20% cut in base pay, but continue to live in the same city?". In the end you saw a graph of how important you perceived each thing like salary, benefits, promotions, work hours, diversity, etc. Quite interesting, actually. Of course, I wasn't surprised when my #1/#2 most important were base pay and retirement fund contributions. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

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> Martin
Plain Philips 30 TiVo
Got a GPS? Find some hidden treasure near you!

Posted by: bonehead

quote:
Originally posted by StanSimmons:
Not if they stick to the 200hr/$800 price point

http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/eek.gif http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/eek.gif http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/eek.gif

That's almost double the retail price of the hardware involved, I'm sure it's more than double the price they're paying.I could see 200hr/$500 as reasonable, but the price mentioned above, IMHO, borders on price gouging.

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The country's reserves of ignorance constitute a natural resource as precious as the Mississippi River or the long-lost herds of buffalo. -- Lewis H. Lapham, from his essay "School Bells"

Posted by: ayu168

quote:
Originally posted by TiVoOpsMgr:
As with any survey, we select participants from our subscriber database using specific criteria, so please don't forward the survey URL to anyone. For those folks invited to participate, thanks for taking the survey! Only a small percentage of customers were invited to participate this time around, so please don't take it personally if you didn't receive a survey e-mail.

I want the survey!

Posted by: jcsolomon

I don't want the survey. I want the upgrade http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/frown.gif

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SVR-2000 2.0.1
SVR-2000 2.0.1

Wherever you go, there you are.

Posted by: Leon WIlkinson

I wonder what people would say that have lifetime paid. Of having a upgrade being done and have there lifetime took off and agree to a 1 1/2yr service agreement, before they could go lifetime again.

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TiVo owners in the fight against cancer

FHSU's Kansas Solar System Project
I have TiVo, now I'm a stronger person because of it.

Posted by: tivoupgrade

quote:
Originally posted by bonehead:

quote:
Originally posted by StanSimmons:
Not if they stick to the 200hr/$800 price point

http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/eek.gif http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/eek.gif http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/eek.gif

That's almost double the retail price of the hardware involved, I'm sure it's more than double the price they're paying.I could see 200hr/$500 as reasonable, but the price mentioned above, IMHO, borders on price gouging.

Its not price gouging if people have alternatives. Besides which, all they are trying to do is establish how much people are willing to pay and for what. Its very difficult, in this day and age, to determine pricing for stuff like this, and the best way to do it is to see what the market will support.

Lou

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http://www.ptvupgrade.com

Posted by: Deven

quote:
Originally posted by Leon WIlkinson:
I wonder what people would say that have lifetime paid. Of having a upgrade being done and have there lifetime took off and agree to a 1 1/2yr service agreement, before they could go lifetime again.

I'm sure they would restore the lifetime-service status to the box after a supported upgrade -- it would surely lead to big trouble if they didn't. Besides, isn't the serial number on the motherboard, nto the HD? It would probably be automagic...

As for price points, I think $500 is a good price point for 200 hours. $600 would be pushing it, and $800 is definitely overpriced. There should be at least two options, though -- a 100 hour upgrade for $250 would be much easier to stomach for many people who won't blow $500 without a damn good reason. If you could upgrade to 100 hours, and later upgrade to 200 hours for the same price as the 100-hour upgrade, that would be ideal. (It would make sense for the cost of those two upgrades together to be slightly more than the cost of the single upgrade to 200 hours.)

As for settings, I think it would be completely unacceptable NOT to transfer the settings from the old system. It would take a LONG time to reprogram the system (not to mention getting the "thumbs" data back in shape), and there's no excuse to put customers through that.

As for turnaround time, it would need to be very fast, especially for people with DirecTivo's, because they might not be able to watch TV at all while the box is being upgraded. (Those with standalone TiVo's could still watch live TV.)

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"Simple things should be simple, and complex things should be possible." - Alan Kay

Posted by: d_anders

Folks, this is just a survey and getting the feel for pricing and possible acceptance.

Some of you are writing as though it's a done deal. Opinions on the survey are noteworthy, but getting upset over a program that doesn't even exist yet is another.

The survey can certainly give you and idea of what may come, but just because it's being sent to some people and not others, omitting the word "Sony", and stating a particular dollar figure doesn't mean anything...yet.

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-Dean
2.0.1? Try out WISHLISTS! Wishlists and the Season Pass Manager are some of the best things about 2.0.1.

[This message has been edited by d_anders (edited 06-18-2001).]

Posted by: arjay

quote:
Originally posted by Deven:

As for turnaround time, it would need to be very fast....

The darn shipping both ways for all those upgrades, done in proper sequence, would be a potential hitch in the gettalong.

It's not like warranty repairs where everyone gets back the same model, but not the same box. Upgrades would be slower, and require more precise record keeping.

Still, if that could be worked out, and the price plus the shipping was reasonable, it sounds like a good deal.

I'd probably take 'em up on such an offer, assuming SONY TIVO's were elegible, there was some kinda' warranty on the upgrade, and the turnaround time and price were reasonable. I'd probably wait until the first rush of orders had been filled before so doing, however.

I notice there are two current threads on this topic, but it is an interesting topic.

Posted by: lenny64

I know this depends on the model of TiVo, but often isn't it as easy (thanks to the great help in the hack forum) as blessing and adding another disk? This option would be much less costly and settings would be saved.

It would be a shame if they didn't keep all settings, and provide a back up for you. This, the cost savings, and a short 3-month warranty period would continue to encourage your average computer user (me!) to upgrade on your own.