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Article on HDTivo stating the obvious
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Posted by: mscog

Saw this article in my paper this morning on HDTivo here:

http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/o...&month=6&day=11

It does say that D* plans to boost output of production
:p

Posted by: Cody21

Can you cut & paste the article here? That site requires registraton (e.g, spam)

Posted by: mscog

Here it is:

Tivo meets HDTV but few consumers
Wait is long for $999 box. Some appear on eBay for far more.

RELATED LINKS
• www.tivo.com
• www.dishnetwork.com
• www.tivocommunity.com

By JIM FINKLE
The Orange County Register

Videophiles have long awaited the marriage of the two hottest stars in the television universe: Tivo and HDTV.

While the wait is over, they need to stand in line - or pay scalpers' prices - to get in on the action.

The first high-definition personal video recorders have been rolled out slowly in the past few months by DirecTV and Dish Network, the two big satellite-television providers. Their list price is an eyebrow-raising $999. And they're being resold by speculators on eBay and other Web sites for an eye-popping average of about $1,500.

A few lucky consumers are able to find them on the Web sites of retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City. But supplies are so tight that they pop up infrequently at list price and generally sell out within a few minutes.

The only options are getting on waiting lists that can take six to eight weeks to clear or turning to a gray market where TV junkies are paying heavily for a quick fix.

"I'm surprised that people are willing to dish out this kind of premium when the product will be available in abundance in a couple months," said Hassen Fawaz, an eBay merchant from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Fawaz bought three of the DirecTV Tivo HD recorders for $999. He kept one for himself and sold the other two for more than $1,600 apiece. Now he's put the third one up for sale, too. "I decided to grab the profit now and pick up another one later when the price drops," he said.

If those sky-high markups last a while, the new digital video recorders may earn a place in retailing history - in the same category as Cabbage Patch dolls, hot home video consoles, Springstein concert tickets and Ugg boots.

Value Electronics of Scarsdale, N.Y., has shipped 380 of the new Tivos, which the manufacturer started selling in April. The Web retailer has a waiting list for 2,200 boxes and is telling customers that, if they order today, they product likely be delivered in mid-July.

One man offered the retailer $5,000 for the device, which is basically a computer designed solely to record television programs.

Value Electronics President Robert Zohn said he reluctantly turned the man away, figuring it wouldn't be ethical to let him cut in line ahead of customers who are waiting to pay the list price. One customer bought a machine from Zohn for $999, then resold it on eBay for $2,400.

Zohn, an entrepreneur who used to live in Irvine, said he's sold more of the high-priced DVRs in wealthy parts of Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles than any other part of the country. "It appeals to an upper- and upper-middle- class and wealthy crowd more than anybody else," he said.

"Tivo has a kind of cult following because it so drastically changes the way you watch TV," said Kevin O'Grady, an Atlanta computer engineer who's a devout Tivo fan. "You're not tied to a network schedule anymore."

O'Grady was pretty satisfied with his entertainment lifestyle until March, when he got his first high-definition television: a 51-inch Hitachi rear-projection model. He was blown away by the TV's super- high clarity but disgruntled that he couldn't use Tivo to record shows in the enhanced format.

He started watching the high-definition version of "The Sopranos," his favorite show. But he wasn't able to watch all of Tony Soprano's escapades in high- definition because he wasn't around every Sunday night to watch the show live.

"If you're going to see Tony whack somebody, you want to see it in high-def," O'Grady said. "The fact that we couldn't record it on Tivo was a hindrance."

O'Grady, who hasn't yet bought one of the new units, shared his frustrations with some 100 other Tivo fans this week in Las Vegas at the first- ever Tivo conference, an event he organized. Only a couple of them have the new boxes, while more than half are still searching.

For people who want to record shows at high-definition quality but aren't such hard- core enthusiasts, it doesn't make sense to rush to buy one of the new machines, said Tom Farinola, owner of Atlantic Stereo in Costa Mesa.

"We're telling people to hold off until things shake out," he said. "If you're one of the guys on the block who has to have the cutting edge and you have to record it in high definition, then go out and buy it. But buyer beware."

His concern is that the manufacturers may not have worked out all the kinks in the new machines. Hughes Electronics, which makes the Tivo version, historically has released products that still have bugs in them, he said.

DirecTV and Dish Network both plan to boost output in the next few months. They say they've held off on doing so because the machines are so technically complex that a quick initial ramp up in production could have sacrificed quality.

"It's an extremely sophisticated product," DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said. "It's not one you want to slap together and rush to market."

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CONTACT US: (714) 796-6927 or jfinkle@ocregister.com

Posted by: DLiquid

quote:
Originally posted by mscog
If those sky-high markups last a while, the new digital video recorders may earn a place in retailing history - in the same category as Cabbage Patch dolls, hot home video consoles, Springstein concert tickets and Ugg boots.

If DirecTV was producing a reasonable number of these units, there would be no eBay bidding frenzy. The demand for the HD TiVos is not very high, especially compared to something like eighties Cabbage Patch dolls or the PS2 at launch. It's that the supply of the HD TiVos is practically nonexistent that is creating the current situation. I guess the Cabbage Patch reference makes his article sound more dramatic, but IMO it's a silly statement to make.

Posted by: robnalex

It's a poorly written and poorly researched article. It gives the clear but incorrect impression that the HDTiVo is available with Dish Network!

Posted by: SJinBoise

quote:
Originally posted by robnalex
It's a poorly written and poorly researched article. It gives the clear but incorrect impression that the HDTiVo is available with Dish Network!

It may just be a poorly edited article. Often editors take out something vital by mistake. Don't blame the writer.

Posted by: robnalex

quote:
Originally posted by SJinBoise
It may just be a poorly edited article. Often editors take out something vital by mistake. Don't blame the writer.

Sorry, but I do blame the writer. His name is on the article and there are far too many misleading errors. It's a total sh*t piece.

Posted by: rcamille

I agree. The article is misleading. In my market area, NY Metro, demand for the HD Tivo is evidently not that high. I bought mine at PC Richard two days ago. They had over 50 in inventory and the District Manager I worked with told me they are moving very slowly. Unfortunately, PC Richard will only sell the units in their market area because they have to install it themselves. They are very strict on this policy. I told him that if he was willing to do mail order he would vacate his inventory in hours.

By the way. Even though $1,000 is kind of steep for this thing, I don't regret the dollars spent for even a minute!!!

Posted by: turls

I really hate these type of comparisons to PS2s and the like, DirecTV blew it, they should have made sure their existing customers that pay good money for a service they can't fully utilize without a HD DirecTivo got first crack at these before the scalpers. They already sell the HD receivers direct at a loss (so they screw the retailers already), they have the infrastructure setup, they should have sold them themselves.

Funny they talk about bugs in Hughes products, but don't mention the problems with Dish units, which have been much more severe.

quote:
Originally posted by mscog
If those sky-high markups last a while, the new digital video recorders may earn a place in retailing history - in the same category as Cabbage Patch dolls, hot home video consoles, Springstein concert tickets and Ugg boots.

. . .

His concern is that the manufacturers may not have worked out all the kinks in the new machines. Hughes Electronics, which makes the Tivo version, historically has released products that still have bugs in them, he said.

Posted by: Budget_HT

When did Kevin O'Grady (unixadm) move to Atlanta? Last I noticed he was living in New Jersey. I guess I'd better pay more attention. Perhaps I have spent too much time on the HD TiVo threads and not enough with SD DirecTiVo.

Posted by: Gromit

quote:
Originally posted by Budget_HT
When did Kevin O'Grady (unixadm) move to Atlanta? Last I noticed he was living in New Jersey. I guess I'd better pay more attention. Perhaps I have spent too much time on the HD TiVo threads and not enough with SD DirecTiVo.

A couple of months ago, IIRC. He posted about it in the Happy Hour forum.

Posted by: Budget_HT

Thanks, Gromit.