TiVo Community Forums Archives - THe Series 2 price is too high

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THe Series 2 price is too high
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Posted by: winthropwelling

I was thinking about the series 2 or the Replay 4040. The functions on the replay are far superior, but I wanted to spend less. When I add in the lifetime service for tivo (why pay $10/month over and over and over) the tivo costs almost the same.

The series 2 is $400 + $250 = $650
Replay 4040 is $700

The replay allows program sharing online, auto commercial skip, 60 second skip, screen saver, progressive output, photo slide show, show organization functions, digital audio, and grid channel guide.

Who would not pay $50 more bucks for all this?

Come on tivo, you are not competitive at this price.:rolleyes:

Posted by: walters

You used the 60-hour series II. The 40-hour series II is $100 cheaper.

And the TiVo has far better PVR features, with non-PVR features currently in development.

And the TiVo doesn't require a broadband connection ($50+/month).

Posted by: geko29

Yah if you want to compare apples to apples, you either have to compare the 40hr Tivo to the 40hr RPTV, which is a $150 difference after lifetime service; Or compare the 60hr unit ($650 w/ lifetime) to the mean between the 40 ($700) and 80 hr ($1000) replay, which is $850, for a $200 difference.

Nevermind the fact, that with the exception of the recording sharing, TiVo is WAY ahead as a PVR.

Posted by: winthropwelling

There is only one series 2 model that I can find. It costs $650 with the tivo guide.

I have looked and tivo has no functions that are superior to Replay that I can find, but Replay has a wealth of superior functions as I pointed out.

A bit more hard drive is in tivo's favor, but I'd rather add drive space myself than be gouged by either as they both seem to do.

Tivo series 2 is way overpriced. I’m gong to buy soon. If tivo doesn’t have a rather big sale, I’ll be going with Replay. The $50 difference is not a big deal when you look at the superior functions.

Posted by: jsmeeker

quote:
Originally posted by winthropwelling
There is only one series 2 model that I can find. It costs $650 with the tivo guide.

I have looked and tivo has no functions that are superior to Replay that I can find, but Replay has a wealth of superior functions as I pointed out.

A bit more hard drive is in tivo's favor, but I'd rather add drive space myself than be gouged by either as they both seem to do.

Tivo series 2 is way overpriced. I’m gong to buy soon. If tivo doesn’t have a rather big sale, I’ll be going with Replay. The $50 difference is not a big deal when you look at the superior functions.

You didn't look enough. There *is* a 40 our series 2 unit.

The "superior" features of Replay are nothing compared to the far more superior software and recording capabilities of the TiVo.

But go ahead in spend more to get less in more way than one.

Posted by: stevel

The AT&T Broadband model is the one you should compare against. $299. Slide show? Gimme a break. Next thing you'll be telling me you want it to cook your popcorn too!

If you prefer Replay, and have a broadband connection, then fine, buy one! Nobody's stopping you.

Posted by: Philosofy

And, after you get your Replay, and two of your favorite shows come into conflict, and you want to know which one will record, come ask us. We won't know either, but we'll all have a good laugh.

IMHO, the only advantage Replay has right now is commercial skip, and the future of that is going to be in the hands of the lawyers. Networking? Nice, but I'll wait for Tivo's implementation.

Posted by: geko29

And be sure to let us know when your "infallible" replay misses the special extra episode of CSI that CBS sometimes shows, or decides not to record your favorite show after it switches from thursday to tuesday night. Or the name changes.

In 15 months my tivo has NEVER missed an SP or explicit recording unless it conflicted with a HIGHER priority recording. Which, of course, is my doing. I set the priorities for just that reason.

Posted by: turbo92awd

quote:
Originally posted by stevel
Slide show? Gimme a break. Next thing you'll be telling me you want it to cook your popcorn too!

my digital camera already does that.. the slide show thing, it doesn't make popcorn... that is what a popcorn machine is for.

anytime a device is built in to another device the whole never equals the sum of its parts.. look at the PS2 and XBOX as DVD players... sorry, i'll keep my progressive scan panasonic (i wonder how much cheaper these would be if they did not have dvd movie capabilities?). camcorders with digital cameras built in suck for still pictures, but buy a digital camcorder and a digital camera and you are set. can you say TV/VCR combo? HAHAHAHAHA

what needs to be focused on is a networking ability of all players, monitors, storage devices that would allow one to be plugged into the other and a common interface would be used.

this is what i believe they are working on with firewire/usb product connectivity, right?

Posted by: winthropwelling

If there is another series 2 model that I have missed, why have you not posted a link to it?

Posted by: ILoveMyTiVo

For future reference, coming to the TiVo board with the initial claim of "The functions on the replay are far superior" isn't likely to get you much useful information. Are you here just to complain or to actually find out information on what advantages TiVo has? Just in case:

1) Info on the 40 hour Series II TiVo is at http://attbroadband.tivo.com/ . Although it is being sold through AT&T, it is just a Series II standalone TiVo. The only difference is the casing (with buttons on the unit itself) and branding by AT&T. Many people here have ordered this online with no problem even though they are not AT&T customers.

2) There is a very thorough comparison of TiVo vs. Replay here. This is for the model before the current one with broadband capability, but they did very little to add to the base PVR functionality. The problems with determining what will record, space management, etc all still exist in the current version. I think this says a lot about the companies focus - they would rather add flashy buzzword new features that may not actually be used much in practice like sending shows (which can take a day or more) than fixing problems with the main functionality of the box - recording shows. I'd rather have the season pass manager and todo list so I'm far less likely to miss the show in the first place.

3) If you have DirecTV, you should really look into the TiVo combo box because it has several important advantages - the most obvious being the ability to record 2 things at once. And it can be found really cheap.

Posted by: foo monkey

2/10. unoriginal.

Posted by: winthropwelling

This is not something to get upset about. Why do you care if tivo’s competitor has a superior pvr? That's the way electronics work. You buy one day, and a new model comes out that is much better. It may be wise to accept it in a less awkward fashion :cool: .

I do not have AT&T broadband:rolleyes: . I would want the series 2, but it doesn’t have digital audio, progressive output, program sharing online, auto commercial skip, 60 second skip, screen saver, photo slide show, show organization functions, or a grid channel guide. I expect a bigger discount than $50 a slightly bigger hard drive .:mad:

If tivo can not offer functions that are on par with it’s competitors then it is a discount pvr and it should be priced as a discount pvr. I’ll not pay top dollar for a discount pvr. This is not something anyone here should take personal, you bought when it was not a discount model, now it is, such is life in the electronics industry.

Posted by: Bryanmc

Do you have a broadband connection of any type?

Posted by: Bryanmc

quote:
Originally posted by winthropwelling
I would want the series 2, but it doesn’t have digital audio,

As posted by Dr. Strange in another thread:

"Nor can any Replay unit record DD 5.1 from broadcast sources such as satellite, since all it's signal inputs are analog. The 4000s only digital input is ethernet so it's only source of DD 5.1 would be whatever you may be able to find on the internet."

Not sure what how good that optical output on the Replay is when there's no good digital input.

Posted by: geko29

It's quite obvious that we'll never convince you that TiVo is a better PVR than Replay, despite the "whizbang" features-of-the-moment that Replay likes to ad instead of fixing their awful conflict management or other failures. So why don't you just go buy the "superior" recorder and be done with it?

Would I like auto commercial skip? Sure, but I'm not giving up my recording priorities, conflict management, to do list or wishilist recording to get it.

Would I use the send shows? Nope. not even if I had broadband, which I don't. Guess that means I can't use one in the first place since they've chosen to ignore the 80+% of households that don't have broadband.

Digital audio? no way to get it into the box, so having it ouput is a waste of an input on your receiver. Almost forgot, you have to record all your shows at best quality to get audio quality that's equal with TiVo's basic setting. You just turned your 40hr recorder into an 11hr one in the pursuit of audio quality alone.

Likewise with component video. S-video is a better format than TV can fully utilize, and you can't record HD, so why waste your only component input on your TV when you could hook a DVD player up to it that WILL show improvement?

Go buy your Replay, enjoy showing your vacation pics to your neighbor with your "exlcusive slideshow feature!" and imagine yourself being all the wiser for it. Won't bother us one bit.

Posted by: winthropwelling

Yes, I have broadband.

The audio is stored digitally. If I output digital audio to my stereo, then it will not have to convert an extra step which would lower the audio quality.

I've decided against tivo, maybe they will move to a more realistic price policy in the future.

Posted by: walters

Nothing to see here
http://www.interfacesw.com/images/troll.gif

Posted by: bonscott87

quote:
Originally posted by winthropwelling

I do not have AT&T broadband:rolleyes: . I would want the series 2, but it doesn’t have digital audio, progressive output, program sharing online, auto commercial skip, 60 second skip, screen saver, photo slide show, show organization functions, or a grid channel guide. I expect a bigger discount than $50 a slightly bigger hard drive .:mad:

AT&T just sells the Series 2 Tivo, you don't actually have to have AT&T.

Digital Audio - how do you plan to input it?
Program sharing online - who cares, use edonkey or Morphues.
Auto commercial skip or 60 second skip - Tivo has a 30 second skip and I can easily program a remote macro to do just that.
Grid Channel guide - not sure what you mean here, I have a grid guide on both my SA and DirecTivo

BUT, as said, go buy your Replay and enjoy.

Posted by: dgh

quote:
Originally posted by winthropwelling
The audio is stored digitally. If I output digital audio to my stereo, then it will not have to convert an extra step which would lower the audio quality.

I've decided against tivo, maybe they will move to a more realistic price policy in the future.

Um, have you ever listened to digital audio without converting to analog? The conversion is not an extra step.

By the way, did that ebay auction ever happen? :D

Posted by: bonscott87

quote:
Originally posted by walters
Nothing to see here
http://www.interfacesw.com/images/troll.gif

LOL...I don't know why I like to feed trolls....happens when I'm bored. :(

Posted by: geko29

quote:
Originally posted by winthropwelling
The audio is stored digitally. If I output digital audio to my stereo, then it will not have to convert an extra step which would lower the audio quality.

Of course, because your receiver doesn't do any Digital to Analog conversion........RIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT.

Nevermind the fact that the DIGITAL audio itself is of a substantially lower quality (unless you record on the 12hr "best" mode) to begin with. Digital does not mean high quality. it's a storage mechanism. Ever heard a 32kbps MP3? That's DIGITAL AUDIO BABY!

Anyway, I'm done feeding the troll. Don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out.

Posted by: ILoveMyTiVo

quote:
Originally posted by winthropwelling
I do not have AT&T broadband:rolleyes: ...

Well I guess that answers my question on if you are complaining or looking for information. You didn't even read 1/2 way through my post which attempted to give you actual facts. Even if TiVo cost more than the current Replays, I would still chose TiVo, but you obviously don't care why. :(

Posted by: Bryanmc

quote:
Originally posted by dgh
By the way, did that ebay auction ever happen? :D

LOL!!!

Posted by: MrMarmite

I guess I am not understanding something here. Does the ATT Tivo box not come with a decoder in it? Would I still net my Digital Cable box as well ?

quote:
Originally posted by ILoveMyTiVo
For future reference, coming to the TiVo board with the initial claim of "The functions on the replay are far superior" isn't likely to get you much useful information. Are you here just to complain or to actually find out information on what advantages TiVo has? Just in case:

1) Info on the 40 hour Series II TiVo is at http://attbroadband.tivo.com/ . Although it is being sold through AT&T, it is just a Series II standalone TiVo. The only difference is the casing (with buttons on the unit itself) and branding by AT&T. Many people here have ordered this online with no problem even though they are not AT&T customers.

:confused:

Posted by: mdupont_2000

quote:
I guess I am not understanding something here. Does the ATT Tivo box not come with a decoder in it? Would I still net my Digital Cable box as well ?

Yes the AT&T Tivo has 1 decoder, however you still need the Digital Cable box for any digital, premium or pay per view channels. In all practicality the AT&T Tivo is just a standard Series 2 with the AT&T logo on it.

Mike

Posted by: Graymalkin

quote:
Originally posted by MrMarmite
I guess I am not understanding something here. Does the ATT Tivo box not come with a decoder in it? Would I still net my Digital Cable box as well ?

:confused:

Yes, you'll still need your digital cable box if you get premium channels, since TiVo won't unscramble them. TiVo also won't do PPV ordering. The TiVo package comes with an IR blaster to control the cable box.

Posted by: MrMarmite

Thanks...seems rather pointless. At least they could have used a serial connection to change the channels.

I am also confussed about the broadband stuff. I don't see an ethernet port on Tivo2

quote:
Originally posted by Graymalkin

Yes, you'll still need your digital cable box if you get premium channels, since TiVo won't unscramble them. TiVo also won't do PPV ordering. The TiVo package comes with an IR blaster to control the cable box.

Posted by: Graymalkin

It's not an AT&T broadband TiVo, it's a TiVo sold by AT&T Broadband.

There are no broadband-enabled TiVos being sold right now, although some folks have hacked their TiVos to accept broadband data. The Series 2 TiVo has two USB ports in the back for "future functionality".

Posted by: mtchamp

Don't you just love these people. If they feel Replay TV is a better product, then why don't they just buy one. What is the point of coming over to a TiVo forum to take a stand as if someone put a gun to their head to force them to buy a TiVo.

Speaking for myself and I believe over 300,000 others, we are all quite happy with our TiVos and invite you to try one. Now, all of you people who want a TiVo without the TiVo in it, then go buy a Replay TV or whatever. Go away and spend your money anyway you like. Waste your money if you will and don't blame us. I don't care if it washes the dishes, it won't be a TiVo unless it has TiVo inside! Get it!

Posted by: MrMarmite

hope that was not to me :) I am a happy Tivo owner, and have made sure others have bought them as well.

Posted by: tomboyangel

Logically, if you sell out and could sell more, price was too low if anything.