Hello, TiVo.
I wooted some days ago, resulting in the delivery of a TiVo Series 3 HD box. Nice remote control!
Verizon is sending a FiOS tech out this coming Thursday to install two cable cards into it.
Today, device ID in hand, I signed up for one prepaid year of TiVo service for $129. Compare with their “Monthly” plan, which requires you to pay $12.95 monthly for no less than one year. Total: $155.40. Difference: $26.40. That’s two months “free”. Works for me.
Note: I hate paying a monthly fee for what basically amounts to just television programming guides. Especially a fee of more than a few bucks per month. But I’m presently paying $20/mo for my Verizon FiOS HD DVR (which is a lot of money but I love time-shifting my TV programming). So even with the rental of two FiOS cable cards at $3.99 each per month, I’m saving about a buck/month over what I’m paying Verizon for what I’m confident is a far inferior user experience to that of TiVo.
But, damn, I used to pay less than $20/month for limited cable. And I’d rather have no cable at all.
I’ll know in less than a week if I’m a TiVo convert or not. But I know I’m not going back to pre-DVR days unless it’s for financial reasons — or if my wife sees decides to drop TV, which would be hot but is pretty unlikely.
We’ll see how it goes.