If I buy the unit why do I need to pay TIVO a subscription fee?
1671749
The "Lifetime" subscription listed in the ad has been replaced by TIVO "All-In." Use a search engine for TIVO All-In to find the current TIVO subscription offers. Amazon will not allow a direct link.
1671750
Tivo, like any DVR, requires a subscription fee to make it work. You can pay one fee that's good for the lifetime of the unit (not your lifetime), or a yearly fee, or a monthly. I've had Tivos for 10 years and it is SO much better than the DVR available from the cable company - very sophisticated, very easy to use, and in my opinion, very much worth it.
1671751
It is their subscription service. They are on twitter if you'd like to talk to them. I just bought mine I love it, Amazon asked me if I could answer this. That's the only reason I know of, it's their subscription :)
1671752
Isn't a large TV hardware that you own? Don't you cable subscribers pay a grossly overpriced subscription fee every month? Tivo's fee is a measly $14.95 a month. I cut out cable over 5 years ago and based on previous cable bills I've been saving more than $1100 a year and that's after I subtract my Tivo subscription. 4
1671753
This fee thing seems to bother a lot of people. Look, it's like two cents per hour. Stack that $14.99 monthly charge against a $50 or $100 or $200 per month cable bill. I think the taxes alone on my cable bill are more than the TiVo subscription. When I was last talking to Comcast, the rep noticed I had a TiVo and asked me if I liked paying a monthly subscription. I told him that monthly subscriptions annoy me and that the cable company (the guy I was talking to) charged me far more than TiVo. He agreed that the Comcast bill was far larger than the Tivo bill. It's all relative.
1037434
Hi Gymbrew. Nothing will happen to ANY subscription you have with your cable company. The box will be set up according to the channel line-up you currently have. You will need to get a a cable card from your company tho. Hope this this helps. I've had a Tivo since their first one, a little 15-hr. I now have the HD premier; my next-and last- one will be their new HD 4-receiver. You're gonna LOVE it!! Don
968922
You will need to pay for Roamio service at $15 per month unless you buy the lifetime... Plus you will need a cable card from your cable provider to see their provided channels. Then the mini will share one of the tuners at no additional cable company cost. All in all that is usually cheaper than renting a DVR or two from the cable company... I've had TiVo's for many years and like them much better that cable DVRs.
2104762
I can only say for Time Warner but its probably all the same. You don't pay for Comcast's set top box, "DVR service", or a remote control. You will pay the monthly subscription to TiVo.
1801239
You need a cable card to interface to your provider. Cable card lets your Tivo look like a STbox to the provider. I have Verizon FIOS cable card is an M-Card and is $4.99 + tax monthly.
873053
I bought and own this box along with the tailgater dish and i am not charged the $7 monthly fee. It is for dish network.
65189
No you can't use your Tivo without service. It won't get TV listings, won't download any programs, or anything else.
1147029
It wont be free but the fee will be minimal. You will need to lease a cable card from your cable company, usually only a couple of dollars a month. With that the dvrs from twc and comcast are pointless.
2066808
I've got the same question as Jonathan -- does this DVRRecorder pick up cable channels? will it get the 500s-700s? If so, I'm ready to buy! :-DI don't get decent reception antenna only so I have to use cable, much as I hate shelling out to Comcast every month I'm stuck with them. ;-p I've been resisting TIVO b/c I don't want to pay an additional monthly subscription fee. Why would anyone pay monthly for Tivo if you can do the same thing for free with a DVDRecorder like this one?
1406749
Yes. I just signed up on my roommates account and I think they said it would be 11 extra dollars: 5 or 6 bucks for the tivo service and then the fee for an extra receiver in the house. The first person I talked to said I'd have to pay $21 because he was going to charge $10 for hd even though I didn't want hd. When I called back the second person said that wasn't necessary. Once everything was set up I still got hd channels showing up but the channels were black screens. Even if you don't sign up for hd they will show up on this receiver. Fortunately there are ways to get rid of these stations in settings. Obviously something you don't need to worry about if you do want hd. Yes. I just signed up on my roommates account and I think they said it would be 11 extra dollars: 5 or 6 bucks for the tivo service and then the fee for an extra receiver in the house. The first person I talked to said I'd have to pay $21 because he was going to charge $10 for hd even though I didn't want hd. When I called back the second person said that wasn't necessary. Once everything was set up I still got hd channels showing up but the channels were black screens. Even if you don't sign up for hd they will show up on this receiver. Fortunately there are ways to get rid of these... » Read More Yes. I just signed up on my roommates account and I think they said it would be 11 extra dollars: 5 or 6 bucks for the tivo service and then the fee for an extra receiver in the house. The first person I talked to said I'd have to pay $21 because he was going to charge $10 for hd even though I didn't want hd. When I called back the second person said that wasn't necessary. Once everything was set up I still got hd channels showing up but the channels were black screens. Even if you don't sign up for hd they will show up on this receiver. Fortunately there are ways to get rid of these stations in settings. Obviously something you don't need to worry about if you do want hd. « Show Less
968924
TIVO Mini you do have to pay a monthly or charge, or you can pay a one time charge which is called a LIFETIME!! Not sure, but I don't think there is a charge for the Roamio.
574571
Yes, they charge monthly fee, I believe $14. Or you can pay for a lifetime subscription, last I looked it was $499. What you are paying for is the update of the Tivo's channel guide. You can only store 2 weeks worth of guide at a time, so with the subscription it contacts their servers and keeps you up to date with shows coming on. I love mine, make sure you get the one with the right amount of tuners, meaning 4 tuners=record 4 shows at a time, 2 tuners=record 2 shows at a time.
1147027
No, TiVo service cost anywhere from $6.95 to $12.95 per month depending on if they are running a special that month. They also offer a lifetime service for a one time fee of either $299.00 or $399.00 but I found that not to be a good value due to I usually replace my Tivo every 2 to 3 years and the lifetime service is only good for that 1 tivo.
2169475
From your cable company you get their digital tier and that's it! Don't get any of their equipment except for one cable card, some cable companies also have a cable tuner that goes with it (Time Warner, maybe others). From Tivo you can either go monthly for their service or get a lifetime subscription. I like the lifetime subscription since you pay once and then never get another bill from them again. Oh lifetime is lifetime of the unit not you! The only thing you can't do with the Tivo is request anything on demand. So pay per view or anything like that won't work. You can get your premium channels from your cable company like HBO, Sports etc, anything that is just a channel where you don't have to click to watch. If you want the best out of the Roamio I would suggest you have ethernet wired to all your locations, just my thoughts on it, but then I was already wired that way so that's the setup I went with. ENJOY!!!!
918053
No clue. Your best bet is to contact Tivo directly and see if they can sell you one.
968923
Just spoke to Tivo Sales. They said a Mini bought at Bestbuy would be charged an $5.99 additional monthly fee. You would only get the free lifetime service (no monthly fee) if you buy it directly from Tivo. Bestbuy.com has the mini on sale for 139.99, maybe this is why. Offer ends May 4, 2015. Buyers beware!
1724959
the only problem with this is that if you already have an existing tivo at 12.95 a month it will cost 19.95 a month for that same service after it expires