• How Is TiVo Doing After Launching The Series 3? (Gizmodo)
• Who Will Buy TiVo? Google, Yahoo or Microsoft? (PVRWire)
• Catching Up On The TiVo HME With A Series 3 (DavisFreeberg)

Here’s an email I received earlier today. I’ve also included my reply because I thought it was kind of funny.

Initial Email:

Tivo is the biggest scam goin. As has been stated over and over again, the lifetime membership is a lie. All that means is that during the limited lifetime of your present Tivo box, you can use Tivo. Once it breaks, you have zero options. In otherwords, your lifetime membership is worthless Also, if you’ve been a loyal tivo customer from the beginning, as I have, and you want to upgrade to a newer box, again your membership is worthless. So you’ve wasted money with this company. I’d avoid Tivo like the plague. There will be a bigger and better company coming along soon that will put them out of business which is what they deserve.

My Reply:

Sounds good…let me know when that company comes along. In the mean time, enjoy your buggy cable company DVR…

His Reply:

Tivo is the Aol of the dvr companies. Someone bigger and better will knock them off. All it takes is a company that understands its customers. Tivo does not.

My Reply:

OK, thanks

Since the TCO 15% coupon has almost expired, I thought I would mention the fact that Costco is selling the Series 3 TiVo for $699.99. I know $699.99 is still a lot of money but it sure is better then paying $799.99.

I really can’t wait to see what the Series 3 TiVo will cost just before Christmas. If I can get it for around $500, I’ll probably pick one up. Until then, I’m stuck using my outdated Series 2 TiVo and watching all my high def content live :(. I could go with my cable companies’ DVR but then I would feel like a trader.

Spotted on TCO.

Forbes.com has posted an interesting editorial in which the author brings up the point that most people don’t care about CNet or NY Times on their TiVo. Instead, the author believes that most people would like to get YouTube or Google Video content downloaded directly to their PVR.

Note to TiVo General Manager of Programming Tara Maitra: While it’s great that you’re pushing video content from The New York Times and CNet out to DVRs, that’s not exactly the kind of content people dream about watching on their TVs. We want YouTube vids, movies and TV shows on demand through TiVo.

What do you think? Are you happy with the video content that TiVo has provided thus far via TiVoCast? I really like the CNET content but I may be in the minority….

Our friends over at EngadgetHD recently upgraded their Series 3 TiVo by adding a 500 GB drive to the DVR. The newly upgraded TiVo now supports up to 65 hours of HD recording as opposed to 35 hours in a standard Series 3 TiVo.

Instead of just purchasing an upgrade kit from WeaKnees or DVRUpgrade, the folks over at EngadgetHD decided to do it the hard way and upgrade the DVR themselves using Linux and several hacks. Please note that this upgrade isn’t intended for everybody. It requires you to have some Linux skills as well as an understanding of hardware and how it works. I really would hate to see somebody destroy their $800 TiVo..

Let me know if you are a brave enough to try out this upgrade. I’m to cheap to buy a Series 3 TiVo yet alone take the chance that I might destroy it…..

The newly opened TiVoCommunity Store is offering a 15% discount on any item in the store.  This discount allows you to get a Series 3 TiVo for $680 instead of $800.  While $680 is still a lot of money, it sure is better then $800.  If you want to take advantage of this offer, you need to enter TCDEAL into the coupon code textbox when you checkout.  Apparently the offer ends on Sunday so you better hurry!

Spotted on ZatzNotFunny.

TiVo KidZone seems to be getting a lot of support from a number of organizations which are geared towards families. This time YWCA has teamed up with TiVo to support KidZone and the features it provides.

Via Yahoo News:

YWCA USA and TiVo Inc. announced a new relationship to help parents and caregivers easily access quality children’s television. TiVo Inc., the creator of and a leader in digital video recorders (DVRs), is donating TiVo(r) boxes and discounting its service fee with a one year commitment to support the work of the YWCA USA, one of the nation’s leading providers of childcare and domestic violence shelters.

…………….

To salute the work of the YWCA USA over the past nearly 150 years, TiVo is offering free 80-hour TiVo Series2(tm) DVR fortified with TiVo KidZone for a discounted $12.95 per month service subscription fee with a one year commitment, and donating $25 to the YWCA USA, for each new subscriber through the YWCA Web site. Terms and conditions apply. Web: http://www.tivo.com/0.11.LP_affiliate.asp?a=ywca

Thanks to all the wonderful feedback I received on this post, I’ve concluded that my Mom’s TiVo has a bad power supply.  Instead of trying to buy a power supply to fix the problem, I convinced my Mom that she should pick up a dual tuner TiVo.  I really think my Mom is going to like being able to record more then one show at once.  The box only costs $100 after a $150 mail in rebate.

Now all I need to is set it up and get her season passes reconfigured….

The folks over at WeaKnees.com have a great deal for anybody who is in the market for a Series 3 TiVo.  If you order one of their high end Series 3 TiVos ($1599), they will take $75 off the price of the device and give you a $130 gift certificate.  If $1599 sounds like a lot of money, you can also purchase a stock TiVo for $799 and get $120 back ($45 instant savings & $75 gift certificate).  I personally think this is the best deal.  After all, you can buy two stock Series 3 TiVos for the price of one $1599 TiVo.  I guess it all comes down to what you want….

Additional information on how this all works can be found on the WeaKnees blog.  If you do decide to take advantage of this offer, I’d really appreciate it if you put me down as your referrer when you setup your TiVo (raianoat AT gmail DOT com). 

It looks like I was correct yesterday when I predicted that TiVo would add the Series 3 to the TiVo rewards prize list. The device is available for a mere 85,000 points ;).

Now all I need to do is get more referrals. Anybody want to help me out ? If yes, just put my email down when you activate your TiVo (raianoat AT gmail DOT com). I really would appreciate it.