Today is the first day you can take advantage of the the $200 Series 3 rebate that I blogged about back on 05/21 .

A direct link to the rebate’s PDF can be found here (DVRUpgrade.com). Thanks to this rebate, you now can get a Series 3 TiVo for $406.95 ($606.95- $200). $406.95 really is a reasonable price price for the Series 3. If I wasn’t one referral away from getting a Series 3 TiVo, I probably would take TiVo up on this offer.

As always, if you decided to take advantage of this offer, I would appreciate it if you put me down as your referrer (raianoat AT gmail DOT com).

The details of the rebate are as follows:

1) Eligible TiVo® Series3TM Digital Video Recorder must be purchased between 5/27/07 and 6/16/07,
inclusive. Products purchased before or after these dates are not eligible for this rebate offer. Purchase date is determined by invoice or receipt date.
(2) Rebate not valid for bundled hardware and service offers, including “TiVo Packages” sold at www.TiVo.com. Rebate may not be combined with any other TiVo offer, including, but not limited to, TiVo units received through the TiVo Rewards program.
(3) New TiVo service* or TiVo PlusTM service* (on DVD products) activation required between 5/27/07 and 7/16/07, inclusive, and must be active for at least 30 days (beyond TiVo trial period) in order to be eligible for rebate. TiVo service or TiVo Plus service must also be active at the time of rebate processing to be eligible for rebate. TiVo BasicTM service not eligible for rebate.
(4) A MINIMUM ONE (1) YEAR SERVICE COMMITMENT IS REQUIRED FOR ALL NEW TIVO SERVICE OR TIVO PLUS SERVICE ACTIVATIONS. EARLY TERMINATION FEE APPLIES IF TIVO SERVICE OR TIVO PLUS SERVICE IS CANCELLED OR OTHERWISE TERMINATED PRIOR TO FULFILLMENT OF TIVO SERVICE SUBSCRIPTION COMMITMENT. NO EARLY
TERMINATION FEE WILL BE ASSESSED IF TIVO SERVICE OR TIVO PLUS SERVICE IS CANCELLED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF ACTIVATION; HOWEVER, IN SUCH EVENT, THE REBATE OFFER WILL NOT APPLY.
(5) Activate your TiVo service or TiVo Plus service at http://www.TiVo.com/activate/ or by calling 877-367-8486.
(6) Valid only for new, TiVo Series3 Digital Video Recorders (including designated DVD products) purchased from an authorized TiVo retailer. Not valid for pre-owned, second party, demo, or display DVRs. Not valid on DIRECTV DVR with TiVo service. $200 rebate valid only on TiVo Service Numbers (TSN) starting with 648.
(7) To receive rebate, mail completed Rebate Form (available at www.tivo.com/rebate) dated receipt for any eligible TiVo Series3 DVR or DVD product purchase, and the original or a clear copy of the UPC from the DVR packaging to: TiVo Inc. 2007 Series3 Father’s Day Rebate, Promotion 07-70738, P.O. Box 540007, El Paso, TX 88554-0007. Purchase price and purchase date must be included on the invoice or receipt.
(8) All submissions must be postmarked no later than 8/16/07 and received by 8/31/07.
(9) Please allow 10-12 weeks from TiVo or TiVo Plus service activation, rebate submission, and qualification for receipt of rebate check. Rebate checks are void if not cashed within 90 days of issuance and cannot be reissued. TiVo’s obligations shall be deemed satisfied upon issuance of a check to Customer which shall be negotiable for a limited time. Customer shall have no rights or claims beyond the expiration date of the check. Timely action is a condition of Customer’s rights.
(10) TiVo not responsible for lost, late, mutilated, misdirected or postage due mail. Incomplete or illegible requests will not be honored.
(11) Omission of any necessary information will result in a postcard notification of ineligibility and will require
re-submission postmarked by 10/31/07.
(12) Offer valid only in the USA, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
(13) Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by federal, state, or local law.
(14) Any other use constitutes fraud.
(15) Limit one rebate per eligible TiVo Series3TM Digital Video Recorder and
DVD product.
(16) Limit two rebates per household.
(17) Fraudulent submissions and/or use of multiple addresses or PO boxes to obtain multiple rebates is fraudulent and could result in Federal prosecution. Contact information will be used in conformity with TiVo’s privacy policy available at www.TiVo.com/policies

Have the summer time blues gotten you down? If yes, you might want to check out the best selling Amazon Unbox movies.

While the Amazon Unbox feature has its limitations, I’ve been rather happy with the service. It really is kind of nice to be able to start a movie download while I’m at work and then watch it later on when I get home.

Spotted on Starjewel.org.

Now I’m only one referral away from getting the Series 3 TiVo!

Congratulations! Your friend Erik credited you with a TiVo® service activation.

No need to lift a finger. Your TiVo Rewards™ account has automatically been credited with 5,000 TiVo Points.

Just thought you’d like to know. Plus, it gives us an excellent excuse to thank you for being the wonderful TiVo Rewards™ member that you are! We appreciate your support.

To review your TiVo Rewards™ account summary, browse rewards or redeem TiVo Points, simply sign in at www.tivo.com/rewards anytime.

As always, you can put be down as your referrer simply by entering my email address (raianoat AT gmail DOT com) when you activate your TiVo. I really would appreciate it especially since I only need one more referral until I get a Series 3!

Several sites are reporting that TiVo has plans to offer a $200 rebate on the Series 3 TiVo. The rebate form (DVRUpgrade.com, PDF) states that the rebate is valid from May 27th to June 16th. If all stays the same, this could mean that you will be able to get a Series 3 TiVo for ~$400 ($606.95- $200)!

While $400 is a good deal for the Series 3, I think I am going to wait and see if I can get two more referrals so that I can get the Series 3 for free. START_SHAMELESS_PLUG As always, if you want to help me get a Series 3, you can enter my email address (raianoat AT gmail DOT com) when you activate your TiVo /END_SHAMELESS_PLUG.

Now that I’m a proud owner of a 80GB iPod video, I decided that it was in my best interest to purchase the $25 upgrade for TiVoDesktop (TiVoDesktop Plus). TiVo Desktop Plus adds several new features to TiVoDesktop however, the feature that I’m most excited about is the ability to convert my transferred shows into a format which is playable by my iPod. What follows is a mini review of TiVoDesktop with an emphasis on transferring and transcoding TiVo recordings into an iPod friendly format. In future posts I will talk about many of the other features that TiVoDesktop Plus has to offer (including the ability to transcode your home movies on the fly so that they can be played back using TiVoGoBack).

Upgrading to TiVo Desktop Plus

Upgrading to TiVo desktop plus was extremely easy. All I had to do was go to TiVo’s website and purchase a TiVoDesktop Plus upgrade key ($24.95). Once I purhcased the key, I copied and pasted it into TiVo desktop via the Help —> Upgrade to TiVo Desktop Plus… menu item. The cool thing about this upgrade was that I didn’t have to download and reinstall a new version of TiVoDesktop just to get these added features. The only thing that could be better about this upgrade process would be if I didn’t have to upgrade at all. After all, wouldn’t it be nice if the TiVoDesktop plus features were included for free in TiVoDeskop “basic”?

My Rating: A

Configuring TiVo Desktop Plus for iPod Conversion

Once I upgraded to TiVoDesktop plus, the next thing I did was configure TiVoDesktop so that it could convert my TiVoToGo recording into a format that my iPod is capable of handling. TiVoDesktop Plus makes the configuration extremely easy. There really are only two configuration tabs that you need to be concerned with. The first tab, which is accessible via the File —> Preferences menu item, allows you to configure where you want TiVo Desktop to store your portable recordings. As you can see from the screenshot below, I configured TiVoDesktop so that it stores my portable files in: c:\Shared\Alex’s Documents\My TiVo Recordings for Portables\.

Next, I went ahead and configured TiVo desktop so that it knows which format I want my TiVoToGo recordings to be converted into. As you can see from the screenshot below, I configured TiVoDesktop so that it converts all new TiVoToGo recordings into an iPod compatible codec. TiVoDesktop supports a number of different formats. In my case, I went with H.264 since I’d like to be able to playback my shows on my iPod.

My Rating: A- (the only thing I would like is more configuration options. Where’s the check box to autmatically import converted shows into iTunes or the abiltiy to schedule the transcode option? These are more “geek” requests that I’m not sure a “general” user would need.)

Transferring, Transcoding & Importing

Once I had everything configured, the next thing I did was transfer a couple of shows so that I could see how the transfer and conversion process worked. As you can see from this screenshot, I setup eight recordings to be transferred.

Once each show was transferred (which admittedly takes a long time), TiVoDesktop Plus went ahead and transcoded the transferred show into an iPod friendly format. The only way I could tell that show was being converted was by looking in the system tray. When TiVoDesktop is converting a file, it adds the following system tray icon. If you hover of the icon, it tells you how far it is in the conversion process.

After each show was transcoded, TiVoDesktop Plus “popped” up a bubble in the system tray which indicated that the transformation was complete. I would have liked to have seen more feedback during the entire process however, the amount of feedback that TiVoDesktop Plus provides is probably enough for the average user.

Once all of the transfers and conversions where complete, I ended up with eight mp4 files in my portable recordings folder (c:\Shared\Alex’s Documents\My TiVo Recordings for Portables\). Lastly, I had to import these files into iTunes and sync my iPod so that the newly transcoded recordings got transferred. From there, I was able to successfully playback the recordings on my iPod.

My Rating: A- (TiVoToGo is slow. I’d love to see the entire process take a lot less time. Please automatically import my transferred shows into iTunes. It’s kind of annoying that I have to go into iTunes and “manually” import the show after each show has been transferred and transcoded)

Transcoding Quality

I was extremely happy with the quality of the transcoded videos on my iPod. The files that I transferred looked as good if not better then any of the other videos I already have on my iPod.

My Rating: A

Conclusion

Overall, I am extremely happy with TiVoDesktop Plus’ ability to transfer and transcode shows off of my TiVo. I would highly recommend the upgrade to anybody who wants to be able to play their TiVo recordings on a portable device such as an iPod. There are other options out there (some of which are free) however, from what I’ve seen, many of these applications are incomplete or not as easy to use as TiVoDesktop Plus. TiVoDesktop Plus provides a couple of other features that I haven’t talked about in this review. In the future I plan on talking about these features.

The other day, Amazon.com sent me an email saying that they are offering the first three episodes Of The Riches for free. The email states that this offer is only available for this week so you better act fast….

Thanks for the referral Jonathan! Now I am only 2 referrals away from getting a Series 3 TiVo (TiVo recently reduced the number of referrals required for the Series 3). If you want to help me get the Series 3, you can enter my email address (raianoat AT gmail DOT com) when you activate your TiVo.

Congratulations! Your friend Jonathan credited you with a TiVo® service activation.

No need to lift a finger. Your TiVo Rewards™ account has automatically been credited with 5,000 TiVo Points.

Just thought you’d like to know. Plus, it gives us an excellent excuse to thank you for being the wonderful TiVo Rewards™ member that you are! We appreciate your support.

To review your TiVo Rewards™ account summary, browse rewards or redeem TiVo Points, simply sign in at www.tivo.com/rewards anytime.

If you answered yes to the title of this post, you might want to head on over to PVRBlog where there is a detailed set of instructions on how to get TiVo Desktop 2.4 to work with Vista (2.4 currently does not work with Vista).  The instructions are a bit of a hack so just be careful….