TiVo Ordered
Thank you for all the comments to my post "Should I Get A TiVo?" yesterday. 6 comments on the same entry sets a new record at PFBlog. Especially, I love the comment by Jonathan from MyMoneyBlog: "I think of it this way - I now watch NO commercials. The lack of ads bombarding you and your kids will probably save you $10 a month anyways."
Totally agree! This echoes my post back in July on The Cost of Being Frugal, in which I said I value an hour at about $25. If TiVo can save me half an hour every month, I will be already ahead of the game.
So let me announce I have officially jumped on TiVo bandwagon. I made a purchase yesterday via TiVo.com for the entry level model 40-Hour TiVo Series2 box. It costs $199.99 before $100 mail-in rebate with free shipping. I probably missed the boat to have it delivered by Christmas, but TiVo will definitely be with me for the 24 Seasonal Premier on January 9th and 10th. (I didn't buy from local stores because I would pay $18 for state sales tax.)
During the comparison shopping, I did consider some models with TiVo Basic service included, for which I don't need to pay for a monthly fee. The entry-level model Toshiba SD-H400 DVD-Tivo costs $210 at Overstock. However, I don't appreciate the lack of certain features, especially remote scheduling -- considering I am doing almost every transaction online whenever possible.
Now, discussing TiVo may be off topic at PFBlog, so I want to throw in some financial flavor. TiVo has a TiVo Rewards program, in which referring new subscribers equals to points in the system. As a new subscriber, I plan to monetize the value via eBay. At eBay, people want to pay be between $28.50 to $39 to let me indicate them as referrer (search "tivo referral"). Not a bad way to start my TiVo journey.
Thanks again for those who commented: RB, Jonathan, Drew, Kanton, Larry and Darren!
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Oh, I see you already bought one. Welcome to the fold! Check this out when you get a chance - http://tradermike.net/movethecrowd/archives/2004/03/top_reasons_to_own_a_tivo.php
You probably don't want to hear this, but I just bought the 40 hour TiVo from Amazon.com for $179.94, free shipping, and the $100 rebate applies.
Oh, I should have done more due diligence :-) Anyway, as a Washingtonian, buying from Amazon will incur 8.8% sales tax so my comfort is net net I only lost a few bucks.
Thank you Carson and be sure to visit again!
