I want to record shows, but I don't want to pay for their service. I don;t really know anything about what the TiVo service does. If I know what time and what channel I want to record, can I get a TiVo without paying for the service?
2007-01-22 13:59:46 · 3 answers · asked by treboryot 2 in Consumer Electronics ➔ TiVO & DVRs
The TiVo service is designed to be useless if you don't subscribe.
At least once a week your TiVo calls the TiVo company offices to update the programming guide and that is what you use to determine what programs you record.
The VHS players record a show based on the time and channel you input into the machine. If the show runs long or short then you miss part of it. You can program your recorder to record the same show at the same time every week, but you are limited to the amount of space you have on your tape.
The only way to program your TiVo is with the TV schedule, you can't just have it start recording channel 5 at 8:00 pm. It could have been designed to do it that way, but its design is such that it CANNOT do that. So they have you locked.
When TiVo was first released the company offered a one-time one fee subscription package, as well as the standard monthly fee service contract. When I got my TiVo from Direct TV I was told that I could not get the one time fee service contract, but I did get a discount on the monthly fee. Last year I think the one time fee service contract was still available, but I am not sure if it is anymore. It turns out that TiVo will make more money on the service contract than on selling the machine. My sister has a TiVo with a one-time one fee service contract and she and her husband are doing everything they can to keep that machine running, because if it dies they may never be able to get that deal again.
In short you are stuck with the monthly service fee if you want to keep using the TiVo, and there is no other way to use it without that service contract.
2007-01-22 14:12:47 · answer #1 · answered by Dan S 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
yes, tivo will not work without a subscription. pioneer makes a dvd recorder that has an internal hard drive that you can record certain channels at certain times, no subscription required.
2007-01-22 23:33:30 · answer #2 · answered by geno 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are plenty of stand-alone DVD recorders in the $100 neighborhood. You can buy a few re-usable DVD-RW disks and program the timer to record up to 10 hours on one disk. Try Wal-mart and the major electronics stores.
2007-01-24 20:48:46 · answer #3 · answered by Steve71 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋