Is there a catch with TiVo? It seems too good to be true..?

Question

All I have to do is buy a unit for $100 (which I can get cheaper on ebay)

And then its $13/month for a 1 year contract?

Sounds too good to be true...

Answer 1

no catch with tivo had mine for a few years if you have cable or satellite tv you wont need to worry about the change from analog to digital as those are already digital. to get the most you need to connect it to the internet

http://www.tivo.com/whatistivo/questions...

Answer 2

(This answer assumes you are located in the US)

Any "catch" depends on how you are going to hook up your Tivo.

Presumably you are looking at a Series 2 DT Tivo.

The reason they are so cheap on ebay is that they are becoming obsolete. The series 2 DT only has analog tuners and the TV world is going digital. But depending on how you plan on using it, the Series 2 may still give you years of service.  The more expensive "Tivo HD" has both analog & digital tuners.

You didn't say how you get your TV signals, this makes a big difference.

If you get your TV signals over the air, the series 2 DT will not work for you. You could buy a used series 2 single tuner Tivo that would work until the 2/17/09 over the air analog shutdown.

You should add the details about what kind of TV service you have and what kind of set top box (if any) that you use.

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The Tivo also has to "phone home" to Tivo. You need either a conventional phone line or high speed internet connection (preferred). If you go with a internet connection, the most common way to hook this up is with a Tivo brand USB adapter which is about $40 on amazon.com.

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Added comment:

In  another answer, someone implied that all cable TV systems are digital. This is not true. Which brings up another catch. If you hook a series 2 DT Tivo to an analog cable system, you can record two programs at the same time. If you hook it up to a digital cable or satellite TV, you have to hook it up through their set top box which means you can only record one channel at a time.

Answer 3

I wouldn't be surprised...but Im more interested in the box I have   Its a EuroVox MaxV, costs £99 on e-bay at the moment.  All you have to have is just a basic connection, (there very reasonable for basic) then you jst plug your cable wire into your eurovox and you'll be receiving around 150 to 200 channels, Im picking up 140 channels all perfect!  Sly srorts (all them) movies, pay per view, etc etc... Its the best thing I ever bought!  hope it helps!

Edit~ All free by the way! :-)