TiVo Series2 Digital Video Recorder (*TiVo Service Fee Not Included)
My second TiVo! Old one paid for itself!
I'm on my second TiVo.  I bought the Sony SVR-2000 in October 2003, and have not watched TV in the same way since.<br />I an a professional AV technician and home theater installer with 40 years of experience.  I've been around TV since the Golden Age of Television.<br />TiVo has to be the best DVR out there and is second to none.  The others like Dish Network, Scientific Atlanta, Motorola and others don't come close.<br />Season Pass, Wish List, and TiVo suggestions searches and recordings by alphabetic rather than time schedule surch makes TiVo a cut above all.  For example, in close to 4 years of use, if I'd keep a Season Pass in my TiVo, it would pick up shows in a series that I missed sometimes two years ago.  The wish list allows me to enter movies titles to record future showings of movies whenever the appear maybe three years from now.  Try manually checking scedules for over three years every week or so to find a listing.  I know that I would probably miss it.<br />In 2000, I paid $425 for the 30 hour Sony TiVo including the machine Lifetime Service Option, which then was $199.  I received a $100 rebate a few months later.<br />Less than a week ago, I received my Series 2 80 hour TiVo from Amazon.com and activated it.  My call in for activation took 30 minutes, but I have since found that the best time to call is before 8:00AM Pacific Time.  If you call about three minutes before the \\"live agent\\" shift begins at 8:00AM, you get to be almost first in line to get a live person.  I got on within a minute to talk to a live person.<br />Now that the Lifetime Service Option is $299, I sold the TiVo that has given me exemplary service for nearly 4 years for $330 on eBay.  In effect, I have made a fantastic investment, essentially having use the TiVo for free and recouped every penny I spent.<br />Obviously, I again chose the Lifetime Service Option.<br />To those who are worried about the life of the machine, I wouldn't.  I learned recently that TiVo will allow online transfer of any Lifetime Service Option machine to another machine of the same model number, without question.<br />Therefore, even if I had kept the Sony, I could have purchased a used one for about $80 and transferred my Lifetime Service Option to it without problem.  So, basically, Lifetime Service is Lifetime with very little additional expense.<br />Likewise, any time in the future, I can purchase a new TiVo of the same model and would have no problem transferring my Lifetime service to it. They only do not allow upgrading to a higher level machine as a means of keeping as many machines in service as possible.  Otherwise, older version machines would be retired to closets, basements and attics.<br />TiVo happens to be one of the best investments to make, if done right.