Series 3 to be released September 17th, for $799?
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted August 27th 2006 10:15PM
posted August 27th 2006 10:15PM
According to a tipster Todd who works for Best Buy, the TiVo Series 3 might be out of beta soon and is now showing up in their system. According to the computer It is scheduled to be in stock on September 17th with a Best Buy SKU of 7974418 (UPC of 400079744186 and Model TCD648250B). The price is listed at $799, but the street date field is blank. We're hoping that means we have less than 30 days to get our hands on the hottest HDTV DVR yet. We're not surprised at the price, but we are a little disappointed. This truly will be a high end product. [Thanks, Todd]
Just a quick question regarding CableCard and the TiVo Series 3. In order to record two shows at the same time, will you need two CableCards (one for each slot)? I assume so, but wanted to doublecheck.
With the series 3, if I don't get TiVo, but use my Cox cable cards, will I be able to record by just setting times and stations like a VCR? Or will I be able to program it to work with the free TVGuide system?
As a Comcast customer and using their HDMI box for my 62HM196 Toshiba 1080p TV- they charge $6.95 per month for the CableCard and $9.99 for the HD-PVR box. The PVR pales in comparison (feature-wise and 'smartness') to my TiVo 2 but since getting the box ($3 'savings' w/the card?) I love the dual tuner ability (record 2 shows at the same time) and recording in Hi-Def. With the S3 rumored to be @$600 PLUS the monthly subscription service it'll be hard sell to get me to buy an S3. I'm looking forward to Comcast SOMEDAY putting out their TiVo"box"PVR. To clarify: the S3 comes with 2 cable card slots to accomodate CableCard 2.0 so you WILL be able to view VOD and On-Demand items using the S3. But even with the horrible Comcast PVR - I can't justify the $$ for the S3...
ok, so I am really considering a tivo series 3 box. i have time warner cable (just switched against my will from comcast) and am pretty sure it will work with it. i have heard though that i will not be able to use my on demand that i use often with it. i have the duel tuner dvr that i got through comcast (dct6412 iii)- which works most of the time- but I HATE the interface and the slowness and the sometime bugginess of it. will i be able to get one cable card for hd recording and keep the top box for regular recording on the other tuner and keep my on demand? thanks guys, i really appreciate your time and dedication!
re#54 Ari.
At this point if you have a Comcast (Motorola) box WAIT until later this year- Comcast WILL be out with their TiVoPVR which will be a Motorola box w/TiVo software. I won't get a S3: I'll 'rent' the Comcast box, get HDPVR and the TiVo software. Amortize the cost of an S3 and you can rent a LONG time. Remember, the S3 WILL support on-demand stuff (thus the 2 cablecard slots) but why get the S3 when the Comcast/TiVo PVR is a few months away..
Everyone here is going on a monthly service fee of $12 -- have you looked at TiVo's prices recently?
First off, they now require a contract, like mobile phone companies. At the moment, they have a special offer: you can get three years for the price of two if you pre-pay for $369... that's $10.25/month.
BUT - If you want to pay monthly, for a three year commitment, pony up $16.95 per month. Want just one year? $19.95 per month.
These terms are just horrible compared with the old $12.95 per month, no commitment service.
So, Series 3: $800 (plus tax); Service: $369 for three years; Cablecard: $7 (times two if you want dual tuners).
Comcast's crappy DVR: $10 per month.
I think TiVo is about to die an agonizing death, sadly.
Thanks Wrker, but although I have the cable box from Comcast- I no longer have their service. In Los Angeles they switched all Comcast and Adelphia cable subscribers to Time Warner Cable. So, although Comcast customers will be getting the switch in a few months- us TWC customers won't be getting TiVo... at all. I talked to a technician guy on the phone and he said that it won't be compatible. He seemed very knowledgeable about TWC's services. He said that sometime in the future to save on bandwidth TWC is going to be sending out only one channel to your box at a time. Working almost like On Demand does now- but it would be On Demand for every channel. So, essentially you wouldn't be receiving any other channel but the channel you're watching at that given time. That means the that TiVo itself wouldn't work at all if I'm understanding how everything works right. Now, my question is- am I right? Or is there something I'm missing? I would love for it to work. I've been waiting (ever so patiently) for series 3 to come out- not joining on the TiVo bandwagon just cause I wanted to wait for something really great. As a result, I missed out on a lifetime membership, and now most likely low cost per month service- and on top of that- the worst of it is- living without TiVo for so long- only to come to understand that I will not be able to use it at all. (Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all).
Thanks...
I LOVE(ed) Tivo but at the $799 for the box only and then the lifetime or monthly.....there is no way! this really does suck as I was waiting for a long time for this box and now they priced themselves out of the market.
I'm moving back to Tivo from my current Cable DVR because the DVR provided from Metrocast is a buggy POS. I never had issues with my old Tivo.
If I purchase a Motorola 6416, can i just hook it up to wire and tv? Do I have to use verizon's box?