Today’s Sellout.Woot deal is a refurbished TiVo Premiere for only $49.99 + $5 S&H
. The TiVo Premiere is TiVo’s current flagship model and they sell new for $99.99, even refurbished units sell for $79.99 direct from TiVo. This is half-off the full price and a $30 savings on refurbished units. A TiVo service plan is required – they run $19.99/month or $499.99 for product lifetime service for new subscribers, or $14.99/month or $399.99/PLS for an additional unit being added to an account that already has an active unit.
I strongly recommend the lifetime option. You break even in a couple of years and after that you start saving money. On top of that it is the old rent vs. own argument. If you go monthly when you stop paying you have no equity built up. But with lifetime the service is tied to the box and if you decide to upgrade down the road you can move the box to another room, give it to the kids, or sell it on eBay or Craigslist and recoup some of what you spent on it. Lifetime is really the way to go. I’ve had lifetime on six units so far, and I’ve sold four of those over the years as I’ve upgraded. I’m much farther ahead than if I’d gone monthly.
If you read my blog you’re probably already familiar with the TiVo Premiere. But just in case, the TiVo Premiere is a dual-tuner HD DVR with a 320GB drive, which is enough for up to 45 hours of HD content. It works with antenna, cable (analog or digital via CableCARD), and Verizon FiOS. It does not work with satellite or AT&T U-Verse. It also supports over-the-top content from Amazon Instant View, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Blockbuster, Music Choice, YouTube, and web videos/podcasts. Music streaming from Pandora, Rhapsody, Live 365, your local network, and other sources. Photo viewing from Photobucket, Picasa, your local network, etc. There’s a free app for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch, and one for Android is in the words. There are also third party apps for iOS and Android already. TiVo Desktop for the PC, along with free third party apps like kmttg, pyTiVo, and Streambaby, and pyTiVoX for the Mac. I could go on, but suffice to say it is arguably the best DVR available today.
In any case, as with all Woot deals, this is a limited time offer so don’t hesitate too long.
