TiVo Refurbished $199 (160GB), $279 (320GB)

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  [Deactivated] on 17/02/2011 - 11:41

  It doesn't appear that this device will play any other media. There are myriad devices out there that will play music, stream movies, some with built in wireless N. One question I've pondered for a long time - why are Tivos so expensive? I'm sure they were once the pioneers of set-top recorder technology, but with so much competition in the market, can they afford to keep the prices so high? In my opinion $200 for a refurbished unit is overpriced for a set-top recorder, given the options in the market nowadays.

  • 

    Vladdo on 17/02/2011 - 12:06

    +3

    You not only get the hardware but also lifetime EPG updates, which was an issue only a couple of years ago when EPG data wasn't included in digital tv stations.. They've now all banded together under the freeview brand to take on foxtel. The included EPG data from the tv stations can also from time to time be blatantly wrong causing you to either miss shows or chop the end off shows. You could buy a PVR with an ice-tv subscription which will probably work out to be more expensive. Also bear in mind that in the US, Tivos use a subscription model to receive EPG data.

    I think $199 for a 160gb tivo is a fantastic price, given that its user interface is far superior to anything else in the marketplace. All my immediate family have tivos and theres a reason why..

  • 

    pumpkinspice on 17/02/2011 - 12:17

    +3

    You're the first person I've ever seen who used 'myriad' correctly in a sentence! You rock!

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 17/02/2011 - 17:31

      +3

      "Myriad" can be used as either a noun or an adjective. both "there are myriad devices" and "there is a myriad of devices" are correct.

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 18/02/2011 - 10:06

        +1

        I knew I should have gone with 'plethora'…..

  • 

    pumpkinspice on 17/02/2011 - 12:32

    -1

    And you're completely right about Tivos, they're a rip-off and only worth getting if you have no clue how to use technology.

    IMO a PS3 is the best to cover all bases:
    1. Buy a cheap PS3 Slim (with the smallest hard drive you can find).
    2. Buy a 2.5inch 750GB HDD (search for a cheap price on staticice) and upgrade the PS3 yourself, there are videos on youtube show how to do this and should take about an hour all up, sony have made this really easy to do
    3. Next time PlayTV is listed at a cheap price on ozbargain, buy that too.
    4. Download and install PS3 Media Server on your desktop/laptop and tell it where you store your media.

    This will cost more than the above 320GB Tivo, but now you have a device that plays blu-rays, PS3 games, can watch live TV (plus pause/rewind) and record TV (with huge storage space after upgrading the drive), has an EPG from freeview (which is not as bad as Vladdo makes out), streams media from your desktop/laptop over wireless or wired connection (including digital photos, videos, mp3s, etc etc), if connected to the net it also has an online movie rental and purchasing service, free online gaming servers for playing against your friends and direct access to ABC iView and Channel7's online service.

    • 

      gadgetguy on 17/02/2011 - 12:41

      I take it the PS3 has to be powered on 24/7?

      • 

        pumpkinspice on 17/02/2011 - 12:55

        Nope, only when you want to use it.
        And the desktop/laptop only needs to be on when you want to stream from it to the PS3.

    • 

      Evil-Elmo on 17/02/2011 - 12:54

      +3

      and costs less than $199? :) Indeed it's better, but a LOT more expensive!

      • 

        pumpkinspice on 17/02/2011 - 12:56

        -1

        Costs more than the $300, but does far far far far more than a Tivo. And with what I've described above has 750GB of storage, not 160GB.

        PS3 Slim 120GB on ebay: $300 approx.
        750GB HDD: $105 approx
        PlayTV on special on ozbargain: $70 approx
        Total: $475 approx.
        Not bad considering how much more it does than a 320GB Tivo for $279

    • 

      BargainMe on 17/02/2011 - 13:08

      +4

      The user experience from Tivo is light years ahead of PlayTV- honestly there is no comparison.

      Major pluses with Tivo are also that it can record more than 1 program at a time, doesn't require the tuner to be plugged into the front through USB and doesn't require a sticker being placed over the remote control in order to know what the buttons do.

      I own both a PlayTV and a Beyonwiz.

    • 

      RichDad PoorSon on 17/02/2011 - 13:08

      I have PlayTV but they keep playing up and recorded shows often suffer from stuttering. Also PlayTV can only record one channel.

      I bought a super-multimedia-dual-tuner-PVR the other day, pretty reliable.
      I wouldn't call it the best but hey, 1TB dual tuner PVR, play divx, matroska files with subtitles, RSS, youtube etc for less than $300 is pretty good.

      • 

        pumpkinspice on 17/02/2011 - 13:25

        Your PVR sounds a much better investment than a Tivo.
        My main reason for posting the above was a lot of people have no idea what PS3 can do, some people end up with so many devices which each do their own thing and spend a lot more than what I've listed, with overall less functionality.

    • 

      RichDad PoorSon on 17/02/2011 - 13:45

      agreed.
      PS3 can do a lot of things.
      other than what you said, it can also play DivX files, and stream files wirelessly from your computer to your ps3, with 'scaled' upgrade so they'd look 'smoother' than when you play it on your average player.

      tivo by itself in australia is moot. Nobody wants JUST a recorder filling up their entertainment unit next to their dvd/bluray/consoles and what not, especially considering the size of TIVO (tivo or bookends?)
      we want a recorder that can play AT LEAST video and audio files.

      the only thing separating tivo and the rest is its ease-of-use.
      but with the way tv station's been constantly changing their time schedule, I'm happy to go with manual setting when recording and just go through the tv schedule list on a weekly basis

    • 

      hoiboy on 17/02/2011 - 13:45

      +1

      Using your pricing logic above, you could also buy the 160gb Tivo (although it's all sold out), add a 1gb hard drive for $90 (the upgrading process is far easier on the Tivo than it is for PS3 - took me about 15 minutes), meaning $289 for a 1gb Tivo (vs $475 for a 750gb PS3 like you said below).

      Not bagging the PS3, I have one myself, but there is absolutely no comparison between the Tivo interface and the Play TV interface, and Play TV only has one tuner which is a huge minus. I know the recording on PlayTV suffers considerably when you're playing the PS3 at the same time (which, after all, is its primary function).

      I've tried both and there's just no comparison in terms of the long-term user experience if you watch a lot of TV - I would use PlayTV as a stop-gap recording solution but that's about it. I think you're considerably underplaying the functionalities of the Tivo - IMO it's easily the best PVR in the market in terms of user friendliness and this price is a total bargain, refurbished or otherwise.

      (And it's not a crime to have both of them at the same time!)

    • 

      tor on 17/02/2011 - 15:25

      A jack of all trades, but master of none.

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  custom on 17/02/2011 - 11:55

  The main pro for a Tivo is the ease of use - anybody can use it.
  Also streaming of some free movies and rentals is a bonus.

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  kwanq on 17/02/2011 - 12:00

  160gb all sold out?

  • 

    gadgetguy on 17/02/2011 - 12:39

    Yeah, looks like they're gone.

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  melmac77 on 17/02/2011 - 12:06

  +1

  Watch out there is some discussion about weather Tivo Aust are going to continue see here http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/02/could-this-be-the-fate-for… and the last few pages of this thread http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1614685&p…
  Without someone providing the epg the unit is a brick, TIVO Aust keep sending out tweets saying business is as usual but there has been no official letter or press release stating the same

  • 

    Quick Ink on 17/02/2011 - 14:22

    +1

    Yep, unless they can tie up with fetch they are looking in trouble. Fetch have publically expressed they aren't interested (not that it counts for much). I also understand hulu are looking to come to AUS. Personal opinion - IPTV kills both the TIVO(given inbuilt PVR in the box) and foxtel (Atleast in its current expensive form).

    Actually, the PVR will most likely be dead because everything will be on demand so recording via epg will be a thing of the past. But that will be a few years away yet!

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  infernal_max on 17/02/2011 - 12:34

  Ive wanted a TiVo for a while, and even for a refurbished model, this deal is tempting, but no deal considering the lack of future viability, uk users were supported via virgin for 9 years what's to stop ch7 doing the same!?

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  Sharp on 17/02/2011 - 12:42

  160GB link wont work. must have been removed.

  • 

    Vader on 17/02/2011 - 13:08

    The 160GB has sold out very quickly. I have just ordered a 320GB. Was $34 for shipping/insurance to WA.

    • 

      kennethk on 17/02/2011 - 13:27

      brand new 320gb is 279 (postage included) so it makes it 61 dollar difference between the refurb and brand new..

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 17/02/2011 - 13:33

        $374 you mean

      • 

        Vader on 17/02/2011 - 13:48

        I've bought a refurbished 160GB from them before and when I opened the cardboard box I was gobsmacked. Honestly it all looked like new. This inspired me to happily void my warranty and put in a 1TB drive (don't do this if you are a tech novice - there are high voltages inside and you could kill yourself and/or your TiVo). That one has been going strong for over a year now.

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  stirlo on 17/02/2011 - 13:49

  I just bought a 160GB one for our 2nd TV, maybe they got more stock.

  I already have a TiVo that I upgraded to 1Tb, it's very simple and only takes about an hour to upgrade…

  • 

    Sharp on 17/02/2011 - 14:44

    lucky. the link won't work again

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  GreatWhiteHunter on 17/02/2011 - 14:22

  Tivo 160gb upgraded to 1 or 1.5tb for less than another $100 is very good.

  Family/friends own 8 Tivos in total and I find them very good.

  I have to say though that if Tivo Australia folds and these become lemons it will be very disappointing.

  PS3 is good, but I'd much prefer to use the Tivo EPG than the PlayTV.

  TIVO is also so easy to use my stupid ex-wife had no problems with it….

  I've owned a Beyonwiz and PlayTV but sold both of them after getting the second Tivo…

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  bountyhunter on 17/02/2011 - 16:28

  +1

  Do other PVRs have a feature like TiVo Suggestions where "Based on your recordings and your viewing habits, the TiVo Suggestions feature can recommend new programs you may like, and even record them automatically"?

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  outlander on 17/02/2011 - 18:43

  The way I see it is that is a scale between functionality and ease of use. tivo is up the one end, and is user interface is intuitive, but you pay for it.
  The PVR I use is up the other end. Its a little tricky to navigate at first, but dam for the price you get almost all of the features you need.
  Noontec v9-t. $300