Convince Brian Lam of Gizmodo to buy a Series3

Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 by MegaZone

Brian Lam, one of the writers for Gizmodo is getting a bit of a tax refund, and is trying to decide between using it on a Dell 24″ LCD monitor for working, or a TiVo Series3 for play – so he’s posted a poll. Clearly, I think ‘found money’ like a tax refund should be fun and go to a Series3. :-)

Posted in Blogs, TiVo | Leave a comment

Reminder – Five days left to claim your free $15 Amazon Unbox credit!

Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 by MegaZone

It is Wednesday, April 25th – and you have until Monday, April 30th to register your TiVo(s) for Amazon Unbox and receive a credit for $15 in free downloads. There is no risk, no commitment, etc – if you have a broadband connected TiVo, sign up and get the credit. It isn’t even limited to downloads to the TiVo – you can use it for any Unbox downloads, including to a PC or portable device. You don’t have anything to lose, you can try it for free and stop using it if you want to.

Posted in Amazon Unbox, TiVo | Leave a comment

Suggestions for the TiVo Lovers Store?

Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 by MegaZone

The last post got me thinking about the TiVo Lovers Store, which is an Amazon aStore. Right now it has three categories of items: TiVo Hardware, TiVo Related Books, and Sling Media Hardware. The TiVo Hardware section has the TiVo boxes Amazon sells, as well as a few commonly used/needed items such as network adapters, replacement IR emitters, and a router (Linksys WRT54GL, which is what I generally recommend – and use myself).

But I thought I’d toss it out there – anything that you think should be in there? Obviously it should be connected with TiVo, or at least Sling, in some way. :-) Even a new category of items. (You can support the site/community with every Amazon purchase, including Unbox downloads, by using the links on the right to start them.) EDIT: And thanks to whomever just purchased the “Samsung HL-S5679W 56″ LED Engine 1080p DLP HDTV” from Amazon using the TiVoLovers referral – that’s easily the biggest item ever purchased via the link. :-)

Posted in Amazon Unbox, Site Updates, Sling Media, TiVo | Leave a comment

Free TiVo Deals

Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 by MegaZone

It looks like the remaining stock of single-tuner Series2 units is being blown out, effectively for free. Since the S2DT and S3 are out, who would want a single-tuner S2? Well, the S2 supports NTSC antenna, while the S2DT does not. Sure, the S3 does, but that’s $600 at best currently. :-) If you are a DirecTV or Dish Network user, then you have to control an external satellite receiver. The S3 doesn’t support satellite. The S2DT will – but it only supports one external device. So why pay more for the S2DT when the S2 will provide the same support for your satellite receiver? If you live an an area with all-digital cable, then the S2DT is also reduced to being a single-tuner unit with the cable box, and the S2 can do that as well. So there are situations where the single-tuner S2 is perfectly good at getting the job done. Sure, the S2′s hardware is a bit slower than the S2DT’s, but it is fine for most users – and free is good. :-)

TiVo is offering refurbished boxes for free with a one-year service commitment.

Amazon is selling them for $170, with a $170 rebate – free after rebate. (And if you buy via that link, you support the site.) You can select any of the service options.

The blog Troy on TiVo reports that Best Buy has a similar deal for a kind-of-free TiVo. Buy the TiVo for $220, with a $170 rebate, and get a free $50 Best Buy gift card. So the TiVo is really $50, with a free $50 towards something else. So if you can use the $50 at Best Buy anyway – effectively free. Otherwise use the Amazon option, support the site, and get a simpler deal.

While I’m at it, note that Amazon has the TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter for $45, compared to $60 from TiVo.com. Same thing, better price.

Posted in TiVo | 18 Comments

TiVo Planet Dashboard Widget for OS X

Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 by MegaZone

Alex Raiano of TiVoBlog.com has created a Dashboard Widget for OS X which tracks the content of the top TiVo-related blogs: TiVoBlog, ZatzNotFunny (TiVo-related posts), TiVoLovers, Zeigen.com (TiVo-related posts), and DavisFreeberg.com (TiVo-related posts). Not being a Mac user, I can’t try it for myself, but it seems like a cool gadget. Alex is looking for someone to help with ‘sprucing the widget up’, and is also open to suggestions on other feeds to add.

Posted in Apple, TiVo | Leave a comment