Categories: AppleCord CuttingTiVo

TiVo Takes A Page From Apple; Launches Trade-in Program

In a first for TiVo, the DVR pioneer is testing a familiar-looking upgrade program.

Apple recently offered me $250 for my iPhone 7 in the form of credit off the purchase price of a new iPhone XR. My old phone will be refurbished or responsibly recycled and I get a nice discount on a significant upgrade. And TiVo is essentially implementing the same.

Owners of Roamio OTA DVRs (of any capacity) will receive a $200 credit towards a brand-spanking new 1TB Bolt OTA with an all-in, Lifetime service plan. So instead of a $500 invoice ($250 for the box, $250 for the service), cord cutters will pay just $300 out of pocket — which compares favorably, on pricing anyway, to the $280 1TB Amazon Fire TV Recast DVR. As to the mechanics, the packaging your new TiVo arrives in will be used for return shipping (and, yes, they’ll provide a label) and you’ll have 30 days to ship it in, allowing plenty of time to transfer recordings and season passes. Plus you can hang onto your old remote.

Bolt OTA is a significant upgrade over Roamio OTA hardware in several ways. There’s a notable improvement in performance, given more powerful processor and additional memory, along with 4K streaming… where applicable (think Netflix app). More notable, for many, is the native streaming and downloading of recordings to iPhone and Android smartphones or tablets. And let’s not forget the very nice voice remote, packed in. 

The TiVo Holiday Trade-In, Trade-Up sales event is expected to begin the evening of 12/12 and will run through 12/22.

Published by
Dave Zatz