The time has come to make a decision… my options are to return or to purchase my Series3 review unit. I’ve really enjoyed using the S3 TiVo
and it sure beats the Moto 6412, but it seems like a lot of cash. On the other hand, maybe TiVo, Inc should just leave it with me and write it off as a marketing expense. Hmmm. Help guide me by casting your vote below!
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The TiVo Series 3 is a worth owning. After receiving my first one, I purchased a second for my office (37″ Westinghouse LVM37W3 monitor). I am planning to purchase a third (second generation) series 3 for my living room.
I would wait until Xmas when the price should be down. At least, that is what I plan on doing.
Oh come on now. How many times are you going to get a review unit handed to you? Why bite the hand that threw you a scrap by holding it hostage, who knows when there will be something else worth them tossing over to you? Why buy it? Well, if you decide to plunk down the coin later, wouldn’t you rather have a review unit for posterity? I think you should A) Buy it, and B) Convince TiVo to throw you a bone and lifetime it.
Hold it hostage while fun will be silly once they deactivate it.
Where is the tip jar, help Dave buy his Series3 button?
Return it. There isn’t a market for them on EBay, so it must not be any good.
Journalist ethics?
Two things to consider:
– Ethics of responsible journalism states you should send back anything sent to you for review. It’s a rule with every publication I’ve done work for and personally, I’ve found when the company didn’t care, I would get lazy and not finish my review on time (since there was no time constraint to send it back).
– You must be making more than $800 a month on the site, right? Buy one new off tivo.com and call it a computer hardware write-off on next year’s taxes.
In case it’s not clear, the ‘hold it hostage’ option is tongue-in-cheek. In addition to a NDA, I also signed some paperwork saying I’m financially responsible for the unit — so there’s no free ride. My choices are obviously to purchase or to return.
Ben: No tip jar. I won’t ask for handouts since I can afford the S3 — the question is do I think it’s worth it? I’m still debating…
Matt: This site has never made $800 in a month. I figure I’m pulling in a lofty $5/hr. PVRBlog has over 18,000 Bloglines subscribers, I have a mere 200. Maybe one day the site will pay me with something more than positive feedback… ;)
Screw Tivo, there are a thousand other things to do with $800+ cash….
This was nothing more than hype and why spend $800 now when in 1-2 years or less, this unit will be obsolete already….and something better will be out…
I’m planning to buy mine.
PVRBlog pulls in over $800/month? Nice. :-)
I thought about trying to monetize TiVoLovers, but decided not to. I pay to maintain it.
well, PVRblog does pretty well then. :)
Still, I think the tax write-off advice is sound. My accountant says so.
We got one — its massively better than the motorola PVR. Remember, the latest firmware fiasco broke HDMI/DVI! (if you are in the Twin Cities/Comcast)