HD DVR Prices: Look at Tivo's Pricing Models and History
I ordered Voom last week, but I have been with D* for many, many years. I bought the DirecTV Tivo within 6 months of when if first came out, and it is still up and running. It was $499, and Sony announced a $250 rebate. Long story short I bought an open box, had issues with Circuit City customer support, and I paid $49 out of pocket after rebate. Cheaper then a VCR. I was lucky, but I would have paid the full $299, without a problem for the convenience of Tivo. I also paid the $299 lifetime membership.
Today, those same (non-HD) boxes are being sold for $49 to new customers, with free DVR service if you have the top of the line programming package. $4.99 with any other programming package. To get to my point, 4+ years later and I still have the box, and it works better than my newer Tivo. Also, since Voom does not have a PVR, I am keeping D*'s basic package with local channels. I have 2 Tivo's and they are fantastic. DVR's are great! I travel 4 days out of the week for work, so it is a must have. . .
I thought about the HD Tivo (I actually had a pre-order), but felt that $1,000 was too much, especially if you read the posts in the Tivo Community Forum. The same thing is happening to the new HD Tivo users, as the first users. Mixed reviews and paying a higher premium for a new product.
Upon conversation with CSR's at D*, and all the research I have done, I decided to sit on the sidelines and wait. The competition fo customers will benefit us all. Multiple resources predicted that that the HD Tivo's will be going bewteen $499 - $399 before the end of the year (no monthly service fee for high-end programming packages). DVD burning HD Tivo's are in the works, and non-Hughes boxes will come out after 6 months of launch. You know what that means. . .PRICE DROPS! By the way, think about what you are asking the DVR's to do, in conjunction with the prices. You can buy computers for $499 now.
Thinking along those lines, I am hoping Voom will do somthing similar, thin clients excluded of course. I would say $100 to $199 for those. Thoughts?
Anyways, I switched to Voom becuase of the HD offering, and $1,000 pays for a lot of months of Voom, and if the Voom DVR's deliver, I am leaving D*. The way I structured my D* and VaVa Voom packages, I will pay the same I pay d* now and have the best fo both worlds.
Sorry for the long post.
I hope this helps.