CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

whats6x7 · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 5915

I have 2 hoppers and 6 joeys and the bill is like $160 per month. I can go cable, bundle my internet, and drop to about $150 for both services combined.

I'm looking at buying my own receivers to cut down on the monthly charge. The Roamio with Minis looks like a good deal. Anyone have any experience with those?

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

I own a an older Tivo and love the UI. I haven't used any of the newer models, but I am sure they are just as good if not better.

You do know that you have to subscribe to the Tivo service. It is to expensive to me, but each their own. The Channel Master boxes don't require a subscription.

ecrabb · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 3:59 am Post subject:

Haven't seen the new stuff, but the UI on my first TiVo from like 2002 or something still hasn't been equaled. Yes, the UI on every other box I've seen, including brand new stuff from Dish, DirecTV, and certainly any cable company is all inferior to the TiVo I had ten years ago. It's ridiculous. And slow? Judas priest.

I'll be at CEDIA in a few weeks. I'll try to swing by the TiVo booth and check out the Roamio - hadn't even heard of it until now.

Cheers,
SC

whats6x7 · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 5915

I went ahead and bought a Roamio with 3 minis. Pretty cool. Tivo desktop so I can upload movies to the hard drive and download movies to my computer (as long as they aren't copy protected). I put a slingbox solo on it because its streaming is limited to IOS devices. Last thing, I found a RGB plus Audio Baluns for Cat 6 wire for $60 on Amazon to extend the signal into another room.

Now the next decision . . . lifetime or not?

Lifetime on the Roamio is $499 with $149 for each mini. Slighlty less than a grand to save $33 per month in fees. That's a 30 month ROI (assuming not rate increases from Tivo).

What do you guys think?

whats6x7 · Joined: 04 Oct 2006 Posts: 5915

I installed a Roamio with 4 mini units. Great system. Just as cool as the hopper with the exception that I was able to put lifetime subscriptions on everything. I lowered my total bill by $83 per month. I figure I have a 26 month ROI.