Where to buy Tivo?

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DiscoDan

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#110678 14-Oct-2012 15:23

My brother has had Tivo since Telecom started selling them but I never really took much notice. Until I was round at his playing around a few months ago - thought it was fantastic and next day went down to Noel Leeming and picked one up for myself. Now I can barely live without it. The other week it actually broke on me and I took it back under warranty and they gave me a replacement (they have top notch service at Tivo!). That week while I was without it was torture - setting up reminders on my phone so I would not miss programs felt so daft!

Anyway...

Got chatting one day with my landlord and he was sold on the idea, he too went straight down and bought one the next day.

Then new neighbor moved in and got chatting about them again - took her down to Noel Leemings (she's a technoob) and they did not have any. So we took a look at the alternatives - flob all really. Expensive and very poor units and all had less of the features.

We got on a bit of a mission to find out what has happened - Tivo it seems has been discontinued. But the alternatives on the market are rubbish. I would never pay for sky, that and it is a rip off. But a $300 box like Tivo has been discontinued? Seems mad to me and nuts that a well priced feature rich and simple to use device is being discontinued while more expensive units give recorders a bad name.

So where can you still buy them from? Called clearance center and they have sold out. Only thing left is a gamble on Trademe - but they usually wont have a receipt as they are mostly Telecom freebies.

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Biddle Corp

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#701012 14-Oct-2012 16:05

The current Tivo stock had all been heavily discounted over a 6 month period and sold. There was talk of the 1TB unit being launched in NZ to replace it but it seems this hasn't happened.

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#701054 14-Oct-2012 17:23

DiscoDan: My brother has had Tivo since Telecom started selling them but I never really took much notice.?

Sorry to say that I don't think you can buy them anymore. You could phone telecom who are tivos main support people in NZ and telecom used to advertise them on the website. The real price of them is closer to $600, so the $300 was just a special run out price. I agree that the alternatives aren't great unless you subscribe to sky.

nickd

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#701063 14-Oct-2012 18:05

Can you buy one from overseas the use the new NZ Post shipping method to get it into the country?

sbiddle

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#701066 14-Oct-2012 18:13

nickd: Can you buy one from overseas the use the new NZ Post shipping method to get it into the country?

Different hardware and it won't have support for the NZ EPG.

nickd

447 posts

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#701069 14-Oct-2012 18:18

I thought the Australian versions worked over here. My bad, I wasn't aware of that. My post is not the post you are looking for, move along.

old3eyes

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#701086 14-Oct-2012 19:04

nickd: I thought the Australian versions worked over here. My bad, I wasn't aware of that. My post is not the post you are looking for, move along.

I thought the same as when you set them up they ask which country your in NZ or AU.

Regards,

Old3eyes

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

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#701115 14-Oct-2012 20:25

$300 = limited time runout.
Basically, unless you go second hand you're outta luck.
They're an old box, and at their standard retail failed to grab the market (for numerous reasons) - it's probably something you're going to have to face.

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DiscoDan

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#701128 14-Oct-2012 20:38

Managed to pick one up on Tradme for a great price. Still very sad that such a fantastic device has such little presence here in NZ all because Telecom were greedy (as usual).

I did briefly see a 1tb TiVo model on the Noel Leeming website but was there one day and gone the next.

Both my neigbours, my brother and even my landlord have all got TiVo now. I know a few other people who want to buy TiVo but cant... TiVo if your watching, ditch telecom and get promoting!

sbiddle

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#701137 14-Oct-2012 20:58

DiscoDan: Managed to pick one up on Tradme for a great price. Still very sad that such a fantastic device has such little presence here in NZ all because Telecom were greedy (as usual).

It wasn't so much that Telecom were greedy - the price they were selling them for was the pruice the box needed to be.

The $199 / $299 pricepoints since Xmas were purely to clear out the massive amounts of old stock that existed. I believe the decision was then made not to introduce the new 1TB model because the price of ~$900 ish would have been unsustainable (remembering it sells for A$699 in Aussie).

Jaxson

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#701148 14-Oct-2012 21:08

DiscoDan: TiVo if your watching, ditch telecom and get promoting!

Umm, Tivo have basically ditched NZ. The whole thing nearly made the top 5 tech disasters NZ list.

The remaining stock was offloaded to the likes of Noel Leeming to be cleared. Now it's gone and you'll need to look to the second hand market to find one. The good news is there should be a few available as they were giving them away with broadband contracts etc, even to people who weren't in a freeview terrestrial reception area. Also a few oportunistic punters picked them up at bargain prices (they often went for $199 near the end) with the sole intention of reselling them for profit.

The hardware itself is ex Mexico from 2009 ish, so a lot have been touch and go. They work, but sorry, don't kid yourself they're current and supported here in NZ. Just hope they provide the web EPG going for a while...

mattwnz

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#701183 14-Oct-2012 23:19

Jaxson: Just hope they provide the web EPG going for a while...

I think they will need to keep the EPG going for a reasonable period of time, otherwise telecom or the retailers selling tivos will have a lot of people returning the boxes and home networking packages for a refund under the CGA.

Tivo do have a guy called Dan who I think is from Australia, who pops in here regularly to answer questions, so it sounds like they are continuing to support it well for us over in Australia.

ahmad

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#701205 15-Oct-2012 00:41

TiVo has been thoroughly worth the $400 or so I paid for it. A steal at $199 but it's the most under-rated Freeview PVR in NZ, universally panned except by the lucky ones who have one to use.

GeoffisPure

459 posts

Ultimate Geek

#701213 15-Oct-2012 06:12

Though the TiVo is a great device when working (especially while networked), let's not forget the fact that a significant number arrived dead on arrival in recent times. Maybe they sold them all quickly as the old stock was starting to break down in storage.

tonyhughes

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#701222 15-Oct-2012 08:07

Would consider swapping my Tivo for a FreeviewHD Dual tuner PVR if anyone is keen, as I am moving soon, and possibly won't have broadband when I do move.

JimmyH

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#701717 15-Oct-2012 19:17

DiscoDan: Managed to pick one up on Tradme for a great price. Still very sad that such a fantastic device has such little presence here in NZ all because Telecom were greedy (as usual).

I did briefly see a 1tb TiVo model on the Noel Leeming website but was there one day and gone the next.

Both my neigbours, my brother and even my landlord have all got TiVo now. I know a few other people who want to buy TiVo but cant... TiVo if your watching, ditch telecom and get promoting!

Telecom weren't outrageously greedy - they were incompetent.

The box price was high but not extortionate for what it was and where other units were priced at the time (although charging an extra $100+ to be able to connect to the box over a network was a complete rip off).

They needed to get them into mainstream media/retail channels, such as the shops where people normally go to buy TVs etc, and didn't. They needed to market them, and didn't. They needed qualified staff in the shops able to explain and promote the units, and didn't.

When I went into a Telecom shop and asked a few questions just after launch the staff were completely clueless, couldn't explain or tell me anything, and had no interest in promoting the product.

High price + poor retail presence + awful marketing + incompetent retail staff = epic fail.

If they had priced a bit lower, got into bed with the major retail chains, and promoted it properly they could have had a huge success. There wasn't much else on the market quality wise for a good Freeview PVR when they launched. They *ought* to have been able to market it decently esp with the full muscle of TVNZ behind Hybrid, but didn't.

The mistake was hitching their wagon to Telecom and having no good marketing strategy, compounded by letting Telecom do such an awful job.

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