Score a "Free" TiVo! For Real!

One thing that has always bugged me about TiVo is the ridiculously disproportionate subscription fee. After scrounging together a couple hundred bucks for the box, you then have to cough up another $299 for lifetime service? (I know, you can pay $12.95/month instead, but that's even worse. TV is expensive enough already.) Personally, I've always wished they would just build the damn subscription fee into the box and be done with it.

Ah, but what if they just gave you the hardware? You've got two weeks (until July 15, that is) to score just such a deal: a 40-hour TiVo Series2 box, absolutely free when you sign up for service.



In this case, "service" means the usual $299 lifetime rate or a 12-month prepaid subscription for $155.40. Heck, they'll even throw in the shipping. Not at all a bad deal for what most people regard as the best DVR ever. (Personally, I'm still happy with my five-year-old (!) Replay, but I won't argue with TiVo's clear victory.)

Don't think you can get by with just 40 hours of recording time? There are myriad ways to upgrade a TiVo with inexpensive, high-capacity hard drives. Here's one example. So if you've been waiting to take the TiVo plunge, this could be the ideal time. It's hard to do better than free.