Was thinking about getting this - was wondering what Directv charge for this service as they do not list any prices on their site. What other charges are there. I know theres a deal at Bestbuy for a Tivo box which can be used with directv tivo.

Here is the link .

The price is 4.99 a month or free if your a total choice premier subscriber

Thanks for that, but something confuses me a little. It says:
The monthly fee for DIRECTV® DVR with TiVo® service is $4.99. This monthly fee covers every DIRECTV® DVR in the home.

Then it goes on to say:
Please note that a $4.99 programming fee still applies for the second and each additional receiver in the home, for both DVR and standard receivers

So, if i have 1 unit, is it $4.99 and $4.99 for the programming fee, or just $4.99 in total?

4.99 per unit.

Its the best thing ever.

If you have normal DirecTV receivers, it is $4.99 for each extra receiver. If any one of your receivers (or all of them) is a DirecTivo, it is another $4.99 per month more (but not per DirecTivo; $4.99 no matter how many).

For example:
3 normal recievers + 1 DirecTivo:
3 extra receivers = $4.99 * 3
DirectTivo = 4.99
Total = $19.96

4 DirecTiVos:
3 extra receivers = $4.99 * 3
DirectTivo = 4.99
Total = $19.96

4 normal receivers:
3 extra receivers = $4.99 * 3
Total = $14.97

Best piece of equipment I've ever purchased.

Buy it. Now.

Just to add my own opinion on the Tivo thing...

It's a pretty good device, and has really changed our TV watching habits, not to mention made us loathe commercials even more now. We'll now deliberately delay watching stuff until the next night so that we can just skip through the commercials.

However, it isn't perfect. My main beef with it is that if a show runs long, the unit doesn't catch it. For example, we've got it set to record all episodes of Lost, and for some reason, it cut off recording before the show was over. The show looked like it was close to the final scene, but it was still irritating to have it come to a screeching halt like that. We also have been recording Angel repeats on TNT, and those constantly run long.

Now, you can alter the recording options to have the recording run longer, but if you've got something recording after the show, you're going to be out of luck. See, while you can set the start time of a recording to start x amount of minutes earlier, you can't have it starting later to offset a show which is likely to run long.

Another thing to note, while Tivo is great for catching every instance of a certain show that's aired, it sometimes screws up when recording an individual show. There have been times where I've just told it to record a certain episode of a certain show, and when I go to watch the show later, I find that the recording isn't the episode that was listed. Sometimes it won't even be the right show!

Also, if you're looking into getting DirecTV and haven't had it before, be warned that the signal can be affected pretty badly by the weather. There have been times where it's just been sprinkling a little bit and we've had our signal go completely out.

Blame ABC or the networks for that. It's not TiVo's fault that the shows run 61/62 minutes, but are only scheduled for 60.

Well, the DirectTV Tivo has two tuners, which means that you can pad shows easier without running into conflict. Now, if you have two shows coming on after the show you're padding, you're SOL, but if it's just one show, pad away!Negative padding is a "most wanted" feature of many Tivo owners (myself included).This is the fault of bad guide data, not the Tivo itself.YMMV on this. The only problem I've had is snow accumulating on the dish and blocking the signal. A little Pam cleared that problem up. As for rain, it hasn't been an issue...it's been raining about a week here, and I've experienced no signal problems.

Not quite sure i understand this. Directivo, is the box also the receiver? i.e. do i get rid of my existing receiver?

If i have just 1 directivo box, is my additional costs $4.99 over what i currently pay?

If i understand you correctly, its $4.99 for each additional directv receiver in my house (regular receiver), but if i attach directv to each of those, i'm paying an additional $4.99 on my bill for ALL the units regardless of how many i have?

Yes, the DirecTivo replaces your existing receiver. For the $4.99, there's really no reason to differentiate between the DirecTivo and any other receivers you have. Here's an example:

Current setup:

Living Room: Directv receiver $4.99
Bedroom: Directv receiver $4.99
Basement: Directv receiver $4.99

New setup:

Living Room: DirecTivo $4.99
Bedroom: DirecTivo $4.99
Basement: Directv receiver $4.99

You pay $4.99 extra for any DirecTV receiver (DirecTivo or regular) after your first one. The Tivo service is $4.99 and that covers any number of DirecTivos in your house.

If the DirecTivo is the only receiver you have, then you will only pay $4.99 extra for the Tivo service. If you add another DirecTivo, you'll be charged $4.99 for another box, but not more for Tivo.

People make this too complicated. Break it down into categories and it's more clear:

$5 for D-Tivo service. This is global, it applies to every D-Tivo on the account, period. Have 1 D-Tivo, have 6, it's a flat rate of $5.

For every extra receiver you have after the first one, they charge you $5 extra for the Satellite service. This is per receiver and it's not a Tivo thing. It doesn't matter if the receiver is a Tivo or not, it's $5 per card.

ok, i think i have this now.

This is my current set up. 3 regular directv receivers and for that i am paying $15 to directv. If i gave them back those boxes and brought directivo, my monthly outgoings are the same???

No, your monthy outgoings would be include an additional $5 Tivo fee.

Also, you may not have to give back the old receivers. I still have mine sitting in my basement.

Ok, i see my error, i counted the original box as an extra fee when i am just paying extra for the additional boxes currently in my house

thanks - thats pretty sweet

now to check out that tivo offer at best buy

Make sure to let us know when you have it all set up. And welcome to the TiVo club!

Call DirecTV and see what they can offer you first. I think my charge was $79 plus free installation. I bought 3 more (1 HD) TiVos and paid the installer a little more to run the extra line to the other TiVos. If you buy the TiVo yourself you could end up paying more for the installation than the box.

You don't need two lines from the dish for the TiVo to work but you will not be able to record two programs at once with only one line.

This sums it up completely.

thank you all for the great advice - you've all been very helpful and i now feel confident to ask for tivo without looking like a donut.

Actually, you now know enough to sell Tivo's at your local Best Buy.