November 16, 2000

6:50 AM

Tivo is at it again!If you were one of the unfortunate ones who did not win last time, here is your chance to save face. I just wish I could find a link to the new Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott "Stop Itch" commercial.
posted by Brilliantcrank (18 comments total)

I found it! If you have not seen this commercial click an enjoy. If you are eating or drinking something right now, swollow first. This ones a spitter for sure.

http://www.adcritic.com/content/tivo-golf.html
posted by Brilliantcrank at 6:58 AM on November 16, 2000

So, anybody think they're going to limit themselves to ten TiVo's a day this time?
posted by harmful at 7:32 AM on November 16, 2000

I think I'll do it again! You never can have too many TiVos. . . .


posted by norm at 7:34 AM on November 16, 2000

I'll certainly try again. I made $200 last time.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:05 AM on November 16, 2000

How does a TiVo work exactly? Is it something you set up at home, or are shows made available on the web by mpeg or somethin'? I browsed their page a few months ago, but I never was clear on the details.
posted by chartres at 8:36 AM on November 16, 2000

If you were lucky enough to win a recorder during "The Great TiVo Giveaway," you are ineligible to win one during the "Revel in Rivalry" Essay Challenge.

How I think it works is, Tivo is basicaly a large HD, it takes the signal and decodes it into mpeg2 and stereo sound. I'm not sure if tivo has an AC-3 in or not, I know Dish's Replay-TV has that, and it's a lot nicer than tivo from what I've heard and read. Like Starz! broadcasts in DD5.1, so, you can record the whole thing and get a dvd-esque version of it.

posted by tiaka at 9:01 AM on November 16, 2000

Did I miss something... or doesn't it turn into a sweepstakes and therefore become illegal if you require a purchase?

Or is that *why* it's not valid in Florida.
posted by baylink at 9:16 AM on November 16, 2000

Ok... if anyone wants to do the "post your essay" bit, I've started a thread in MT to put them in.
posted by baylink at 9:18 AM on November 16, 2000

Dunno--I just got my credit card bill, and it turns out they refunded my one-month required service fee when I cancelled the service. Maybe that's their loophole--you have to agree to pay, but you don't have to actually pay?
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:20 AM on November 16, 2000

baylink: the first contest was invalid in Arizona, so i called their 1-800 number to find out why. some states have laws banning specifically what you said, but most don't, or have loopholes.
posted by pnevares at 9:34 AM on November 16, 2000

Stupid TiVO. It took over a month for me to receive my free unit that I won around Sept. 28th. I was in TiVO hell for about four weeks - from clueless customer support people, to UPS claiming everyone in my building had moved elsewhere, to a TiVO product manager leaving me voice mail in which she stated that she noticed I entered the contest multiple times.
posted by gluechunk at 11:14 AM on November 16, 2000

Or is that *why* it's not valid in Florida.

Actual TiVo didn't want to confuse Floridians with all the different buttons on the remote.
:-)

I got my free TiVo in less than 2 weeks, and it was a 30 hour unit. I love it, I love the service, and dare I say, I love the company!
posted by Sal Amander at 11:49 AM on November 16, 2000

Material possessions suck out your soul. Get back to nature!

Just kidding.
posted by Byun-o-matic at 11:51 AM on November 16, 2000

Stupid question, but how did you go about canceling the TiVo service, anyway? Is there an automated way to do it on their site that I couldn't find, or should I just call their customer service?
posted by zempf at 1:13 PM on November 16, 2000

I have an essay that would blow them away.

But I can't enter here in Canada. Pausing live TV, has me drooling. Mmmmm... Dark Angel...

If anyone wins one and doesn't want it, I'll front for the shipping if you want to send it to me in the cold north. I could use some good still shot's to warm me up.
posted by Starchile at 1:21 PM on November 16, 2000

I called customer service to cancel mine. They guy was very nice, though a bit pushy about trying to get me to keep the service. Finally, I just told him the deal, that I had won the unit and intended to sell it. That did the trick. He even reversed the charge for my mandatory one-month service. So I guess you could say I'm a happy TiVo customer, too.
posted by MrMoonPie at 1:44 PM on November 16, 2000

I entered twice and lost both times (in the first competition), and I thought both essays were pretty damn good. Maybe it was because I waited until the last couple of days and they were overwhelmed with entries and/or so burnt out from reading at that point that it wasn't really considered. Can I still post them over in MetaTalk and get some comments?
posted by aaron at 10:00 PM on November 16, 2000

You do not need the service in order to use the unit. You do need the service to use just about every special feature on the unit (i.e. the guide, season passes, etc.), but if you cancel the service you can still manually set it to record shows.
posted by gluechunk at 10:49 PM on November 16, 2000