Because I just got one and it sob is the most perfect thing ever.
AND it had a $100 rebate!
So, what frivolous modern technology/convenience would you hate to do without?
The internet.
I love my TiVo more than is probably healthy to love an appliance. I got mine with the lifetime subscription, so now I anxiously monitor the company’s financial health, constantly worrying that they’re going to go out of business. If they do, my wife will know immediately, as I’ll be curled up in the fetal position in front of the TiVo, sobbing.
My dad has two Tivos.
The bastard.
Guess I’m enjoying kind of a Luddite existence, because the most recent high-tech thingies I’ve got are a digital camera and some computers, which I could without. Stuff I couldn’t do without are things like TV sets, disposable razor blades and a car, which aren’t exactly groundbreaking. I don’t even have cable. Computer uses a dialup connection to the Internet.
Oh, did I mention my dad has two Tivos and didn’t give me one?
He has a NetFlix account, too.
Amoxicillin.
With all the ear infections I used to get, it probably saved my hearing.
[The 2010 Year Old Man] Liquid Prell. [/The 2010 Year Old Man]
**The microwave oven **
I mean, seriously, how else would I reheat the most delicious Thai leftovers I’ve had in months.
My ReplayTV
I don’t even know how I watched TV prior to my ReplayTV.
My wireless router/notebook card combo
To think I was married to my home office for years! I’ve been surfing the 'Net from my sofa, bed, kitchen counter for so long now that I don’t know how I ever got along without the combo.
My Microplane zester
I don’t know what I called myself doing with parmesan, lemons and chocolate before I got one but I sure as hell wasn’t zesting it.
When I tried to do this, apparently the rebate only applied if you bought the extended Tivo service, which was $30 more a month, or something like that. Check your fine print.
And yeah, Tivo rocks.
Ever been camping and tried to open a bottle or tin can without a can opener? Probably the most under-rated tool in the world. Or course, we wouldn’t need it if we hadn’t invented cans or bottles, but whatever.
Not trivial enough for you? Cruise control. There is NO REASON why I can’t regulate the speed of the car myself, but I get very cranky without it.
Microwaves. Everything you can do in a microwave you can do on a stove or in an oven - granted it will take longer. But having to do without one would feel like having to chop my own wood and start the fire with flint and steel.
Ah, I love hyperbole. 
I don’t have TiVo, but I do have DVR service from my cable company. Couldn’t watch the Olympics without it. Rather than six hours at a setting I’ve cut down to about an hour of solid entertaining competition.
I love the TiVo. I don’t watch a lot of TV (mainly Six Feet Under), but I’m all over movies. What I do is go to the search by title and pick movies, then pick “A” and get the whole list of movies. Then I scroll through them and record all that strike my fancy. It’s almost like Christmas when I go through my Now Playing list to see what has been recorded.
The TiVo is indeed glorious.
I was opposed to it for philosophical reasons, but the weird thing is that I actually watch less telelvision than I did before. I’m no longer just sitting there like a lump, flipping through the channels to find something good – I have a list of stuff I know I want to see just sitting there waiting for me.
I think it’s necessary to fully embrace the Zen of TiVo to be truly happy, though. Not long after I’d gotten it, the honeymoon ended, and I began to see it as that spiteful box sitting underneath my TV. I already had too much work to do and not even enough time to keep up with all the books I wanted to read and other stuff I wanted to do, and here it was still recording stuff and insisting that I watch it and threatening to delete it if I didn’t see it in time. Come home from work to find another To-Do list. I resented it.
Then, I realized: it’s okay. It’s not telling me to watch all this television, it’s inviting me to watch it. Didn’t have time to get to that rerun of “The Daily Show?” That’s fine. There’ll be more on later, and I’ll record it for you then. Don’t feel like watching anything at all? Cool, I’ll be over here when you’re ready. We had reached a detante, and it’s been bliss ever since.
The thing I have become uncomfortably dependent on is the Live TV pause-and-rewind. I use it so much that it just makes me nervous when I’m at a theater watching a movie or watching TV in some dark-age place that doesn’t have a TiVo for whatever heathenistic reason. I keep thinking, “what did he just say? Back it up!” or “Gotta go to the bathroom, pause it!”
So what does TiVo cost, exactly?
You pay for a unit, and then there’s a monthly cost, I presume?
Do you have to pay for cable along with it, or does it totally replace it?
Yes, I live under a rock, humor me.
Several “luxury” items that I wouldn’t want to be without:
Remote Control
Icemaker
Cruise Control
Calculator
My Dad could not get along without his coffee grinder. That thing runs every morning for about 30 seconds. He has had the same one since 1946, as a wedding present.
For some reason, I get along just fine without an electric can opener. I have a separate manual one for pet food and people food.
$99 to $299 for the unit, depending on how many hours each can hold.
Service is $13/month, or $300 for lifetime service. You would pay back the lifetime membership in 30 months.
I don’t have TiVo but my cable company has DVR or something which is basically the same thing. It’s great since I’m away 5 days a week.
Tower Dweller, I don’t think that’s the case. The Rebate FAQ page lists the following requirements to qualify for the rebate:
[ul]Purchase a TiVo® Series2TM DVR between 8/11/04 and 9/30/04 <snip boring list of exact model numbers> (DIRECTV models are not eligible.)
[li]Obtain a dated receipt for the TiVo® Series2TM DVR purchase [/li]Cut the original UPC code from the DVR packaging (or make a clear photocopy of the UPC code)
[li]Activate TiVo® or TiVo PlusTM service and remain active for a minimum of 30 days (TiVo Basic service is not eligible)* (emphasis added)[/li][li]Complete the rebate form [/li][li]Mail the completed rebate form, dated receipt, and UPC code to the TiVo Rebate Center [/li][li]Rebate submission must be postmarked by 11/30/04 and received by 12/15/04 [/li][/ul]
- According to this page, TiVo Basic Service is not the standard TiVo service subscription that everyone has. It’s a much more limited service, and it’s available only on DVD-integrated models, which very few people have. Also, I should note that since that page was published TiVo has since rolled home networking into their standard price. So basically the thing that they call TiVo Plus is really the $12.95/month service subscription.
It’s confusing, but there ya go. So the bottom line is the standard TiVo subscription will qualify you for the rebate.
I have a DVR through my satellite company, Dish Network. It’s free. (Installation and the hardware). There is no monthly fee for the DVR, as there is with Tivo. It rocks. I’ve only had it a couple of months and I already can’t imagine watching TV without it.
I don’t watch ad’s anymore. Ever. I never miss a show that I’m watching. There is always something on that I want to see.
Usually if you are a new subscriber to Insight, Dishnetwork or DirecTv you can get a DVR or TiVo free.
I don’t want to spend the $12.95 a month on DVR so I still use the VCR.
I know the feeling. I’m so glad Time Warner came out with the DVRs. I would be lost without it. Sad, I know. My mother has thanked me profusely for teaching her how to use hers, as she too would be lost without it. My DVR-love is also unhealthy. “…from my cold, dead hands” and all that.
And the internet. It’s the greatest invention in the history of man. Thanks, Al Gore! :dubious: 
If my TiVo were a human being I would be its sex slave.