[mythtv-users] so how does Tivo do it?

[Jeff Williams]

I'm not sure the component quality is really lower.  What is that based on?  I have a series 2 unit that I've modified with a new hard drive... all that's in there is a power supply, motherboard with integrated CPU and hardware TV encoder, one fan and one Western Digital 40GB hard drive (I had a 40 hour model).  I'm not even sure what there is that could be considered higher or lower quality than what used to be in there - there are exactly three parts to a TiVo that I was able to see, one of which is solid state, another of which is from a reputable and respected hard drive maker.  And I can't imagine they're making units with lower-quality power supplies now; that'd be an odd place to save money (or rather, it would have been odd if they were using particularly *good* power supplies in the first gen models).  So I don't know where the lower quality assertion comes from.  The weight of the unit?  Size?  Looks?

As for how they do it, the only thing in there that's worth anything is the hardware TV encoder, which is probably equivalent to a PVR-250.  A 40GB hard drive can be found for about $40 these days, the slow CPU's they use are basically worthless, and a cheap, generic motherboard only costs $15 so I can imagine they're not paying much for their custom PCB's.

>From their lifetime subscription fees, they're counting on at least $500 per customer over the life of a unit.  I guarantee they're making a nice profit at that price.  On the other hand, the company itself is still losing money, but that's more due to company size and overhead vs. installed base than anything.  If they had enough subscribers, they'd be making money, and I'm sure they're making money on a per-unit basis.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Max [mailto:max-mythtv-users at lasevich.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 2:53 PM
> To: Discussion about mythtv
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] so how does Tivo do it?
> 
> 
> Tivo is
>     a: using custom designed, dedicated platform, not generic 
> multipurpose
> hardware, so they only have needed hardware
>     b: because of a, they can use a 75Mhz PPC w/ 16MB of ram 
> instead of
> 1Ghz+ P3 with 512MB of ram
>         (at least this is Series1 specs, Series 2 is 
> different I think)
>     c: Series 1 units were sold BELOW their harware price, 
> they tried to
> make up the difference in service fees
>     d: Series 2 units have better spec, but use much lower quality of
> components as to bring the cost down.
> 
> -M
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "John Wells" <jb at sourceillustrated.com>
> To: <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2003 11:45 AM
> Subject: [mythtv-users] so how does Tivo do it?
> 
> 
> > So, basically, if I want to create a MythTV box with all 
> the features of
> > Tivo, I'm looking at a fairly hefty (at least $600+) price tag.
> >
> > How does Tivo offer their systems at such lower prices?  
> I'm aware of
> > economies of scale, but what magic are they working?
> >
> > I suppose the monthly subscription fee covers some of their 
> cost, but it
> > can't be a very lucrative profit there...
> >
> > Anyone have some insight?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > John
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> >
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