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Have a tivo Roameo OTA and went from a $60 Directv bill to a $15 tivo bill. However, I'll probably be experimenting with a mythtv box so that I have more flexibility and no tivo bill.
We have saved money with TiVo, but only in the context of having DVR. Clearly, having a TiVo won't save money in the context of just watching whatever happens to be being broadcast at the time you turn on the television.
A new TiVo (Bolt) plus lifetime service will run upwards of $900. For most people, that's roughly a 5-6 year break-even. The break-even is challenged by the possibility that technology changes will render the device obsolete or too limited to afford the kind of value expected (which is why, right now, you'd be foolish to invest in anything other than a Series 5/Roamio or Series 6/Bolt TiVo), or that some unrepairable failure will occur (remarkably rare - the most typical failures are readily repairable).
After fifteen years using TiVos, neither obsolescence or failure had occurred to us prior to breaking-even on the TiVo, except for one TiVo that, in retrospect, we should never have purchased. It was a "second" TiVo that didn't add much given our "first" TiVo; and it was much too much cost-reduced, resulting in more limited value to start with and a shorter span of time it would offer value; and we bought it far too close to the SD-to-HD conversion, so it went obsolete way too quickly. How often does a technology change like that happen, though? Even the conversion to Ultra HD 4K wouldn't be comparable.
We just recently retired the TiVo that effectively made the "one we shouldn't have purchased" obsolete. It is still working perfectly, but because it is so old (eight years old), its software didn't support MPEG-4, and Comcast just started encoding cable channels using MPEG-4. Eight years - not bad at all. And over that time I not only saved money, but enjoyed a far better user experience, and more importantly perhaps, a more familiar user experience - one that didn't change randomly whenever the cable company decided, or when I was forced to change cable companies.
During that time, that TiVo served our needs to bring content with us on our laptops, such as on business trips. While there may be ways to do that with other options, I was able to set up an easy way to do it with TiVo, which has worked reliably over the years, unaffected by changes in cable service providers. Managing recordings, verifying scheduling online, etc. Again, there may be ways to do this with cable company provided setups, but that means they could change precipitously, and almost always will change when you change cable companies.
And TiVo is a consumer product. No "experimenting" as Harry termed it, above, with regard to MythTV.
yeah, we had one of the very first tivos, along with lifetime service. Over the years I had to replace the modem and upgrade the hard drive, but in addition to using the DVR function, I also copied off some key programs to VHS and later DVD. The original menu system and design was awesome. It is still in storage, but needs a landline to operate and doesn't handle digital, so I guess it is time to finally toss it.
I'm not happy with tivo doing little pop-up ads on the Roameo OTA when I pause. I purchased it to get away from ads as well as the DVR function.
I feel that the term "pop-up" is an inappropriate description of what's actually there when programming is paused. It makes it sound a lot worse than it is.
The ads on TiVo are so unobtrusive that I often don't even remember that they're there. Once in a long while they catch my eye, but only when they're offering a preview of some program - a preview that I really want to see. They're about the "best" advertisements that exist.
My interest in avoiding advertising (and I think this is true for most people, although perhaps not for Harry) is avoiding the delay that advertising inflicts on my television watching. The ads on TiVo inject no significant delay whatsoever.
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