TV tech question - Zmayhem are pondering various cutting-cable-to-the-bare-minimum-with-tech-supplement options, and had almost totally decided on getting a Roku box, when an offer fell into our laps of possible indefinite borrowage of a Tivo Premiere, which would do all the same Netflix/Hulu/Amazon/YouTube/misc and whatnot streaming as the Roku.

I already know that Tivo's TOS won't let us just switch our Tivo enrollment over to the Premiere, so we're not planning on getting rid of our Series 2 and its lifetime membership. But does anyone know if we can still use the Premiere as a streaming device if it isn't signed up for a Tivo plan? If we'd just have to sign up for another membership to get access to the streaming, we'd be better off just getting the Roku. But if it'll work fine for streaming even if we're not using it for Tivoing, that'd be golden. Do any Techistas know which it is?

I think what you lose by not having a Tivo subscription is access to the listings. So you'd need to manually set the time and channel for every recording.

Oh, wait, you're asking about access to Netflix, and so on. Never mind!

So we really could just keep the other Tivo as a Tivo and use the Premiere as a big streaming box without needing a second subscription?

JZ, I don't think it will work. TiVo updated its OS so that basically without a TiVo subscription, it's just a dead box.

A Roku is about $70, Hulu Plus (which you will need a subscription for in order to stream it anywhere other than a regular computer) is 7.99/mo and I think I pay about that for Netflix, too.

Yep, that's what I was budgeting for (plus Amazon Prime membership, which comes with discounts on season subscriptions for individual shows plus free streaming of a bunch of Disney and Nick shows that Matilda and Emmett love).

I kind of suspected that Tivo might block users from doing something like that with their extra sets, but hoped I might be wrong. Ah, well. Forging ahead with the Roku-and-multiple-subscriptions plan.

JZ, it looks like a couple of years ago it was possible: [link]

But the other threads that are more recent than this say TiVo caught wind and updated its OS to prohibit it. :(

On the one hand, rats for us and for the Tivo-lender who doesn't need it anymore and still needs to find a home for the big dead box; on the other hand, I can't really blame the Tivo folks, since I'm pretty sure if it was my company and my product I'd do the exact same thing.

Having attempted to cancel Tivo service, I reserve the right to not be sympathetic with them about anything. I called, I argued, I cancelled, and yet they kept billing me. I called again, I spent an hour on the phone, and FINALLY got them to reallyo trulyo cancel my service. AND refund the month they'd billed me. Apparently the first time they didn't think I meant it?

Well, if I tried to cancel TiVo I'd certainly be under the influence of some evil spell and need to be saved from myself. Isn't it really just excellent customer service that they're protecting you from a similar mistake?