Tivo and HDTV are together at last:, but at a big price

[Gregg Lengling]

By Jim Finkle
The Orange County Register
Posted June 16 2004


 
Videophiles have long awaited the marriage of the two hottest stars in the television universe: Tivo and HDTV.

While the wait is over, they need to stand in line -- or pay scalpers' prices -- to get in on the action.

The first high-definition personal video recorders have been rolled out slowly in the past few months by DirecTV and Dish Network, the two big satellite television providers. Their list price is an eyebrow-raising $999.

And they're being resold by speculators on eBay and other Web sites for an average of about $1,500.

A few lucky consumers are able to find them on the Web sites of retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City. But supplies are so tight that they pop up infrequently at list price, and generally sell out within a few minutes.

The only options are getting on waiting lists that can take six to eight weeks to clear or turning to the gray market where TV junkies are paying heavily for a quick fix.

"I'm surprised that people are willing to dish out this kind of premium when the product will be available in abundance in a couple months," said Hassen Fawaz, an eBay merchant from Fort Lauderdale.

Fawaz bought three of the DirecTV Tivo HD recorders for $999. He kept one for himself and sold the other two for more than $1,600 apiece. Now he's put the third one up for sale, too.

"I decided to grab the profit now and pick up another one later when the price drops," he said.