Cheap TiVo anyone?

I found this great deal on a 40 hour TiVo recently. But there's a small catch. First of all, it's $149 with a $100 rebate. Great, just $49 for a TiVo. I had it in my virtual shopping cart, rolling to the checkout. Oh wait, you have to sign up for the TiVo service before you can get your rebate. What if I dont want the service? What if I just want to use it for instant replays or commercial skip. Ok, so my buddy is telling me the lifetime service is just $200. A little steep, but I'll look into it. Ahhhhh...since he signed up its gone up to $300. So I guess for now a TiVo is still just a dream for me.
UPDATE(1/26/2005) - This deal is no longer available.