Can I use a tivo as a "cheap" dvr?

[hoots711]

Ill quickly explain my situation and maybe you can tell me if a "ebay'd" tivo may be my best solution.

My POS cable company doesnt have dvr service yet (Just moved to Lehigh Valley PA). I have had dvr for the last 2 years and really cant live without it (maybe im exagerating a little). They are planning on adding dvr boxes but dont have a approx time (I was told it could be 1 month or 1 year......)

I havnt had a land line in 2-3 years. Only Cell phone

I will have 2-way cable internet

I dont need season pass or anything. I simply want to be able to go in on a sunday or monday and set up the 5 or 6 shows I would want to grab for that week (Although season pass would be nice, I can deal without it)

I am buying a new hdtv with multiple tuners. So I could put a dvr device on the 2nd tuner and really not use it for anything except recording and possibly PnP. But 95% of my tv navigation would be on the main tuner.

I dont want to pay 12+$ per month, nor do I want to shell out 500 for a dvr from a retailer. (Im so use to having dvr for 5$ a month)

So, can I buy a tivo on the cheap from ebay, throw it on my second tuner, and use it for nothing more than a dvr?

Thanks all.

Also looking for any other suggestions.

[dgh]

I dont want to pay 12+$ per month, nor do I want to shell out 500 for a dvr from a retailer. (Im so use to having dvr for 5$ a month)

TiVos with lifetime service usually work out to quite a bit less than $5 per month once typical resale values after 4-6 years are factored in. You can save a few cents per month by not getting the service, but it's the hardware that depreciates while the service retains most of its value, so you don't save that much.

[mportuesi]

If I'm not mistaken, the Series 2 units won't record without a subscription to the service.

Apparently there are some very old Series 1 units that are grandfathered under old terms of service agreements, and can do manual recording even when unsubscribed. But I can't imagine one of these units would be cheap to obtain via EBay.

[dylanemcgregor]

So the basic answer is no, but you can spend $350 now for a TiVo and the lifetime service, and when your cable companies DVR became available you could most likely sell your TiVo for very close to $350, so total cost to you would be less than $50. You might even make money on the deal. :)

-Dylan

[DougF]

Some series 1 units will do this. I have four of them. PM if you are interested in buying one.

[mattack]

Shouldn't a thread about this be sticky-ized?