The Newb Wants A Tivo

[jstutman]

Hey everyone. Thanks for allowing me to join the community. I read the FAQ and now I have a few questions.

I am interested in buying a tivo, (in regards) I plan on upgarding the hdd (is it safe to say that here?)

So my questions are in regards to the best way to obtain a model which can be upgraded? Would it be threw tivo@com "post restriction?" paying $16 a month, nothing upfront) or going into BestBuy (where I pay up front)

All I am needing is a standalone unit that I am replacing my dish dvr with (using standard reciever) From what the FAQ said, this will work? (why pay $10 to dish, when I can just pay tivo with better features)

Is this possible? Soory for my newbness, Tivo is still semi greek to me :)

[litzdog911]

1. You can upgrade the hard drive in any current standalone Tivo. Check out the resources in the Tivo Upgrade Center Forum here ....
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25

2. Yes, your Tivo will work fine with your Dish Receiver. Check out the compatibility guide here for your specific Dish Receiver ....
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=128743

[Joeg180]

You can also purchase a TiVo with an upgraded hdd from weaknees.com and then activate through Tivo for $12.95 a month.

[JacksTiVo]

Wait at least 90 days before upgrading so that you are still covered by the TiVo labor/partsl warranty. The remainder of the 0ne year warranty only covers parts so if the upgraded hard drive fails, you'll have the original HDD to reinstall.

[Stanley Rohner]

If you buy it from tivo.com and it fails anytime during the warranty period they'll only exchange it for a refurbished one under warranty for free, they won't give you a brand new unit under warranty period, if refurbs are available. There's probably not any Series2 DT refurbs available yet.

If you buy it at a local store near you and it dies during warranty period you can usually go back to the store and exchange it for a brand new one.

[jstutman]

Thanks, here is what I have found.

Tivo com Free but 19.95 = 238.40

(difference of $84 in fees, difference of 50)
So If I like rebates, it appears Buying @ Best Buy saves me $50- $14 in taxes (
BestBuy - $184 - $150 rebate = $34+ $12.95 (Id pay $184+tax out the door.

Or I can oder Weaknees and pay $150 now and after rebate is free. (anyone ever used rebate with weaknees? does tivo honor it? (this sounds like best deal if tivo will honor rebate.

lol my first 5 posts cant have url's in them so I have to change the to dot :)

[Olde Fortran]

Another way is to buy an upgraded TiVo on ebay with lifetime service. This is usually much cheaper in the long run.

[Einselen]

Thanks, here is what I have found.

Tivo com Free but 19.95 = 238.40


Why not do 1 year prepaid? I havnt done all the math, but I know prepaid is cheaper then the monthly with 1 yr committment.

[Joeg180]

My current units are from Weaknees, yes I could have upgraded them myself, but, knew I would have the time.

The rebates offer shown on the Weaknees website is the same TiVo rebate if you purchased a unit from another retailer. Weaknees charges you the full price you are then on the hook to send in the rebate to TiVo.

Yes there have been some issues with folks getting their rebates, I have two currently pending one was mailed May 9th, the other is being scheduled.

The eBay route is available to you as well, you may want to check out the seller since some folks have had issues.

[jstutman]

Thanks went with an 80 from BestBuy after rebate it is cost me $34

Spent all day yesterday updating and indexing. damn thing was so behind on service updates, took 4 hours to download. Thanks god I can finally use my wireless.
(too bad its usb 1.1 -the tivo that is) transfers to tivo desktop are slow as heck.

[mick66]

Thanks went with an 80 from BestBuy after rebate it is cost me $34

Spent all day yesterday updating and indexing. damn thing was so behind on service updates, took 4 hours to download. Thanks god I can finally use my wireless.
(too bad its usb 1.1 -the tivo that is) transfers to tivo desktop are slow as heck.

Software updates are done by replacing the whole thing. There are no "service pack" type updates that are just added to the existing software. So 4 hours to download must mean that you have a very bad phoneline as most updates would only take about 1.5 hours. You may want to look into that. As for being USB 1.1, exactly what model did you get? Any 80 hour stand alone Tivo ever made has had USB 2.0

[aus1ander]

Thanks went with an 80 from BestBuy after rebate it is cost me $34

Spent all day yesterday updating and indexing. damn thing was so behind on service updates, took 4 hours to download. Thanks god I can finally use my wireless.
(too bad its usb 1.1 -the tivo that is) transfers to tivo desktop are slow as heck.

What software version are you running? What type of wireless adapter do you have and what kind of wireless network do you have (ie, B, pure G, mixed G/B, etc)?

I used to have a B network and recently bought a new G router (running in pure G), and a 30 minute show recorded in "Best" (1300 megs) went from taking >100 minutes before to 40 minutes to download. I think thats pretty good, given the overhead with WEP. I should note I have a Tivo branded wireless adapter, which is supposed to significantly improve performance over other wireless adapters.

I'm pretty sure USB 2.0 support was added in 7.2.1 or 7.2.2--the Series 2 hardware has always had USB 2.0, but it was just not supported in software until recently.

[jstutman]

I have the 540080 with a linksys router running DD-WRT. The tivo is connected to my network via a wirless Netgear WG111. I have also tested transfer times with my wired usb adapter a Linksys USB200M Ver. 2. I understand that WEP adds overhead that can add some added transfer times. It is a straight G network. I have the latest software 7.2.2

An example would be from the tivo (wirless) to the router to another (wireless) desktop.

800Mb simpsons episode is 1 hour transfer time.
Which does not sound right. It could be wrong, like how windows is off on transfer times (they claim to fix this with vista)