Easiest/Most Cost Effective

[prenger745]

Ok currently I have 3 stock, never opened TIVOs.

(1) DSR704
(2) DSR708s

One of the 708s is close to crashing. It is skipping. Rebooting at times. And generally not recording any shows. I want to swap out the hard drive and I have been reading and think I just confuse myself more, the more I read.

In the end, I would like to upgrade all 3 units with bigger drives and network access. Does the network access allow Tivo to call in over the internet (so I can cancel my home phone?)

Do I need to buy Instant Cake for an image or can I make/use/get? one from one of my three tivos? Does 'the zipper' capture the image or is it another piece of software?

If I wanted to just get the 708 up and running with a new drive tomorrow, could I go back and easily add network access later?

Thanks,
Dan

[classicsat]

The hacks needed to enable networking can eliminate the need for the TiVo call altogether. The DirecTV (PPV) call still needs the built in modem, but you can order PPV over the web.

You can get am image from one of your existing units.

The Zipper doesn't "need" the image, but can use it. You will have to manually aquire one, or get Instantcake.

Yes, you can copy one of your existing drives to a new one, and hack it later, although you will not be able to transfer recordings made before hacking, if that is something you may want to do.