Questions about deactivated S2DT

[rlcarr]

I have a S2DT with about 17 months left on a 3-year prepaid plan. I'm planning to buy a TiVoHD and have it finish out the plan. This will obviously deactivate the S2DT.

Obviously, if the S2DT connects to the mothership, it'll immediately find out it's deactivated. But if it is not allowed to connect, how long can it go before it deactivates itself?

I ask because I have a bunch of recordings on the S2DT that I'd like to transfer to the TiVoHD. My tentative plan is to set up my firewall so that the S2DT cannot reach the internet but can continue to talk to the local network. That way it won't immediately deactivate and I can buy some time to transfer everything over to the TiVoHD.

Relatedly, I assume that when a TiVo does get deactivated, you can continue to view recordings made before deactivation (though you can't move them off the machine)?

[scandia101]

You have thirty days from the last connection to use MRV. After 30 days, the MAK is lost.

[classicsat]

If you have a big enough HDD on your computer, you can transfer them with TiVoToGo, then back to the HD unit as you desire.

You can watch recordings on the old TiVo indefinitely, when the sub is dropped.

[jlb]

In a few instances, a deactivated machine can still work as a manual recorder. I have the first Series 2, the AT&T branded one. It still works as a manual record unit. I don't know if any units after that have had this work in this way.