Tivo HD - New or refurbished? [Text View]

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rbro

07-18-2008, 03:10 PM

I can get a refurbished Tivo HD for $179 from Tivo:

https://www3.tivo.com/store/webspecials.do?wt.ac=tivohome_save120special_save120speciald et_lnk

or a new one from some place called Erwin Computers for $218.95:

http://www.erwincomputers.com/tcd652160.html

Which do you think I should go for? I assume these are both the same model - series 3?

rbro

07-18-2008, 06:52 PM

Over 50 views and no replies. Anyone have an opinion or can anyone offer me any guidance?

bmgoodman

07-18-2008, 07:21 PM

I bought a refub Series 2 about two years ago and mine was fine, but I've heard others with stories of getting two or three DOA reburbs in a row. If you're a Costco member, you may still be able to get one there for $220, but I think that's an occasional special. Best part about Costco is their liberal return policy in case things go wrong.

Let me say that I recently helped two relatives buy Tivo HDs (at Costco) and both turned out to be defective and needed to be returned. MUCH easier than having to ship back to Tivo.

In fact, I'd recommend that you spend some extra money to buy locally, assuming you have Best Buy or Circuit City or Costco near you. I *really* hate having to spend the time required to box things back up, get RMA, etc. From my (limited) experience, Tivo HDs seem a bit prone to problems out-of-the box.

rbro

07-18-2008, 07:35 PM

Yeah I checked with my Costco today and they didn't have them. They have them at Circuit City but for like $299. I'll check Best Buy.

rbro

07-18-2008, 07:59 PM

Well Best Buy is the same. I'm thinking the refurb may be the best way to go. Free shipping. Under warranty for $179 and it comes from Tivo. I can get the wireless adapter refurbed also for $39.99. Any nightmare stories about refurbed units?

bmgoodman

07-19-2008, 09:57 AM

Yeah I checked with my Costco today and they didn't have them. They have them at Circuit City but for like $299. I'll check Best Buy.

"Didn't have them" meaning they were out of stock or they don't carry them? I saw http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=399799 that indicated they're currently $220.

Scyber

07-19-2008, 10:43 AM

I got a refurb from the woot.com sale a few months back and it has been solid for me.

In general with consumer electronics devices, I have had very good results with refurbs. Assuming TiVo does a good job QAing the refurb, it might actually be less likely to have any problems.

cmontyburns

07-19-2008, 11:33 AM

I believe TiVo is offering 3 months of service on new (i.e. not refurbed) HD units through the end of this month. That brings the cost of the new unit you found pretty close to the refurb over the first three months of ownership.

Also keep an eye on Amazon. They've raised their price up a bit, but I bought a new HD from them for $220 (with the 3 months free) a month or so ago. With the three free months, my cost was actually less than a refurb unit (since TiVo charges sales tax on online purchases).

1516dcl

07-19-2008, 10:46 PM

Ordered a refurb TivoHD from Tivo online and had a
couple weeks of grief with frequent reboots and no
effective help from Tivo support. Decided to return
the unit for a refund. Tivo customer support didn't
give me any grief about this and a few weeks later
the promised credit showed up on my credit card bill.

In the meantime, got a *new* TivoHD from Circuit
City for somewhat more and it has worked flawlessly
since.

Based on my experience I would strongly recommend
a *new* TivoHD rather than a refurb. The thing is:
you don't know what sort of abuse that refurb has been
subjected to. And apparently, neither does TiVo.

micub1979

07-19-2008, 11:33 PM

I have been a TIVO customer since 2002 or 2003, I have been using the same 40 hour standard def box that entire time. I wanted to update to the S3 HD box but I have a special retention plan 6.95 month for the life of my account. Up until last week I was stuck either paying full price for a new S3HD box or signing up for new service on the refurb device. surprise! I got an e-mail saying I have been such a great customer they are going to seed me the HD box for 249.99 with a free USB WIFI adapter.. it says in bold print I do not have to renew my contract or switch my plan... WOW I called up right away and talked this over with the rep, she was helpful and ready to place my order but before I did that I wanted to contact Bright House and find out what the deal was with swapping to CC. I got the low down from BH and it turns out to be about 11 less month then what i pay now for the HD DVR from them. so I called Tivo back and tossed out the Idea "hey can I just get the refurb for 179 and put it on my 6.95 plan like your going to let me do with the new 249 box?" the answer was No after she checked with some folks.. I kept on her with some IDeas and she said " Oh wait I might be able to use this special code to sell it to you for 199.99 but no free WIFI this is a new S3HD" heck yeah I ordered that up, its been shipped and should be at my place by Wed this week.. Bright House is coming Friday to install the CC and take away the crappy HD DVR.. Anyone have tips for me when the tech comes??

Thanks

RonDawg

07-20-2008, 12:55 AM

Bright House is coming Friday to install the CC and take away the crappy HD DVR.. Anyone have tips for me when the tech comes??

Definitely set up your new DVR the moment it arrives. You will only be able to get Bright House's analog channels but that is sufficient. Do not wait until the cable tech gets there to do this, he/she will not wait around until you complete Guided Setup. Make sure the new DVR works properly with analog channels.

Review the sheet that comes with the new TiVo about CableCard installation. If possible have the tech review this sheet, but if he/she won't, then make sure it is followed to the letter. If you are getting two S-cards instead of one M-card, make sure that the cards are installed and properly validated/paired one at a time. Do NOT re-do Guided Setup while the tech is there (again it will take too long), but do manually tune in the new digital channels to make sure you are receiving them before the tech leaves. Once you know you are getting the channels properly, then you can re-do Guided Setup.

The key is to not let the tech say "Oh you'll get those channels in a few hours" or some other BS like that. If you have been subscribing to them, you should get them immediately as long as the CableCards are properly validated and/or paired.

rbro

07-21-2008, 03:10 PM

Well I just couldn't really justify the additional expense of a new unit, since the warranty with the refurbs are the same and there's a 30 day MBG. So I bit the bullet and ordered a refurb THD and refurb wireless adapter. Hopefully it gets here by the end of the week. Then I get to figure out the whole cable card thing with Comcast.

husky55

07-22-2008, 09:20 AM

memn0ch

08-13-2008, 03:15 PM

PAP

08-17-2008, 03:00 PM

I ordered 2 refurbs. They came loosely packed with accessories rattling around. it's amazing they weren't destroyed during shipping.

However they seem to be working well. The only issue i had was that the software was 8.1 or something like that.

bjmason

08-17-2008, 04:49 PM

I purchased the refurb unit offered from TiVo.com for $179 and received it within 24 hours due to the warehouse being located 30 miles away.

It was not the best experience ever, but worked out in the end.

After 2 defective units (the 1st had an issue rebooting and the 2nd had bent pins in the CableCard slot) had been RMA'd, the 3rd time they finally shipped me a brand new, boxed DVR. Everything went beautifully with the TiVo from there.

This did take a total of 2 weeks from the time that I clicked purchase online.

Funny, I just the EXACT same experience. I ordered a refurbished unit from Tivo.com and the first one couldn't even get through the initial setup without randomly rebooting. I sent it back and the next one booted up fine.

I then had Verizon come over to install the CableCards and slot #1 worked fine, but slot #2 wouldn't read the card at all.

I'm now awaiting TiVo #3...hopefully the third time's the charm. They said they are sending a new unit, though I'm not sure how I can tell if it's new or refurbished.

So...what the heck is going in with TiVO QA for refurbs???

BrianAZ

08-17-2008, 05:05 PM

Once they fix the issue with the cablecards in Phoenix, I plan to get an additional TivoHD. After reading everyone's experiences, I'm going to go with the refurb unit. It's substantially less money than a new one and since I already have a working one, I don't mind so much if the first 1-3 are busted. If that's the case, I'll just keep swapping them with Tivo until they send me a new one. From what I've read, it seems that after the 2nd or 3rd busted one, they send you a new one.

I can live with that.

flaminio99

08-18-2008, 10:12 AM

I bought a refurb S2 two or three years ago and it's still working great. Based on that, I decided to save a few bucks again and just bought a refurb HD last week. I go it setup for for DTV/OTA and seems to be working great so far.

I had some issues initially where it was stuck on "few more minutes" screen for a half hour. I had the SATA drive plugged in from the first boot, and that might have been the problem. I shut it down, unplugged it, rebooted and got to the setup. It shipped with 8.x software, so I upgrade to 9.4, plugged it back in, set it up, and it's been working fine since.

memn0ch

08-18-2008, 11:54 AM

They said they are sending a new unit, though I'm not sure how I can tell if it's new or refurbished.

The refurbs come in a brown cardboard box. The new units come in a sealed TiVo box with all of the accompanying cables, remote, and documentation.

PAP

08-19-2008, 10:35 AM

My refurbs came in NO box (the accessories were in a brown box, but the tivos were just stuck with styrofoam ends into a larger box). I ordered 2 at one time, so maybe that's why... Very poor packing.

I'm doubting I should have ordered lifetime service, since if they die, the lifetime service dies too, right?

esb1981

09-05-2008, 11:24 PM

bjmason

09-06-2008, 08:35 AM

I've been thinking about picking up a refurbed unit for the family room, but some of these stories are a bit concerning. I had so many issues getting my first (new) Tivo HD working that I'm not sure I'm up for the hassle.

But I do have one question... If I try to order the refurbed unit online, it will not let me select the service plan with the multi-service discount (i.e., $99 for one year instead of $129). Anyone know if you can order the refurbed unit over the phone so you can get the MS discount?

It took me three tries to get a funtional refurb, so definitely buyer beware. But the third time was the charm, and it certainly saved me a decent amount of money.

You technically can't get the multi-service discount with the refurb, but I called customer service and they were kind enough to give it to me. YMMV.

slowbiscuit

09-06-2008, 10:24 AM

Anyone know if you can order the refurbed unit over the phone so you can get the MS discount?
Order monthly service with the web purchase, then within the first 30 days, call and switch. Seems to be working for most folks because the CSRs don't know or care that it's a refurb.

esb1981

09-06-2008, 09:34 PM

Thanks for the replies. I'm not sure what I'll do - I can save $70 on the price by getting refurbed, but that's kinda silly that they won't let you get the MSD. Maybe I'll see if any other retailers are selling refurbed units at similarly low prices. It shocks me that Tivo will "refurbish" units, but then send them to people and they don't work.

askewed

09-07-2008, 11:37 AM

I rolled the dice on a refurb yesterday. Time will tell if I did the right thing but it's difficult to argue with the savings. It was for our bedroom and in all honesty will probably be used more for recording shows that our living room TiVo doesn't have the ability to recored because of over scheduling. We are planning to mainly transfer shows from the refurb to the LR.

I have my fingers crossed.

dbeatydbeaty

09-10-2008, 08:01 AM

I finally got my replacement unit. I had a refurb unit that worked for one week before failing the last week of August. I suspect a complete power supply failure, but I can't be certain. One morning it was completely DOA.

I RMA'd it back, after a lengthy - 30-40 minutes TS call. ("Is it still dead?" Yes, it's Still Dead". "Is the fan running" No. "Is it plugged in another outlet?" Yes, still dead. "Hmm, hold on I need further authorization, but this could take a while".) Prepare yourself with plenty of time if you need to RMA one. Or maybe it was just my rep, I dunno.

Anyway, I got the RMA after 9 days of waiting. I understand tivo offers advanced replacement. But no one offered me that at the time. Something to keep in mind.

I'm now waiting on Comcast to return. I can't believe they have to make a field visit to reauthorize the MCARD. But I called them twice to be sure, and called Tivo. Yes, this is indeed the case with Comcast. As they won't allow users to call the operations center here in Ft Myers. Plus they are charging me for the field visit. When I insert my previous MCARD in the new box, the Cablecard screen flashes MCARD for a sec then back to SCARD. The menu shows "Cablecard 1 is not in normal operation"....I sure hope this RMA unit is functioning properly when the Comcast dude shows up. The Tivo rep I called last night said this message is normal when the card is not authorized in the new Tivo.

The refurb I recieved as an RMA is not mint. It has lot's of handling scuffs on the front. It's looks like it was around a while. Couple scratches on the plastic. The original one I had was near mint. This one I would rate as good condition. Last connection was in Dec 07.

Buyer beware. Refurbs may be someone elses problems. It's a gamble. You may be lucky, or you may suffer undo frustration.

DB