Practically Stole a Hughes HDVR2 From Best Buy!!!

Tivogre · 01-26-2006, 05:33 PM

So, I was in Best Buy today, and browsing through their aisle with DirecTV and Tivos. I noticed that they pretty much had nothing left except R10s and the HR10-250s.

I also saw that they had 1 HDVR2 in the display cubbie, hooked to nothing. There wasn't even a price tag on it. I grabbed a sales guy and asked him if they had any more of THAT model (pointing to the lone display HDVR2). He said "let me check", and walked around the aisle looking up top. They didn't have anymore.

I asked (out of curiosity, more than anything else) if he could sell the display model. He said "I think so... but why do you want it. We have these [R10s] FREE after a $100 rebate!

"

I (honestly) told him "Because THIS on can be upgraded; THOSE can not."

After looking at the price terminal for a while, he said "You can have this one for $60.00. We've got access cards; I can get you one; I'll dig up a remote and power cord."

Now, I had no intention of (nor do I really need) another active Tivo in the house. I already have more than I have TVs. So..... I asked if I could buy it WITHOUT an access card (no contract) and knock the $20 off the price. To my utter surprise, he said "SURE", wrote me an "open box" tag for $39.99, and handed me the box, a remote, and a power cord.

When I got up to the register to pay, the cashier guy said "OH.... this is open box DVR.... we're having a managers special on open box items today... an additional 20% off."; he called over a manager who did a price over-ride!

I walked out of the store with my unplanned purchase for $33.43 (after 4.5% tax). No commitment to activate any time soon (if ever), AND it has the normal manufacturers warranty.

As a bonus, the remote he gave me was one of the switchable ones that can be set up for two Tivos (I was considering one of those for $34 from Tivo anyway).

When I fired it up at home to see if it worked, the drive was full of programming.... including a few Pay-Per View Movies!!!

Can't beat that with a stick!

Time to zipper and set up my new networked storage unit!!!

Gunnyman · 01-26-2006, 05:37 PM

congrats!
That's quite a find

magnus · 01-26-2006, 10:21 PM

I did much the same at fry's... they had it for $99 without cables, remote, and access card. I said you have to be kidding.... had them ask the manager to sell it to me for $30. The guy came back and said manager would sell for $40. I told them I would only pay $30 and that it would not sell for another 6 months.... they finally spilt the difference and sold for $35.

I then zippered with the drive from my other DSR7000.... leaving the one i just purchased intact. Works like a charm..... for an extra dvr to watch on a tv not connected to the sat.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tivogre

So, I was in Best Buy today, and browsing through their aisle with DirecTV and Tivos. I noticed that they pretty much had nothing left except R10s and the HR10-250s...........

lisainmd · 01-26-2006, 11:30 PM

I just bought a Humax 40 Hr with DVD recorder at local WalMart. Original price was $294, sticker said $200, but rang up at $130. There is a $150 rebate....not bad I think.

Then I hooked a peer to peer network between my 2 TiVos and I am good to go. Now when Hubby goes to bed (where the 1st TiVo is), I can go downstairs and still watch my shows. I am a happy lil' girl.

captain_video · 01-27-2006, 08:17 AM

S2 DTivos like the HDVR2 can be bought on ebay for $40 or less so your deal at Best Buy is in line with the going rate for these units.

FYI - the R10s CAN be upgraded but it requires a PROM mod to allow any hacks to be installed. Hard drive upgrades can be performed on all Tivo models.

Tivogre · 01-27-2006, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captain_video

S2 DTivos like the HDVR2 can be bought on ebay for $40 or less so your deal at Best Buy is in line with the going rate for these units.

FYI - the R10s CAN be upgraded but it requires a PROM mod to allow any hacks to be installed. Hard drive upgrades can be performed on all Tivo models.

Yes, but the ones on e-bay don't come with factory warranty (usually) or a hard drive pre-loaded with shows.

The Flush · 01-27-2006, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captain_video

S2 DTivos like the HDVR2 can be bought on ebay for $40 or less so your deal at Best Buy is in line with the going rate for these units.

Ebay S2 DTivos almost always cost more than $40 when you include shipping.

I would figure closer to $60-70 on average when you include shipping (at least to my address)

bengalfreak · 01-27-2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tivogre

Yes, but the ones on e-bay don't come with factory warranty (usually) or a hard drive pre-loaded with shows.

Well, the PPV shows are definately worth something but the 30 day warranty is pretty questionable. If its gonna die in 30 days, most likely it would give up the ghost on first power up and no one is gonna refuse a next day return.

magnus · 01-27-2006, 07:03 PM

most of the time they do not even come with a hard drive.... much less any ppv.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tivogre

Yes, but the ones on e-bay don't come with factory warranty (usually) or a hard drive pre-loaded with shows.

Tivogre · 01-27-2006, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bengalfreak

Well, the PPV shows are definately worth something but the 30 day warranty is pretty questionable. If its gonna die in 30 days, most likely it would give up the ghost on first power up and no one is gonna refuse a next day return.

Factory warranty is 90 days labor; 1 year parts.

captain_video · 01-28-2006, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Yes, but the ones on e-bay don't come with factory warranty (usually) or a hard drive pre-loaded with shows.

If you've got the DTV service plan then any supplied warranty that comes with the DTivo is irrelevent since the DTivo will be warrantied for as long as you keep the plan active. I've already had two DTivos replaced under the plan that would have otherwise been out of warranty, including one HDTivo.

You may or may not be able to negotiate shipping with the seller which is offset slightly by the fact that most of us have to pay local sales tax when making a retail purchase. I could care less about any programs on the DTivo because I haven't found any yet on a used DTivo that I've bought on ebay that contained anything I wanted to watch. If it's a PPV then I've probably already watched the DVD from NetFlix. If it's got TV shows that I'd be interested in then I've probably already seen them or have them recorded on one of my own DTivos. I certainly wouldn't buy a used DTivo just to get someone else's recorded shows. One of the first things I do is run a C&DE to get rid of all that crap.

The whole point is that the deal the OP got at Best Buy is comparable to what you can get on ebay with a slight cost differential due to shipping vs. local sales tax. Most open box DTivos I've seen at Best Buy don't have all of the original accessories with them just like the one the OP described but any used DTivos I've purchased on ebay came with everything included for about the same price. If you were to go out and buy all of the cables and phone adapters separately you'd probably pay as much for them as you did for the DTivo. The difference in total cost due to shipping more than offsets the advantage of getting all of the accessories, IMHO.