S3 failed under 1-year. How's yours?

GarKar · 12-02-2007, 02:28 PM

My S3 has failed in just under one year. I have no cable cards, record only standard def, and hd was about half full. I am presently downloading recorded programs with TTG to my computer (thank goodness that still works.) I can no longer see or record live tv, but after a hard restart I can get to Tivo central temporarily. Then the screen blanks out after several minutes. I will lose an Amazon Unbox movie I hadn't yet viewed. Tivo will send me a refurbished unit for $49 plus tax and I pay shipping both ways.

How reliable are S3's generally? My 3-year old S2 is still cranking along with no problems. Is there a higher failure rate with S3's? I'm really glad MRV and TTG got enabled before the S3 failure or I would have been royally po'd. I bought the S3 through Weaknees, but they're closed on weekends. Would I get better replacement terms through Weaknees?

c-surfer · 12-02-2007, 03:04 PM

Mine S-3 died last week. Well, all the home media stuff and Amazon works--but it locks up when I plug in the cable or antenna inputs. I've had it for about 11 months. I need to send it back on Monday.

c-surfer · 12-02-2007, 03:05 PM

What happens if you unplug the cable inputs? Perhaps this is a severe software bug?

bizzy · 12-02-2007, 03:45 PM

My S3 also died before the 1-year warranty was up. So I get someone else's busted S3 that was hopefully 'repaired' for the great low price of $50.

GarKar · 12-02-2007, 03:46 PM

I'll try that after I finish downloading all programs to my computer. I don't want to touch anything as long as ttg is still working.

kosherbacon · 12-03-2007, 06:59 AM

My S3 works just fine after 1 year.

aaronwt · 12-03-2007, 07:36 AM

My three series 3 boxes are coming up on their one year anniversary. I have a 4 year extended warranty of two of the boxes i got from BB and the TiVo warranty on the one I got from Dell. If it's going to die I would rather it happen before the 1 year warranty is up. It is a year isn't it? Or is the $50 price plus shipping the price for out of warranty boxes?

pl1 · 12-03-2007, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronwt

My three series 3 boxes are coming up on their one year anniversary. I have a 4 year extended warranty of two of the boxes i got from BB and the TiVo warranty on the one I got from Dell. If it's going to die I would rather it happen before the 1 year warranty is up. It is a year isn't it? Or is the $50 price plus shipping the price for out of warranty boxes?

After 90 days, it is $49 plus shipping. After 1 year, it's probably something similar, but I'm not sure what the charge is. I wonder if anyone has had to have theirs swapped/repaired after the one year period?

prisk · 12-03-2007, 01:04 PM

Mine died 5 days shy of a year (hard drive failure). TiVo replaced it under warranty for $49. The replacement had some kind of audio issue, so they replaced it, too (even sent it out next day air). The new one arrived today, and, so far, seems to be working ok.

BigHat · 12-03-2007, 02:29 PM

I think these guys just aren't that reliable. It's a lot to ask of a HD. In fact, it's probably the toughest duty one can have.

That said, the drive makers have adapted and newer units contain drives that are better suited to DVR use. Personally, I always just order bigger replacement drives from Weakness and just press on. My 1st gen Philips (2000) never quit, but I did upgrade the HD in about 2002 to get more space. Just retired it as I need all HD service.

My DTV 10-250 (2004) may be the the biggest POS electronic device I have personally ever been exposed too. I'm on my third set of drives now and it's starting to reset itself now and then.

Fingers crossed that the S3s I just purchased, with bigger than stock HDs, hold up a bit better.

TreoFred · 12-03-2007, 04:01 PM

My S3 also died after one year: bought it October 06, died end of May 07. It would have spontaneous reboots which would become closer and closer as the box was used...

I called TiVo, got sent a replacement, an ugly refurb with a very dented front which annoyed me a lot considering mine was still looking pristine. I called and complained to no avail (they also charged me $861 bucks for the replacement until I sent mine back.)

I ended up getting a cheap ($6) Torx screwdriver to exchange the two front plates. At least, there's not indication I opened the box so they took it back without an issue. I've had the replacement for about 6 months now, so far so good.

I bought another new S3 one month ago when MRV became available (so really, I have no right to complain about quality since I'm still buying the merchandise

)

aaronwt · 12-03-2007, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigHat

I think these guys just aren't that reliable. It's a lot to ask of a HD. In fact, it's probably the toughest duty one can have.

That said, the drive makers have adapted and newer units contain drives that are better suited to DVR use. Personally, I always just order bigger replacement drives from Weakness and just press on. My 1st gen Philips (2000) never quit, but I did upgrade the HD in about 2002 to get more space. Just retired it as I need all HD service.

My DTV 10-250 (2004) may be the the biggest POS electronic device I have personally ever been exposed too. I'm on my third set of drives now and it's starting to reset itself now and then.

Fingers crossed that the S3s I just purchased, with bigger than stock HDs, hold up a bit better.

I had three HR10-250 boxes, each with two drives in it and never had any problems in the 3 years I used them. I removed them from service this past May. I still need to get around to trying to sell them.

suzook · 12-03-2007, 05:25 PM

i am on my third one. its getting very expensive having the cable tech come out with new cable cards. oh, and the return shipping.

demon · 12-03-2007, 07:34 PM

Mine's just over a year old now (bought it a bit before Thanksgiving last year), and all seems to be well thus far. *knock wood*

GarKar · 12-13-2007, 12:50 PM

Well, it has been an interesting 2 weeks. The replacement unit I received was crapping out within 3 days (tuner problems) and I called Tivo for a solution. Tivo support was extremely friendly and helpful during the whole process. After going over some of the problems, they decided to send me a brand new unit with cables, remote, etc. complete. My new unit is up and running and transferring back my 50 hours or so of programming I was able to rescue from the original. My shipping costs were small compared to the satisfactory resolution to my failed unit.

Thank you Tivo for making this customer very happy and satisfied.