How much is a TiVo S3 with a Dead Hard drive worth?

TexasGrillChef · 05-09-2010, 12:19 PM

As you can tell by a couple of other posts in this forum, I have a TiVo S3 unit with a dying hard drive.

What is my TiVo S3 unit worth now?

If I sell it at a garage sale?
Sell it on Ebay?
Craigs List?

TGC

retired_guy · 05-09-2010, 12:34 PM

I'd fix the hard drive problem prior to trying to sell it; I think most people don't like buying a unit which isn't working since they won't be certain that replacing the drive will fix the problem. The people willing to buy it not working aren't going to give you an appealing price. If you put a 1TB drive in it, you might not want to sell it since it's a very good box and the price of the Premiere probably will drop by more than the price of the drive during your useful life of the S3. You didn't indicate what service plan you're on, but if you have lifetime support, upgrade the box to 1TB and keep it for the time being until the Premiere boxes are improved to something too tempting to resist.

MPSAN · 05-09-2010, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retired_guy

I'd fix the hard drive problem prior to trying to sell it; I think most people don't like buying a unit which isn't working since they won't be certain that replacing the drive will fix the problem. The people willing to buy it not working aren't going to give you an appealing price. If you put a 1TB drive in it, you might not want to sell it since it's a very good box and the price of the Premiere probably will drop by more than the price of the drive during your useful life of the S3. You didn't indicate what service plan you're on, but if you have lifetime support, upgrade the box to 1TB and keep it for the time being until the Premiere boxes are improved to something too tempting to resist.

+1

..and I am retired now, too...we moved to Portland FROM Saratoga...somewhat off Prospect.!

atmuscarella · 05-09-2010, 02:12 PM

I just paid $175 including shipping for a reconditioned one which came with a warranty and a full set of brand new accessories. So without lifetime or a new larger hard drive I would say it isn't worth much.

Good Luck,

retired_guy · 05-09-2010, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MPSAN

+1

..and I am retired now, too...we moved to Portland FROM Saratoga...somewhat off Prospect.!

I'm on Merribrook Ct., which is close to St. Andrews church in the "Golden Triangle". Retired first from IBM, then from Visa.

alyssa · 05-09-2010, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasGrillChef

$If I sell it at a garage sale?
Sell it on Ebay?
Craigs List?

TGC

in order
I wouldn't unless I was willing to take $20 for it
sure, what's your ebay user name? <grin>
sure, this way you wouldn't have to deal with shipping it.

IIRC, there were a bunch of S3's in about the same condition that ended up at approx. $140 on ebay. Someone else jump in if I'm misremembering the $$.

TexasGrillChef · 05-09-2010, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retired_guy

I'd fix the hard drive problem prior to trying to sell it; I think most people don't like buying a unit which isn't working since they won't be certain that replacing the drive will fix the problem. The people willing to buy it not working aren't going to give you an appealing price. If you put a 1TB drive in it, you might not want to sell it since it's a very good box and the price of the Premiere probably will drop by more than the price of the drive during your useful life of the S3. You didn't indicate what service plan you're on, but if you have lifetime support, upgrade the box to 1TB and keep it for the time being until the Premiere boxes are improved to something too tempting to resist.

I am on a month to month plan. I have my reasons for that as well. Although if I buy the new unit, I might consider buying a full year plan.

I don't really have the time, or will power to replace the drive myself. It's not that I am afraid to do so. I have been building/upgrading computer systems since 1980. So I am not the least bit afraid to change out the hard drive on the TiVo. Just don't really want to mess with it, besides that, I am not for sure the difference in price between what I could sell the S3 for without a new drive in it and the S3 with a new drive would "pay" for my time. My time is worth about $85 an hour. So would the price difference be more than the cost of my time????

I pre-ordered this S3 even before they came available and was one of the first to receive one back in 2006. Back then the S3 wasn't much more than HD version of the S2. It didn't even have eSata, MRV, TTG or many other nice features back then. So getting a Premier XL now isn't a big deal for me. I know it will get better with time the longer it is out, Just like the S3 did. Yes I was one of those that paid $799 for the S3.

So what do you think My S3 is worth with the dead HD? What would it be worth if I did put a new 250gb drive in, 500gb? 750gb? 1tb?

TGC

TexasGrillChef · 05-09-2010, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atmuscarella

I just paid $175 including shipping for a reconditioned one which came with a warranty and a full set of brand new accessories. So without lifetime or a new larger hard drive I would say it isn't worth much.

Good Luck,

But how much? If you had this one & didn't want to mess with putting in a new hard drive what would you do? Throw it away? Sell it in a garage sale? On Ebay? Craigs list? & if so for HOW much would you expect?

TGC

TexasGrillChef · 05-09-2010, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

in order
I wouldn't unless I was willing to take $20 for it
sure, what's your ebay user name? <grin>
sure, this way you wouldn't have to deal with shipping it.

IIRC, there were a bunch of S3's in about the same condition that ended up at approx. $140 on ebay. Someone else jump in if I'm misremembering the $$.

DallasRman is my Ebay user name. I will have quite a few other nice electronics on there soon as well. (A Samsung Blu-ray player will be up for auction before the end of the month. I just bought me a LG BD590)

I have done a few searches on Ebay and have come up with all sorts of figures. But anyone who does much on Ebay knows that some items sell for really weird prices. I once sold a used dented Canon Digital Camera that I had dropped on the floor (Still worked though) for only $10 less than I paid for the camera new in the first place. So I know you never know what you will get on Ebay! LOL

TGC

MPSAN · 05-09-2010, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retired_guy

I'm on Merribrook Ct., which is close to St. Andrews church in the "Golden Triangle". Retired first from IBM, then from Visa.

We were close...we were at Viewridge Dr.

Anyway, I was almost everywhere (except IBM). STC, Memorex, Amdahl, Sun, FJ...RCA, Univac...I was a real Migrant Electronics Worker!

I, know, I know, way OT!

yukit · 05-09-2010, 05:03 PM

I have been tracking ebay & local craigslist for a dead/used THD for about a week.

On craigslist, people are asking $150.

On ebay, they tend to settle around $120-150 with some exceptions.
Even dead THD (bad drive) goes for $80-90.

Not sure if there is a market difference in the real S3. If you put it up on ebay, I will probably bid

retired_guy · 05-09-2010, 06:06 PM

Some interesting eBay pricing:

HD in unopened box with 5 hours to go for $190 but no bids
Working HD for $103.
HD w. 10 months service prepaid for $142---that looks like a good deal.
S3 + 1TB +wifi + lifetime $395 plus $35 shipping.

I would think you'd find selling on eBay plus time to pack, ship, etc., would take a lot more of your time than upgrading your S3. You could try a 1TB upgrade kit for an under $114 bid now on eBay and do the disk replacement in under 20 minutes or so.

slowbiscuit · 05-10-2010, 06:21 AM

He'd rather create more topics and polls here than replace the drive.

atmuscarella · 05-10-2010, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasGrillChef

But how much? If you had this one & didn't want to mess with putting in a new hard drive what would you do? Throw it away? Sell it in a garage sale? On Ebay? Craigs list? & if so for HOW much would you expect?

TGC

I wouldn't pay $50 for S3 that needed at least a new hard drive and didn't have lifetime. But I can buy a new Premier with lifetime now for $500 and only paid $199 for my TiVo HD new and like I said $175 for a reconditioned S3 (which was/is like new). What other people will pay is another question/answer.

You might call TiVo and see what they would charge to replace it. If they offered you the $149 replacement deal that might be a good way to go. If it were mine I would replace the drive. If I couldn't or for some reason didn't want to replace the drive I would put it on a shelf (have 2 S2s there now) and buy a Premier.

Good Luck

brettatk · 05-10-2010, 08:34 AM

A dead S3 that may or may not work with a new drive and without a lifetime sub, $50 at most. If you put a new drive in it and it worked then I might consider $150, but no more than that. But of course with anything, it's worth what one person will pay for it. There might just be one person out there willing to pay $150-$200 for it, you never know.

JoeTaxpayer · 05-10-2010, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasGrillChef

What is my TiVo S3 unit worth now?

TGC

You can put it on eBay with a reserve. You'd likely get $100-$150.

It's a beautiful machine, the display with show recording is great. But the buyer is trusting you are correct that it's the drive. If I buy it, and invest my time to install an imaged drive, and still doesn't work, then that's all my issue, even if you refunded in full.

turbobuick86 · 05-10-2010, 10:44 AM

Last month I purchased two tivos off craigslist. THD with wireless adapter and THDXL. Paid $90 and $150. Both are in excellent condition.

Couldn't TGC just throw this drive into his unit? Looks plug and play and cheap compared to buying a new XL unit to match recording space.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TiVo-S3-Series-3...item3357246dcd

http://cgi.ebay.com/TiVo-S3-Series3-...item335cb43549

daveak · 05-10-2010, 01:24 PM

How much time have you taken figuring out what to do? Including reading and writing posts on the TCF forums? I suspect you could have ordered a replacement drive and installed it - in the near the same amount of time.

(Not to mention research for pricing and selling the unit)

Git er dun.

turbobuick86 · 05-10-2010, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveak

How much time have you taken figuring out what to do? Including reading and writing posts on the TCF forums? I suspect you could have ordered a replacement drive and installed it - in the near the same amount of time.

(Not to mention research for pricing and selling the unit)

Git er dun.

I think he makes $85/hr while posting, not counting benefits. =)

TexasGrillChef · 05-10-2010, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbobuick86

I think he makes $85/hr while posting, not counting benefits. =)

Yep, cause I can post and cook at the same time! LOL Nice having a PC in the kitchen with a industrial grade keyboard!

Well suffice it to say... here is what I decided to do.

I ordered the Premier XL at TiVo's upgrade price of $399, & a 1tb DVR expander for $109. I had my minimum wage employee use instantcake and install a new 1tb drive and "marry" that to another 1tb drive external as I had several 1tb drives sitting around.

I am now waiting on TWC to send out a tech to re-pair the cards in the S3 with the Premier XL. TWC refuses to do it on the phone. Go figure thats a discussion for an entire new thread. One which is just wasted effort anyways. As far as the S3 goes. It seems to be "Fixed" now. Works perfectly on OTA. (As their currently aren't any cablecards installed)

I may sell the S3 on ebay, (Which would include the external 1tb drive). Or I might keep it and use it at the office in OTA mode. Who knows.

As far as everyones comments goes in this thread and others. Thank you for all of your input. It has been of great value you to me. (For the most part) There were alot of factors that went into my decesion. Time, Money & future issues as well.

Again thanks

TGC

yukit · 05-10-2010, 11:29 PM

You can follow this one if you are curious how much a dead s3 would fetch:

http://cgi.ebay.com/TiVo-HD-DVR-TCD6...item4aa11d0c7a

alyssa · 05-11-2010, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasGrillChef

I may sell the S3 on ebay, (Which would include the external 1tb drive). Or I might keep it and use it at the office in OTA mode. Who knows.
TGC

ummm....are you saying the S3 in question had an external attached? Did you put it together or is it a MyDVD?

TexasGrillChef · 05-11-2010, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

ummm....are you saying the S3 in question had an external attached? Did you put it together or is it a MyDVD?

Before the S3 started to have issues, it had the original internal 250gb drive & I plugged in a 1tb eSata drive (3rd party).

It's current configuartion after the 250gb drive died is. Internal 1tb drive, external 1tb eSata drive. Using InstantCake to rebuild the drives. The S3 is now working.

TGC