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Frazzled TiVo - any alternatives?

Discussion in 'TiVo Series 1 - UK' started by asfafa, Jul 25, 2007.

  1. Jul 25, 2007 #1 of 4
    asfafa

    asfafa Member

    53
    0
    Jan 14, 2004
    Bridgwater, UK

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    Hi All

    My parents have an unsubscribed TiVo which suffered from the thunderstorms last year and it hasn't been the same since. It records a non-mainstream channel via a STB.

    The modem was put out of action, which I have managed to bypass; the sound and occasionally the picture cuts out every so often, and the some of the louder sounds are cut off, but my parents have lived with it. Now it is continually rebooting after getting to the 'Almost there, just a few more seconds...' screen.

    I live too far away to help my parents out to diagnose the problem and determine if it's fatal or is just a disk problem, therefore I am looking now to find a cheap unsubbed TiVo or a hard disk recording device. Maybe I should put it out of its misery :)

    If anyone can help or advise, then I'd be grateful:

    - Are there any 'dumb' hard disk devices out there? All I need it to do is accept SCART input and manual timer recordings.

    - Failing that , are there any PVRs which will accept input via SCART in addition to Freeview? I was looking to purchase a Humax or Topfield or a similar PVR.

    - Does anyone want the TiVo for spare parts :) ?

    Thanks in advance


    paul
     
  2. Jul 25, 2007 #2 of 4
    mikerr

    mikerr TiVoCentral.co.uk

    2,599
    0
    Jun 2, 2005
    Lancashire, UK
    Be careful on this, as MOST freeview PVRs (including humax and topfield) DO NOT record from SCART.

    They don't need the expense of an mpeg encoder as they just copy the digital stream.

    The only ones that are capable of this (apart from tivo :) ) are ones with DVD recorders built in
    (they need the mpeg encoder for that).
     
  3. Jul 27, 2007 #3 of 4
    healeydave

    healeydave from tivoland.com

    944
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    Jun 4, 2003
    Midlands
    In my experience, I think your parents will struggle to get on with anything else after being spoilt by Tivo!

    Its rare but possible that the storm damaged more than just the modem, in my experience, the failure is generally contained to the modem area. Are you sure the other symptoms are not just due to a failing hard disk?

    If not and the Tivo does need replacing, if they have a lifetime sub, it may well be worth transferring that to another unit!

    Hell, I'd go as far to say even if they didn't have a lifetime sub, you could do worse than replace the Tivo for another Tivo.

    (and that's a honest opinion, nothing to do with a sales effort, I'm sure others would agree too :)
     
  4. Jul 27, 2007 #4 of 4
    blindlemon

    blindlemon tivoheaven.co.uk

    5,577
    0
    May 12, 2002
    Malmesbury, UK
    Hear, hear :)

    There is nothing like a TiVo!
     

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