Series3: Can it be used without a cable card?

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Well, a power surge this weekend blew out the power supply in my Series2 (single tuner) unit. I'm on the phone with APC right now; fortunately, the TiVo (along with my 50" plasma HDTV, Xbox, DVD player, and speakers) were plugged into an APC battery backup/surge protector. Nothing else was damaged, but the TiVo won't power up at all. The fan ticks slightly, and there's a weird "chuck chuck chuck" sound coming out of the speakers when I have it set to the TiVo. Of course APC is looking at this as a warranty issue, which is why I use them; they have a lifetime warranty against surge damage, up to $100k. (And before anyone asks or says anything, there was no phone line plugged in, and the coax runs thru the APC as well, so it was covered there; no CAT-5 cable either since my TiVo conects thru 802.11g wireless. Therefore, the surge SHOULD have been stopped by the APC unit.)

Anywho...since APC should be paying for a new TiVo (as opposed to trying to fix a 3-year-old unit that isn't made any more and could possibly have more damage to it than it's worth trying to fix), I was wondering if the Series3 (or the TiVo HD aka Series3 Lite) is able to be used without a cable card. I get free SD cable TV thru my apartment complex, and it's all I need. Since APC will (or at least SHOULD) be paying the replacement cost of the Series2, I could put that toward the cost of the Series3, which right now is $599 + tax @ Circuit City. The only Series2 units I could find are the DT ones, which are $249.99 + tax; basically I figure I could get a Series3 for about half price (If APC pays the $249.99 + 7% tax, $17.50 = $267.49, that would bring the Series3 down to $374.50, or possibly the TiVo HD for $53.50.) But either unit would only be useful to me if I can use it without a cable card.

Anyone?

edit: I see there's a $200 rebate for Series3 units, which would mean I could get the Series3 for $174.50 after rebate. BUT, all I want to do is replace my existing (and now non-working) Series2 with a new unit; I don't want to sign up for new service. Right now I pay $6.95/month for TiVo (under a retention deal), and that's all I want. So I guess the second part of my question is: IF I get the Series3, and IF it can work without a cable card, can I just replace the non-working TiVo with the new Series3 and be working? I know I'd need to put in the new TSN on the TiVo website, of course...

 

Sweet, thanks for letting me know. I'm not interested in getting any HD content, since I get that thru other means; I just use my TiVo for casual viewing of shows I watch.

I updated the original post with a new "second part" question, which I guess is the other thing I need to find out.

APC is sending me the info on what to do for a warranty claim.

 

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Well, one can always send the rebate in and see what happens. Won't count on it, of course.

But I do not (and will not) lose my retention deal. If TiVo took that away, I'd simply cancel service all together. It's just not worth it to me at anything more than $6.95/month.

 

First off, it's not an "upgrade" - it's REPLACING a unit damaged by a power surge. Secondly, TiVo has two options: lose my monthly fee altogether, or match the rate from my local cable co. It's pretty simple, actually: TiVo either gets the cost of a new unit and $84 a year for the service, or nothing from me. Does TiVo lose anything? Uh, no. In short, they have everything to lose and nothing to gain.

Hmmm....which do you think they'd rather do?

 

True, but TiVo has to remain competitive with the cable co. As I said, I'm already paying the $6.95/month rate, and TiVo isn't worth any more to me (no offense to anyone else.) In this case, their options are leave the service (and the fee) as is, or lose the revenue stream entirely. Stands to reason the company would rather receive the revenue they're getting, as opposed to losing it entirely. Truth be told, I'd have preferred my Seried2 ST to not have died at all and I've have stayed right where I was at. Unfortunately, mother nature forced me to go a different route. The cost of the replacement box should be covered by APC, so TiVo will get paid for a box, and the monthly service should continue as it has been.