Help thinking through upgrades (Time sensitive)

735 Views 5 Replies 5 Participants Last post by akc, Sep 15, 2011

akc

Discussion Starter · Sep 13, 2011

Hi - Thanks for all the answers elsewhere today but I'm trying to take advantage of the Woot deal (today, 9/13) and need help thinking about my upgrades.

The current set up: I'm on one Tivo Premiere XL (never had a problem) with our family room Samsung HDTV. In addition, I also have a 180-DT S2 (gasp) hooked up to the family room HD TV. Then, upstairs on a SD tv, I have another S2 DT (double gasp!)

I picked up one of the Tivo Premieres on Woot today for $49. I don't like the limited hours compared to an XL but can either: 1) use on the SD TV or 2) add extend the hard drive.

We use the S2 that's on the HDTV for our kids - but it's terrible quality so they never use it. Having the one Premiere and HD experience is really pushing me to get rid of the S2 on the HDTV.

I'm debating whether I should pick up a second Tivo Premiere for the upstairs SD tv? The issue with the upstairs is that I can't transfer programs from the original Premiere which initially was fine but is now getting annoying. And while we'd have tons of hours on the Tivo Premiere in SD mode, in the back of my mind, I'm also keeping that we are likely to upgrade the SD tv upstairs to an HD at some point in the next year or two.

So, I'm wondering if I should put the Premiere upstairs on the SDTV and then instead go with a Tivo S3 or HD for the kids downstairs since we have access to the same menus and basic functionality? The issue is that those aren't that better for pricing from what I've seen (vs the Woot deal) - although there is a larger memory on those?

If I pursue a good price on a Premiere XL (or even a Tivo HD or S3) on eBay, do those qualify for the multiservice discount?

SO... what would you do if you were me? Sorry if this is confusing!

Thanks in advance!

Edited to add:
Back of my mind is also wondering if I'll want to upgrade to an Elite someday on our main family room TV (or the one through Comcast, the Q?) and then will move the Premiere...? Having trouble however thinking that as much as 4 tuners are attractive, same goes for two Premieres and I can only watch one program at a time on that tv. ;-)

See less See more

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

JoeTaxpayer

· #2 · Sep 13, 2011

There are other threads here that will help you upgrade the Hard Drive. I had a $60 1.5TB drive that I imaged for my Premiere.
You need to be comfortable with the directions and able to boot a PC from a Linux disc to do this.
I like my S2 as I pay no monthly outlet fee, it runs off a DTA. But for another TV, in the bedroom, I have a TiVo HD, which lets me record the two channels and stream/transfer to the Premiere. Any additional boxes should get you multi-discount.

Save

danjw1

· #3 · Sep 13, 2011

JoeTaxpayer said:
There are other threads here that will help you upgrade the Hard Drive. I had a $60 1.5TB drive that I imaged for my Premiere.
You need to be comfortable with the directions and able to boot a PC from a Linux disc to do this.
I like my S2 as I pay no monthly outlet fee, it runs off a DTA. But for another TV, in the bedroom, I have a TiVo HD, which lets me record the two channels and stream/transfer to the Premiere. Any additional boxes should get you multi-discount.

Actually, there is an in Windows tool that is available now. Though, he will need to use Windows Vista or 7.

For OP, you will need to feel comfortable working on the Tivo, be able to connect the drive to a computer and Torx #10 and #15 screw drivers. I bought a set from Amazon fairly cheaply. I hope this helps. Also, you should note woot deal is for refurbished Premiers.

Save

pcbrew

· #4 · Sep 15, 2011

I think the S3 drive is 250GB and HD drive is 160GB for the base model, so the Premier at 320GB is still bigger.

I snagged one of the Woot units too without much thought.
I have an S2-DT upgraded to 500Gb on our upstairs SD TV and have been planning to upgrade to an HDTV soon anyway so made sense to grab one.

I have already done one 2TB Premier upgrade and it's very easy.
I will probably do the same for the Woot unit and load the HDD up with all of our ripped DVD collection.

The S2-DT is grandfathered on $6.95/mo MSD plan and I think I can just replace it with the Premier on the same plan.

Save

jfh3

· #5 · Sep 15, 2011

pcbrew said:
The S2-DT is grandfathered on $6.95/mo MSD plan and I think I can just replace it with the Premier on the same plan.

You will not be able to use a grandfathered legacy plan on the Premiere. You can transfer the $6.95 plan to any other TiVo except a Premiere.

Save

akc

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 15, 2011

Thanks everyone for their thoughts - I got one from Woot for now. Deciding on the size I need for the second one and will get an upgraded one (or upgrade one myself) if / when I decide to do that. I appreciate all your help!

Save

1 - 6 of 6 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month