New or Reconditioned

2691 Views 13 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Series3Sub, May 20, 2011

Wislander

Discussion Starter · May 17, 2011

So far I have purchased 4 TiVos. Two for gifts, two for personal use; they are a mix of TiVo HDs and TiVo Premieres. They all work perfect, I have upgraded the hard drive in most of them.

My query is this. I have always purchased the "reconditioned" or "re-certified" TiVos from the clearance area of the TiVo store front, they all come with the same warranty as the new ones, they all have worked perfectly out of the box, and they have never had a single problem, they have the same prices for the service plan, they have an upgrade track like the new ones. Other than they already come activated from TiVo, and in a brown box instead of a full color box: What are the advantages of buying a new one instead of a re-certified TiVo?

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LifeIsABeach

· #2 · May 17, 2011

Some people have reported getting dead-in-the-water refurbs, but if you are happy with them there is no real reason to get a new one.

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Wislander

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 17, 2011

LifeIsABeach said:
Some people have reported getting dead-in-the-water refurbs, but if you are happy with them there is no real reason to get a new one.

I guess I have just been lucky. Of course I have only been a TiVo user for going on 4 years. I see a lot of other people have gotten a lot more life out of their boxes than I have so far.

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MrSkippy53

· #4 · May 17, 2011

LifeIsABeach said:
Some people have reported getting dead-in-the-water refurbs, but if you are happy with them there is no real reason to get a new one.

Some people have reported setting dead-in-the-water NEW UNITs....

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scandia101

· #5 · May 18, 2011

Wislander said:
Other than they already come activated from TiVo, and in a brown box instead of a full color box: What are the advantages of buying a new one instead of a re-certified TiVo?

ALL units purchased directly from TiVo are shipped already activated.

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Stuxnet

· #6 · May 18, 2011

MrSkippy53 said:
Some people have reported setting dead-in-the-water NEW UNITs....

If it weren't for new units dying, there wouldn't be refurbs

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lamotte

· #7 · May 18, 2011

thinking if i had to chose one today i would take the refurb as the cost is like 7 dollars a month cheaper. the cost is the the same at purchse but the refurb will be 84 dollars less a year. makes cents to me

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LI-SVT

· #8 · May 18, 2011

A new one entitles you to MSD pricing on the service.

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scandia101

· #9 · May 18, 2011

Stuxnet said:
If it weren't for new units dying, there wouldn't be refurbs

That is so not true, so you can stop patting yourself on the back for being so clever.

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mblloyd

· #10 · May 18, 2011

Yes, the refurb unit is likely cheaper and that is a quantitative factor that is easy for an individual to judge as significant or not.

All units have a potential infant mortality period where the chances of a unit's failure are statistically much higher during its first hours of operation. The unit sold as a refurb unit most likely (but not totally) had a failure within the original warranty period. Therby, there is a chance that your purchasing a refurb unit might bypass this infant mortality period. That's good, but unlike a cheaper price, its goodness is more of a crap shoot.

Expect statisticians to buy the refurb unit.

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JimboG

· #11 · May 18, 2011

Stuxnet said:
If it weren't for new units dying, there wouldn't be refurbs

I have a strong feeling that TiVo has been blowing out unsellable brand new Premieres on Woot as "refurbished" models. Plus there probably have been a considerable number of TiVos returned as open box items when people discovered that their $99 box required a $19.99 month subscription.

Truly dead and defective boxes probably make up less than 10% of the refurb market.

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LI-SVT

· #12 · May 19, 2011

Looks like the new 5/19 pricing allows MSD with refurbs.

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Series3Sub

· #13 · May 20, 2011

Currently refurbs, also qualify for MSD, at least on my account.

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Series3Sub

· #14 · May 20, 2011

Refurbs can often be better than new boxes as the refurbs will have replaced defective parts from a supplier. Refurbs are new boxes that have been fixed to work. For products such as TiVo, refurb can be a very good option.

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