[teresa222]

I just got my 40 hour TiVo and I can already tell that I am going to want to upgrade. I am disabled so I watch alot of TV. I record most thing in basic or medium quality but I still want more room. Which is the best way to go for upgrading? (Money is minimal) Should I upgrade the system I have? (I've read about upgrading) or get another tivo? If I do get another tivo, do I have to purchase the monthly service again? Should I try referring my friends?

 

[stevel]

Go to the Upgrade section of the forum and start reading. All you will need is a bigger disk, a CD you burn from a free download, and a PC that can boot from CD with IDE ports. Your TiVo service will be unaffected.

 

[teresa222]

There's NO WAY I would want to upgrade myself. I was thinking of buying a drop-in upgrade kit or buying another tivo. Do I need to buy the service again with another tivo? Which way is better?

 

[dgh]

It all depends on what you want. There are people with 5 or more TiVos and all with upgraded disks and there are people who are happy with one 20 hour TiVo.

You need service on each unit but there's a big discount (~50%) for additional monthly units. (Though lifetime is still cheaper than 50% off monthly.)

 

[beejay]

There's NO WAY I would want to upgrade myself.

Weaknees (and others) will sell you upgrades that only require following instructions to replace/add disks.

Or they will do the job for you...which, of course, is more expensive and you lose the use of your TiVo for a while.

 

[RonDawg]

There's NO WAY I would want to upgrade myself. I was thinking of buying a drop-in upgrade kit or buying another tivo. Do I need to buy the service again with another tivo? Which way is better?

Since you state you "just" got this TiVo I would presume it's still under warranty. If so, be advised that by opening up your TiVo, you will void that warranty. There is a tamper-proof sticker that lets them know if the unit has been opened up or not.

If I were you, I would simply wait until the warranty is up, then upgrade away! If you are somewhat familiar with replacing computer components, you will find upgrading a TiVo to be just as easy. If you buy a kit from Weaknees or ptv or DigitalRecorder or whomever, it's even easier.

If you purchase another TiVo, yes you will have to buy another subscription, though it will be discounted ($6.95/month for each additional TiVo after the first one, up to 5 additional units). The price of the 40 hour units (after mail in rebate, or with purchase of a year's subscription if you buy from the TiVo website) is such that it's tempting to buy another. The advantage of that, other than the added storage space, is that if two programs are on simultaneously, you can finally record them both since all standalone TiVo's currently only have single tuners.