Pioneer Tivo dilemma!

1520 Views 10 Replies 10 Participants Last post by bilbo, Sep 16, 2007

malhotra365

Discussion Starter · Sep 7, 2007

Hey guys,

I've been a faithful follower of these forums for some time now and I was hoping I could get a consensus and some advice. My dilemma is as follows:

I've been with tivo since 2002 with an svr-2000 monthly and then a pioneer tivo burner with a lifetime contract. Well, yesterday my tivo locked up on the powering up screen and began making a clicking noise. I suspected a faulty hard drive based on what I've read on the forums so I contacted tivo.

They said they couldn't do anything for me unless I first spoke with pioneer. So after spending an hour on the phone with tivo, I called Pioneer and spent another 45 minutes with them on the phone. They said they only thing they could do was fix it for a flat rate of $400.

I called tivo again and informed them of this. They agreed that after I orignally purchased the pioneer for $1000, it was expensive to spend another $400 to have it fixed. After speaking with the customer sales rep for about 30 mins he spoke to a supervisor and offered to transfer my service to a series 2 if I purchased one from anywhere. I told him that I'd rather have a series 3 as I currently have a highdef tv with a cable card. He said they couldn't transfer lifetime to series 3. He then spoke to a supervisor again and she said they would allow me to transfer my lifetime for free if I purchased the $800 tivo.

So here are my choices:
1) put in a new hard drive myself (approx $100) and sell my pioneer with lifetime on ebay, buy a series 3 hd ($299) and pay monthly

2) buy a series 2 for $100, transfer my lifetime for free, sell if on ebay (maybe $400) and buy a series 3hd and pay monthly

3) buy a series 3 ($799) and get free lifetime

So what do you guys think, I'd prefer to end up with a series 3 hd and spend as little as possible. Any other choices would be appreciated!

Thanks

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1 - 11 of 11 Posts

JustAllie

· #2 · Sep 7, 2007

malhotra365 said:
So here are my choices:
1) put in a new hard drive myself (approx $100) and sell my pioneer with lifetime on ebay, buy a series 3 hd ($299) and pay monthly

2) buy a series 2 for $100, transfer my lifetime for free, sell if on ebay (maybe $400) and buy a series 3hd and pay monthly

3) buy a series 3 ($799) and get free lifetime

So what do you guys think, I'd prefer to end up with a series 3 hd and spend as little as possible. Any other choices would be appreciated!

Thanks

#3

It's possible that you could sell it on eBay and use the money to buy a $299 TiVoHD with three years of prepaid service for another $299. I'm not really sure what a Series3 TiVo with lifetime goes for on eBay these days, but it is definitely worth at least $799.

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mattack

· #3 · Sep 8, 2007

malhotra365 said:
He said they couldn't transfer lifetime to series 3. He then spoke to a supervisor again and she said they would allow me to transfer my lifetime for free if I purchased the $800 tivo.

BTW, the Series 3 isn't $800... unless they meant you must buy it directly from Tivo.

Amazon has it for $599 for example, and I didn't even do any searching for other places that probably have it for less (though of course you'll have to consider shipping in those cases -- it's free shipping from Amazon).

Still, even if you have to buy it directly from them, I think it still is a reasonable deal. Even the new HD Tivo, you'd be out $600 after 3 years (including the lowest monthly average prepaid service), then you'd still have to pay monthly... It gets closer to being arguable though.

If you can buy anywhere and still get this deal, for $600 it's a no-brainer.

Then again, I'm someone who hates monthly fees.

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magnus

· #4 · Sep 8, 2007

I would choose option #1 or option #3. It just really depends on if you really want HD or not. Your cheapest option is #1 and just keep your pioneer Tivo.

malhotra365 said:
Hey guys,

I've been a faithful follower of these forums for some time now and I was hoping I could get a consensus and some advice. My dilemma is as follows:

I've been with tivo since 2002 with an svr-2000 monthly and then a pioneer tivo burner with a lifetime contract. Well, yesterday my tivo locked up on the powering up screen and began making a clicking noise. I suspected a faulty hard drive based on what I've read on the forums so I contacted tivo.

They said they couldn't do anything for me unless I first spoke with pioneer. So after spending an hour on the phone with tivo, I called Pioneer and spent another 45 minutes with them on the phone. They said they only thing they could do was fix it for a flat rate of $400.

I called tivo again and informed them of this. They agreed that after I orignally purchased the pioneer for $1000, it was expensive to spend another $400 to have it fixed. After speaking with the customer sales rep for about 30 mins he spoke to a supervisor and offered to transfer my service to a series 2 if I purchased one from anywhere. I told him that I'd rather have a series 3 as I currently have a highdef tv with a cable card. He said they couldn't transfer lifetime to series 3. He then spoke to a supervisor again and she said they would allow me to transfer my lifetime for free if I purchased the $800 tivo.

So here are my choices:
1) put in a new hard drive myself (approx $100) and sell my pioneer with lifetime on ebay, buy a series 3 hd ($299) and pay monthly

2) buy a series 2 for $100, transfer my lifetime for free, sell if on ebay (maybe $400) and buy a series 3hd and pay monthly

3) buy a series 3 ($799) and get free lifetime

So what do you guys think, I'd prefer to end up with a series 3 hd and spend as little as possible. Any other choices would be appreciated!

Thanks

Save

ronnieko

· #5 · Sep 8, 2007

malhotra365 said:
Hey guys,

I've been a faithful follower of these forums for some time now and I was hoping I could get a consensus and some advice. My dilemma is as follows:

I've been with tivo since 2002 with an svr-2000 monthly and then a pioneer tivo burner with a lifetime contract. Well, yesterday my tivo locked up on the powering up screen and began making a clicking noise. I suspected a faulty hard drive based on what I've read on the forums so I contacted tivo.

They said they couldn't do anything for me unless I first spoke with pioneer. So after spending an hour on the phone with tivo, I called Pioneer and spent another 45 minutes with them on the phone. They said they only thing they could do was fix it for a flat rate of $400.

I called tivo again and informed them of this. They agreed that after I orignally purchased the pioneer for $1000, it was expensive to spend another $400 to have it fixed. After speaking with the customer sales rep for about 30 mins he spoke to a supervisor and offered to transfer my service to a series 2 if I purchased one from anywhere. I told him that I'd rather have a series 3 as I currently have a highdef tv with a cable card. He said they couldn't transfer lifetime to series 3. He then spoke to a supervisor again and she said they would allow me to transfer my lifetime for free if I purchased the $800 tivo.

So here are my choices:
1) put in a new hard drive myself (approx $100) and sell my pioneer with lifetime on ebay, buy a series 3 hd ($299) and pay monthly

2) buy a series 2 for $100, transfer my lifetime for free, sell if on ebay (maybe $400) and buy a series 3hd and pay monthly

3) buy a series 3 ($799) and get free lifetime

So what do you guys think, I'd prefer to end up with a series 3 hd and spend as little as possible. Any other choices would be appreciated!

Thanks

I would buy the S3 (I have it and LOVE it) transfer your lifetime to it.
First try and see if it is ok to get one cheaper, and still get the transfer...
I got my S3 at, http://electronics-expo.com/

I also have the Pioneer 810, and LOVE that machine too. I would buy a drive for that one and fool around with it to get it working...
And if you DO get it working, you got the option of just using TiVo basic (built into that machine) or, put it on as a MSD monthly...

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robomeister

· #6 · Sep 8, 2007

I'd say, fix the Pioneer TiVo. But I'm a bit biased.

As said above, the Pioneer has TiVo Basic built in, so even if you transfer the lifetime to an S3, you can still use the Pioneer to record stuff.

Good luck,
robomeister

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jfh3

· #7 · Sep 9, 2007

If you take #3, buy it from Tivo. If they are going to give you this sweetheart of a deal, the least you could do is give them the additional margin on the box.

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cubfan65

· #8 · Sep 9, 2007

I like the idea of repairing the Pioneer. I have one and love the ability to archine things off to DVD very easily. Assume with the Series 3 you could archive w/ DVD with TiVoToGo, but it is a bit cumbersome to me. Think it depends on if the DVD buring convenience is important to you.

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Lensman

· #9 · Sep 9, 2007

Yeah, I'd repair the Pioneer and keep it as the base unit for a the MSD on a new TivoHD. With MRV coming to the TivoHD in November you'll be able to put it in the bedroom and use it to watch SD shows and DVD's.

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malhotra365

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 16, 2007

Alright, I think I've made a decision, I am going to get the series #3. Tell me what you guys think.

Option #1 - I'm going to buy the series 3 ($599) from circuit city today. Then I'll either transfer my lifetime from pioneer ($199) and not get the rebate...then sell my pioneer with it's tivo basic service (after I repair the hardrive) for probably around $300-$400. Total 4-year cost $450, but no further cost to me.

Option #2 - Buy the series 3 ($599), pay monthly (around $15/month), get the rebate ($200) and sell the repaired pioneer with lifetime (probably for around at least $600 on ebay). Total 4-year cost - $520, but continued yearly fees.

Thanks for the help!!

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bilbo

· #11 · Sep 16, 2007

only one person has sold a pioneer tivo with lifetime plus recently on ebay, and they sold it for about $400. someone tried unsuccessfully to sell one for $600 recently.

malhotra365 said:
Alright, I think I've made a decision, I am going to get the series #3. Tell me what you guys think.

Option #1 - I'm going to buy the series 3 ($599) from circuit city today. Then I'll either transfer my lifetime from pioneer ($199) and not get the rebate...then sell my pioneer with it's tivo basic service (after I repair the hardrive) for probably around $300-$400. Total 4-year cost $450, but no further cost to me.

Option #2 - Buy the series 3 ($599), pay monthly (around $15/month), get the rebate ($200) and sell the repaired pioneer with lifetime (probably for around at least $600 on ebay). Total 4-year cost - $520, but continued yearly fees.

Thanks for the help!!

Save

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