[teaffns]

Picked up a Premiere XL really cheap at a flea market. The seller said it powered on, but did not know about subscription. I didn’t really care either way…as I mainly wanted the power supply out of it and hard drive.

It has the Account status:11 Evaluation. Unit works fine, just won’t communicate to my other TiVo’s since it’s not on my account.

First time I’ve come across that status. I’m hesitant in trying to get it switched to my account.

Anybody else has one with that status?

 

[ThAbtO]

Its a waste of effort to try and get that activated since tivo no longer will activate Premiere (Series 4) and older models.

You also need a subscription to transfer shows (and activate.)

 

[Worf]

I believe Evaluation is a special activated mode, probably for things like reviewers and such to check out the unit.

It's already activated and it's basically free service. You can try adding it to your account, but its status might prevent that and you might have to try customer service roulette. Or maybe it can't be added to your account, in which case it's just a TiVo with a special lifetime service status.

 

[ThAbtO]

Its more like for showroom or display.

 

[teaffns]

 

[teaffns]

I figured I’d post a picture of it….in case nobody has ever seen it before.

 

[wml1950]

I have seen "evaluation" before. It has the description of "showroom" in your photo.Probably for use by a tester or for retail store. I am pretty sure that Tivo will work as if it has paid service. However, you likely can't link to other Tivos on your account for transfer. I would not suggest calling Tivo. You likely won the small "Tivo lottery" at the flea market.

 

[dianebrat]

I figured I'd post a picture of it….in case nobody has ever seen it before.

You'd be surprised what people in TCF have seen, I have had evaluation units in my house in the past that were on my account so they did work with my existing units.

As others have said, while evaluation subscriptions are frequently given as perks to reviewers, sales reps, very good beta testers, the one thing that Tivo won't do is transfer them to a new account.
Additionally the Premiere units are no longer able to be activated as mentioned, it will not play with others I'd give it to a family member.

 

[kdmorse]

Additionally, they occasionally get 'cleaned up'. Several TCFers have come across Evaluation units, used them for years, only to have Tivo eventually deactivate them. Then when they call Tivo up, they get told it was never activated in the first place, and needs to be subbed normally. Noone's "showcasing" a Premier any more, and Tivo knows it.

That said, if it works, it works. If it continues to work, go forth and use it. It may work forever (I doubt anyone at Tivo currently has the time to chase down Eval units), or it might not. Simply make sure you deploy it somewhere where if it stops working suddenly, nobody's going to have you whacked.