Tivo slide remote amber light stays on!

jrtroo said:

It probably just got dropped one too many times. Try looking for a broken soldier connection.

Most consumer items I purchase only have a 90 day warranty. Did you purchase with a credit card that has additional coverage?

Things fail. It happens. My biggest suggestion is - learn how to fix them. It most cases, that sounds harder than it is.

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I can't say how long the standard consumer products warranty is, because most consumer products I have owned never needed it. Certainly not within 6 months of purchase.

The TiVo slide is the only remote control that I've ever had die. I've owned dozens of remotes over the last 20 years, some cheap, some expensive. I won't claim that I have never dropped the TiVo slide, but I haven't done so recently, and I have certainly dropped all of the other brands of remotes that I have owned, but they all continue to work just fine. This suggests better build quality than TiVo, or just better luck.

Since I really like the feel of the TiVo slide in my hand, and the fact that I don't have to actually point it at the television to make it work, I went ahead and bought a new one.

I can certainly appreciate the value of learning how to repair items, in fact I've repaired many electronics in the past, both professionally and personally. One older Sony television I owned needed fixing out of warranty, which required that I solder two resisters and a capacitor to the motherboard. I'm certainly no stranger to that kind of work, but it doesn't change my opinion that a 90 day warranty for anything is ridiculously short and reeks of a company that doesn't stand behind its products. Your mileage may vary, of course.

I'm at a bit of a disadvantage right now, because I recently had surgery on my right arm to repair a torn bicep tendon, so I only have one good hand to work with and it's not my dominant hand. Life's kind of a b***h doing most intricate tasks right now! LOL.

Thank you for the reply.

hansende said:

I cleaned the remote and all the buttons seem not to be stuck! So I will have to throw this one away. Never again will I order the Tivo slide remote (with the keyboard). It only lasted about a year.

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I will never for the life of me understand why people extrapolate a single bad (or sometimes not all that bad) experience to a condemnation of an entire product line.

You suffered *ONE* failure in a timeframe less than one might reasonably expect for a product purhcased off the shelf. No matter what the product, some number of people have to wind up with units that last an amount of time significantly less than the norm. The fact you drew the short straw for this round in no way suggests you will draw another short straw should you purchase another remote of the same type, nor does one early failure suggest the product line itself is of poor quality.

If the average longevity for these units were only a year, then it would be another matter, but your personal experience does not provide a sufficiently large sample to suggest this to be the case.

The Ethernet port on my first S3 failed within a month of purchasing my first S3 TiVo. (Fortunately, it was still under warranty.) What did that suggest about the TiVo? Nothing. The replacement and 2 successive TiVos purchsaed in the 8 months subsequent to the failure are all still going strong.

lrhorer said:

I will never for the life of me understand why people extrapolate a single bad (or sometimes not all that bad) experience to a condemnation of an entire product line.

You suffered *ONE* failure in a timeframe less than one might reasonably expect for a product purhcased off the shelf. No matter what the product, some number of people have to wind up with units that last an amount of time significantly less than the norm. The fact you drew the short straw for this round in no way suggests you will draw another short straw should you purchase another remote of the same type, nor does one early failure suggest the product line itself is of poor quality.

If the average longevity for these units were only a year, then it would be another matter, but your personal experience does not provide a sufficiently large sample to suggest this to be the case.

The Ethernet port on my first S3 failed within a month of purchasing my first S3 TiVo. (Fortunately, it was still under warranty.) What did that suggest about the TiVo? Nothing. The replacement and 2 successive TiVos purchsaed in the 8 months subsequent to the failure are all still going strong.

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Your somewhat valid points would probably be better received if they weren't presented in a condescending tone.

For my part, I will never for the life of me understand why people who have not had a bad experience feel the need to a condemn the opinions of those who have.

I understand any product line will have failures; but I also understand that a company that makes quality products will stand behind the product with a decent warranty period. TiVo gives the Slide remote a whopping 90 day warranty. That's not standing behind your product very long, especially on a "premium" product with an MSRP of $89. For comparison, Logitech offers 1-year warranties on their remote products.

Real world, the remote costs $40, which in the scheme of things isn't a big deal, but the TiVo attitude of you're SOL after 90 days, and the fact that my experience with the remote is a 6-month life expectancy, doesn't help endear the company to me.

I'm not defending anything here, but some facts to consider (and that I often think through when stuff craps out):

The warranty period is reflected in the price you pay. You want a longer warranty, you pay a higher price. A warranty is just another feature, and limited lifetime warranties are often not worth squat (think back to Tommy Boy).

Did you check with your credit card company on the terms of their extended warranty? Most seem to offer something.

You had a six month experience, that is not the life expectancy. Though, it is clearly a crappy experience.

If it were designed for such a short lifespan, many (including me and my two units) would be *****ing up a storm. These boards are not short of people *****ing about their boxes. But, go visit any electronic retailer and you can easily find the same discussion (yes, even Apple).

Distortedloop said:

Your somewhat valid points would probably be better received if they weren't presented in a condescending tone.

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My tone, or rather what you perceive it to be, is irrelevant. It won't get you a new remote, and it won't cause your new remote to fail early or last longer.

Distortedloop said:

For my part, I will never for the life of me understand why people who have not had a bad experience feel the need to a condemn the opinions of those who have.

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In considerably more than 40 years of dealing with electronic equipment, I have encountered many, many failures, one of which I detailed in the previous message.

Distortedloop said:

I understand any product line will have failures; but I also understand that a company that makes quality products will stand behind the product with a decent warranty period.

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Not necessarily. A warranty costs the company money and that cost is invariably passed to the consumer. Any warranty beyond some minimal amount requires paying a premium, and I have no desire to pay such a premium. Essentially it is a rip-off.

Distortedloop said:

TiVo gives the Slide remote a whopping 90 day warranty.

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That is not uncommon in the industry. Given a choice between paying an additional $10 - $20 for a 1 year warranty, I'll take the discount.

Distortedloop said:

That's not standing behind your product very long, especially on a "premium" product with an MSRP of $89. For comparison, Logitech offers 1-year warranties on their remote products.

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They are also relatively expensive. I have had quite a few problems with Logitech products, as well. It doesn't prevent me from buying them, and indeed there is a 14 button Logitech mouse sitting next to the keyboard on which I now type.

Distortedloop said:

Real world, the remote costs $40, which in the scheme of things isn't a big deal, but the TiVo attitude of you're SOL after 90 days, and the fact that my experience with the remote is a 6-month life expectancy, doesn't help endear the company to me.

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Why would you expect (or desire) to be endeared to a company? They provide a product with the intent of making a profit. They don't want to be your girlfriend. If you want a longer warranty, then expect to pay more. Personally, I vote, "No", on the longer warranty. If it happens I wind up with a dud, I will far more than make up the cost of buying a new one by not paying for longer warranties on everything else I buy.