[tivarino]

My Series 2 TIVO appears to have died a few minutes ago. The TIVO was on across the room when I noticed that the grey "Powering Up" window had appeared. My first thought was that TIVO had sent a reboot signal to the box as that has happened before when new software had been loaded. But that screen stayed up for 15 minutes or so and I figured I'd try a manual reboot (pull the power, wait 30 sec and then plug it in again). Nada. The sound of the fan obscures whether the hard drive is starting up, but I don't think it is.

So, I've been thinkin of kit upgrading the drive on this box so if it's the drive that died, NBD. But given how abruptly this occurred I'm thinkin it's more likely to be a power supply than the drive. Do others experiences suggest something different? I don't have a torx driver to take a look inside yet.

Thanks

 

[mick66]

In my opinion, a bad power supply is as much of a NBD as a bad hard drive. The only difference is that you are extremely limited in sources for replacements. The cost may seem kind of high, but it's in the same ball park as a new (DIY not a premade) hard drive.

 

[tivarino]

Well, it's $50 more I'll have to spend that I wouldn't have to spend if I was just upgrading the drive.

Actually, I just checked and my BestBuy warranty is still in place. Would they fix it or replace it? If replacing it, I imagine they have no 240s and I'll end up with a 540. Woud that be a problem for my lifetime sub? Is the 240 still preferred to the 540?

 

[mick66]

A replacement power supply is $49. Where are you planning on getting a free upgrade kit?

If you go with the BB warranty, They replace units, they don't fix them. You could end up with either a 540 or possibly the 649 (DT) depending on what they have in stock. Having to get a different model as a warranty replacement won't make a difference to the lifetime subscription.

 

[dianebrat]

Personally I prefer the 240's, and when I had to decide between my 240 and 540 to give to a friend, I gave the 540 away.

I found that when blown up on a 42" plasma, the 240 had *for me* a slightly cleaner and crisper picture.
I also believe there's a thread where the network performance in the 240 was just a tick better, but I'm old and the braincells are dying.

Diane

 

[tivarino]

A replacement power supply is $49. Where are you planning on getting a free upgrade kit?

No free upgrade kit, but I was planning on upgrading the drive anyway, so the PS would be additional expense.

I've never seen the DT version of TIVO. I use a cable box, which has only one tuner. Is there a separate input for the second tuner and a way to set it to only record in the range of channels available without the cable box?

 

[classicsat]

The DT has an RF in for analog cable, and an A/V in for a cable box.

You do GS for two lineups, one for analog cable, the other for the box.

 

[tivarino]

Clever. Thanks...

 

[tivarino]

I found that when blown up on a 42" plasma, the 240 had *for me* a slightly cleaner and crisper picture.

I wish I had your problems. Well, this one anyway. I'm <blush> still using an analog 27"

I also believe there's a thread where the network performance in the 240 was just a tick better, but I'm old and the braincells are dying.

You and me both, kiddo. Probably too much TV.

 

[Soapm]

What I learned is a DT can fill up the drive twice as fast and can record twice as much as you have time to view. I am swimming in recordings to watch.

The plus side is you can watch one tuner while recording from the other.


EDIT to correct my spelling.

 

[tivarino]

Last season, for example, I had 2 nights where I had things I wanted to see on at the same time. A dual tuner would save me having to use my VCR all the time. I don't HAVE to have it, but I wouldn't mind.

 

[Soapm]

Last season, for example, I had 2 nights where I had things I wanted to see on at the same time. A dual tuner would save me having to use my VCR all the time. I don't HAVE to have it, but I wouldn't mind.

Don't take my sacrasm wrong, too much is a good thing. That's why we have Pantries, cupboards, freezers and large drives in our DT Tivo's.

 

[tivarino]

Well, to make a long story short, BB replaced my S2 240 with an S2 649 DT model. Turned out that they had no 540s in stock, so sorry to waste your time with the 240/540 issues. I like the DT capability alot.

I do notice several service differences, but I assume that the software will update over the next few days. Anyone know which software version is current for the 649?

Soapm: Not to worry. I'm sure we all know that we are TIVO addicted, and more is always better.

 

[ZombiE]

Wow Tivarino,

Sounds like you made a pretty good trade up. If they had the 540's in stock you would have lost. The 540's, in my opinion, have a worse picture when viewed on a larger screen and the network speed is so slow you could carry the bits faster to the other Tivo than it can transfer them, even with the Tivo Wireless adapter, or hard wired


Z

 

[tivarino]

They offered me the HD TIVO, but because I'm a big user of TTG and VOD from Comcast, and don't have HD (probably for a couple years) I decided that the DT SD box made the most sense for me. YMMV

 

[ZombiE]

Current software version for the S2's is: 8.3-01-2-649.

Z

 

[tivarino]

Thanks. I was just able to force the update and the missing features are now available...

 

[Soapm]

Only drawback, you have to get the prom changed to hack the box... Other than that you have a solid unit.