[Speedo123]

DTV is so random about that. My experiences have been:

1st used tivo: Activated as an additional unit, with the used card from another account.

2nd used tivo: Attempted activation to replace a non-dvr receiver. Was told I could not use MY card from My non-dvr receiver which I was deactivating. Had no choice but to wait for a new card in the mail.

3rd used tivo: Activated as an additional unit, using the card they previously refused to activate for the previous tivo

pattern anyone? looks random to me.

I'd have to agree from the variety of responses I've seen in various forums on this, that it appears to be pretty random. I picked up an S4040R and tried to activate it. I was told that I had to buy a new card for $20 as they would not activate a card from someone elses account. So I purchased the card & when it arrived, I tried to activate the account & found the unit had a bad Sat 1 input (Sat 2 worked OK). Unfortunately, the unit can not be activated if Sat 1 doesn't work. D* let me transfer this new card over to a S4080R (I had also purchased) at no charge, saying I could transfer my own cards between equipment in my own account. So, I guess it just depends on what D* rep you get when you call in. Wonder if you get the "NO" response, what might happen if you decline to purchase a card and then call back and ask the same thing to another rep???

Hmmm.....