[coleren1]

My Weaknees tivo died. It held 120 hours of programs and was in a
Hughes sd- Dvr 40. I have the "protection plan" and Directv said they'd send me a comparable receiver. They sent me something that looks so old compared to my other dvr. It's a REFURBISHED Hughes DVR R 10. Does anyone know when these were manufactured - it doesn't say on the back of the unit. It sure doesn't look like it holds 120 hours of programming. Weaknees said I would need to purchase a $129 hard drive if I wanted their help. I had to sign up for 2 more years of Directv (I had no plans to leave anyway) when I bought the Weaknees 120 hour tivo and I'm stuck with this refurbished thing. Should I refuse it and send it back? What do you know about these Hughes DVR R 10's ?? Thanks!

 

[ebonovic]

Hughes R10... where does it say Hughes...

As IIRC there was never a time when Hughes produced the R10 (at least by name).

So... you got DirecTV to send you a replacement for a unit you opened up and added a hard drive to it.. (I guess you didn't tell DirecTV that you added the weakness kit)

Either way.. the R10 is the latest model of TiVo that DirecTV has.
It uses a different software version then the one your DVR40 had.

Do some looking around in the underground forum. You should be able to take the drive you added to your DVR40 and use it in your R10 (with the right mounting bracket).

R10 is about 1 year old as well (from a release date point of view)

You can argue with DTV and "attempt" to get a DVR40 but your chances are very remote that you will get one (even if the CSR says yes you will).

You could even endup with the R15 (which isn't a TiVo at all).

 

[coleren1]

I DID tell them!! I expressed concern over the one that they'd be sending me because I TOLD them that I bought mine from Weaknees and that it's a "souped up" tivo with 120 hours. I asked if they'd be sending one that could hold 120 hours and the girl said she'd send one that held a comparable # of hours. I then asked her if they had documentation that mine held 120 hours on their computer and she said "yes" so they do know it's modified.

 

[ebonovic]

Huh... Funny... That is a first...
Surprised they sent you the replacement...

I am actually glad that you told them.

Did you send it back yet?
As I would HIGHLY recommend ripping out the Weekness upgrade, and just leave the original drive in there.


Are you good with PC's?
Take a gander at the underground forum.
For what Weakness charges $130 for... you can do yourself for about the cost of the hard drive (aka all the software and instructions are available on the net for free) and 160gb hard drives (about 140hrs or record time) are about $50 post rebate.

 

[coleren1]

Earl I consider you an expert because I think you have this model. It says "Hughes" in the owner's manual. Is this the model you have?? The face of the unit says Directv DVR R 10. On the back of the unit it says it was manufactured under license from dolby, 1992-1997 - that's what made me think it's old. Usually there's a manufacture date but I don't see one. In your opinion, do you think I should keep this or return it since it's "refurbished?" Also, in my Weaknees tivo, it was the hard drive itself that died. Not the receiver. And Directv wants me to send it to them. It was modified at Weaknees before I got it and Directv knows that. I also had to sign up for 2 more years of Directv when I bought it from Weaknees (an authorized selller) and their hard drive is dead!!! Thanks for your opinions I appreciate your insight!
Nicole

 

[coleren1]

How many hours does the r10 hold? Why is it "the holy grail" of tivos?? What's special about it?? And I'm okay with pc's. If I rip out the Weaknees hard drive is there another one in there to send to Directv?? I'm still wondering if I should call Directv and tell them I'm not accepting a refurbished one? What would you do?

 

[Jonathan_S]

How many hours does the r10 hold? Why is it "the holy grail" of tivos?? What's special about it?? And I'm okay with pc's. If I rip out the Weaknees hard drive is there another one in there to send to Directv?? I'm still wondering if I should call Directv and tell them I'm not accepting a refurbished one? What would you do?

It's an 80 hour unit.

Nothing makes it "the holy grail", it just happens to be the last TiVo model released. It has identical software features to all the rest of the series 2 DTiVos.
In fact some people have complained that its menus are less readable than earlier series 2 DTiVos; and the hacking community avoids it because it is much less hackable than earlier units (to do more than upgrade the hard drive you have to replace the PROM chip).

Yes there is a hard disk in the R10, but I thought you said the weakness drive had died. If you yank it out of your old TiVo, swap the R10's drive into the weakness TiVo and send the weakness TiVo back to DirecTV won't that leave you with no working TiVos?
(BTW, the R10 hard disk will not work automatically if you installed it into the weakness TiVo. You would have to replace the software image with whichever one is corrected for your weakness TiVo's model number.)

 

[netposer]

Even I'm confused of what the R10 is. I know that the R15 is a non-Tivo DVR from DirecTV. Is the R10 that same thing as a DirecTV TiVo?

 

[Jonathan_S]

Even I'm confuse of what the R10 is. I know that the R15 is a non-Tivo DVR from DirecTV. Is the R10 that same thing as a DirecTV TiVo?

An R10 is a DirecTV TiVo (aka DTiVo, aka DirecTV DVR with TiVo).

There are several model number of DTiVos, and the R10 happens to be the last one released, and the only one released directly under the DirecTV brand. Earlier units were released under the Sony, Philips, or Hughes brands.

 

[coleren1]

It's an 80 hour unit.

Nothing makes it "the holy grail", it just happens to be the last TiVo model released. It has identical software features to all the rest of the series 2 DTiVos.
In fact some people have complained that its menus are less readable than earlier series 2 DTiVos; and the hacking community avoids it because it is much less hackable than earlier units (to do more than upgrade the hard drive you have to replace the PROM chip).

Yes there is a hard disk in the R10, but I thought you said the weakness drive had died. If you yank it out of your old TiVo, swap the R10's drive into the weakness TiVo and send the weakness TiVo back to DirecTV won't that leave you with no working TiVos?
(BTW, the R10 hard disk will not work automatically if you installed it into the weakness TiVo. You would have to replace the software image with whichever one is corrected for your weakness TiVo's model number.)

Thanks for the info! My Weaknees hard drive did die. "Ebonovic", Earl, said I should rip out the 120 hour Weaknees installed drive before sending it back to Directv because that would show them it's been modified. I told the Directv person I spoke with that it was modified unit by Weaknees (an authorized seller). I think Earl just meant not to send it back to Directv with a modified hard drive in it, but to just keep that hard drive, not to put it in the new one. You are right. I would end up with 2 non - working tivo's if I did that.

 

[coleren1]

Okay guys, I sure appreciate your help. My questions now are: Should I refuse this REFURBISHED unit and ask for a "new" one. And.... Do you think I will have to pay if I send the Weaknees tivo to Directv WITHOUT taking out the 120 hour hard drive? Do you think I should definitely remove it? I did state to them that it was a "Weaknees 120 hour" unit. Thanks!
Nicole

 

[netposer]

An R10 is a DirecTV TiVo (aka DTiVo, aka DirecTV DVR with TiVo).

There are several model number of DTiVos, and the R10 happens to be the last one released, and the only one released directly under the DirecTV brand. Earlier units were released under the Sony, Philips, or Hughes brands.

Thanks. Supposedly that is what the CSR said I will get when the installer visits on Saturday (Jan 7).

 

[ebonovic]

DirecTV probably won't even check it once it get's back... they will just send it off the refurbishing areas.. and then lose of track of whom it originally belong two.


There where two types of Weekness upgrades, one an add-on drive upgrade, and one a single drive replace. From reading more of your posts, I guess you purchased the entire unit from Weekness pre-upgraded.


The "Holy Grail" comment (which you must have saw in one of my posts from yesterday) was a "tounge and cheek" comment (derived from the current battle between R15 and TiVo unsers) Sorry about the confusion.

The R10 is still a very good Unit.

And my references for rippingit out was to use it again, as I don't think you mentioned that it was a single drive failure.

 

[coleren1]

Thanks Earl, Sorry for not mentioning it being a frozen hard drive. So do you think I ought to keep the refurbished model or complain and try to get a new one. You do think I should keep this model right? Thanks!
Nicole

DirecTV probably won't even check it once it get's back... they will just send it off the refurbishing areas.. and then lose of track of whom it originally belong two.

There where two types of Weekness upgrades, one an add-on drive upgrade, and one a single drive replace. From reading more of your posts, I guess you purchased the entire unit from Weekness pre-upgraded.

The "Holy Grail" comment (which you must have saw in one of my posts from yesterday) was a "tounge and cheek" comment (derived from the current battle between R15 and TiVo unsers) Sorry about the confusion.

The R10 is still a very good Unit.

And my references for rippingit out was to use it again, as I don't think you mentioned that it was a single drive failure.

 

[ebonovic]

I would keep the R10... As that basically the "best chance" TiVo powered unit they have in stock now adays (as they are moving to their R15 platform)

The R10 comes stock with an 70 hr drive
You can easily (in about an hours time) replace that 70hr with a 250gb drive that will give you amost 200hrs or record time, for about $100 (the cost of the hard drive)

 

[coleren1]

Thanks for all the help. I'm going to call Directv and get this one set up!