[bnorris]

We've used basic DirecTivo for years and loved it - first a Philips DSR 6000 and then when that died a Philips DSR 7000. A while back the latter died too. So, I called up DirecTv and they told me, no problem, they'd ship me a new DVR and since I owned my old box the new one would be free. I was pleasantly surprised, and while I think the lady mentioned that it would be a DTV DVR, it didn't quite click that that meant no more Tivo.

Well, we've had the DTV DVR for just over a month and just HATE the DVR service. It doesn't do season passes properly (frequently just records all episodes despite the fact that I told it not to), the menus are much less intuitive than Tivo's and just don't work as smoothly, the DVR has hung at least twice so far and the recording programs were deleted (not just interrupted or stopped).

I'm considering some options:

* Ask DirecTv if they will replace the DTV box / service with DirecTivo like I had before. It seems unlikely that they will do this.

* Ask DirecTv if I can buy my own DirecTivo box and have my Tivo service restored. I'm not sure if I want to do that because I'd have to get an older box to continue recording 2 shows at once, and I like what I hear about the newer Tivo boxes. I don't care about HD, but multi-room viewing and programming Tivo via the internet sound great.

* Just switch over to Time Warner where I can use a new Tivo box and record 2 shows at once (I heard their DVR service is bad too). I'm hesitant to make this change as we've been happy with DirecTv until now, and I don't know how good Time Warner will be.

Any feedback from other folks who have made these transitions would be much appreciated.

 

[SLOmike]

I tried the DirecTV DVR for a while and decided to send it back to DirecTV after I was able to repair my Sony SAT-T60.

-Mike

 

[Dkerr24]

Option 1 is impossible... Directv has no more of those boxes as they quit making them 2.5 years ago.

Option 2 is possible... check eBay for units for sale. Make sure you can get the serial # of the unit before buying so you can call Directv to make sure the previous owner doesn't owe a balance.

Option 3 is possible, but that means going to cable (ugh!) and also paying $12.99 or whatever Tivo now charges for their standalone service.

Most of the regulars on this site just fixed our own units when they went bad. 99% of the time, it's just the hard drive that goes bad.

 

[John T Smith]

If you do decide to fix/upgrade, another place to read
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=24

 

[bnorris]

Thank you all for the advice. I do still have my old unit, and I will try to upgrade it - I'm going back to Tivo regardless, so if I can't fix my old unit then I can put the new hard drive I buy in a used unit that I buy. However, after reviewing the posts on the links above I'm still not clear on how to proceed. I'm gathering that I can buy a basic computer hard disk (not sure what kind I need) and download InstantCake to configure it, or buy a replacement drive kit (which I assume comes preconfigured) from a DVR upgrade web site. What's the best way to go? Again, all advice is much appreciated.

 

[ForrestB]

DirecTivo's take a 3.5 inch PATA/IDE hard drive at least 40 GB. Larger hard drives can store more shows, and I'd guess most users here probably have 120 GB to 750 GB drives in their machines. I usually find the best prices at the local computer/office superstore. If you've got a PC with a CDROM burner and (2) IDE ports and swapping hard drives in your PC doesn't scare you then Instacake is the cheaper option.

The upgrade kits from this sites sponsors are popular with people who don't have a desktop PC or don't want to fuss with their PC.

The end result is the same.

 

[bengalfreak]

I usually find the best prices at the local computer/office superstore.

Not. Bestuy, CompUSA, and Circuit City normally aren't in the same league as the sale prices at Frys.com.

For instance, Frys currently has a 400 GB Seagate IDE drive for $79.99 with five year warranty.

400 GB Seagate IDE

They also have a 300GB for $10 less.

 

[ForrestB]

300GB PATA drives available locally for $79.98 - check here for the best prices Salescircular

 

[LuvMyTeevo]

That's the easiest way. I recently bought one from a Craig's List ad. Buying from Ebay is riskier, but some do it. I got it from a local guy who was moving. I was able to meet him in person and check it out. DTV will activate it for you if it has the original card in it. You might have to ask for a supervisor as the first level of responders always says no. Just make sure it wasn't a leased unit and doesn't have a lot of unpaid pay per view usage stored in it.

I already had one and decided to get a 2nd as a backup and because I didn't like the lame receiver that I was using as a 2nd receiver. I paid $35 for it. It's only a 35 hour unit, but it serves my purpose. I can always upgrade it later.

 

[bengalfreak]

300GB PATA drives available locally for $79.98 - check here for the best prices Salescircular

Ah yes, that's still $10 more than Fry's plus sales tax. And at Fry's quite often you get free shipping and in alot of states, no sales tax.

 

[goony]

For SD DTivos, multiply the HD size in GB times 0.875 for a rough recording capacity - 300GB ~ 263 recording hours.