My TIVO died :( ...recommend a replacement?

W

WhoooTex

100+ Posts
I bought a modified series-1 TIVO off a friend of mine about a year ago, maybe longer. He'd set it up with an extra hard drive, making it an 80-hour unit with a NIC installed (meaning I can update it over my LAN rather than dialing out over a phone line). I really enjoyed the thing. The TIVO program guide is especially nice, much better than Time Warner's cumbersome version.

Unfortunately, the TIVO and its hard drives were relatively old-- you have to think of them as PCs that leave their HDs spinning 100% of the time. One of the drives on my unit started locking up a few weeks ago, and when I got home this afternoon and rebooted the TIVO, it wouldn't come back up.
frown.gif


So, I think it's dead; IIRC, the TIVO "operating system" or whatever it uses is striped across both drives so when one goes, they're both gone.

Let me set a few parameters and I would like to solicit recommendations for a replacement:

* It has to be TIVO. No, I do not want TWC's DVR service
* I have a 57" Sony HD TV, but I do not want Direct TV (meaning I don't want an HD DVR, regular old ****** S-Video signal is OK)
* Price is not an issue
* I don't have a landline, so I can't dial out for TIVO updates-- I've got to be able to transfer the NIC from my old TIVO to the new one

Can anyone make a recommendation...? I realize there aren't that many options on the market, but if anyone has any insight as to why one is better than the rest, I'd appreciate the advice. Alternately, I'm looking for advice like "TIVO changed their firmware so it shoots lasers at you if you try to install a NIC".

Thanks!
 
I hear that Tivo's "operating system" is soooo complex that average joe could never use it.

Build your own, that way you have more uses.
 
go with the Tivo Series2. They claim you need a phone line to set it up, but I read you don't really need it.

TivoToGo is supposed to be released soon for the Series2. It will allow you to transfer shows from your Series2 to a PC or laptop. Watch the shows away from your TV (great for traveling) or burn them to DVD.
 
my series2 last christmas came without the drivers and i did have to connect it to a landline to do the initial setup. on some tivo forums it was said that they believed in 2004 the series2 units would be sent with the drivers, so i don't know if that is true or not.
 
From all I've read at Tivocommunity, you do need a landline for startup but not after that. There are ways around it -- but you still need the landline for the first call in. You can set it up in another room or get the wireless phone line. (This is the one you just plug into an outlet.)
 
remember it doesn't have to be YOUR phoneline that you setup on...just any landline. so take it to work or a friend's house and do it for a few hours. then bring it home and you're good to go.
 
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