So, apparently, while we were on vacation a couple weeks ago, the landline modem in my wife's TiVo died...again!
Her TiVo is a Series 1...one of the original Philips models (apparently, they featured ultra-crappy modems). It has a lifetime subscription on it, so it's tough for me to just chuck it (and I doubt anybody is going to want to buy it).
If this was our only TiVo, there would be no debate...it would be fixed (actually, it would have already been fixed...my wife loves her TiVo as much as...dare I say "me?"). But, we have a second TiVo ("my" TiVo), a Series 2 model with all the Internet-based goodies, so she's now using that one.
Thus, my debate is this: do I chuck (or sell for the cost of shipping) a TiVo with a bum modem and a lifetime subscription, or do I spend $50 and get it fixed? Given that the HDD in this thing is nearing 7 years old, I can't imagine it's going to live much longer on that front, either.
So, what should I do? Repair it or no?
Weaknees.com or 9thtee.com (I forget which if not both) have repair kits/instructions for fried modems. Or, just wait until TiVo has another deal where you can transfer lifetime from a TiVo activated before sometime in 2003 (IIRC) to a new Series 3. Last year they did that once, as well as had a Christmastime special where you could buy a TiVoHD w/ lifetime service if you were already a lifetime service customer.
I have a Phillips with exactly the same problem that is just sitting there, waiting until I need a lifetime service to trade-in.
Dave
- Sony SVR-2000 (Series 1) (120GB, fried modem + wired adapter)
- TiVo (Series 2) (120GB, wireless)
- TiVoHD (Series 3) (120GB, wireless)
- Phillips (Series 1) (30GB, fried modem, collecting dust)
Lifetime! Fix it. Pull the hard disk and clone it to something new and bigger. Do you even need the modem? All they do is whine when you don't call in. Your account still keeps working. I went like 500 days before I made a call when I had a DirecTivo in the bedroom.
Our HD DirecTivo finally took a dump. "Feels" like a motherboard problem and they are replacing it with one of the new MPEG-4 versions. That leaves only one Tivo in the house. The times they are a changin'...
Uhhh.....correct me if I'm wrong, but with a Series One TiVo, doesn't the modem download the listings? Craig in Home A/V said that all they do is whine when you don't call in. Isn't the idea that the modem downloads the listings, so the TiVo knows what to record. I would fix it though, if I had lifetime service. You could get Weaknees.com to walk you through the repair, and you could upgrade the drives while you're at it.