What should I do with the two Series 2 TiVos (140 hr & 40 hr) that are siting in my basement collecting dust? I really don’t want to hookup either of the DVRs since they both only have a single tuner. Anybody have any ideas as to what I could do with these DVRs? I’m looking for some suggestions…
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December 29th, 2007 at 4:56 pm |
If they work and have lifetime subscriptions…sell them…i’d be interested in buying one!
December 29th, 2007 at 4:58 pm |
Neither of them have a lifetime subscription. :(. Without lifetime, they’re really not worth much on eBay….
December 29th, 2007 at 5:46 pm |
For electronics (or anything else you might want to be rid of), I heartily recommend Freecycle.org. The people you give stuff to are so grateful, and you end up feeling really good about passing your toys along.
December 29th, 2007 at 6:11 pm |
Have a contest and give them away here.
I for one would like a 140 hour… even without lifetime service.
December 29th, 2007 at 6:32 pm |
I like the contest idea.
December 29th, 2007 at 9:18 pm |
I for one would love to have the 140hr Tivo to replace my 40hr. As I am unemployed and a foster parent, it would make you a good samaritan and the foster kids would love you since I wouldn’t have to delete all their shows to record mine.
December 29th, 2007 at 9:28 pm |
Since they don’t have lifetime, they aren’t worth much if anything - TiVo has given away S2 boxes free after rebate, etc. So giving them away makes sense. If you don’t know anyone who wants them, I’d either hold a contest here on the site, give them to charity, or, as suggested, toss them on Freecycle and/or Craigslist to give them a happy home.
Alternatively you could strip them for the drives and keep the remotes as spares. But drives are so cheap new I don’t think it is worth it.
December 29th, 2007 at 10:55 pm |
I guess I am going to be holding a contest for at least one of these DVRs :). Stay tuned for more information……
December 30th, 2007 at 7:53 am |
We gave our series 2 away in a white elephant party this year - it was a huge hit!
December 30th, 2007 at 2:43 pm |
I gave my spare to my girlfriend, complete with wireless adapter and 1 year free service. She was very happy.
December 30th, 2007 at 2:56 pm |
If I had an extra TiVo, I’d probably try to set it up at my parents house for them. They’re retired and on a limited income.
December 30th, 2007 at 8:44 pm |
@Dave,
What’s a white elephant party?
December 30th, 2007 at 9:33 pm |
I really second the giving them away suggestion. My first TiVo was a 20 hours Series 1 given to me as a gift from someone who upgraded to a Series 2, and I then traded it to a friend who had a lifetime Series 1 but couldn’t be bothered to get it working in Canada.
Since then, I’ve bought two more Series 2 single tuners for the apartment here (of which I think you received all of the TiVo Rewards points for
and, after showing it to my girlfriend’s relatives, they immediately went out and bought two dual tuner boxes themselves.
So for one gift of an old Sony Series 1, someone generated five new subscriptions for TiVo. It can pay off in dividends to just gift it off.
December 30th, 2007 at 9:37 pm |
On second thought, I have no idea who got the referral points. It’s been so long so disregard the above if it wasn’t; it’s been a long day.
December 31st, 2007 at 7:36 pm |
Hook them up to an old TV and a sound system, put them on your home network, and use them to play music, video, and shows recorded on other Tivos.
January 9th, 2008 at 7:14 am |
[...] couple of weeks ago, I asked the question: “What Should I Do With My Old TiVos“. Several people responded that I should give at least one of them away in a contest. Being [...]
January 11th, 2008 at 12:37 am |
What did you do with the other TIVO series 2? I ask because I am in the same position as you. I got a Tivo HD and have a tivo series 2 without a subscription. However the 80 hour hard drive is big enough to hold all my music. There has to be something I can do with it. If nothing else maybe I can bring use it for photo storage or SOMETHING. Please let me know what you did. Perhaps I can make it a music server with slimserver.
January 11th, 2008 at 4:26 am |
Ed, nothing yet. I may keep it as a backup TiVo. However, with just one tuner, it kind of limits my options.
January 12th, 2008 at 1:18 am |
Is there anything you can build using an old Tivo Series One - was wanting to somehow use it to view my PC apps on the tv.
February 5th, 2008 at 10:42 am |
I’m sorry for being so clueless with this question…
Can the older TiVos (series 1? ) be used like a VCR by just using the timer and not hooking the phone line up? Obviously, I don’t have TiVo, and can’t really afford the subscription right now, but would like to try one out. What is the best option? Ebay?
February 5th, 2008 at 3:51 pm |
Michael,
Yes, the old Series1 TiVo’s work without a subscription as a very basic, manual DVR. No guide data, no real TiVo features.
The Pioneer and Toshiba Series2 units (and ONLY the Pioneer and Toshiba units) also work without a paid subscription because they include a service called TiVo Basic which offers a limited subset of the TiVo features.
eBay is probably your best bet to find one, since all of those units are long out of production.
February 5th, 2008 at 4:24 pm |
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I really appreciate it. Have a great day!