# Concerned about my Bolt Vox...



## Lrscpa (Apr 20, 2003)

I've been a TiVo customer since 2001, and have owned pretty much every iteration of the TiVo since the Sony Series 2 DVR. I am concerned however about the Bolt VOX line, especially due to the noticeably higher occurrence of drive failures noted on this board (and significantly higher than previous models), the extensive discussions here around cooling, and the fact that @TiVo_Ted mentioned that the 3TB model was discontinued due to lack of 3TB drive availability and supposed lack of market share.

Valid concerns?


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Yes, they are all valid concerns. But there are also simple solutions.

Temperature concerns are totally resolved with NO modifications just by putting a $16 flat blower on the shelf at the back of the box and having the air flow sweep along the back and under the ugly center hump.

Best drive solution is to use an external 3.5" WD red drive connected directly to the internal SATA port in place of the dumb 2.5" drive. This solution does need an external power to the drive and some slight mod to the Bolt case to get the SATA cable inside, but it is very simple to do. If you do not want to cut the plastic case, you can just leave the back edge loose and run the cable under it.


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## djones18 (Jan 6, 2006)

Agree these are valid concerns. I've been through two Bolt + machines in three years. My TiVo HD and Premier XL, one several years old, run perfectly. My Bolt + machines all had additional external cooling and that didn't save them. My latest Bolt + also has additional external cooling which keeps ODT in low 50s. Among my three machines the Bolt + seems to have most issues, some requiring reboot. Latest issue last week was V60 error (HDMI fail to connect) which seemed to fix itself after unplugging and re-plugging in HDMI cable a couple times.

As most know here, modifications which cannot be undone void TiVo's warranty. Because of my experience with two broken Bolt + machines, I purchased the extended warranty. I won't make mods which void warranty or extended warranty though I've been tempted by some really interesting mods discussed here. I've used the extended warranty once. TiVo was easy to work with on a warranty replacement. I've never been a fan of these but am with TiVo Bolt machines. TiVo will also swap out broken TiVo Bolt for $50.00, out of warranty, depending on when it was purchased.

Having said all this, I won't consider abandoning TiVo for Cox Cable rental boxes and their rental model which ekes out very dime they think they can from customers.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Obviously not all Bolts fail, despite the general attitude in these forums that they are less reliable than older models.

I have a three year old box-stock Bolt, a two year old Bolt that I upgraded to a 3TB internal Toshiba drive, and a two year old Bolt in a friend's house that I upgraded to a 2TB internal WD drive. Both of my Bolts have an external blower, but I know my friend has done nothing at all to aid the stock cooling. All of these boxes have been perfectly stable.

If I needed to buy another TiVo right now, it would be a toss up between a Bolt and a Roamio - I would trust the Roamio more, but the 4K, and included external streaming and MoCA are nice additions to the Bolt. But to be honest, I don't use any of those features on one of my Bolts right now! If I did get a new Bolt, I would upgrade it with an external 3.5" drive.


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## mroot (Mar 14, 2004)

I have had random reboots on my Bolt, and I sometimes have to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to come back to life. Is this a heat issue and should I contact customer support? I bought it last December.

Thanks!


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