# What to do with an obsolete Series 2?



## bweissman (Oct 11, 2004)

I have an old standalone TiVo Series 2 single tuner analog-only no-CableCard standard definition DVR with the lifetime subscription. As Comcast migrates more and more channels from analog to digital, the TiVo is able to tune fewer and fewer channels. Aside from that, the TiVo is in perfect condition and has no issues, but it's a big bulky box taking up space better consumed by an HD DVR, whether from TiVo or Comcast.

What on earth can I do with the obsolescent TiVo Series 2 other than recycle it?


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

1. Get Comcast's cheapest digital tuner, and hook it up to the TiVo with an IR blaster.

2. Hook it up with an antenna and CECB in an area where you have no cable connection.

3. Sell it.


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

I now have the same problem since getting my TivoHD. The s2 just sits there unless there is a marathon showing of a show we have just started watching. We did that with Burn Notice. They ran 17 eposodes in a row and used the s2 to record it. I then used tivo desktop to watch it on the wide screen using the TivoHD. It wasnt recorded in HD but the tivoHD did up convert it.


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## hc130radio (Sep 16, 2004)

ebay? craigslist? share the goodness of tivo with a friend?


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

If you're planning on replacing it with a more current TiVo, don't sell or give it away just yet. Having that Lifetime sub on it means you qualify for a discounted sub on the new box, including $100 off the price of Lifetime. 

Once you get the new box, why not put it in a bedroom or kids room? Attach a non-DVR Comcast cable box or DTA to it, run a set of IR blasters (or the serial cable if the box is compatible with it), and you'll have a third standard def tuner, plus you can MRV any non-HD, non-copy flagged programs from the new box.


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## SMWinnie (Aug 17, 2002)

We have a lifetimed 200GB 540S2 sitting in our guest room with a slaved Zenith DTT901 CECB. I set up KAM=2 season passes for each of the fifteen or so top-rated series. Using pyTivo, our guests can also grab anything from our network share (which consists mostly of kids' shows and _Firefly_). We also keep several of David Pogue's and Mark Bittman's respective NYTimes webcasts on hand.

Because of the source material, shows served up by pyTivo tend to be better picture quality for a given file size than the shows that come through the CECB-to-TiVo/Broadcom chain. Since the 540's CPU is the chokepoint for transfers, we use a TiVo wireless adapter despite a wired connection being available.

As a side note, I suppose that if the DMCA hadn't scared me off of ripping my DVD collection the S2 would make a really wonderful front end to a video DVD jukebox *if* the DVDs were ripped to main movie files.

Most importantly for us, the lifetimed 540S2 is our full-price-subscribed box for purposes of MSD. It is connected to its very own UPS. My wife - a physics professor and laser table jockey - has denied as excessive my request to add in a voltage regulator. (I dropped a little $45 number from APC in our Amazon.com shopping cart and am hoping that she just buys something else without noticing it's already there. Shh. Our secret.)


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## george_gordon (Aug 4, 2009)

I am still living in no HD world and not having any trouble with Series 2 except that mine just died. If it's working I will take off your hands


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## george_gordon (Aug 4, 2009)

Hey dawg can you help a girl out? My Series 2 re booted a couple of times yesterday and today. Seemed to work fine until this morning's rebooting episodes. I get no video feed to TV. Hooked up old S2 and am in process of loading program data but am getting TIVO setup screen feed to Tv so I think it's a safe bet the S2 died. Couple of questions: can I get the recordings off S2 onto something/anything (i.e., maxtor external hard drive, computer, etc)? What are your thoughts re Direct HD DVR vs waiting for Direct/TIVO HD in 2010? Any thoughts on quality of renewed TIVO? I love the menus/functionality of TIVO and haven't found any other DVR that looks/feels same. Thoughts?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Getting no video feed sounds different, but rebooting sounds like the hard drive is going bad. Read the Tivo expansion FAQs on how to do it yourself.


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## bweissman (Oct 11, 2004)

I broke down and retired the Series 2 today in favor of a Comcast HD DVR.

Anyone want the Series 2? I've posted it on Craigslist. It has a lifetime subscription.

EDIT:

It's been sold. Thanks to all who expressed interest.


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## audioscience (Feb 10, 2005)

bweissman said:


> I broke down and retired the Series 2 today in favor of a Comcast HD DVR.
> 
> Anyone want the Series 2? I've posted it on Craigslist. It has a lifetime subscription.


Bweissman, I sent you a PM. Check your messages.


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## bweissman (Oct 11, 2004)

Thanks. There was a lot of interest and ye olde Series 2 has gone to a new home.


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## gthassell (Apr 22, 2003)

if anyone else is interested in an upgraded S2 Humax (non-DVD, no service - cheap) or a lifetimed upgraded Humax DRT-800, drop me a note. 

The no service box is just sitting around, and I'd be happy to part with it for a song.

-Todd


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## tootal2 (Oct 14, 2005)

bweissman said:


> I have an old standalone TiVo Series 2 single tuner analog-only no-CableCard standard definition DVR with the lifetime subscription. As Comcast migrates more and more channels from analog to digital, the TiVo is able to tune fewer and fewer channels. Aside from that, the TiVo is in perfect condition and has no issues, but it's a big bulky box taking up space better consumed by an HD DVR, whether from TiVo or Comcast.
> 
> What on earth can I do with the obsolescent TiVo Series 2 other than recycle it?


I use my s2 in my bedroom. you could get a digital cable box or a dtv box for it.


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## MapleLeaf (Oct 12, 2007)

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I stumbled on this thread while doing a search and since the OP's situation was very close to mine, I figured I'd resurrect this thread rather than open a new one.

Anyway, I have a very old unsubscribed Series 2 (TCD230040) that's been sitting in its original box for years now, so I finally figured it was time to do some spring cleaning and get rid of it. Heck, it's so old that the System Information screen says it was manufactured by Comcast! It's only got a single-tuner. I suppose its one redeeming quality is that it's got an upgraded 120Gb hard drive in it. Oh, and there might be some value in the remote, which was never used.

But since it's unsubscribed and since it's only got a single tuner, my thinking is that I'd be lucky to get even $10 for it. eBay seems out of the question, because the cost to ship it (likely around $20) would likely dwarf its value. Craigslist scares the crap out of me (too many horror stories in the news). And I don't know anyone willing to take it off my hands (even for free).

I have no use for it (I have three other lifetimed Series3-class units), so at this point, I just want to get rid of it. I booted it up today just to make sure that it still works and as far as I could tell, it's perfectly fine. It also includes the original box and all the originally-included accessories (unused). Anyone know any other options other than recycling it, preferably to someone who can make use of it? I fear it's pretty much unsellable. Given that a used unsubscribed dual-tuner Series2 can be had for well under $50 these days, I just don't see anyone willing to invest in putting a single-tuner model into service (even if they could acquire it for free or close to it). Should I maybe try to market it instead as a 120Gb hard drive and Tivo peanut remote, with a large doorstop thrown in for free? 

Even if there are no real viable options for selling it or giving it away, can I even recycle it without having to pay a fee? I'm not the type to go driving around looking for an open dumpster, but at the same time, I don't really want to have to pay to get rid of it.


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## bweissman (Oct 11, 2004)

MapleLeaf, I have found that if you offer to give away something - anything - for free, someone will come to your house and haul it away.

I have had excellent success with "freecycling" online. Go to the Freecycle Network and enter your location. You will likely find a local mailing list where you can offer up your old TiVo.

(I'm the OP in this thread. I sold my Series 2 for $30 on craigslist and the guy came to my house and picked it up. He was going to use it in his kids' room, presumably downstream of a cable box or digital OTA tuner. The point being that kids will watch the same cartoons over and over once they're recorded.)


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

You could pull the power supply and sell it on ebay for more than the tivo as a whole is worth. You could get a few bucks for the remote too.


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## scottndsky (Jan 8, 2010)

I just sold my Series-2 w/lifetime on craigslist for $100!


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## robaustin (Nov 14, 2004)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with selling a Series 2. There are folks like me who haven't upgraded to HD and use their Series 2s every day with the IR blaster and their cable boxes. Not it's the not the latest technology but it still does what Tivo does best and a lot more elegantly then the cable company DVRs (especially here in Cablevision country where the SA8300 is a piece of junk).

So yeah, sell it, someone will buy it for sure!

--*Rob


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

MapleLeaf said:


> ...
> 
> Even if there are no real viable options for selling it or giving it away, can I even recycle it without having to pay a fee? I'm not the type to go driving around looking for an open dumpster, but at the same time, I don't really want to have to pay to get rid of it.


best buy will collect just about any electronic thing for recycling.

on computers they insist you pull the hard drive though- they apparently dont want to be liable for your data. Not sure if they want you to pull the tivo drive or not.

SOME items- I dont know exactly what the rules are but I think its specifically items with lamps that are "Universal Waste"- like projection tv's and laptops and the like- require you give them a fee for disposal but they give you a store credit equal to the cost so it's a net zero if you can find a use for the store credit later.

Universal waste is one type of trash that people can throw out legally but a business must not put in the trash under penalty of law. (think household hazardous waste day)

Electronics that my wife can't sell on ebay, donate to charity, or give to a friend, goes to the best buy for recycling.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

MichaelK said:


> best buy will collect just about any electronic thing for recycling.
> 
> on computers they insist you pull the hard drive though- they apparently dont want to be liable for your data. Not sure if they want you to pull the tivo drive or not.
> 
> ...


Goodwill takes stuff like that too. Keep the receipt, and it's a tax write-off.


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## MapleLeaf (Oct 12, 2007)

Thanks for the Best Buy suggestion, MichaelK. If I can't get the unit sold on eBay, then dropping it off at Best Buy seems like the easiest route, so I may just do that. Before doing that, I might pull the hard drive, power supply, and remote from it first and try to sell those parts separately (as scandia101 suggested).


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

I still have have 2 single tuner S2's both lifetimed, and 1 dual tuner HD TiVo, lifetimed.

My wife uses both S2s and still uses them with gusto. She seems to have no hankering for HD at all. Both her TVs are old fashioned analog anyway.

Whereas I have my HD TiVo hooked up to an HD largish computer monitor (thirty something inches), and I would have a hard time going back to SD S2 after experiencing this. I say this, but some of my programming is HD and some isn't... it depends on what channel it's on.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

orangeboy said:


> Goodwill takes stuff like that too. Keep the receipt, and it's a tax write-off.


yep- it's surprising (to me at least) the amount of writeoffs one can gather by donating used goods.

Besides goodwill sometimes the food pantry's will take stuff. when we ditched out analog tv's a few years back we let them know- they didn't want to store them but took our name and when someone needed a tv they would call us to drop them off. Women's shelters take lots of stuff too. And while I'm drifting off topic- Habitat for humanity takes anything related to building (tools, paint, materials), if they can't use it they sell it in a store front to fund their activities.

My wife is really good at finding takers for our cast off stuff that's still in good shape. 

all that said- if an SD tivo box doesn't have lifetime, I probably wouldn't even give it to a neighbor unless they asked specifically (meaning they understood the various tivo options and pricing). Saddling someone with a monthly fee (locked in for a year- right?) for a somewhat dated device seems 'wrongish' to me. One can get a Tivo HD with a warranty and a much bigger hard drive and the ability to get more features like netflix for 'just 99 dollars'. So I worry about being an enabler to people that just dont know any better. On ebay people *hopefully *are savy enough to know the limits of an S2 and price that in. I'm not sure the average thrift shop buyer is generally as knowledgeable.

So I am weary of giving OLD tivo's to charity- either for them to hand out to a client or even to see in their store. So I'd worry my disposal problem just became their problem.

Just my 2 cents on the subject.


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## JoeTaxpayer (Dec 23, 2008)

bweissman said:


> (I'm the OP in this thread. I sold my Series 2 for $30 on craigslist and the guy came to my house and picked it up. He was going to use it in his kids' room, presumably downstream of a cable box or digital OTA tuner. The point being that kids will watch the same cartoons over and over once they're recorded.)


$30?
LT service series 2 are selling for $150 + $20 shipping as a buy it now on eBay, and auctioning for up to $200.
Your deal is done, but should anyone read this thread, while most people may already have HD in their house, most people also still have an SD or 2. (I am at 3 HD + 1 SD but one of the HD is so small it matters little).

That TiVo plays well with the free DTAs Comcast gives 2 of to their customers.

If you have a not LT service box, eBay list it anyway, just put in the full shipping, and you'll likely get some taker even to use as parts.


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