# TiVo, eBay and the rest



## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

I recently purchased a TiVo from eBay, just a basic one, no subscription or mods done to it, was going to do most things myself. I still haven't recieved the tivo, not the fault of the seller, royal mail appear to have 'lost' it. Anyway, i got the tivo for like £45 plus p&p.

The seller is going to refund me the money next week, problem is I am now wary of buying another TiVo off eBay, I have heard that people can have problems with TiVos that are sold with Lifetime subscriptions, (ie. people have cloned the subscription info to get more for the tivo, when in fact it doesnt have a lifetime sub)

I am not bothered about life time sub at the moment, I will probably be able to afford to pay it within the next 3-4 months anyway.

I really want a TiVo again!!! I already have a turbonet card ready to install, along with a 250gb hard drive ready prepped for installation, all I need now is the TiVo. I reckon I have around £65 to spend including postage. More if I manage to sell my PSP, lol then I would wanna get a cachecard definately.

This will be the 3rd TiVo I have owned, when will I learn, I had to selll the previous 2, st one cos my dad insisted on getting sky plus (aagggh satan!!!) and the 2nd because I am a poor student and went off to Uni (wish i had just left it sitting in a cupbaord).

Anyway if anyone can help with my query (if you can find it in all this blab)

Cheers
Si


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

I've bought TiVos from Ebay without a problem, so have no bad stories to tell. There are others who have had different experiences. < to regulars).

Where did you get your other two TiVos if not Ebay?

As for reading between the lines, if someone has a TiVo to sell, I'm sure they'll PM you.


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

Well the first tivo i got from Comet when I still worked there, it was an Ex-demo model, that had actually never been demoed lol, and i got it for like £70, cos nobody knew what it was or anything lol

The second i got off ebay, already had a 160gb drive in, i bought a cachecard and installed it,, but i drove all the way to luton to pick it up from manchester as I didnt trust royal mail then, and this proves i was right lol.

I will buy from ebay,b ut jst thought i wud try here for "advice" lol

Cheers


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## chrisd (Oct 24, 2003)

if you want to take the risk and get it cheaper go with ebay.
if you want peace of mind go with tivoheaven/tivoland or the like.


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

tivoland only sell pre-upgraded tivos and i didnt think tivo heaven sold them?


Cheers


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Someone's selling a tivo over at thedvdforums.co.uk
but ebay is often best, especially if you can collect it with cash after winning the auction.


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## RWILTS (Apr 21, 2006)

HI

bought my first Tivo from ebay April last year for £110 plus delivery non subed standard - but turned out to have lifetime sub  

Bought another April this year standard non sub for £35 delivered also from ebay , and this one came in original box with all documentation  

So , as far as I am concerned ebay has been good to me...

However I am a seasoned ebayer with about 60 sucessfull purchases in the last 3 years.

Golden rule.. never buy something on ebay for a value you cant afford to lose :up:


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

dont get me wrong, i am a season ebayer, i have bought tons of stuff from ebay, this is the only purchase ive ever had problems with, i had just read some stuffabout people faking lifetime subs tog et more money, but i suppose if ur careful and dont over spend then its fine

will see what i can get, and I will go and pick it up this time rather than trustin royal snail


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Ebay does have bargains.. a few minutes ago:

290153140212 - tivo + lifetime + 256mb cachecard for £87 ! (+£20 post) 

Grrr, I missed it...


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

nice, will have to keep my eye out, hope i can get a bargain like that


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

I seem to recall that some lucky bar-steward managed to bag one for £40 some time ago. I still haven't forgiven them


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## 6022tivo (Oct 29, 2002)

I got one on a buy it now for £40, when unsubbed ones were going for £200....

I would be wary of lifetimes ones on ebay. Although easily cloned, and I hear people using them for nearly two years now with no service problems. I just would feel ripped off by the seller.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Yeah. I thought it was you


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## 20039700 (Apr 24, 2006)

i managed to get hold of a tivo finally, bought it from the guy on DVDforums £55, unsubbed.

I put my turbonet card in.

I also put in the 250gb hard drive that I bought off ebay (was brand new and had been 'set up' for use), it got as far as the final step of guided setup and then rebooted to GSOD, put the old drive back in and its fine, so its obviously the drive, was wondering if the guy has mistakenly put the 2.5.5a software on the drive.

Anyway I have Hooch from tivoheaven so I am going to try that on the drive to see if that helps, then if not, I am gonna get my money back on the drive.


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## Pugwash (May 23, 2003)

I think I bought my first one from Scottish Power or something. They also had no idea what it was in the shop. I bought a replacement mainly for a fresh image when mine went screwy! I sold the replacement again a few weeks later after I'd made a copy onto a fresh drive in my old hardware.


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## NothingButTeeVoh (Jul 14, 2007)

A bunch of us eBay-ers got burned by a guy in Florida selling S3s with 3 year service and warranty. The units arrived fine, TiVo transferred the accounts just fine. Then, a month or so later, TiVo came back and said the units had been obtained fraudulently, and shut off the service. So, even if TiVo doesnt' try to repossess my unit (they might, they haven't decided yet), I'm out the $300 that the 3 year's service is worth. I partly blame TiVo for taking over a month to let me know the unit was "hot." Of course, the seller has vanished, and the dozen or so of us taken in are out $300 each to reinstate service. How eBay stays in business I don't know, since you can't trust anything that goes down on their site anymore. Anyway, word or warning to anyone thinking about buying a unit on eBay.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

NothingButTeeVoh said:


> How eBay stays in business I don't know, since you can't trust anything that goes down on their site anymore.


Whilst I agree with the sentiment, I'm not sure how eBay are supposed to (or ever could) validate _everything_ that's put on their site for auction/sale.


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