# No subscription needed?



## tennisknight (Jun 7, 2012)

If I bought a used Tivo unit, would there be any way to record shows without having a subscription? And if not, would I at least be able to watch shows with it?

Just curious.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

No, you won't be able to record, but you can watch shows already recorded. You can look for a tivo with lifetime service and that will work, but be sure the lifetime is there before you buy it.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

tennisknight said:


> If I bought a used Tivo unit, would there be any way to record shows without having a subscription? And if not, would I at least be able to watch shows with it?
> 
> Just curious.


If you got one of the first TiVos, a Series 1 (except that it won't say Series 1 on it, they only got called that in retrospect when the Series 2s came out), and it was manufactured before a certain date and came from the factory with a certain version of the software, then you could manually record with it, although I'm not sure if you could connect to TiVo for free to keep the clock set or not.

If you were to get one of those, it could have updated the software on itself from that particular original version and that would not change the eligibility for manual recording.

Also, I think you might have to call TiVo and get them to send it a signal to change the account status to put it in "unsubscribed but still able to record" mode.

Chances are, if you find one that old, that the only reason it's still around is because someone bought a lifetime subscription for it, so it wouldn't matter that it could work without one.

What's the maximum amount you're willing to spend?


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## tennisknight (Jun 7, 2012)

unitron said:


> What's the maximum amount you're willing to spend?


That's o.k. I'm just going to stay with Directv for now. I have too many shows on my external HDD that I still need to watch.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

tennisknight said:


> That's o.k. I'm just going to stay with Directv for now. I have too many shows on my external HDD that I still need to watch.


I was thinking you might be able to find a lifetimed Series 1 in the $50 or so range which may or may not suit your needs (and which can be upgraded with 2 1TB drives if you wish).


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