# Used Series 3 Tivos (TCD648250B) on ebay



## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

so there have been about 60 of these series 3 machines on ebay in the last few days (still some there) that are being sold with no remotes, no power cord and....no hard drive. there looks to be 3 or 4 resellers that are selling these at the same time for between $104 (ME!!!!) to 150. 

I recently upgraded my TivoHD to 1.5 tb internal, so i have the 160gb hard drive from it. i don't suppose i can use it to test the Series 3 i just won, can i?

if not, what is the smallest drive that i can put in the tivo to test it? (obviously i don't want to invest a lot if this is a dud!!)

is there some place i can download software to prepare the drive? 

could i plug in the tivo to the video outputs and test it without a hard drive? any idea what might happen? (i can't believe it would be detrimental)

thanks!!


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

armstrr said:


> ...is there some place i can download software to prepare the drive?...


Google "tivo instant cake".


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

orangeboy said:


> Google "tivo instant cake".


thanks...that may be the ticket.

in the mean time....can i test it with the 160gb hd that i just pulled out of a tivoHD (i replaced it with a prepared drive). i want to keep this as a backup for the tivoHD, so i don't want to reprogram it.

if i go the instantcake way, what is the smallest size drive i can use...just to test the Series3 out before investing in a larger drive?

thanks!!


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

To answer your questions directly:

No, the 160GB from your TiVoHD will not work in the Series3. For a couple reasons, it is too small (has to be at least 250GB) and it has the wrong software on it (the first 3 numbers of the TSN must match).

So you need a drive that is at least 250GB and you need either Instant Cake (for TCD648250B) or a drive image and the mfs tools to put the software onto the new drive.

Good luck,
robomeister

P.S. I also won one of these TiVos. Hopefully, they come with the hard drive mounting hardware.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

Where could these be coming from? How would any legit source be removing the hard drives?


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

netringer said:


> Where could these be coming from? How would any legit source be removing the hard drives?


Some company might have been using these for internal purposes. E.g. let's say CNN wants to monitor what's on all the other channels. What's an easy way to do that? Buy a bunch of TiVos!

Or maybe it's a very rich guy (yes I know he probably wouldn't have 60 of these).

Why should any company trust "clear and delete everything" to actually work? Or what if the rich guy recorded a lot of porn on the boxes? Smartest thing to do is pull the hard drives.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Phantom Gremlin said:


> Some company might have been using these for internal purposes. E.g. let's say CNN wants to monitor what's on all the other channels. What's an easy way to do that? Buy a bunch of TiVos!
> 
> Or maybe it's a very rich guy (yes I know he probably wouldn't have 60 of these).
> 
> Why should any company trust "clear and delete everything" to actually work? Or what if the rich guy recorded a lot of porn on the boxes? Smartest thing to do is pull the hard drives.


Before you purchase some information, I got one of these Series 3 TiVos without the drive and the drive mounting is missing also, so you have no way of mounting a new drive. I am only a sample of one and i got mined for less than $100 (off E-Bay), it does work and I will use it for spare parts for my other 3 Series 3 TiVos. The unit looked new and the SI screen said the unit had never been activated so they may be an unused lot leftover from TiVo itself, the basic box before the drive was ever put in.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

netringer said:


> Where could these be coming from? How would any legit source be removing the hard drives?


They're probably non-working returns to Best Buy or some other retailer. BB doesn't actually repair anything themselves. They either send units out for repair or replace then with a new unit from stock.

I purchased about a dozen HDTivos several years ago that had been returned to BB or CC with bad HDMI cards. They were listed on ebay by a third party that acquired them as surplus. I don't recall if they had hard drives or not but I'm thinking they did. I had the HDMI cards repaired by CCS for $100 apiece and reimaged the hard drives. I picked up some inexpensive Tivo remotes on ebay for about $6 each and bought replacement AC cords from AllElectronics.com for about $1-2.

Check with Weaknees.com or Tivo.com to see if they have replacement hard drive brackets for an S3 Tivo. I'm guessing you'll have to get them from Tivo. Any Tivo remote will work with the S3, including numerous preprogrammed universal replacement remotes.


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## jwelser (Nov 14, 2004)

mr.unnatural said:


> Check with Weaknees.com or Tivo.com to see if they have replacement hard drive brackets for an S3 Tivo. *I'm guessing you'll have to get them from Tivo.* Any Tivo remote will work with the S3, including numerous preprogrammed universal replacement remotes.


So, I just picked up one of these too (without the bracket.) Who did you talk to/how were you able to get parts like this from Tivo. Any help would be appreciated.


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

jwelser said:


> So, I just picked up one of these too (without the bracket.) Who did you talk to/how were you able to get parts like this from Tivo. Any help would be appreciated.


I wouldn't expect there would be any way to get the parts from TiVo. TiVo can't in any way suggest that the case can be opened up by the user for legal reasons (power supplies are not consumer-level shielded). You'll have to get them elsewhere - I've gotten Series two mounts from Weaknees.


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## drey (Jul 21, 2008)

Just make your own bracket, it's simple. The hard drive basically needs to be above the motherboard, so find a regular metal plate, mount it on 2 stands (cut them to the proper height) and you have the bracket. Cheap and simple!


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

I'm not sure why anyone would have paid more than $100 for these. I saw one that said it did not power up and it sold for $137 (that's crazy).


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## shane86 (Oct 6, 2009)

Just got my series 3 from ebay yesterday, and the 1TB Hitatchi drive i intended to put in it.. busted it open, and yup, no hard drive braket. at least the connector fits, so i won't have to chop and solder.

Called Weaknees hoping they had a bracket available, thinking, eh... $20 maybe... no real skin after how deep in to this project already.

They have them alright... $99, and not many.
they came to the same conclusion, they can't get them, and you can't really fully refurb a box without one.

so, for now, i'll probably just let the drive hang out for initial setup, until i can fab some sort of braket.

the easiest way would be to throw a couple bends in a thin peice of sheet aluminum or steel, but the feet have to be standing off the motherboard to clear a few chips on it... guess i'll have to go to the computer store. perhaps a motherboard stand off will work.


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

Have you considered using cable ties?. Costco sells containers of 500 of these for just a few dollars. Simply use a handful and stabilize the hard drive with them to convenient points in the chassis. They're just as useful as duct tape! OTOH maybe this isn't possible with the S3 chassis layout. I don't have one so can't check.

However, that solution leaves the drive hanging in space, stabilized only by the ties. I'm not sure if that's good or bad or indifferent for something that's spinning at 7200 RPM plus seeking back and forth.


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

Could you not just get a drive enclosure and have the drive outside the unit?


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

@shane86 If the auction did not state that the drive bracket would be missing then I would complain to the seller.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

I can't imagine I couldn't find a drive bracket in the hundreds of computer cases in my basement...

But to do all this work? Thing better work and be more like $50...


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## drey (Jul 21, 2008)

There is a bunch of WD 250GB drives that were removed from TiVo on eBay now. Might want to ask sellers if they have the bracket


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## lrhorer (Aug 31, 2003)

daveak said:


> Could you not just get a drive enclosure and have the drive outside the unit?


Yes, but it requires cutting a hole in the chassis. With the THD, it's easy, because the e-SATA port on the THD is serviced by a cable. Swapping the primary and secondary drives in a THD is simple, and indeed, I am running my THD precisely this way: with no internal drive at all. With the original S3, it's a bit more difficult, since the e-SATA port is serviced directly by a connector soldered to the motherboard. I do have the primary and secondary drive swapped on one of my S3 TiVos, though:


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

lrhorer said:


> Yes, but it requires cutting a hole in the chassis. With the THD, it's easy, because the e-SATA port on the THD is serviced by a cable. Swapping the primary and secondary drives in a THD is simple, and indeed, I am running my THD precisely this way: with no internal drive at all. With the original S3, it's a bit more difficult, since the e-SATA port is serviced directly by a connector soldered to the motherboard. I do have the primary and secondary drive swapped on one of my S3 TiVos, though:


:up::up:


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## jlib (Nov 22, 2002)

Nice work! You can also go a bit less elegantly and enlarge one of the vent slots on the bottom side with an Exacto hack saw.

As far as internal mounting goes, I would just glue foam ear plugs as legs on the drive and just let it sit there on the mainboard.


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## jwelser (Nov 14, 2004)

drey said:


> Just make your own bracket, it's simple. The hard drive basically needs to be above the motherboard, so find a regular metal plate, mount it on 2 stands (cut them to the proper height) and you have the bracket. Cheap and simple!


That's pretty much what I'm doing. I have some 9th tee Series 2 DTivo brackets lying around, and they ALMOST work perfectly. I think I will just have to drill one extra hole (to accomodate the "back right" mounting hole, when you are looking at the mounting area from the top, with the back of the Tivo facing you) and then pick up the right sized spacer at frys to hold up the "back left" corner (and I'll probably have to drill another hole for that too.) The one from the kit 9th tee kit might work, I won't know until I actually try to put it all together.....

I'll post pics when I'm done. I assume that bracket is still available from 9th tee.....


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

so, have any of you tested your as is "without hard drive" tivos? mine is on its way. i don't have a drive to test it, so i don't want to invest much...i suppose the best way to go about this would be to find out what the model # of the original 250 drive is and look for one and then instant cake it...correct? if it works out ok, then i can use that same instant cake cd to do a 1tb drive. does this make sense? 

does anyone know the original 250gb hd's make and model #?

i'm not worried about the metal mount...i can rig something up.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

lrhorer said:


> Yes, but it requires cutting a hole in the chassis. With the THD, it's easy, because the e-SATA port on the THD is serviced by a cable. Swapping the primary and secondary drives in a THD is simple, and indeed, I am running my THD precisely this way: with no internal drive at all. With the original S3, it's a bit more difficult, since the e-SATA port is serviced directly by a connector soldered to the motherboard. I do have the primary and secondary drive swapped on one of my S3 TiVos, though:


You have _three_ external SATA drives connected? How you do dat?


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

armstrr said:


> so, have any of you tested your as is "without hard drive" tivos? mine is on its way. i don't have a drive to test it, so i don't want to invest much...i suppose the best way to go about this would be to find out what the model # of the original 250 drive is and look for one and then instant cake it...correct? if it works out ok, then i can use that same instant cake cd to do a 1tb drive. does this make sense?
> 
> does anyone know the original 250gb hd's make and model #?
> 
> i'm not worried about the metal mount...i can rig something up.


The original drive (for the Series 3) was a WD model WD2500BS Caviar, the drive model may have changed over time. My take on these E-Bay Series 3 units is that they are all new, just not had their drive mounted yet and put together with the accessories and box. TiVo may just be dumping old pre finished series 3 stock..just a guess.


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

lessd said:


> The original drive (for the Series 3) was a WD model WD2500BS Caviar, the drive model may have changed over time. My take on these E-Bay Series 3 units is that they are all new, just not had their drive mounted yet and put together with the accessories and box. TiVo may just be dumping old pre finished series 3 stock..just a guess.


THANKS!!

i assume it is best to get this specific drive, correct? if not, what do i need to look for...again, this is only to instant cake it to test since i want a larger internal drive if it tests OK.


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## DougJohnson (Dec 12, 2006)

armstrr said:


> THANKS!!
> 
> i assume it is best to get this specific drive, correct? if not, what do i need to look for...again, this is only to instant cake it to test since i want a larger internal drive if it tests OK.


It may be harder, and more expensive, to find the exact drive than a bigger drive. My experience is that TiVos are not real sensitive to the exact make and model of drive used. OK, I know there were problems with one or two drives in the Series 3.

Just for testing, find any SATA drive 250 GB or bigger and give it a try.

-- Doug


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

so has anyone had a chance to try theirs?

and what solutions to the lack of hard drive tray have people actually used? thanks


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## shane86 (Oct 6, 2009)

Progress update:
So, i contacted the seller, and complained about the lack of a HD bracket. he agreed to refund me $30, which is enough for me right now.

Getting a hard drive was a little tricky. originally, the Hitiachi drive i bought off amazon from the recomended list, had about 4-5 bad sectors at the begining of the drive which caused the Series 3 image i got from DVRUpgrade (instant cake) to just crash and reboot constantly. being i wanted this done now, i went down to the local microcenter and bought a new seagate 1TB drive, imaged it fast, and threw it in. works perfectly!

Everything is now rocking perfectly on the tivo. i took about an hour in my office to fabricate a tagboard template for a hd bracket, which should be easy enough to make with some scrap aluminum, aircraft shears, a bench vice, and a drill. But, i have a friend who fabricates parts for his race car who has some scrap aluminum and owes me a favor for rebuilding his datalogger. I've just been using it with the drive sitting on the cable card slots loose.

The only problem i'm running into now is the sheer incompotence of Mediacom, and their inability to deliver a damn pair of cable cards.


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## jwelser (Nov 14, 2004)

armstrr said:


> so has anyone had a chance to try theirs?
> 
> and what solutions to the lack of hard drive tray have people actually used? thanks


I bought 2 and they both worked fine (after putting in a new HD, of course.) I picked up 2 Samsung 1.5 TB HDs from Frys for $80 each a few weeks ago. I used InstantCake and MFSLive to create a new image (using only 1 TB, though -- maybe someday I'll hack the kernel to use more space) and everything is working great.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I used a 9th tee Series 2 DTivo bracket that I had lying around to make a new bracket. I only had to drill 2 holes in the bracket with a dremel, and dig out some PC hard drive mounting screws (the kind with the smaller thread.) All the other necessary hardware was in the kit. My new bracket works perfectly and fits pretty well. I took pics, but don't have them in front of me now. I'll try to remember to post them tomorrow.


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## Thos19 (Dec 31, 2002)

Do you have a link for the eBay seller? I'd like to see if he has any more.

Thos.


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

Just search for Tivo HD you will see all of them listed, there are atleast 10 right now on Ebay, I received my first one the other day from CowBoom, thing was packaged like a 5 year old kid did it, unit was destroyed in shipment, cable in port bent at a 45 degree angle, exhaust port rusted, internals rusted, like it had been in a room full of salt spray, popped my 1tb drive in it to just test, no boot, no hdd bracket either, trying to get a RMA and refund. Two others are in shipment right now from another seller, but they generally all come from Dealtree. 

I dont think that many are in new condition, all I have seen state they have minor cosmetic damage, dings, scratches, etc. Plan to get a unit with some damage, but hey, i got one of em for 69.00 bux, cant beat it. Just have to solve drive bracket problem


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

For everyone who is looking for a drive bracket for one of the driveless Series 3s. 

I discovered something that should help someone in this thread. The drive bracket in the Humax DRT400, Humax DRT800, Toshiba RS-TX20, and Toshiba RS-TX60 is almost identical to the drive bracket in the Series 3. The bracket lacks the vibration dampening grommets, but otherwise works perfectly. The screw holes in the bracket line up perfectly with the mounting holes in the case.

So if you want a drive bracket that fits and don't feel like making one from scratch, get an old Humax from eBay.

Just FYI,
robomeister


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

cr33p said:


> Just search for Tivo HD you will see all of them listed, there are atleast 10 right now on Ebay, I received my first one the other day from CowBoom, thing was packaged like a 5 year old kid did it, unit was destroyed in shipment, cable in port bent at a 45 degree angle, exhaust port rusted, internals rusted, like it had been in a room full of salt spray, popped my 1tb drive in it to just test, no boot, no hdd bracket either, trying to get a RMA and refund. Two others are in shipment right now from another seller, but they generally all come from Dealtree.


That's a little upsetting, I ordered one from Cowboom on Friday and I am expecting it any day now. I expected it to be in decent physical shape with no remote, no hard drive and no hard drive bracket. Rusted internals and bent ports are NOT expected... I was expecting to tie down the hard drive with zip ties and call it a day.

I'll keep everyone apprised as to what I receive.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Philmatic said:


> That's a little upsetting, I ordered one from Cowboom on Friday and I am expecting it any day now. I expected it to be in decent physical shape with no remote, no hard drive and no hard drive bracket. Rusted internals and bent ports are NOT expected... I was expecting to tie down the hard drive with zip ties and call it a day.
> 
> I'll keep everyone apprised as to what I receive.


What you will get (most likely) is a new unit with no dust inside and no hard drive or bracket, I think they are new pre production S3s before the hard drive and accessories were added. If you run it up before activation you will have the 6 free days of use as any new TiVo has. This is from a small sample of these units so others may have had a different experience.


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

lessd said:


> What you will get (most likely) is a new unit with no dust inside and no hard drive or bracket, I think they are new pre production S3s before the hard drive and accessories were added. If you run it up before activation you will have the 6 free days of use as any new TiVo has. This is from a small sample of these units so others may have had a different experience.


I just got one of these, and it was most definitely dusty on the inside. No hard drive bracket either. It also had a little bit of gunk/rust on the case near the fan. Also, there was a sticker on the side that said "shelf display".


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

Philmatic said:


> That's a little upsetting, I ordered one from Cowboom on Friday and I am expecting it any day now. I expected it to be in decent physical shape with no remote, no hard drive and no hard drive bracket. Rusted internals and bent ports are NOT expected... I was expecting to tie down the hard drive with zip ties and call it a day.
> 
> I'll keep everyone apprised as to what I receive.


Yeah lets hope it was a fluke, crappy unit I came across, however atleast the units from Cowboom are taking returns, 2nd turn closeouts will not accept returns. These units people are getting in like new condition are probably damaged stock, the ones with bent cases etc. Or like the other guy said not final production units, hence lacking everything cept the unit and mobo.


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

cr33p said:


> Yeah lets hope it was a fluke, crappy unit I came across, however atleast the units from Cowboom are taking returns, 2nd turn closeouts will not accept returns. These units people are getting in like new condition are probably damaged stock, the ones with bent cases etc. Or like the other guy said not final production units, hence lacking everything cept the unit and mobo.


i have yet to pick mine up in michigan (i live in canada, but close enough to detroit to get all of their HD channels...)

i believe mine was from deal tree... the transaction took forever because they wouldn't accept paypal from a Canadian account....grrr!

so you guys who have had success....are you adding these tivos as month to month for a little and then springing for the $300 lifetime option?


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

armstrr said:


> i have yet to pick mine up in michigan (i live in canada, but close enough to detroit to get all of their HD channels...)
> 
> i believe mine was from deal tree... the transaction took forever because they wouldn't accept paypal from a Canadian account....grrr!
> 
> so you guys who have had success....are you adding these tivos as month to month for a little and then springing for the $300 lifetime option?


Im buying em to re sell on ebay upgraded, giving some as gifts for xmas, I just add em to my existing acct for 6.95-9.95 a month


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

cr33p said:


> Im buying em to re sell on ebay upgraded, giving some as gifts for xmas, I just add em to my existing acct for 6.95-9.95 a month


i just logged on to tivo and my account. and went to offers: it appears they want 12.95/month or 399 for another lifetime. i thought if you were an existing customer they reduced the price.

i see nowhere i can get 6.95-9.95/month.... is there something i'm missing?


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

armstrr said:


> i just logged on to tivo and my account. and went to offers: it appears they want 12.95/month or 399 for another lifetime. i thought if you were an existing customer they reduced the price.
> 
> i see nowhere i can get 6.95-9.95/month.... is there something i'm missing?


If you purchase a TiVo from TiVo inc. except for the S2 to S3 special they do charge the extra $100, if you log into your account and try to purchase a new TiVo for $299 you will get the $299 lifetime price as long as you have 1 to 5 TiVos in your account and at least one is Lifetime or full monthly.


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

armstrr said:


> i just logged on to tivo and my account. and went to offers: it appears they want 12.95/month or 399 for another lifetime. i thought if you were an existing customer they reduced the price.
> 
> i see nowhere i can get 6.95-9.95/month.... is there something i'm missing?


I think what you would have to do is register a new device, try to find a unit on their site that doesnt have a deal associated with it, see if the MSD pricing will work. Last I check MSD was 9.95, unless you swap a TSN from an old unit on ur acct with a new one, I have 3 units @ 6.95 and 1 @ 9.95


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

It's interesting, after only being a couple of S3's listed on ebay they're 89 listings today.
I wonder how deep the demand is for the units. Personally I'm interested in one for parts/or to move my kid into his own unit.


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## travisc77 (May 26, 2005)

alyssa said:


> It's interesting, after only being a couple of S3's listed on ebay they're 89 listings today.
> I wonder how deep the demand is for the units. Personally I'm interested in one for parts/or to move my kid into his own unit.


Looks like most of these are from either "hdgamerstore" or "best_buy_outlet", I'm not sure these are what the OP mentioned. All of these seem to have an HDD, some are described as "new" condition (box, wires, control) and some with no accessories and "significantly" scratched or dented. But none that I see say no HDD. They all seem to start ~$15 and ending prices are all over the board. Some as low as $77 and high of $213 for the unused new condition. Almost all of them are original S3's, not HD's and it is stated they do work.

I really want to replace my last subbed S2 with and HD so I only need 1 mcard, but if I can get one for less than a $100 I can't pass it up. Even if it's scratched dented. I already have a power cord and extra remote.

http://myworld.ebay.com/best_buy_outlet/
http://myworld.ebay.com/hdgamestore/

Search "tivo"

Travis


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## travisc77 (May 26, 2005)

Well I just won a bid for $83 w/ Free shipping. It's says the following:

Functional Condition: Tested Working
Cosmetic Condition: Significant scratches or scuffs
Testing Notes: This item is working. This item is not in the original box.
This item has been tested and appears to be in good working order.
NOTE: Item is fully functional but the case has some heavy scratches and the front bezel has a few small scratches.

It also doesn't come with anything else (no cables, control, nothing). I have an extra HD remote, cables, so no worries there. It will also be in the game room, so no worries about the cosmetic condition. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Travis


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

travisc77 said:


> Well I just won a bid for $83 w/ Free shipping.
> 
> Travis


That's funny, I just put a maximum bid of $82 on one and was outbid.


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## travisc77 (May 26, 2005)

whitepelican said:


> That's funny, I just put a maximum bid of $82 on one and was outbid.


It must have been me, I said $75 was my max but when it was outbid I put $85 in with about 5 seconds to go. Ended maybe 20 min ago. Small world, it must have been you.

If this auction fell through, there is another seller with more than 10 open box Tivo HD's for $175 with Free Shipping. If your cableco has mcards, it may be cheaper to get that deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390108861602&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

In my case Grande's mcards are $2.95, with the S3 I need two and the HD I need one. So for 3 yrs its the following comparison, slightly cheaper with the HD and you would get cables etc:

1. S3 at $83 + ($2.95x2 for 36 mo) = $295
2. HD at $175 + ($2.95x1 for 36 mo) = $281

I'm just a sucker for good deals, curiosity got the best of me.....


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

whitepelican said:


> That's funny, I just put a maximum bid of $82 on one and was outbid.


so...did you get the next one that went for $86?


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

alyssa said:


> so...did you get the next one that went for $86?


No, that's out of my price range.


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

yeah, I keep thinking with that many S3's for sale over the next week, surely the demand will dry up & the price will drop.

Also I don't *need* a new unit, both TV's already have an S3 attached.


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

well, i just got mine home. it was sold to me by "sold_broken" so i guess buyer beware is in the name, eh?

as stated, mine has been scratched up on the top cover. it is an october 12 2006 build date. and no hard drive bracket....grrrrr!

i paid 104$....i should try to get $25 back for no brackets...but with the way he worded his add i likely wouldnt have much luck...might try though!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...69743&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_fvi=1&_rdc=1


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

armstrr said:


> well, i just got mine home. it was sold to me by "sold_broken" so i guess buyer beware is in the name, eh?
> 
> as stated, mine has been scratched up on the top cover. it is an october 12 2006 build date. and no hard drive bracket....grrrrr!
> 
> ...


I have recieved 2 units from Sold Broken, both without brackets, got one for lke 69 bux, both units work with new hard drives installed, cosmetically 1-10 10 being the best I would say a 6. Need drive brackets though, then of course the one from cowboom that was an utter POS, now have filed a dispute with paypal. Yeah I lost that auction for the 86 dollar unit today grrrrrr


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

I gather you wouldn't recommend cowboom then?


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

I'm pretty sure that. 

cowboom = sold_broken = dealtree = dealadeal.com = best buy

So, I would say that you're dealing with the same people or same company.


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## drey (Jul 21, 2008)

magnus said:


> I'm pretty sure that.
> 
> cowboom = sold_broken = dealtree = dealadeal.com = best buy
> 
> So, I would say that you're dealing with the same people or same company.


Yes, it's all the same company, ie dealtree. They sell junk, so don't expect much from the units. I bought one from them a long time ago, it actually had a sticker "recycle". So yeah...


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## TivoCentral (Jul 23, 2006)

magnus said:


> I'm pretty sure that.
> 
> cowboom = sold_broken = dealtree
> 
> So, I would say that you're dealing with the same people or same company.


Personally, I've had a great experience with DealTree. I've only purchased one item from them (not a TiVo, a Sony PSP for about $60) and it was mint, as advertised, scratch-free in original box. Still works great, too!

And thank goodness both DealTree and PayPal have return/protection policies (just had to use PayPal protection to collect from an unscrupulous seller!... PayPal = highly recommended)


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

it is interesting that all of the sellers have the item's location listed as 
Flower Mound, TX


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

alyssa said:


> it is interesting that all of the sellers have the item's location listed as
> Flower Mound, TX


Yeah, I believe these are all the same company - Cowboom, HDGameStore, 2ndturn, Best Buy Outlet, SoldBroken, etc. They are all part of some liquidation company. They all go to checkout through "Dealtree" as well. I'm fascinated by the one called Best Buy Outlet as they seem to even be using Best Buy's logo. I wonder if they have permission to do that, as the pessimist in me would guess they really have nothing at all to do with Best Buy.


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

whitepelican said:


> Yeah, I believe these are all the same company - Cowboom, HDGameStore, 2ndturn, Best Buy Outlet, SoldBroken, etc. They are all part of some liquidation company. They all go to checkout through "Dealtree" as well. I'm fascinated by the one called Best Buy Outlet as they seem to even be using Best Buy's logo. I wonder if they have permission to do that, as the pessimist in me would guess they really have nothing at all to do with Best Buy.


I noticed on one item I purchased it said something at the bottom like dealtree was a best buy company.


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

I'm pretty sure that it is.

This is at the bottom of Dealtree website.
©2001 - 2009 Dealtree, a Best Buy Brand.

http://www.dealtree.net/mailform-2.cfm?subject=4



cr33p said:


> I noticed on one item I purchased it said something at the bottom like dealtree was a best buy company.


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## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

whitepelican said:


> Yeah, I believe these are all the same company - Cowboom, HDGameStore, 2ndturn, Best Buy Outlet, SoldBroken, etc. They are all part of some liquidation company. They all go to checkout through "Dealtree" as well. I'm fascinated by the one called Best Buy Outlet as they seem to even be using Best Buy's logo. I wonder if they have permission to do that, as the pessimist in me would guess they really have nothing at all to do with Best Buy.


They do. They get a lot of the surplus merchandise from Best Buy - store demo equipment, returns, etc. specifically. They operate an "Employee and Family Auction page" at bestbuy.dtdeals.com.

ETA: Looks like at some point, DealTree was bought by Best Buy. They now show "DealTree, a Best Buy brand" at the bottom of their pages. Interesting.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

LoadStar said:


> They do. They get a lot of the surplus merchandise from Best Buy - store demo equipment, returns, etc. specifically. They operate an "Employee and Family Auction page" at bestbuy.dtdeals.com.
> 
> ETA: Looks like at some point, DealTree was bought by Best Buy. They now show "DealTree, a Best Buy brand" at the bottom of their pages. Interesting.


And they charge sales tax in ALL states as Best Buy would have to do.


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## travisc77 (May 26, 2005)

As mentioned, I'll report back when I get my "scratched/dented" but "good working" Tivo S3 and let you know how it works. I'll probably post some pics. 

My gut tells me too good to be true, but we'll see. $83 for a working S3 seems like a good deal. The cosmetic issues will be just fine for the game room, and with Paypal protection I should be OK.


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

I'm sure that it will be fine. I got one for $86.



travisc77 said:


> As mentioned, I'll report back when I get my "scratched/dented" but "good working" Tivo S3 and let you know how it works. I'll probably post some pics.
> 
> My gut tells me too good to be true, but we'll see. $83 for a working S3 seems like a good deal. The cosmetic issues will be just fine for the game room, and with Paypal protection I should be OK.


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## travisc77 (May 26, 2005)

magnus said:


> I'm sure that it will be fine. I got one for $86.


How was the condition? Was it described as scratched.dented?


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

I'm sure that it will be.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

Quick update, got my unit from CowBoom today:

:up: The packaging was immaculate, they used bubble wrap and could have dropped the box from a 10 story building and the TiVo would have been fine.
:up: The condition of the unit was great, a few soft scratches on the top and some residue from what appear to have been stickers on the left and right sides of the unit, towards the front.
:up: Internals was immaculate, fan looks new and not a single spec of dust.
:down: No hard drive bracket, but that was to be expected, and no cable card inserts, not a big deal.

So other than a $100 bracket, or getting lucky with a 9thTee S2 bracket... what options do we have for a stable installation? Zip ties won't really work because the hard drive is usually mounted over the motherboard. There's nothing to suspend the hard drive from, and laying a piece of metal on top of a motherboard is asking for trouble.


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

Philmatic said:


> Quick update, got my unit from CowBoom today:
> 
> :up: The packaging was immaculate, they used bubble wrap and could have dropped the box from a 10 story building and the TiVo would have been fine.
> :up: The condition of the unit was great, a few soft scratches on the top and some residue from what appear to have been stickers on the left and right sides of the unit, towards the front.
> ...


Glad to hear about your good luck with cowboom, I know these guys are part of dealtree etc and do well, I think I got the dud in the bunch with the crappy packaging. Now I have filed a pay pal dispute with them, they have completely ignored my emails, phone messages, and pay pal resolution messages  But hey congrats on the unit sir.

The bracket, I am going to go to my local metal supplier and get a piece of thin alluminum and make one on my own, cant be too hard with a pair of tin snips and a hammer, hard table and drill. I will let you know what I come up with. I was even thinking about Plexi glass, but then standing it off may be tricky, something similar to the old DVRUpgrade directivo addl hard drive brackets, janky but functional


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

cr33p said:


> The bracket, I am going to go to my local metal supplier and get a piece of thin alluminum and make one on my own, cant be too hard with a pair of tin snips and a hammer, hard table and drill. I will let you know what I come up with. I was even thinking about Plexi glass, but then standing it off may be tricky, something similar to the old DVRUpgrade directivo addl hard drive brackets, janky but functional


Janky... I like that word.

It should be much easier than those S2 directivo brackets because you won't need to do any funky extension arms to support the bracket. Just get some long spacers and a big enough plate and you should be able to support the whole thing from beneath since the holes should all align... be careful with plexiglass (static buildup)... metal should be easy enough to work with...


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

tivoupgrade said:


> Janky... I like that word.
> 
> It should be much easier than those S2 directivo brackets because you won't need to do any funky extension arms to support the bracket. Just get some long spacers and a big enough plate and you should be able to support the whole thing from beneath since the holes should all align... be careful with plexiglass (static buildup)... metal should be easy enough to work with...


Im sitting here laughing, "Janky" I like that word  Yeah I think I would like to work with metal too, just need to figure out the standoffs, Im sure Home Depot will have what I need in regards to the spacer issue, something like those white plastic things they use in bi fold doors, or almost like a hollow dowel pin.


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## travisc77 (May 26, 2005)

Another quick update on my $83 S3, works like a charm. It was described in the auction as "heavily scratched/dented but working fine". I tell you, I would grade this as 8.5 out of 10. Really cosmetically it was about like my 3 yr old S3.

What a deal, definitely would buy one that said not working, but if its working...Nice.

To summarize: $83 from http://myworld.ebay.com/hdgamestore/ and came nicely packed, but no cables or remote.

Pretty pleased, especially to replace my last S2.


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## cr33p (Jan 2, 2005)

Recieved my fourth unit today from Dealtree, this one is lacking HDD, the sale did not state this  so I will have to contact them and see whats up. This was a TivoHD and not an s3. Considering no hdd, no remote, 143.00 paid too much, got the ebay itch, man.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

Does anyone know if the standard bracket that comes with the Series 2 DT TiVo will work in the S3?


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## jbarm (Jan 14, 2008)

I picked up one of the S3's from eBay for $81.

My unit has scratches on the case, but seems to work ok so far (boots up into config screens etc).

Most of these units appear to be BestBuy display models that they are finally selling off. I base this on the tell-tale yellow stickers that are on my unit and in pictures of other items sold, plus the sellers are subsidiaries of BB.

What I don't understand is the folks who are buying S3's without a hard drive for $125 to $175. These units are not guaranteed to work and you have to figure out how to mount a hard drive in them without included brackets. Why would you buy one of these when you had the opportunity to buy one with a hard drive for $80-$100 that had a 14 day guarantee to work?

Looks like they have worked through most of the inventory now, just a couple left on ebay.

I guess I've seen crazier things on ebay, but still....

jb


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## reg036 (Sep 16, 2006)

Just got mine from best_buy_outlet. They shipped it wrapped tighter then any big item I have ever seen, lots of bubble wrap in there. Mine came in original box with all of the parts. The outside of the tivo box looked pretty scratched up and it was previously opened. Once I got into the box everything was still sealed up, they might have slid the unit out of the wrappings it came in to test it but I can't tell, the protective film on the front of the unit was still there and it's loading up right now. All I can say is Wow is that oled display sweet!!!! If I wasn't piss poor at the moment (Selling off some TV DVD sets to pay for this puppy per the GF) I would have gone for more of these, beats out my HD in looks. Now to figure out to control 3 units with my Harmony till I move my DT Series2 upstairs.


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

jbarm said:


> What I don't understand is the folks who are buying S3's without a hard drive for $125 to $175.
> jb


Those units were listed on ebay prior to the second round of units of which you seem to have gotten in on. 
When I've looked at S3's over the past couple of years they have sold in the $200+ range. Last fall, IIRC, I got one for $230 & considered myself lucky.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

Another update:

I didn't have much time to mess around with the S3, but I tried the hard drive mounts from a Series 1 Philip unit and a Series 2 DT unit, neither was close, the problem is that the holes that the bracket screws into for vertical support are WAY off from where the hard drive would be.

A possible option for mounting the hard drive seems to be right above the CableCard slots, wedged in between the RF in and the Composite out, with the CableCard slots providing the necessary support below, then trying the whole thing down with zip ties. I'll snap some pics tonight and reevaluate the stability of such a move.


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

i'm waiting for my internal 2tb hd to be delivered....but thinking about mounting the drive...

could one go to home depot and pick up long bolts with the same thread as the originals and then thread nuts at the required hight? then one could simply use a FLAT piece of sheet metal drilled to mount the drive. make sense?

put another way....stilts


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## rocko (Oct 29, 2002)

armstrr said:


> i'm waiting for my internal 2tb hd to be delivered....but thinking about mounting the drive...
> 
> could one go to home depot and pick up long bolts with the same thread as the originals and then thread nuts at the required hight? then one could simply use a FLAT piece of sheet metal drilled to mount the drive. make sense?
> 
> put another way....stilts


Stilts would work, but a 2TB drive would be a waste since only 1.26 (or something like that) would be useable. Check out the Drive Expansion sticky for details.


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

rocko said:


> Stilts would work, but a 2TB drive would be a waste since only 1.26 (or something like that) would be useable. Check out the Drive Expansion sticky for details.


nope...i bought a prepared drive for 228$ and will get 318hrs. i have one humming along in a tivoHD and they work marvelously. my understanding is there is hand coding required...it _s more complicated than most of us (me for sure!) are prepared to deal with.

hope my S3 ain't a DUD!_


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## rocko (Oct 29, 2002)

armstrr said:


> nope...i bought a prepared drive for 228$ and will get 318hrs. i have one humming along in a tivoHD and they work marvelously. my understanding is there is hand coding required...it _s more complicated than most of us (me for sure!) are prepared to deal with.
> 
> hope my S3 ain't a DUD!_


_

Please share the details ... AFAIK, you can only expand 1TB beyond the original capacity. I understand that there may be magic involved - I'd like to know some details about the magic. Where did you get the drive?_


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## jbarm (Jan 14, 2008)

Yes, but people were bidding 125 for a s3 without a HD at the same time I bought one with a 
HD for 81. 
EBay madness I guess.



alyssa said:


> Those units were listed on ebay prior to the second round of units of which you seem to have gotten in on.
> When I've looked at S3's over the past couple of years they have sold in the $200+ range. Last fall, IIRC, I got one for $230 & considered myself lucky.


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

rocko said:


> Please share the details ... AFAIK, you can only expand 1TB beyond the original capacity. I understand that there may be magic involved - I'd like to know some details about the magic. Where did you get the drive?


i'm not sure if posting a link would violate any rules, so i'll pm you. (also, i think the forum sponsor has something like this available and you can search ebay for tivo hard drive expansions) if you do a search for my name in the drive expansion thread. i posted a few questions. bottom line...i don't know what is involved...i think the drive has to be partitioned into 2 1tb sections and the readily available tools don't (or can't) do all that is involved.

i toyed with getting a 1tb internal and then a 1tb external...but by the time i bought 2 drives, instant cake or bugged a friend to help (my computer is 5years old...) i figured the small price/gb paid for a drop in prepared drive was well worth the premium...especially because no external enclosure was required. and from what i've read there is less chance of failure with 1 drive over two, not to mention one less wall wart and probably some power savings.


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## reg036 (Sep 16, 2006)

My best_buy_outlet S3 is running perfectly, Fios coming on Monday to swap my 2 S-cards into the S3 and a new M-card for my HD. Found DVR remote for my iphone to control the S3 till I move my S2DT upstairs, so I'm happy now.

Looks like some new listings on Ebay again.


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## jlib (Nov 22, 2002)

I hope there is not another bidding frenzy on the next batch.

Oh, and armstrr is exactly correct. The size limitation of 1TB plus size of original drive on upgrading internal drives is with MFStools and WinMFS. If you are willing to forgo transferring any current recordings as usual by doing-it-yourself then you can indeed get ready made 2TB drives. There have been no reports of problems with the prepared drives that I know of and even Spike says they are legitimate.

The exact method is held close to the chest so currently it is not a do-it-yourself technique. Basically, three additional app/media partitions are added. Most likely a single master for each TiVo model was carefully hand-constructed with the help of a hacked MFStools and then clones using Linux dd are made. Since your original drive is not used and a Clear and Delete is required for each drive when installed in a new TiVo there is no possibility of preserving any recordings or Cable Card configuration from the original drive. You can find the guy easily on ebay.


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## rocko (Oct 29, 2002)

jlib said:


> I hope there is not another bidding frenzy on the next batch.
> 
> Oh, and armstrr is exactly correct. The size limitation of 1TB plus size of original drive on upgrading internal drives is with MFStools and WinMFS. If you are willing to forgo transferring any current recordings by doing-it-yourself then you can indeed get ready made 2TB drives. There have been no reports of problems with the prepared drives that I know of and even Spike says they are legitimate.
> 
> The exact method is held close to the chest so currently it is not a do-it-yourself technique. Basically, three additional app/media partitions are added. Most likely a single master for each TiVo model was carefully hand-constructed with the help of a hacked MFStools and then clones using Linux dd are made. Since your original drive is not used and a Clear and Delete is required for each drive when installed in a new TiVo there is no possibility of preserving any recordings or Cable Card configuration from the original drive. You can find the guy easily on ebay.


Fair enough. Ya learn something new every day.

So using WinMFS in the future would not be an option for this drive if, heaven forbid, somehting happened?


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

robomeister said:


> For everyone who is looking for a drive bracket for one of the driveless Series 3s.
> 
> I discovered something that should help someone in this thread. The drive bracket in the Humax DRT400, Humax DRT800, Toshiba RS-TX20, and Toshiba RS-TX60 is almost identical to the drive bracket in the Series 3. The bracket lacks the vibration dampening grommets, but otherwise works perfectly. The screw holes in the bracket line up perfectly with the mounting holes in the case.
> 
> ...


Thanks for pointing this out, robomeister. I ended up buying a drive bracket from a Humax unit on ebay from a guy called "The Tivo Magician". I paid a little over $6 for it shipped. and it worked perfectly in the Series 3. It doesn't look like he has any more listed right now, but it mentions contacting him if you're searching for a part, so maybe somebody else could benefit from contacting him.


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## billbillw (Aug 15, 2005)

I also grabbed one of the S3 from Cowboom. It was packed well, just as described. Worked perfect. Some scratches on the top/sides, but front face is clean. Looks like it never left Demo mode. It was still using Tivo software version 8.xx. I activated it with no problems and it quickly upgraded the software (within a few hours) to version 11. So far, its working great. Not bad for $77+tax. I'm also at a loss as to the folks who are spending $100+ on 'as is', no drive units. This one had a 14 day money back guarantee.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

robomeister said:


> For everyone who is looking for a drive bracket for one of the driveless Series 3s.
> 
> I discovered something that should help someone in this thread. The drive bracket in the Humax DRT400, Humax DRT800, Toshiba RS-TX20, and Toshiba RS-TX60 is almost identical to the drive bracket in the Series 3. The bracket lacks the vibration dampening grommets, but otherwise works perfectly. The screw holes in the bracket line up perfectly with the mounting holes in the case.
> 
> ...





whitepelican said:


> Thanks for pointing this out, robomeister. I ended up buying a drive bracket from a Humax unit on ebay from a guy called "The Tivo Magician". I paid a little over $6 for it shipped. and it worked perfectly in the Series 3. It doesn't look like he has any more listed right now, but it mentions contacting him if you're searching for a part, so maybe somebody else could benefit from contacting him.


THANK YOU!!!! I was monitoring his seller page and I noticed he posted up a bracket today or last night. I was able to snatch it before someone else got wise.

http://shop.ebay.com/310179224702

$6.40 shipped!

Thanks again guys... I suggest anyone who needs a bracket contact "The Tivo Magician" to see if he has any extras. I'm sure he probably has a stash but just doesn't want to list each one unless he knows they will sell.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

The Tivo Magician just posted up another bracket if anyone is interested...


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## whitepelican (Feb 15, 2005)

billbillw said:


> I'm also at a loss as to the folks who are spending $100+ on 'as is', no drive units. This one had a 14 day money back guarantee.


I spent about $80 for a "no-drive" unit and about the same for a complete unit. It didn't matter to me either way because I planned to upgrade the drive on both units anyway. Both units worked perfectly and even the "heavily scratched" complete unit from Cowboom looks very nice. It has very, very minor scratches on the top of the case, but they are not noticeable at all.


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## armstrr (Oct 4, 2007)

Philmatic said:


> The Tivo Magician just posted up another bracket if anyone is interested...


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## bizzy (Jan 20, 2004)

Where are you guys finding these no-drive units on Ebay? I've searched several times now without finding one. I'd love to build a second Tivo!


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## jlib (Nov 22, 2002)

The current crop of Dealtree units are complete used and "like new" units and it looks like the going price is ~$200+

You can still get the stripped models from sold_broken on eBay.

Edit: Looks like the Dealtree ones above are all gone but you can get TiVo AG0100 Wireless-G USB Network Adapters for ~$25.


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## Philmatic (Sep 17, 2003)

Got my bracket, it fit perfectly, and I am now a happy man. Got a fully working S3 TiVo with 500GB for under $140, $40 more if you count a purchase of the Glo remote, but I didn't need it.

Thank you everybody!


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## crashmann (Mar 6, 2007)

I also won a Series 3 TiVo with no hard drive from eBay. While waiting for the Western Digital WD10EVDS to be delivered, I wrestled with creating a drive bracket from a leftover piece of 1/8" aluminum.

tk386.com/remotepix/TiVo_Series_3_Hard_Drive_Bracket_800.jpg

(Sorry, I'm just a rookie on these boards and not allowed to post pictures or links yet, so you'll have to copy and paste manually)

The giant version of the picture can be found here:
tk386.com/remotepix/TiVo_Series_3_Hard_Drive_Bracket_1600.jpg

It took quite a bit of work with the drill, jigsaw, and sandpaper, but it is rock solid, and the screw holes "mostly" line up 

For the two standoffs, I used 3x30mm screws with copper tube cut to 25mm length
tk386.com/remotepix/tivo_s3_bracket_03.jpg
tk386.com/remotepix/tivo_s3_bracket_02.jpg
tk386.com/remotepix/tivo_s3_bracket_01.jpg

If I had known about the other bracket, I would have bought one of those instead.

I tried installing my original TiVoHD drive, but as a few other folks have said, it didn't work. The TiVo just kept rebooting.

Finally, I received the new hard drive and set it up with Instant Cake. It reports 131 HD hours available, and is practically silent - awesome!

My only concerns are that the rear corner of the case near the power supply has a pretty good dent, and the RF connectors are a little bent. Hopefully they aren't damaged and this will be a good unit to replace my Series 2 TiVo.

Thanks for helping me out for all of these years while I have poked at my many TiVo's! :up:


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Wow, nice work crashmann!!

:up:


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## djsting (Mar 6, 2002)

crashmann said:


> I also won a Series 3 TiVo with no hard drive from eBay. While waiting for the Western Digital WD10EVDS to be delivered, I wrestled with creating a drive bracket from a leftover piece of 1/8" aluminum.
> 
> tk386.com/remotepix/TiVo_Series_3_Hard_Drive_Bracket_800.jpg
> 
> ...


Nice work!!


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## djsting (Mar 6, 2002)

So what is the market on here for a TiVo Series 3 hard drive bracket? I see several people asking about them and in need of one.

I ask because I'm about to start making some and would like to get an idea how many people here would be willing to buy one from me. I'll be looking forward to hearing from everyone. 

As has been mentioned, the Humax DRT400, Humax DRT800, Toshiba RS-TX20, and Toshiba RS-TX60 drive brackets are nearly identical thus what I'm making should work in those units as well...no I can only confirm proper fitment in the S3 as that's what I have to test fit it in.

Also, what is the right forum to put this in once I have them done and ready to go? I'd like to start a new thread for this purpose instead of hijacking this one.


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## jrm01 (Oct 17, 2003)

This statement in the Forum FAQs should answer your question:

*No links to advertising or spam are permitted. No referral links are allowed. No linking to your own site for the sole purpose of driving traffic to it is allowed. No selling of products, including TiVos on the forum.*


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## Phantom Gremlin (Jun 20, 2002)

jrm01 said:


> *No links to advertising or spam are permitted. No referral links are allowed. No linking to your own site for the sole purpose of driving traffic to it is allowed. No selling of products, including TiVos on the forum.*


What he's looking for is something like what AVSForum has, a forum titled "AVS Classifieds - Buy, Sell, Trade!". But the owners of TiVo Community haven't created such a forum. They probably feel it's more trouble to police than it's worth.

It's not like the guy will get rich if he goes out to his garage to bend up some sheet metal for (at most) a dozen interested people. Also there's the problem of people even _finding_ a post in the classified forum. I've been reading AVS for many years and haven't ever ventured into the classified forum.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

jrm01 said:


> This statement in the Forum FAQs should answer your question:
> 
> *No links to advertising or spam are permitted. No referral links are allowed. No linking to your own site for the sole purpose of driving traffic to it is allowed. No selling of products, including TiVos on the forum.*


edited: <removing not such a good idea>


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

_removed a quote of an idea that wasn't really that bad, but just not the greatest given the circumstances_

Well, to those of us who do pay for advertising/marketing, we wouldn't be happy to see that; the spirit of the quoted rule's intent is not to use the forums for monetary gain, whether it is direct or indirect.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

tivoupgrade said:


> Well, to those of us who do pay for advertising/marketing, we wouldn't be happy to see that; the spirit of the quoted rule's intent is not to use the forums for monetary gain, whether it is direct or indirect.


Understood. I'll edit my post if you edit yours!


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## djsting (Mar 6, 2002)

Point understood...I was unaware of such a rule here and just wanted to offer up something that clearly several other community members are in need of (i.e. the true sense of a community...helping each other). I'll not advertise them on this site, maybe stick to eBay or strike a deal with someone here who has contacted me about acting as a reseller of the item.

Thank you for pointing out this rule before I put my foot in it.


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## qz3fwd (Jul 6, 2007)

I bought a NEW S3 this weekend off fleabay.
That makes my third and last Tivo. (Unless they release new hardware this year)
All my needs are covered for now.
I will replace the HDD with a 1.5 myself.


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## homerjaysimpson (Jan 22, 2008)

Is the only difference between an S3 bracket and the S2 the location of the holes? Can I simply drill the S2 bracket to get it to fit? I have been unable to find an S2 bracket.


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