# Mini Teardown



## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

Has anyone ever compared the TCDA92000 to the TCDA93000? I had always heard that the 'main differences' was the style of the remote and the fact that the newer Mini had a RF remote. Recently I read that the TCDA93000 is also faster. If the processor is different, I suspect this could impact app performance and I use the TiVo as a streamer (Netflix, Amazon, and Plex). Anyone able to reassure me that there is no performance penalty for the TCDA92000?


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

There are FCC photos of the motherboards somewhere.

The motherboard was redesigned, but the CPU is the same. The faster speed is only a hair (apps load maybe a second or two faster) and is most likely because of slightly faster flash storage. The difference is minimal which is why the RF remote is the main change. Neither choice is wrong, save some money with the 9200 or have the RF convenience with the 9300.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

As BigJim points out, they did reconfigure the circuit board on the 9300 Mini. Someone on here did a speed comparison between the 9200 Mini and the 9300 Mini. I think the result was that the 9300 Mini is around 10-15% faster than the 9200 Mini on some tasks, but that is probably not enough of a performance boost for the average user to notice.

Having said that, if you are trying to choose between the old Mini and the new Mini, I would go for the new Mini because of the remote alone. I think the Roamio remote is superior to the Premiere remote in multiple ways, not just because of the RF. The Roamio remote size and weight feels/fits better in your hand and the button push feedback feels better and is more precise. I have 3 of the old 9200 Minis, and I have replaced all of their remotes with the Roamio remotes because I like them so much better, even though I can only use them in IR mode.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

tarheelblue32 said:


> As BigJim points out, they did reconfigure the circuit board on the 9300 Mini. Someone on here did a speed comparison between the 9200 Mini and the 9300 Mini. I think the result was that the 9300 Mini is around 10-15% faster than the 9200 Mini on some tasks, but that is probably not enough of a performance boost for the average user to notice.
> 
> Having said that, if you are trying to choose between the old Mini and the new Mini, I would go for the new Mini because of the remote alone. I think the Roamio remote is superior to the Premiere remote in multiple ways, not just because of the RF. The Roamio remote size and weight feels/fits better in your hand and the button push feedback feels better and is more precise. I have 3 of the old 9200 Minis, and I have replaced all of their remotes with the Roamio remotes because I like them so much better, even though I can only use them in IR mode.


I love the newer remotes also, but they have their *finder receiver *on all the time and suck down the batteries faster than the old remotes.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

lessd said:


> I love the newer remotes also, but they have their *finder receiver *on all the time and suck down the batteries faster than the old remotes.


If you have them in IR mode, they probably don't do that.


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## JWhites (May 15, 2013)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I have 3 of the old 9200 Minis, and I have replaced all of their remotes with the Roamio remotes because I like them so much better, even though I can only use them in IR mode.


Why don't you get a few of the RF dongles from Weeknees and pair them to the Roamio remotes? That's what I did with my 9200 and it's amazing, plus the added convenience of being able to check the battery life and use the remote finder feature. I haven't experienced any battery life issues with using them in RF mode.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

JWhites said:


> Why don't you get a few of the RF dongles from Weeknees and pair them to the Roamio remotes? That's what I did with my 9200 and it's amazing, plus the added convenience of being able to check the battery life and use the remote finder feature. I haven't experienced any battery life issues with using them in RF mode.


I could, but I'm content with IR. So I personally see no reason to spend the money on it.


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## MisterWho (Oct 7, 2007)

tarheelblue32 said:


> I could, but I'm content with IR. So I personally see no reason to spend the money on it.


I recently bought the older mini on woot and wanted to pair an extra roamio remote I had laying around already. After a quick chat with TiVo support, a free rf dongle was offered and sent to me without me asking. My original question was where I could order the dongle from TiVo as I did not see it listed on their store (it's only included when choosing the mini version of the slide remote).


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