# woot. $175 series 3 refurb



## sdsvtdriver (Mar 5, 2008)

worth it?

I had been waiting for a series 3. loved the ability to expand and the display of the show... but not sure if it is worth it now with tivo seemly teetering and the new boxes.

thoughts?


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## stiffi (Jun 14, 2006)

Thanks for this. I was literally just checking ebay for Tivo HDs or Series 3 when I saw this.

Think I may have to bite the bullet.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Whatever you read, TiVo is hardly teetering (or has been for 10 years now so get past it). We have a Series3 and a TiVo HD. Just ordered a TiVo Premiere XL. Will be selling the TiVo HD (w/1TB hard drive). If the Premiere didn't exist I would jump on another Series3 and upgrade it to 1TB in a heartbeat. :up:


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## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

sdsvtdriver said:


> worth it?
> 
> I had been waiting for a series 3. loved the ability to expand and the display of the show... but not sure if it is worth it now with tivo seemly teetering and the new boxes.
> 
> thoughts?


As much as I love my Series 3, unless you can't afford it I'd just bite the bullet and go with the Premiere. TiVo is far from teetering. They'll be around longer than most of these refurb Series 3s, I'd bet.


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## sdsvtdriver (Mar 5, 2008)

i've always wanted a series 3, but my tv viewing habits have been rather reduced since the heyday. I do miss a DVR though since Cox wants way too much for one per month.

Not much of a PPV viewer. I am concerned about SDV making the Tivo less than useful in the future though. 1 Tivo for each TV would be nice to stream Netflix to, but the service $24 is a lot for that convenience.

Such choices.


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## chrishicks (Dec 31, 2003)

I bit the bullet and grabbed two(one for me and another for the parents if they take it).

I already have a preconfigured 1TB drive for an S3 sitting around so I'll be good on that aspect too. All I'll need to do is grab a Lifetime sub when the box arrives and I'm golden.


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## stiffi (Jun 14, 2006)

chrishicks said:


> I bit the bullet and grabbed two(one for me and another for the parents if they take it).
> 
> I already have a preconfigured 1TB drive for an S3 sitting around so I'll be good on that aspect too. All I'll need to do is grab a Lifetime sub when the box arrives and I'm golden.


Why were you so convinced. I'm trying to wrap my brain around the benefits. Seems as a current subscriber you could have had a Premiere for about $30 more?


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## sdsvtdriver (Mar 5, 2008)

is this box ANY use w/o a Tivo sub? Will Netflix work?


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## chrishicks (Dec 31, 2003)

stiffi said:


> Why were you so convinced. I'm trying to wrap my brain around the benefits. Seems as a current subscriber you could have had a Premiere for about $30 more?


I'd rather wait until the Premieres have been out in the market for a while to see what type of bugs come up before I buy one. With the S3 I already know what to expect.

EDIT: Another thing is the standard Premiere just wouldn't really cut it for me in recording space. If I didn't already have the 1TB drive it would have been a different story. I will never use another DVR Expander again so the S3 for me was the better way to go for now.

S3 + Lifetime = 470.00 - since I already have a 1TB drive for an S3
Premiere XL + Lifetime = 700.00

Both of those give me 157hrs of HD but I saved some money now which is always a good thing.


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## socrplyr (Jul 19, 2006)

sdsvtdriver said:


> is this box ANY use w/o a Tivo sub? Will Netflix work?


Not really, and nope.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

sdsvtdriver said:


> is this box ANY use w/o a Tivo sub? Will Netflix work?


As socrplyr said, you have to have a TiVo (and Netflix) subscription.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

I saw the woot offer earlier and it did seem tempting for a minute. Then I realized I'd be paying $474 for a refurb S3 plus lifetime where if I ordered a Premiere plus lifetime it would only cost me $498, a $24 difference. If I get another it will most likely be the Premiere and I'll keep my S2 and Tivo HD both with lifetime and upgraded hard drives. I'm just waiting for them to roll out and see that there aren't any problems upgrading the internal drives before I make a final decision.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

brettatk said:


> I saw the woot offer earlier and it did seem tempting for a minute. Then I realized I'd be paying $474 for a refurb S3 plus lifetime where if I ordered a Premiere plus lifetime it would only cost me $498, a $24 difference. If I get another it will most likely be the Premiere and I'll keep my S2 and Tivo HD both with lifetime and upgraded hard drives. I'm just waiting for them to roll out and see that there aren't any problems upgrading the internal drives before I make a final decision.


How about buying one, adding life, and then selling it on Ebay? The going price on Ebay has been about $600-$700. That is tempting.


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## kika2000 (Apr 20, 2009)

I just saw an offer for the series 2 - on sale at B&H for $99 with free shipping.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/512378-REG/TiVo_TCD649080_DVR_S2_DT_Digital_Video.html


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

pl1 said:


> How about buying one, adding life, and then selling it on Ebay? The going price on Ebay has been about $600-$700. That is tempting.


I guess if you wanted to deal with doing all that then it might be worth it.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

I've seen S3 w/ lifetime on eBay go for as little as $400 since the S4 announcement.


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## Phasers (May 29, 2008)

sdsvtdriver said:


> worth it?
> 
> I had been waiting for a series 3. loved the ability to expand and the display of the show... but not sure if it is worth it now with tivo seemly teetering and the new boxes.
> 
> thoughts?


I'm torn.

For $99 it's a no brainer.

But I don't need it, I just love the OLED.


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## chrishicks (Dec 31, 2003)

I was just reading peoples comments/questions over at Woot and saw this:



> macb240 wrote:Curious: If I already have a series 2 TIVO and get an HD TIVO, can you share an HD show recorded on the HD TIVO with the standard definition TIVO?
> 
> Will it automatically downscale the show to standard definition for viewing on the old TIVO, but leave the actual HD recording intact on the HD TIVO?
> 
> susani8 wrote:Yes to both questions. I have a Humax Series 2 and 2 TiVo Series 3s (this box). I can tranfer HD shows to the series 2, and it downscales it to SD, but leaves it untouched on the Series 3. <snip>


Weird how mine doesn't do that. Does anyone here have that ability?


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## vittoria (Apr 15, 2008)

Thanks to the OP for the S3 refurb tip. I bought one this morning. The page said there was a 1-yr parts, 90-day labor warranty, but when I called Tivo about another issue I mentioned I would be adding on a refurbished Series 3 in the near future. We chatted about it for a minute or so but she said there would be no warranty by Tivo because it was a refurb not sold by them directly.

Has anyone ever bought from that site before and does anyone know anything about the warranty of refurbished units NOT sold directly from Tivo themselves?

Thank you.


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## sdsvtdriver (Mar 5, 2008)

I should have added clarification: I do not own a Tivo currently, so the upgrade deals are non-existent for me. 

Regarding woot: I have purchased from them many times. I have not had to return something, but someone that I worked with did. He had no trouble doing so. You may want to post on the forum or email them your concern and see what they say.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

Phasers said:


> For $99 it's a no brainer.
> 
> But I don't need it, I just love the OLED.


I still love my S3 and I paid the $799 for it. 



chrishicks said:


> Weird how mine doesn't do that. Does anyone here have that ability?


I can accomplish that through pyTivo, but yeah, that commenter is mistaken. Maybe confusing (unprotected) "digital" with "HD?"


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Well this cost Tivo a Premiere sale. Was all ready to order one for the $500 (plus $40 in sales tax I have to pay) with lifetime to replace the old Series 2 I use for OTA. Instead will sub in this Series 3 and continue with the $7/mo service I have on the Series 2. 

Great deal.


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## papafreebird (Jul 31, 2008)

hmm. Just my luck. I just bought a tivo hd refurbished from tivo for $199 just before reading this post. Oh well. 

I'm looking forward to the features of the hd that I've been missing since I'm currently a S2 owner.


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## Phasers (May 29, 2008)

windracer said:


> I still love my S3 and I paid the $799 for it.


So did I, but for $25 more I might as well get a premiere 320GB and see what all the fuss is about...

Just the series 3 looks so damn nice.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

Phasers said:


> So did I, but for $25 more I might as well get a premiere 320GB and see what all the fuss is about...
> 
> Just the series 3 looks so damn nice.


I almost bought one of these Series3 boxes today. But I don't want to pay for two more cable cards and _another_ lifetime. What I really want is a TiVo with 4 tuners in it. (And an OLED display wouldn't hurt, either.) I'd pay up to $800 for it, too.


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## bciocco (Mar 28, 2009)

papafreebird said:


> hmm. Just my luck. I just bought a tivo hd refurbished from tivo for $199 just before reading this post. Oh well.
> 
> I'm looking forward to the features of the hd that I've been missing since I'm currently a S2 owner.


FWIU, The HD is a step up from the Series 3. This is a refurb too. You didn't do too bad. I have an HD that I paid $199 for at Sears. I am very pleased with it and will be doing some minor surgery on it soon.


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## EvilMidniteBombr (May 25, 2006)

bciocco said:


> FWIU, The HD is a step up from the Series 3. This is a refurb too. You didn't do too bad. I have an HD that I paid $199 for at Sears. I am very pleased with it and will be doing some minor surgery on it soon.


The TiVo HD is not THX certified, and (I think) has a smaller harddrive than the HD. Perhaps you meant Series 2?



vittoria said:


> Thanks to the OP for the S3 refurb tip. I bought one this morning. The page said there was a 1-yr parts, 90-day labor warranty, but when I called Tivo about another issue I mentioned I would be adding on a refurbished Series 3 in the near future. We chatted about it for a minute or so but she said there would be no warranty by Tivo because it was a refurb not sold by them directly.
> 
> Has anyone ever bought from that site before and does anyone know anything about the warranty of refurbished units NOT sold directly from Tivo themselves?
> 
> Thank you.


I have purchased 2 refurbished TiVos through woot.com and have been very pleased. One was a series 2 w/DVD recorder and the other a TiVoHD. I had to return both before the end of the 90 day warranties. The DVD TiVo had the hard drive replaced at no charge. The TiVoHD quit on me within a week. I returned it to TiVo and it was replaced with, what appeared to be, a brand new TiVo. I consider the latter situation as having lucked out big time. Both were returned to TiVo and woot had nothing to do with the returns.


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## vittoria (Apr 15, 2008)

EvilMidniteBombr said:


> I have purchased 2 refurbished TiVos through woot.com and have been very pleased. One was a series 2 w/DVD recorder and the other a TiVoHD. I had to return both before the end of the 90 day warranties. The DVD TiVo had the hard drive replaced at no charge. The TiVoHD quit on me within a week. I returned it to TiVo and it was replaced with, what appeared to be, a brand new TiVo. I consider the latter situation as having lucked out big time. Both were returned to TiVo and woot had nothing to do with the returns.


Thanks for passing on your experience.

I'm not sure if that's good news or not. I'm glad Tivo honored the warranty...a plus, but I guess I shouldn't expect this S3 refurb to last very long...a big minus.

I hope they're not all junk.


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## skelm (Aug 23, 2001)

in for 1


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

vittoria said:


> Thanks for passing on your experience.
> 
> I'm not sure if that's good news or not. I'm glad Tivo honored the warranty...a plus, but I guess I shouldn't expect this S3 refurb to last very long...a big minus.
> 
> I hope they're not all junk.


The primary failure point with TiVo (by far) is the hard drive. Odds are that the "refurb" was a simple hard drive replacement. So I don't think there's any reason to believe that the refurb Series3's will have a shorter lifespan than normal. Out Series3 is going on four years old now. Although I upgraded the hard drive (still have the original hard drive on the shelf), it has been flawless. I can only hope that the Premiere XL I just ordered will be as solid.

IIRC TiVo will honor warranty work on TiVo's purchased from an _authorized_ TiVo dealer. There was a short period of time where Big Lots had some TiVo HD's for sale...cheap. Since Big Lots was not an authorized TiVo dealer I believe TiVo had some heartburn over warranty work on some of them. (No time to search, but there was a whole thread about it a couple of years ago.) But I think after some back-and-forth they (TiVo) opted to replace some of the units for $49 within the first year. I'm not sure if Woot is an authorized TiVo dealer or not (they very well could be)...might be worth asking them.

The question would be, who refurbished these TiVo's? My WAG would be that it was TiVo. The 250GB drives they use in the Series3 are very specific and all but impossible to find on the open market. They are "sub standard" for regular computer use (WD low-power, 2MB of cache, etc.) but of course work fine in TiVo's. If you look at the Woot photo of the refurb box you can see that it's a normal TiVo label with the serial number, etc., (including "Made in Mexico"). My guess is that Woot simply took a pallet or two of refurb TiVo Series3's off TiVo's (finally get to use the apostrophe correctly!) hands.

I don't think it's a coincidence that these Series3's are showing up at the same moment that the TiVo Premiere makes its debut. Time marches on.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Arcady said:


> What I really want is a TiVo with 4 tuners in it. (And an OLED display wouldn't hurt, either.) I'd pay up to $800 for it, too.


You could always stack two TiVo's on top of each other.


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## sdsvtdriver (Mar 5, 2008)

Cox wants $75 to come out and install these cablecards. That is an INSANE price.


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

sdsvtdriver said:


> Cox wants $75 to come out and install these cablecards. That is an INSANE price.


Yes it is.


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## stiffi (Jun 14, 2006)

I passed. The way I figure, The Premiere only costs $61 more. With the 2 additional cable cards for the Series 3 vs the 1 for the Premiere, I'd only need to have the Premiere for 15 months, to break even. It should last that long right?


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## appleye1 (Jan 26, 2002)

vittoria said:


> Thanks to the OP for the S3 refurb tip. I bought one this morning. The page said there was a 1-yr parts, 90-day labor warranty, but when I called Tivo about another issue I mentioned I would be adding on a refurbished Series 3 in the near future. We chatted about it for a minute or so but she said there would be no warranty by Tivo because it was a refurb not sold by them directly.
> 
> Has anyone ever bought from that site before and does anyone know anything about the warranty of refurbished units NOT sold directly from Tivo themselves?
> 
> Thank you.


The Woot page says:

Warranty:

90 Day TiVo Labor
1 Year TiVo Parts

So yeah, that sounds like Tivo warrants it, and that Woot is probably an authorized dealer. I'd say the CSR was wrong (nothing new there.)


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

stiffi said:


> I passed. The way I figure, The Premiere only costs $61 more. With the 2 additional cable cards for the Series 3 vs the 1 for the Premiere, I'd only need to have the Premiere for 15 months, to break even. It should last that long right?


You can probably get a new Premiere for even less if you go through fatwallet.com. More here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=444176


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## EvilMidniteBombr (May 25, 2006)

vittoria said:


> Thanks for passing on your experience.
> 
> I'm not sure if that's good news or not. I'm glad Tivo honored the warranty...a plus, but I guess I shouldn't expect this S3 refurb to last very long...a big minus.
> 
> I hope they're not all junk.


As stated in other posts. The failure was in the hard drive. The drive that was put into the DVD unit it still going strong. The one in the TiVoHD was replaced by me with a larger drive only because I wanted more capacity. Not because there was a problem.

If you hurry, you still have time!


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

After going through two defective refurb TivoHDs before insisting they send me a new unit, I can't recommend Tivo's refurbs to anyone.

It wasn't the hard drives - neither of them would validate a cable card. The new unit validated the same cable card without a hitch.

I don't know what their recertification process is, but from my experience it doesn't include fully testing cable card slots.


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## vittoria (Apr 15, 2008)

vittoria said:


> Thanks to the OP for the S3 refurb tip. I bought one this morning. The page said there was a 1-yr parts, 90-day labor warranty, but when I called Tivo about another issue I mentioned I would be adding on a refurbished Series 3 in the near future. We chatted about it for a minute or so but she said there would be no warranty by Tivo because it was a refurb not sold by them directly.
> 
> Has anyone ever bought from that site before and does anyone know anything about the warranty of refurbished units NOT sold directly from Tivo themselves?
> 
> Thank you.


Return correspondence from woot:

<<When a product is advertised with manufacturer's warranty, we have spoken with the manufacturer beforehand. In the event that the after the fact, we run into issues, we'll handle the remainder of the warranty.>>


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## Robbdoe1 (Dec 29, 2008)

I'm in for 1. 

Are all the TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapters the same model number? I was looking at them on Tivo.com but they want like $68 with tax and shipping. I can pick one up on Ebay for about $40. Anyone know of a better place or price?

Robb


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

For anyone who records DVDs directly from their TiVo, there is one HUGE advantage of the older S3 and HD units - they have S-video output. When I saw the new Premier units did not have s-video out to feed my DVD recorders, I knew I would never be wasting money on one of them. If that is important to you, better jump now while you can.
Goose


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## kevinwill1 (Apr 18, 2004)

V7Goose said:


> For anyone who records DVDs directly from their TiVo, there is one HUGE advantage of the older S3 and HD units - they have S-video output. When I saw the new Premier units did not have s-video out to feed my DVD recorders, I knew I would never be wasting money on one of them. If that is important to you, better jump now while you can.
> Goose


Holy cow! That never even occurred to me. Thanks so much for the heads up on that. This definitely makes my upgrade decisions harder.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

V7Goose said:


> For anyone who records DVDs directly from their TiVo, there is one HUGE advantage of the older S3 and HD units - they have S-video output. When I saw the new Premier units did not have s-video out to feed my DVD recorders, I knew I would never be wasting money on one of them. If that is important to you, better jump now while you can.
> Goose


That's a good point but I guess it never occurred to me to use S-Video out that way...mostly because of the poor PQ. With TiVo Desktop or any of the other programs available transferring recordings to a computer (and keeping the high PQ including HD) makes more sense, at least to me. I can edit them as needed and easily burn them to DVD, transfer them to an iPod, etc.

But agreed, for folks that use S-Video to make DVD copies directly that's certainly a consideration.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Yes, I do transfer to the computer too, but the fact is, for the vast majority of things I record to DVDs (movies, particularly classic movies), the s-video output into a decent recorder yields results every bit as good as what can be done on the computer. This is true for any SD channel, and even just about every movie made before 2000 when shown on HD channels. Your recordings can only be as good as the source material.

And frankly, since I only watch un-cut, commercial-free programs, it is a WHOLE lot easier to just burn them in real time while I watch them than go to the computer and do the transfer, go back later and set up the authoring, then start the encoding, go back much later to check out the DVD, etc. And by recoding them in real time, I catch the occasional signal problem that keeps me from being surprised later if I just put the disc in the library. Everyone has their own preferences. 
Goose


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

richsadams said:


> You could always stack two TiVo's on top of each other.


Heh.

I could do that, and I have. But it is a pain in the ass to manage an extra TiVo, plus the cost of two more cable cards and another TiVo subscription. I really just want one "super-tivo" that can record everything and then let me play it in any room of my house. My wait continues...


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## skyline987 (Dec 18, 2006)

vittoria said:


> Thanks to the OP for the S3 refurb tip. I bought one this morning. The page said there was a 1-yr parts, 90-day labor warranty, but when I called Tivo about another issue I mentioned I would be adding on a refurbished Series 3 in the near future. We chatted about it for a minute or so but she said there would be no warranty by Tivo because it was a refurb not sold by them directly.
> 
> Has anyone ever bought from that site before and does anyone know anything about the warranty of refurbished units NOT sold directly from Tivo themselves?
> 
> Thank you.


I think you may have been lied to. I had a problem with one of the 2 i bought from woot. The OLED display wasn't working on it. I wish i saved the transcript from the online chat because it was a classic. First he didn't know what an OLED display was. Then he told me to adjust the brightness settings. After telling him i did that he had me do it anyway just to make sure. Next he told me it wasn't covered under warranty, followed by it is covered but i had to call up for an exchange. I opted for an advanced exchange so they put a $400 hold on my card which will be taken off when they get the broken box back. Four days later and I have another (working) refurb unit thats awaiting someone from Comcast to call me back to have my new Host ID's changed in their system. Other then that it works like a charm.

As far as Woot goes I buy from them all the time and this is the first problem i've had. According to their website they will not exchange merchandise because there is usually nothing left but if it is damaged and you have no luck with the manufacturer they will give you a refund.


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## msrolla (Feb 11, 2004)

It's baaaaack on Woot today! http://www.woot.com/ Same price, refurb. No Woot-off.


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## Dr_Zoidberg (Jan 4, 2004)

These don't support M-cards, do they?


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> These don't support M-cards, do they?


They do, but each M-Card will only be able to use a single stream so you'll still need 2 of them.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Dr_Zoidberg said:


> These don't support M-cards, do they?


They support them in S-card compatible mode. So you need TWO of either M-card or S-card flavors.

I have 2x M-cards in my S3 right now.

Diane


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## emerz (Aug 18, 2007)

Teetering back and forth on this.. Probably go with a Premier.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

emerz said:


> Teetering back and forth on this.. Probably go with a Premier.


People complain about the Series3 being slow. From what I've seen in the reviews of the Premier, the new flash interface is far slower than anything I've ever seen on my S3 boxes.

I pulled the trigger at Woot! so I can have a spare if one my S3 boxes ever dies.


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## LoneWolf15 (Mar 20, 2010)

generaltso said:


> People complain about the Series3 being slow. From what I've seen in the reviews of the Premier, the new flash interface is far slower than anything I've ever seen on my S3 boxes.
> 
> I pulled the trigger at Woot! so I can have a spare if one my S3 boxes ever dies.


The new interface isn't fully optimized yet; all the reviews at this point are "previews" since the box hasn't been officially released.

If you don't like it though, the Premiere can be switched to the Classic interface with just a few button presses. I'm sure Tivo's first release of the Premiere OS won't be their last one.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

generaltso said:


> People complain about the Series3 being slow. From what I've seen in the reviews of the Premier, the new flash interface is far slower than anything I've ever seen on my S3 boxes.
> 
> I pulled the trigger at Woot! so I can have a spare if one my S3 boxes ever dies.


I LOVE my Series3, and I'm considering doing the Woot thing as well. $1000 when I bought the original (including the PLS transfer) + ~$475 (woot price + MSD PLS) would help average down the per cost of the units...

Gotta love the logic, huh?


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## gweempose (Mar 23, 2003)

LoneWolf15 said:


> If you don't like [the new interface] though, the Premiere can be switched to the Classic interface with just a few button presses ...


Plus, it's pretty much a fact that the old interface will run faster on the Premiere than it does on the S3. Therefore, the whole argument of not buying the Premiere over the S3 because the new machine is laggy is somewhat moot. The way I see it, the S3 only has one advantage over the Premiere, and that's the OLED display. Other than that, I don't see how someone can possibly argue that the S3 is a better machine. Cheaper, yes, but better, hardly.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

Robbdoe1 said:


> ...Are all the TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapters the same model number? I was looking at them on Tivo.com but they want like $68 with tax and shipping. I can pick one up on Ebay for about $40. Anyone know of a better place or price?


The going rate on Amazon is just under $40: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...thepilotcast-20?ie=UTF8&qid=1269701412&sr=1-1

I got a few by buying Series 2s with the adapters off of Craigslist.

------

I recommended this Series 3 on Woot to my neighbor who is depending on Comcast's ever-diminishing generosity with ClearQAM. I'd set him up with a larger hard drive right away.

Like for the you folks above, this S3 was tempting for me but since I have no immediate need I'll wait to get a Premiere.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

LoneWolf15 said:


> If you don't like it though, the Premiere can be switched to the Classic interface with just a few button presses.


I wasn't aware of that. I knew that several of the sub-menus still used the old interface, but I didn't realize you could switch the entire thing to use it. Taking that into account, the Premier is definitely a better box than the TiVoHD that it replaces. But the OLED on the original Series3 still keeps it at the top of my list.


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## m.s (Mar 8, 2007)

gweempose said:


> Other than that, I don't see how someone can possibly argue that the S3 is a better machine. Cheaper, yes, but better, hardly.


The S3 is hackable, it is not yet known whether the Premier can be...


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## emerz (Aug 18, 2007)

m.s said:


> The S3 is hackable, it is not yet known whether the Premier can be...


{Fingers Crossed} for 2T+ internal upgrades.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

m.s said:


> The S3 is hackable, it is not yet known whether the Premier can be...


At this time the Premier is *not* hackable, but i am sure the tools for hacking the Premier will be out soon.


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## jgantert (Jan 24, 2008)

gweempose said:


> The way I see it, the S3 only has one advantage over the Premiere, and that's the OLED display. Other than that, I don't see how someone can possibly argue that the S3 is a better machine. Cheaper, yes, but better, hardly.


That model can also add any eSata hard drive. So far, its the only Tivo to do so. Those WD DVR Expanders are crap, and that's a huge plus. :up:


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=3863673
Woots sold: 440


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

orangeboy said:


> http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=3863673
> Woots sold: 440





> TiVo Series 3 High Definition 250GB THX Certified DVR
> Current numbers (updated each minute)
> *First sucker:* vfrdirk
> Speed to first woot: 1m 1.950s
> ...


Haha, "first sucker". Doesn't exactly help me trust this outfit.
Are they just trying to be funny?


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

steve614 said:


> Are they just trying to be funny?


Yes, that's their trademark way of doing business. If you subscribe to their RSS feed they actually send out some pretty hilarious and interesting stuff (and some lame things once in a while) about their products and other things just to get a laugh or a wow. Their staff of writers is very creative and do a great job of driving people to their site. I haven't purchased a TiVo from them, but I have bought a number of other things from Woot! and they are very reliable.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

richsadams said:


> Yes, that's their trademark way of doing business. If you subscribe to their RSS feed they actually send out some pretty hilarious and interesting stuff (and some lame things once in a while) about their products and other things just to get a laugh or a wow. Their staff of writers is very creative and do a great job of driving people to their site. I haven't purchased a TiVo from them, but I have bought a number of other things from Woot! and they are very reliable.


Hey wait, I thought you worked for Tivo, not Woot!


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## m.s (Mar 8, 2007)

steve614 said:


> Haha, "first sucker". Doesn't exactly help me trust this outfit.
> Are they just trying to be funny?


Woot is generally pretty irreverent, and also isn't shy about letting users criticize the items they're selling. Here's some more info.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

m.s said:


> Woot is generally pretty irreverent, and also isn't shy about letting users criticize the items they're selling.


Yep, I actually ordered one of their specials, a "Box 'O Crap" once. $5 plus $5 shipping (everything they sell is $5 shipping). They said it could be some "...really great crap, or just crap". For ten bucks? How could it miss?! Ended up being a USB powered pair of the little yellow Woot flashing lights. Crap. Some poor guy at Goodwill is deciding if he really needs them or not...as we speak! 


pl1 said:


> Hey wait, I thought you worked for Tivo, not Woot!


D'oh!  Cover blown. Must - immigrate - to - next - foreign - land.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

richsadams said:


> Yep, I actually ordered one of their specials, a "Box 'O Crap" once. $5 plus $5 shipping (everything they sell is $5 shipping). They said it could be some "...really great crap, or just crap". For ten bucks? How could it miss?! Ended up being a USB powered pair of the little yellow Woot flashing lights. Crap. Some poor guy at Goodwill is deciding if he really needs them or not...as we speak!


My ex-boss watched and tried to get a "Box 'O Crap" ("Bag 'O Crap"?) so many times, and always got the "Server Busy" message or "Sold Out". It was like his white whale. He was overjoyed when he finally got one! :up:


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

V7Goose said:


> For anyone who records DVDs directly from their TiVo, there is one HUGE advantage of the older S3 and HD units - they have S-video output. When I saw the new Premier units did not have s-video out to feed my DVD recorders, I knew I would never be wasting money on one of them. If that is important to you, better jump now while you can.
> Goose


Yeah, it's a bummer that the Premiere lacks s-video out. Even today, if I have standard def stuff I wish to archive, I prefer to do WAY less work and just use my standalone DVD recorder (via s-video).

For high def content, I end up having to use the workflow at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7812248#post7812248. (I left a few steps out for simplicity like verifying the AVCHDs are ok, have no "missing video" at the end, etc.)


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

richsadams said:


> Their staff of writers is very creative and do a great job of driving people to their site. I haven't purchased a TiVo from them, but I have bought a number of other things from Woot! and they are very reliable.


:up::up:

Their t-shirts are of decent quality too for $10. I've scored a number of great shirts for my 10 year old.


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## scooterboy (Mar 27, 2001)

cwerdna said:


> Yeah, it's a bummer that the Premiere lacks s-video out. Even today, if I have standard def stuff I wish to archive, I prefer to do WAY less work and just use my standalone DVD recorder (via s-video).


Is it worth $150 to you?


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

sdsvtdriver said:


> Tivo for each TV would be nice to stream Netflix to, but the service $24 is a lot for that convenience.


You could get cheap bluray players off of Ebay that stream Netflix. ~$75 per unit and no monthly subscription for the unit.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

As is par for the way my life goes, I could really use one of these Series 3s now. I hope Woot offers them again.

I just pulled the trigger on the LG 37" 1080P HDTV for $529(!) shipped from NewEgg. (You need a $100 discount code which they sent by email.)

If anybody bought one of these S3s and wants to sell it for at or near what it cost lemme know by PM. 
_[Update: I have an offer. THANKS!]_

_(And for anybody who knew about it: I do have the AmEx extended warranty coverage on my broken 37" Sharp Aquos LCD. I haven't as yet called on that to see if they'll cover the physical damage.)
_


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## mae (Dec 10, 2001)

They will probably have them in the next Woot-Off since they didn't sell out. There was one last week, so it should be in about 3 weeks (give or take 3 weeks-it is Woot).


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

woot started a click threw 'adventure' marketing idea today. The end result is they are putting more then one item up for sale each day. I think I like it but time will tell.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

It will be gone tomorrow, since April Fool's Day will be over...


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## bkthiess (Mar 11, 2010)

Two weeks in, and mine has completely failed. Constant reboots, missed recordings, glitches in the shows it does record, non-responsive to any buttons. Total piece of crap. Going to call Tivo today since I know woot won't replace. Tivo's warranty says I'm responsible for shipping. 2 weeks. This is so bogus.


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

Arcady said:


> It will be gone tomorrow, since April Fool's Day will be over...


ahh, got me on that one


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

bkthiess said:


> Two weeks in, and mine has completely failed. Constant reboots, missed recordings, glitches in the shows it does record, non-responsive to any buttons. Total piece of crap. Going to call Tivo today since I know woot won't replace. Tivo's warranty says I'm responsible for shipping. 2 weeks. This is so bogus.


SOP
Is this your first Tivo? Chances are the problem is your Hard Drive. You may want to consider installing & upgrading your HD yourself. Check out the sticky at the top of this the S3 forum. Lots of space is *very cool*.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

alyssa said:


> SOP
> Is this your first Tivo? Chances are the problem is your Hard Drive. You may want to consider installing & upgrading your HD yourself. Check out the sticky at the top of this the S3 forum. Lots of space is *very cool*.


These units have used Hard drives in them, I checked one and and it had over 25,000 hours on it.


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## reubanks (Feb 19, 2006)

lessd said:


> These units have used Hard drives in them, I checked one and and it had over 25,000 hours on it.


Wow, that's some hard drive!

My 2TB unit only has 2777 hours of SD storage!

Randy


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

lessd said:


> These units have used Hard drives in them, I checked one and and it had over 25,000 hours on it.


Hi Les, AFAIK there wasn't anything noted about them having new hard drives. Seems like that's probably the original hard drive. That would make the unit just shy of three years old which could be about right. Since the units are refurbs they could have been returned for something else like a failed power supply, etc.


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## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

bkthiess said:


> Two weeks in, and mine has completely failed. Constant reboots, missed recordings, glitches in the shows it does record, non-responsive to any buttons. Total piece of crap. Going to call Tivo today since I know woot won't replace. Tivo's warranty says I'm responsible for shipping. 2 weeks. This is so bogus.


Bummer...but it sounds like either TiVo or Woot will stand behind your Series3 according to this post...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7820313#post7820313

BTW, as Alyssa mentioned, replacing the hard drive/upgrading is quite easy if you're comfortable connecting a hard drive to a computer. If you click on the link below signature you'll find all of the info you need.


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## donnoh (Mar 7, 2008)

lessd said:


> These units have used Hard drives in them, I checked one and and it had over 25,000 hours on it.


How do you see how many hours a hard drive has on it? 24/7/365 is 8760 hours so 25k would be about 3 years.

Again my question is how do you check the number of hours?


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

donnoh said:


> How do you see how many hours a hard drive has on it? 24/7/365 is 8760 hours so 25k would be about 3 years.
> 
> Again my question is how do you check the number of hours?


I use a program HD Tune v2.53 (its free) under drive health you get the full readout of the drive (I guess its part of SMART) This tells you everything including how many times the drive was started and stopped. You have to connect the drive directly to the computer not using a USB port (esata port is OK)


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## MungoJerrie (Mar 30, 2006)

Got my woot yesterday. This thing is awesome. The OLED display is sweet, the remote is cooler than the stock tivo remote. Unit is in great condition hardly a scratch on it, like brand new. It's been working perfectly so far. I'm very happy with this one!


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## bkthiess (Mar 11, 2010)

Hats off to Tivo who has offered to send a replacement for free. Still frustrating that it died so quickly, but they were pleasant to work with.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

I rushed to get mine breathing yesterday afternoon right before the Comcast tech was due with my *two* CableCARDS.

I thought I'd take the easy route and just run one HDMI cable to HDMI 3 on the big HDTV was amazed that apparently you can't get through setup that way. I saw the "Just a few minutes more..." and then nuttin'. I _happened_ to have left the old 20" Sony right there so I scrambled to dig up a long enough composite cable set & etc and there it was.

Even after setup the HDMI would go black. The TiVo did show HDMI and HDCP active, but the TV saw no signal. I ran component cables...and through more hacking determined that the TiVo and TV were happier on HDMI port 2 on the TV. I figure this yet another manifestation of that ever-consumer-friendly HDCP, or my long monoprice cables are not as good as they look.

The CableCARD install went OK, other than me hassling the tech not to mess with my cables. I suspected that with my ranting that he _better_ bring two cards so it doesn't take all day like the last time, they looked and saw that they didn't know I had two cards already. He was writing down my numbers. (He was merely trying to do a checkup for me. I later apologized and showed him the amplified splitter in the "wiring closet" (furnace closet))

As per usual he had to call and get the other side to make a few hits, but both cards worked. They have handheld wireless smartphones to do the work. It look like he was using a web server on it.

While the tech worked I signed up for Lifetime on the new S3. After all I can cancel in the first 30 days. "Activation will atke up to 24 hours" WTF? With a reboot and forced call the new unit saw Lifetime service.

THEN last night on my OLD Series 3 I got "searching for signal" on some channels, including HBO HD, while others worked fine. During this time the new S3 saw those channels fine. I rebooted and cursed and chased the loose -if-you-merely-look-at-it-it- will-pull-out cables on the old unit and reconnected them all and rebooted and rebooted and rechecked and eventually after a random 20 minutes I could watch HBO HD again on the original unit.

I gotta figure they were rezapping my old cards to verify them which made one go dead.

I'm looking forward to suddenly seeing charges for *3* CableCARDs on my bill. *sigh* As long as they don't try to charge me for previous use.

Only MRV between the new S3 and the old units is not working. They see each other but no access. I've done another handful of reboots and forced connects but I guess until I face TiVo and sacrifice an Albino chicken...._[Update: Another forced call on the new unit and MRV is working. What was weird was it worked S3<-->S2 and New S3<-->S2 but not S3<-->S3]_

Now I just have to reproduce a few years worth of entering Season Passes and subscriptions. On the bright side I won't be getting the unkillable zombie Shelly Palmer videos on this one.

Off to order a hard drive. THIS one will be set up right with 2 x 1.5TB drives.


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## generaltso (Nov 4, 2003)

netringer said:


> I'm looking forward to suddenly seeing charges for *3* CableCARDs on my bill. *sigh* As long as they don't try to charge me for previous use.


You should prepare yourself for the famous Comcast "Additional Digital Outlet" charge as well.


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## MikeAndrews (Jan 17, 2002)

generaltso said:


> You should prepare yourself for the famous Comcast "Additional Digital Outlet" charge as well.


Yeah. They already told me about that. *sigh* Ya picks yer devil.

As a funny: I got REPEATED robo-phone calls the day before the visit, some hang-ups, but an actual *3* where I heard and acknowledged the message that I had an appointment. Since I'm doing real work and have better things to do than answer the phone every few minutes I called Comcast and told the poor rep to stop calling. "Sir, it's an automated system'" (Duh!) "I'll make a note of it." NOTE that if I get two more phone calls I will cancel Comcast service entirely!

I never got another phone call. Not even from the rep who visited.  Somewhere deep inside, Comcast does have an actual brain cell that gets applied in some limited cases.

Another weirdness. On the work order, they had the name of the long-dead business that was in my house before I bought it as a foreclosure. There was no active cable service until I had it installed. They had a DevilTV dish.


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

netringer said:


> Off to order a hard drive. THIS one will be set up right with 2 x 1.5TB drives.


Take a look at the sticky thread, there's a way to do a 2TB internal install.

Kinda make me wish I had another tivo to upgrade.


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