# Considering purchase of Bolt from WeakKnees



## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

I am currently running a Premiere that is many years old and I am getting worried about it failing and being Tivo-less.

I was able to order a second cablecard from Comcast, so I should be able to setup a Bolt as a second Tivo.

I am guessing that a Bolt from WeakKnees will come with TE4. I am concerned whether or not my current usage of kmttg and pytivo will continue to work with TE4. Anyone know? If there are problems with TE4 can I downgrade the Bolt to TE3?

I have experimented with lots of alternatives to Tivo and have yet to find an alternative that works nearly as well. So I am willing to take a chance that Comcast will continue to support my cablecard for a while.

If I bought an Edge or a Roamio I'd have to choose between cable and OTA. I want cable for now, but I want OTA support for the future in case Comcast drops cablecard support. Plus the Edge only has two stinking tuners and I've read lots of negative reports about the Edge.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

howards said:


> If I bought an Edge or a Roamio I'd have to choose between cable and OTA.


Roamio’s are the same as BOLT’s in this regard, except less restricted.

The original 4-tuner Roamio can support either OTA or CableCARD, and the 4-tuner Roamio OTA can be easily modded to do so, as well. The BOLT OTA has no such flexibility. (And 6-tuner models of both series are CableCARD-only.)


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## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> The original 4-tuner Roamio can support either OTA or CableCARD, and the 4-tuner Roamio OTA can be easily modded to do so, as well. The BOLT OTA has no such flexibility. (And 6-tuner models of both series are CableCARD-only.)


WeakKnees only lists cable-only or OTA-only Roamios.

This website: Tivo Customer Support Community
lists only cablecard Roamios.

Is there a Tivo product number I should search for to get a Roamio that handles both OTA and cablecard?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

TiVo DVRs with Free Lifetime Service (No Service Fees)!


TiVo DVRs, remotes, upgrades, parts, and repairs for all TiVo, DIRECTV, Bolt, Roamio, Premiere and other DVR models.




www.weaknees.com





Weaknees’ price would have me reconsidering. eBay or this forum’s market sub forums might be the way to go.


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## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

I don't see any cablecard/OTA Roamios available in the market sub forum.

Do you think the Bolt is a bad way to go compared to an eBay Roamio? Not concerned about price.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

howards said:


> Do you think the Bolt is a bad way to go compared to an eBay Roamio? Not concerned about price.


To each their own. Roamio’s are my preference.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

howards said:


> I am guessing that a Bolt from WeakKnees will come with TE4. I am concerned whether or not my current usage of kmttg and pytivo will continue to work with TE4. Anyone know? If there are problems with TE4 can I downgrade the Bolt to TE3?


All Bolts (except the Bolt OTA only model) can be downgraded to TE3. So, if you were to buy the cable/OTA 4 tuner model, and it came with TE4 installed, you should be able to downgrade to TE3. The only possible reason that it may not downgrade is if the hard drive is larger than 3Tb while running TE4.


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

When I was thinking of buying a new Tivo, it was cheaper to get it direct from Tivo.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

howards said:


> I don't see any cablecard/OTA Roamios available in the market sub forum.
> 
> Do you think the Bolt is a bad way to go compared to an eBay Roamio? Not concerned about price.


I think the Roamio is a better more solid option, especially because of the 3.5" drive, I would buy one from eBay over a Bolt from Weaknees at what is probably higher cost.


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

I've got a Bolt and Roamio Plus. Both upgraded to 3TB. Roamio all the way for me. Bolts are POS, Roamios are solid hardware, IME.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

justen_m said:


> I've got a Bolt and Roamio Plus. Both upgraded to 3TB. Roamio all the way for me. Bolts are POS, Roamios are solid hardware, IME.


There are two versions of the Bolt.

I had a very bad experience with the White Version, it had a loud fan noise and I returned it. So, on that, I will agree with you.

But, I also bought a Black Bolt Vox, which was a later version, and I have been totally satisfied with that one. Like every TiVo I buy, I installed a larger drive in it right away. A lot of the Bolt failures are hard drive related, since they put 2.5" SMR drives in there, so upgrading the hard drive may influence my opinion somewhat. But I've had the Bolt Vox since 8/19 and knock on wood, it has worked just as good as my Roamio. Bonus, I get 4K on the Bolt with Fios.


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

pl1 said:


> I had a very bad experience with the White Version, it had a loud fan noise and I returned it. So, on that, I will agree with you.
> was a later version, and I have been totally satisfied with that one. Like every TiVo I buy, I installed a larger drive in it right away. A lot of the Bolt failures are hard
> 
> 
> ...


Didn'tt know there was a black one. My bad.


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## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

Thank you all for your input. I found an all-in Roamio on eBay for about $180. Thought that was a decent deal. Hope it works out well.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

howards said:


> Thank you all for your input. I found an all-in Roamio on eBay for about $180. Thought that was a decent deal. Hope it works out well.


Got a link to the auction?

If this one, seems a decent bet. Not sure why they're including the Mini USB cable, and the remote button printing is worn down, but a replacement remote is easy enough to obtain.


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## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

TiVo Roamio Series5 - TCD846500 HD (500GB) DVR for sale online | eBay


Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for TiVo Roamio Series5 - TCD846500 HD (500GB) DVR at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



www.ebay.com


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

howards said:


> TiVo Roamio Series5 - TCD846500 HD (500GB) DVR for sale online | eBay
> 
> 
> Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for TiVo Roamio Series5 - TCD846500 HD (500GB) DVR at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
> ...


Any mention of Lifetime/All-In service in that listing?

Also a little concerning that the auction detail states "Roamio OTA" but the pics are of a basic Roamio.

edit: I was looking at the wrong auction, a "something similar this way comes" listing to which I was diverted, owing to the original auction having closed.


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## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

Auction clearly states Lifetime service included and seller has already contacted me about transferring the service to my account.

Auction also says OTA and cable (which is what I want) and model number TCD846500 is correct for the unit that supports OTA and cable.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

howards said:


> Auction clearly states Lifetime service included and seller has already contacted me about transferring the service to my account.
> 
> Auction also says OTA and cable (which is what I want) and model number TCD846500 is correct for the unit that supports OTA and cable.


Honestly, no clue what I was looking at earlier. The link sent me to an entirely different auction, for some $50 unit. 

edit: oh, ok. My mistake. The auction I was looking at was a “something similar” result, and I failed to recognize the banner. (Other sloppiness was involved, as well, but this was the seed.)

Unit looks good. Remote looks as if they used a universal remote, instead. (None of the buttons appear worn.)


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Something to consider, since you've wisely chosen a Roamio w/ 3.5" HDD compatibility. (Up to 3 TB is drop-in easy.)









Amazon.com: Western Digital 3TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD30EFZX : Electronics


Amazon.com: Western Digital 3TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive HDD - 5400 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 128 MB Cache, 3.5" -WD30EFZX : Electronics



www.amazon.com


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## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> Something to consider, since you've wisely chosen a Roamio w/ 3.5" HDD compatibility. (Up to 3 TB is drop-in easy.)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the suggestion. I probably won't upgrade the Roamio. My Premiere has a 500GB hard disk and whenever I get close filling it up I just use kmttg to transfer some shows to my PC (where storage is basically unlimited since I have a lot of USB drives).


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## gamo62 (Oct 12, 2002)

krkaufman said:


> Roamio’s are the same as BOLT’s, except less restricted.
> 
> The original 4-tuner Roamio can support either OTA or CableCARD, and the 4-tuner Roamio OTA can be easily modded to do so, as well. The BOLT OTA has no such flexibility. (And 6-tuner models of both series are CableCARD-only.)


But the 4 tuner Bolts do have both. But they only have 500gb.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> Roamio’s are the same as BOLT’s, except less restricted.
> 
> The original 4-tuner Roamio can support either OTA or CableCARD, *and the 4-tuner Roamio OTA can be easily modded to do so, as well. **The BOLT OTA has no such flexibility.* (And 6-tuner models of both series are CableCARD-only.)





gamo62 said:


> But the 4 tuner Bolts do have both. But they only have 500gb.


What krkaufman was pointing out is that the Roamio OTA only model can be modified to accept a cableCARD, where the Bolt OTA only model can't. Both the Roamio and Bolt have a 4 tuner OTA "or" cable model.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

krkaufman said:


> Roamio’s are the same as BOLT’s, except less restricted.
> 
> The original 4-tuner Roamio can support either OTA or CableCARD, and the 4-tuner Roamio OTA can be easily modded to do so, as well. The BOLT OTA has no such flexibility. (And 6-tuner models of both series are CableCARD-only.)


One other important difference worth noting is that the Bolt OTA can not be downgraded to TE3, whereas the Roamio OTA can run either TE3 or TE4.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

pl1 said:


> What krkaufman was pointing out is that the Roamio OTA only model can be modified to accept a cableCARD, where the Bolt OTA only model can't. Both the Roamio and Bolt have a 4 tuner OTA "or" cable model.


Yes, strictly scoped to just countering the quoted statement from the OP:


howards said:


> If I bought an Edge or a Roamio I'd have to choose between cable and OTA.


“Roamio’s are the same as the BOLT’s” is a crazy statement absent that context; though, admittedly, I could have been more explicit.


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## mlee (Mar 2, 2019)

I have a Bolt that supports streaming and cable card. My second bolt is cable only. Moved and now I'll be selling these if anyone is interested


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

mlee said:


> I have a Bolt that supports streaming and cable card. My second bolt is cable only. Moved and now I'll be selling these if anyone is interested


There's a forum for that








Buyer/Seller Area


Looking to trade, buy, or sell your TiVo gear? Talk with other members and make a deal! Note: caveat emptor: TiVoCommunity will not be responsible in any way for deals made in this forum.




www.tivocommunity.com


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## mlee (Mar 2, 2019)

Yeah I know... was just mentioning that some Bolts are both OTA and Cable as someone else mentioned they were not.


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## mrsean (May 15, 2006)

pl1 said:


> The only possible reason that it may not downgrade is if the hard drive is larger than 3Tb while running TE4.


Woah. I never heard of this issue before. Is there a thread were it is being discussed?


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

mrsean said:


> Woah. I never heard of this issue before. Is there a thread were it is being discussed?


There have been a few discussions regarding this, mostly by @tommage1, who has tested most upgrade and downgrade options. Most people are afraid to test this, in case they are stuck in TE4. But the gist of the issue is that TE3 can only self format up to 3TB, while TE4 can self format up to possibly 14TB. If you let TE4 format greater than 3TB, it is alleged that you can not then downgrade to TE3. And, since the software resides on the flash memory of the TiVo (as apposed to the hard drive), it may permanently lock your TioVo into TE4. There are too many mentions to give you a specific thread, so a search may be best. Tivo may not downgrade to TE3 is if the hard drive is larger than 3Tb while running TE4. - Google Search


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## howards (Oct 31, 2007)

Thanks everyone for your help. My new-to-me Roamio from eBay arrived and after several days trying to get Comcast to correctly pair the cablecard all is well.


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## SprintDrive (11 mo ago)

I think there are far less 4 tuner cable or OTA Romios available since it was the first Roamio model released and wasn't discounted like the Roamio OTA. Since the Roamio OTA could be modded to accept a cable card and was significantly cheaper, the original model sales declined.


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## SprintDrive (11 mo ago)

I've been using a white bolt with a 3TB Seagate 2.5" drive for five years. I replaced the drive right after I bought it. I bought the Seagate drive from amazon and the listing stated that it was a return and the packaging was open. I only paid $99 for the drive. The Bolt interface is more responsive than the Roamio and is better for using apps.


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