# Most Upgradeable Series 2?



## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

What's the most upgradeable Series 2 TiVo?

I have always bought my boxes directly from TiVo and then installed larger drives so I have no experience with non-TiVo boxes. 

Are the Humax or other manufacturers' hardware any beefier than TiVo hardware? 

Within TiVo series 2, don't the later TDC5400 boxes have a lower rated power supply than the older TDC2400 boxes?

My sister has asked me to buy her a used TiVo Series 2 box, probably from eBay, and upgrade it to as many hours as possible within the budget she's given me. 

So, I thought I'd better find out if one kind of Series 2 is better than others, upgrade-wise.

Another factor is, I guess, whether the older Series 2 can use the latest TiVo software as well.

So, let me ask, in what order would you list the various Series 2 boxes, from most upgradeable to least? Consider TiVo, Humax, Sony, etc.

In what order and why? 

Which is the most desirable for upgrading and why?

Which is the least desirable for upgrading and why?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

All series 2s have the same upgrade rules. The newer ones do tend to have weaker PSUs, so are less amenable to dual drives.

All Series 2s basically run the same software version number, with a sub-version for their particular hardware.

I'd get the lowest cost TiVo as possible,perhaps a DT, maybe even a new one with rebate, and put the savings into the single largest drive I can.


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

classicsat said:


> I'd get the lowest cost TiVo as possible,perhaps a DT, maybe even a new one with rebate, and put the savings into the single largest drive I can.


But I can get two 400GB drives for $100 less than a single 750GB drive. This makes me tend to lean toward dual drives.


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## supasta (May 6, 2006)

Marconi said:


> But I can get two 400GB drives for $100 less than a single 750GB drive. This makes me tend to lean toward dual drives.


I would spend a few minutes looking around this forum for more info on the pros/cons of a Dual-Drive TiVo.


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

supasta said:


> I would spend a few minutes looking around this forum for more info on the pros/cons of a Dual-Drive TiVo.


Well, I do have three of them. So far, so good.


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## bmgoodman (Dec 20, 2000)

IMO, the 540 series was terrible for transferring shows. I think it uses cheaper chips and it always took me realtime or longer to transfer shows at medium quality. The 240 series models transferred much better. I also like the dual tuner models as the video quality seems better, it has built in ethernet, and transfers seem pretty fast. I will admit that I've seen more interrupted transfers with the DT, but I haven't done any research to find out what the cause might be.


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

classicsat said:


> All series 2s have the same upgrade rules. The newer ones do tend to have weaker PSUs, so are less amenable to dual drives.


Does this mean that TCD2xxx models have stronger power supplies than TCD5xxx models?


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

Marconi said:


> Does this mean that TCD2xxx models have stronger power supplies than TCD5xxx models?


No one has answered this yet. Does no one know? It sounded like classicsat was saying that newer Series 2 boxes have weaker power supplies than older Series 2 boxes when he wrote:



classicsat said:


> All series 2s have the same upgrade rules. The newer ones do tend to have weaker PSUs, so are less amenable to dual drives.


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