# Can someone make a smaller TiVo - is this possible?



## Jo.Cassady (Jul 21, 2002)

Hi so my undrestanding is that the silver box is a Thomson Scenium & the software is tivo

Silly question.. does anyone know how to build a tivo? 

The silver boxes are huuge.


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## dialanothernumb (Dec 6, 2002)

Jo.Cassady said:


> Hi so my undrestanding is that the silver box is a Thomson Scenium & the software is tivo
> 
> Silly question.. does anyone know how to build a tivo?
> 
> The silver boxes are huuge.


As you say, the software is tivo, so, without recoding the software you will not be able to build a TiVo as such.

Clearly there are many other DVRs and PVRs and a lot of alternative operting systems that provide a similar service to TiVo but none replicate the TiVo and its service level in exactly the same way.


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## Sneals2000 (Aug 25, 2002)

Presumably, given the US series 1 Tivos and the UK series 1 Tivo are nearly identical in PCB terms, but the US models always seem smaller, it might be possible to mount a UK Tivo PCB into a smaller US box? 

However the back panel would need to be modified (US Tivos had phonos not SCARTs), and the UK PSU might be too big I guess?


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Sneals2000 said:


> it might be possible to mount a UK Tivo PCB into a smaller US box?


You could mount the PCB into any box that would accommodate it.

You'd have to leave enough height for a series 1 PSU (60mm) though, or a cachecard (70mm) unless somebody came up with a mounting adapter to lay it on its side, so it wouldn't exactly be slimline.

However, there would be enough room to mount a single drive above the motherboard so you could make it a lot narrower (maybe 350mm) if you did that.

The biggest problem I can forsee with a smaller case would be cooling, so you'd need a nice cool drive (eg. Samsung HA250JC) and plenty of ventilation slots if you were going to do away with the case fan.

I guess an upright case like an xBox 360 would give better cooling though, and is clearly a "modern" look, so maybe here's a possiblity:- 350mm high, 320mm deep and 70mm wide. Nice sculpted frontplate with the IR window mounted vertically...


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## cyril (Sep 5, 2001)

Series 1 US and Series 1 UK are both exactly the same size boxes.

Series 2 (and 3?) are smaller.

There's a lot of empty space in a series 1 so that might be one of the reasons its more reliable than other smaller DVRs as theres more air to cool it down.


I'm sure a series 1 PCB could be removed and put in a smaller box if you had extra cooling.


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## iankb (Oct 9, 2000)

I suspect that the Series 1 MPEG encoding chip would run too hot without additional cooling, since that is probably the chip that works the hardest. I expect that the Series 2 chip uses a smaller circuit size, with a resultant reduction in die size and power consumption. The Series 1 is fairly old technology now.


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## dens18 (Nov 13, 2005)

just wondering if it would be ok to use tivo in the vertical position as i am in process of relocating it to the bedroom but dont have the room to use it laid flat. Would there be any problems???


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## BaggieBoy (Dec 4, 2000)

I ran mine on it's side for several months without a problem.


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Did you monitor the HDD temperature? a hot HDD wom't die instantly but it won't last many months if its over 55C all the time.


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## dens18 (Nov 13, 2005)

thanks for the quick response. will check tivo temp before I move it and monitor the temp when in its new position.


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## PhilG (Jan 15, 2002)

Mines been on it's side forever (AND it's inside a badly ventilated cabinet) - temperature never exceeds 45C


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## iankb (Oct 9, 2000)

I would think that it runs cooler if the TiVo is on its left side, when viewed from the front. That would bring the fan nearer the top of the case, and stop the heat from rising and being trapped over the motherboard.


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