TiVo Community Forums Archives - reliability of tivo units

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reliability of tivo units
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Posted by: HDClown

There's some good deals on used TiVo's out there but I'm concerned with reliability. Most of them are 14/20 hr Philips units, some even pre-upgraded. I don't want to shell out cash to find out something breaks inside in anotehr 3months and I'm SOL.

Do warranties transfer with the box itself as well (like lifetime subscription?). How long is the warranty? Are repairs overly expensive if something does go qwrong and I'm out of warranty?

Do you think it's worth getting a good deal on a used unit instead of getting one brand new?

Posted by: modnar

First of all, any upgraded TiVos have no official TiVo warranty. If you buy a pre-upgraded TiVo from a retailer, make sure it has its own warranty.

All new, non-hacked TiVos have a 90 day parts and labor warranty. From 90 days to one year, there is a $99 fee for labor.

I'm not sure what the fee for repairs over a year is, but it might be somewhere around $150. Can someone confirm this?

[This message has been edited by modnar (edited 09-03-2001).]

Posted by: HDClown

90 day warranty? Sheesh, that's lame, not even a full year, blah. I guess I won't worry about it much.

This $99 labor charge, is that per hour or just to fix whatever is broken? Or do you then have to pay for parts? Who does the repairs?

Posted by: GregF

Can't comment on Philips but Sony has a great policy on expired warranty repairs. They essentially sell you a service warranty. It's pre-calculated based on the product, and it's a one-time fee whether you need new audio jacks or a replacement hard drive and it's good for a period of time. Basically they've taken some algorythm based on overall labor and parts etc and calculated a flat rate that will make sure they come out ahead in the long run. Very smart. I don't know the cost of a Tivo but I had an expensive mini-dv deck that needed a new drum and I paid about $150 for that warranty, a sweet deal to be sure. And I would assume that the TV falls into a lower priced category. You send or drop off at a Sony service center and they ship it back to you or call you for pick up within a few days.

[This message has been edited by GregF (edited 09-03-2001).]

Posted by: GregF

I'll be darned I thought only moderators could do that.. Thanks for what you are about to say, Jim West!

[This message has been edited by GregF (edited 09-03-2001).]

Posted by: Jim West

GregF, I believe you can edit your own posts by clicking on the edit icon above the post. I find it necessary to do this quite often, especially for typos.

Jim West

Posted by: DMHinCO

quote:
Originally posted by GregF:
Thanks for what you are about to say, Jim West!

Greg, in real life you must be Miss Cleo. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

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David
<FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><FONT size="2">I wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There's a knob called 'brightness,' but it doesn't work. - Gallagher</FONT s></FONT f>

Posted by: cwerdna

quote:
Originally posted by modnar:

All new, non-hacked TiVos have a 90 day parts and labor warranty.

Wrong. My Sony SA Tivo has a 90 day labor and 1 year parts warranty. I specifically waited till the labor portion ran out before hacking mine.

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Sony hacked SA w/123 hours, 2.0.1-002-010