Refurbished DirecTiVo for ~$15

[Mike F]

In case nobody has seen this over on TiVoCommunity, check out this deal:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3717881&&#post3717881

Basically, you can get a refurbished 40GB DirecTiVo (so that rules out R15 and R10) for the cost of shipping and tax. No committment is added to your account.

[Donnie Byrd]

Mike F, Welcome to DBSTalk. :welcome_s It's good to have you here. ;)

This topic is also being discussed in our "General DirecTV Discussion Forum"

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=51630

[joe.attaboy]

Actually, as you may have seen in the threds on other sites, R10s have been provided to some people in this deal. This thread on TiVo Community has a poll that shows what many received. I can't post the URL yet, but the title of the thread is " Poll: for those of us receiving the non-rebate "No strings" DVRs from DirecTV". It's in the DirecTV/TiVo forum.

Most (myself included) wound up with non-R10 Series 2 models. I received a Hughes DVR40. If you follow that thread, you'll also learn that the entire deal was snagged up badly from the beginning...I personally had major issues just getting the order placed on their web site. They finally fixed that after about a week.

They also offered free installation, which many on the board didn't want. I didn't, either...I just wanted to replace a standard receiver with the DVR in the bedroom. I didn't need the second line dropped, as I can do that myself when I'm ready. Nevertheless, you have to "manually" cancel the installation appointment with a CSR, since you can't do it on line.

Oddly, the CSRs and installers weren't warned about this deal in advance, which meant a lot of confusion on the phone getting the receivers activated. For example, the CSR I called kept asking me for a RID number, even though I explained to her that the unit was not a RID unit (as the R10 and later units are). Also, installers would show up with another new unit (usually an R15), even though one of the refurbished units would be delivered via FedEx. Some people let them install those units instead of the refurbed ones. Most didn't want the R15s, however.

I received mine on Wednesday morning and installed it myself before heading to work. My big issue was discovereing that the wireless phone jack I was connecting my receivers to had been inoperable for a while. This made dialing out to get the receiver setup and upgraded to 6.X software a bit tricky, with long cables running across the room.

But it was worth it for $15.

[sickchuck]

check the tread "$65 will make this problem go away" in this forum. they screwed mine up so bad I got all of SHOWTIME & STARZ FOR THREE MONTH FREE with all my complaints on their handling of it.