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| |  | Q: Who is the Tivo_Magician?
A: I am an individual with a well-paying technical job. I make plenty of money at my day job. I don't need to make money on eBay. I do Tivo_Magician on the side to raise money for melanoma research. My wife is a Stage IV Melanoma patient. If you are a family member or friend of any cancer patient, you can understand my feeling of helplessness against this disease. There is no effective treatment for metastatic melanoma, and research has not advanced much in the past 30 years. This business is my way of trying to leverage a skill that I use every day to contribute to a cause that is close to my heart. All of my profits are donated to Aim at Melanoma (http://www.aimatmelanoma.org), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Q: May I donate a used Tivo and get a tax-deduction?
A: Absolutely! If you donate a machine, you will receive a tax donation letter from Aim at Melanoma. You may also donate the labor portion of my fee directly to Aim at Melanoma. For instance, if you'd like me to troubleshoot your existing machine, put a new hard drive in it, or some other form of service, rather than charging you labor, I'd prefer you make a donation directly to the foundation.
Q. How can I prevent a hard drive from failing?
- Is the unit on a UPS? Even minor fluctuations in power can affect the lifespan of hard drives, so I run all of my TiVos off of a UPS. With a lifetime unit, it is especially important, because almost all UPS units filter surges that would otherwise smoke the motherboard and that is the only thing that can’t be fixed on a lifetime unit (if you want to keep your lifetime service).
- Is the unit properly ventilated? Many A/V racks have adjustable shelves that can be placed so close together that it can cause overheating. Remember, your TiVo is a computer and needs the same amount of open air space around it that a PC does. This also goes for putting any other component (VCR,SAT Receiver, Cable Box) directly on top of your TiVo or vice versa.
Q. Is it difficult to replace a hard drive in my Tivo? OR should I send my unit to you to replace the hard drive?
A. If you can swap a drive in a PC, you can do it in a TiVo. All you need is a screwdriver with torx 10 & 15 bits. It will be easier and faster for both of us and have you TiVoless fro much less time if you can swap the drive. I am happy to do it if you can’t, but you’ll be without the unit for at least a week for shipping both ways; especially at this time of year.
Q: Does a DirecTV Tivo work similar to TiVo in that you can schedule and record programs, get season pases, but without having to have TIVO, a phone line or internet connection?
A: A DirecTV Tivo is a Tivo unit (with scheduled recordings, season passes, etc.) integrated with a dual tuner DirecTV receiver. You must have Direct TV service to use this, but you won't need a separate account from Tivo. Direct TV will charge you $5.99 a month for DVR service, and that covers all the DVRs you have. The unit gets its programming information from the satellite, so you don't need to make phone calls to keep the programming updated. It does have software on it to facilitate using it over the internet, but you don’t need an internet connection unless you want to program your Tivo remotely over the intenet.
Q: What is a "hacked" or "modified" DirecTV Tivo?
A: Since the hacked feature set is changing all the time, with new modifications being created frequently, the best way to find out what modifications are available to improve your DirecTV Tivo software is to do a search on the Internet for "hacks" "Tivo" and "DirecTV." Most of the applications you'll find are available free for personal use. Some examples, however are: networking ability - so that you can record programs in one room and watch them in another; video extraction, so that you can view your recordings on your PC; phone-call suppression so that Tivo doesn't require a daily phone call; Tivo Web Plus, which lets you control lots of features and add-ons from your PC.
Q: Can I purchase a hacked or modified DirecTV Tivo from the Tivo Magician?
A: No. Some of the pieces of the most popular hacks have distribution restrictions that prohibit anyone from selling a unit that has been hacked with those pieces. While the software is free for personal use, it is not permissable to distribute it or make money selling the hacked machines or even the service of installing it for people.
Q: How do I hack my DirecTV Tivo?
A: The Tivo Magician will gladly help you through all of the steps of hacking your Tivo. It's not rocket science. The information is freely available on the Internet.
Q. How much do you charge to help me hack my Tivo?
A: Nothing! It's my gift to the DirecTV Tivo community. If you search the Internet for "hack" and "DirecTV" and "Tivo" you will find plenty of software that is free for personal use. If you would like my assistance with any of this software, just let me know, and I will be glad to assist you.
In many instances, I can do the work for you. In others, you may be required by the software provider to download or purchase a utility and install it yourself or forward it to me so that I may help you install it. This will be determined by the distribution requirements of the utility in question. However the software is aquired, I will walk you through the process, and at the end of the day, you will have a "hacked" Tivo.
Q: Which units are better – DirecTV Tivos, or Standalone Tivos?
A: That all depends on what’s important to you. DirecTV units are great because they are a receiver and a Tivo in ONE box, and they are all dual-tuners, so you can record two things at once with just one receiver. If you wanted to do the same with a standalone Tivo, you’d need two DirecTV receivers and two Tivo units.
The picture clarity provided by DirecTV Tivos is better than MOST standalone Tivos because the digital signal is recorded straight to disk. However, any standalone Tivos that include a DVD recorder offer even better quality than the DirecTV Tivos because they support component video out, which is the highest quality video available short of HD.
The advantage of a standalone unit is that it has a larger feature set. There are features included in the Tivo software that are not available on DirecTV’s version of Tivo. (See “What is Hacked or Modified DirecTV Tivo Software?“ for more information). Also, if you ever change from DirecTV to a different satellite service, or to cable, you won’t need to buy a new Tivo unit if you have a standalone unit.
Q: Which service is better – DirecTV’s DVR service, or Tivo’s service?
A: If you have DirecTV, the most inexpensive route to go is through DirecTV. DirecTV charges $4.99 per month for each receiver, but only 5.99 per month for DVR service, no matter how many DVRs you have. Because the DirecTV Tivos are dual tuners, you will pay only $4.99/month for ONE receiver that can record two things at once, and only $5.99/month for the DVR service.
In order to get the equivalent ability with a standalone Tivo and DirecTV service, you would need two receivers and two Tivos. That’s $4.99 + $4.99 for the receivers, and $12.99/month for the first Tivo service and $6.99/month for the second Tivo, unless you already have lifetime service on one or both of the standalones. (Tivo no longer sells lifetime service unless you purchase a Humax with a 595 service number.)
Q: I have a Directv Tivo. I love TiVo but find I do not have enough recording capability on this unit. I want to upgrade, but I am confused by the options. Can you suggest a solution.
A: If all you want to do is increase disk space, you have several options: If you want to preserve your recordings and season passes, you’ll need to copy your current drive to a larger drive and then tell Tivo it now has more capacity. There are many places on the Internet to find out how to do this. It will require you remove your HD from the unit, run some utilities to back it up and then restore it to the larger drive. It is not hard if you know Linux, know PC hardware and have a PC handy you can dedicate to the task. If you don’t mind starting over with your Tivo, another option is to buy ‘do it for me’ CD that has the proper image for your unit. This will still require you to have some basic PC hardware knowledge and a dedicated PC, but it will eliminate the need for Linux experience. You could also send me your unit and the new HD and I will upgrade it for you. I will remove your HD from your Tivo, create a new Tivo image on your HD and put the new larger one in your unit and test it. Lastly, you could buy one of these units on eBay and what you will be getting is one that someone did the things I’ve outlined and is now selling the completed unit. Then you could sell your unit to offset the cost of the upgraded unit you bought. This stuff isn’t rocket science but it is a little complicated. The Linux world is not like the Windows world; the ability to execute complicated command lines is a challenge and matter of honor for them. I hope that helps; it is a lot of detail, but as you said, there are a lot of options.
Q: I want to network my TiVo and a DirecTV TiVo. What do I need?
A: I assume from the question that your other Tivo is stand alone unit, not one of the DirecTV units, and that you want to do MRV (Multi Room Viewing) between the two. Series 2 SA Tivos network out of the box with all of the other Tivos on your account with Tivo. In their infinite wisdom, DirecTV did not enable this feature in their boxes, which is why lots of very bright people worked very hard to turn on this feature in DirecTV units. There are hacks available that enable Multi Room Viewing, but only with other DirecTV units that have the ‘hacks’ installed. To control piracy, the MRV feature in SA Tivos is limited to units that Tivo knows you own (are on your account at Tivo). Since DirecTivos are not on that account because you get your DVR service from DirecTV not Tivo, then you can’t view shows on a DirecTV from SA Tivos and vice versa. Unless you ‘hack’ your SA Tivo to allow it you see both DirecTV units and the ones that Tivo knows about. I know it can be done, but it is not as clean as it is on DirecTivos. I chose not to hack my SA Tivos. I can use MRV between my SA Tivos and between my DirecTivos and that works for me. Again it is possible, but you will need some Linux expertise and possibly access to a PROM programmer depending on your SA Tivo model. What I tell most of my clients that want MRV between all units is to sell their SA Tivos and hack their DirecTivos. The dual tuner feature and integrated receivers of the DTV units make them much simpler to use than SA Tivos if you have DirecTV. I hope that answers all your questions.
How does the Tivo Magician handle Returns/Refunds?
The Tivo Magician tries to be as fair and equitable as possible in the handling of returns. His preference is always a replacement, because he wants you to get what you paid for. If there is a problem with your initial shipment, and you allow him a chance to make it right, and he is unable to do so, your refund will include 100% of the original purchase price plus shipping. This is your incentive to work with us. If for some reason you are unhappy with the item and you do not want a replacement, you may return it for a refund of the purchase price. If you elect a refund, and the item is determined to be physically defective, then your original shipping will be refunded as well.
We make this distinction because there are many things that can happen to electronics in shipping, especially to Tivo images on disk drives. There are also many things that can happen to the image through operator error or improper installation. To protect both you and the Tivo Magician, we test all returned drives. If they work in our equipment, then we do not refund shipping. There is no way to determine what actually happened or why a drive may not have worked in a customer’s unit. In that scenario, we consider shipping cost to be consumed as part of the transaction. I think you’ll agree this is as fair as any online vendor. Very few vendors refund the cost of shipping.
In short: If the item is demonstrably defective, then you get all of your original purchase and shipping back. If you give me a chance to make it right and I can’t, then you get all of your original purchase and shipping back. The only scenario where you don’t get original purchase price and shipping back is if you don’t give me a chance to make it right and we determine in testing that there’s nothing physically wrong with the merchandise. If there is a more equitable return policy out there, I’d like to see it. |
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