Musings |
|
|
A happy place for all the sarcastic displaced kiwi's of the world.
 
www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Badge Fotos. Make your own badge here.
|
Thursday, March 01, 2007
 They Don't make Electronics Like They Used ToOur Tivo hard drive was getting ready to bite the dust recently. It was only 17 months old and the second major hardware problem during this period. As could be expected the 1-year warranty had expired so it was time to face the reality of how important the Tivo had become. Do we buy a new unit or crack open the case and fix the problem? Going without a Tivo was a non-starter, but the expense of a new unit (plus a Tivo subscription) would hurt. Thankfully the trauma of fixing broken hard drives is much easier now than it was back in the days of having to connect the drive to a PC and perform risky Linux surgery. I selected a Hinsdale Tivo Upgrade kit. Not only was it a painless procedure but we now have a bigger Tivo than before (400 hours.) The most problematic part was transferring the 150+ hours saved on the old system. This entailed using Galleon and a painfully slow wireless connection to transfer everything to a PC. In the end I deleted about half of what we had carefully saved over the past year, but not the Mash episodes! A little known truth about a Tivo with a large drive is that it becomes much easier to store movies and shows than finding and firing-up DVD's. It's true, Tivo makes you more lazy! Let's see how long this one lasts. Labels: Tivo Share on Facebook 2 comments
Comments:
In New Zealand the Consumers' Institute advises never to pay for an extended warranty as, even if only guaranteed for 1 year, electronic goods have to be fit for tehepurpose they are designed for. Thus (under the Consumer Guarantees Act) it is reasonable to expect TVs, DVD players, etc. to work without developing major faults for at least 4 - 5 years. So shops have to either repair free of charge or replace them anyway.
Out here in the "real world" 90 day full warranty or 1 year replacement of parts is the standard. In my experience if it doesn't break down within a month or so of opening the box then you're golden. Except with Tivos they have a tendency (I've read and experienced) of being very temperamental. That said, they are in use 24/7 saving whatever is being broadcast, so their usage is high indeed. And we all know what happens to computers that are used around the clock (reboot, often.)
Post a Comment
 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 License. |
