What should I do with my old Tivo Series 2?

January 31, 2012 12:46 PM

What should I do with my old SD Tivo Series 2 box now that I've gone to HD DirecTV? I miss pyTivoX!

I was a huge Tivo fan boy, but after switching to HD, and many problems with my cable provider not working with my Tivo Premiere, I finally gave up on Tivo. I sold the Premiere on eBay and made all my money back (and then some), switched to DirecTV & now use their DVR.

I still have my Series 2 with lifetime service sitting in a closet. I really miss pyTivoX. Being able to send almost any format of video from my MacBook to the Tivo over my network was awesome! Other than the Tivo UI, I think I miss that most of all. I think I can now get similar functionality out of an Apple TV with some of the hacks available, but not sure. I'm guessing, even if I set up the Tivo again as a network connected media server only, I'd be limited to standard def, correct? Also, would the Tivo even work without some kind of TV signal?

Assuming there's really no use for my SD Tivo in an HD setup, I've considered selling it on eBay. I have everything, including the box, wired network adapter, etc., and it's in excellent condition. Expect I could get near $200 for it.

Any other thoughts?

posted by Ergolad to technology (3 answers total)

Oh goodness - I have no idea if this use case fits you at all but they have at least one super amazing good use you might not think of.

Know anyone who does any kind of coaching, helps anyone with some kind of skill acquisition? A tivo makes an amazing video feedback device. A 30, 60 second playback delay allows a whole stream of athletes, dancers etc perform a skill and view the results on a tv. The best part - no delays, no (re)setups no fuss getting a continuous stream or performances in and through with the shortest possible delay/gap in the feedback loop.

Know anyone at all who might use such a thing? Often there's little or no budget to purchase such things new.
posted by mce at 1:21 PM on January 31

You would be limited to Standard Def with the TiVo. I haven't used it, but ATV Flash (black) purports to allow you to stream multiple video formats to your AppleTV over the network.

You can do the same thing on AppleTV with free hacks, though you'd be without support for new versions of the AppleTV OS, so there would be more tinkering. You could sell the TiVo and buy the much more functional AppleTV (since you already have another DVR) and hack, and have money left over.
posted by cnc at 1:47 PM on January 31

TiVo is currently on eBay. Hopefully it will pull in a little coin.
posted by Ergolad at 6:56 PM on February 8