kaosmadness
asked on
Two old direct tv receivers DVR and I was wondering if I can use them some other non DTV way?
Hi,
I have two direct tv DVR receivers. I don't have service with them since I switched to uverse. One of them is Directv plus branded and the other is Tivo made by samsung for Directv. I was wondering if there is anything cool I can do with them? Or can I program them to record something other than directv? Maybe since they have a NIC and a video interface I can make them a network file storage drive or put a motherboard and make a PC?
any ideas would be great. Worse case senario, I take out the drives and use them for storage.
I have two direct tv DVR receivers. I don't have service with them since I switched to uverse. One of them is Directv plus branded and the other is Tivo made by samsung for Directv. I was wondering if there is anything cool I can do with them? Or can I program them to record something other than directv? Maybe since they have a NIC and a video interface I can make them a network file storage drive or put a motherboard and make a PC?
any ideas would be great. Worse case senario, I take out the drives and use them for storage.
Aaron Tomosky
Is there a resale market? eBay? The drives are usually tiny and basically worthless.
Looking at the "completed listings" on e-bay for Direct TV receivers, it's clear there's virtually no market for these -- a lot of 3 sold for $20; several didn't sell at the $0.99 listing price; etc.
There's actually more of a market on e-bay for the remote controls than the boxes themselves -- they sell for $5 - $8 (apparently to folks who have lost their remote and are still using the box).
They're very special-purpose boxes, with virtually no utility without a DirectTV subscription. As you've noted, you could remove the drives -- but as noted above they're likely very small ... at least by today's standards (typically they'd be in the 160GB to 320GB range). Whether it's worth the bother is up to you.
... look carefully at the TIVO box, however => it MAY be useable as a simple TIVO to record other channels.
There's actually more of a market on e-bay for the remote controls than the boxes themselves -- they sell for $5 - $8 (apparently to folks who have lost their remote and are still using the box).
They're very special-purpose boxes, with virtually no utility without a DirectTV subscription. As you've noted, you could remove the drives -- but as noted above they're likely very small ... at least by today's standards (typically they'd be in the 160GB to 320GB range). Whether it's worth the bother is up to you.
... look carefully at the TIVO box, however => it MAY be useable as a simple TIVO to record other channels.
Yeah, I was gonna mention the remotes. People lose them and they are often mote valuable than the box.
ASKER
I see, I agree with that. The HD is very Tiny. But Tivo runs on linux, maybe the video hardware with the HDMI, usb, NIC, etc can be made into a running computer if I reload linux? I just need a network storage device and this seems to have an HD, a nic and usb (mouse or keyboard). So maybe I can load linux in a different box and see if that works. Any other thoughts??
Agree that if either box can be hacked to a different use, it will be the TIVO. Certainly won't hurt to "play" with it. It's essentially worth nothing, so you won't lose anything no matter what you try :-)
ASKER
That my thought exactly... I was kinda hoping someone had already done it and could give me a few pointers but I will do some experimenting and get back to you guys. Like you said, they are pretty useless but maybe they can be put to do something rather than in the dumpster. Ill report back later!
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ASKER
Thanks again!