Hi,
My ReplayTV is dying. I had bought a lifetime subscription. My son has a ReplayTV. He wants to give it to me. When I called ReplayTV, they told me that with a new ReplayTV I lose my old lifetime subscription and have to get a new subscription. I have a few questions:
1. Is there a way to take my son's ReplayTV and circumvent buying a new
subscription?
2. Can Tivo be used like ReplayTV, i.e. transferring to my computer? If so,
HOW? And do I have to subscribe all over again?
3. I have DirectTV. Can I use their DVR to transfer to my computer? If so,
HOW?

Thanks . . . Hangrumps

You might get more help in the Replay TV forum here? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=27)

A "dying" ReplayTV is possibly similar to a Tivo, in that the most likely thing to go wrong is the hard drive. I *think* that you can replace the hard drive in a Tivo even easier than in a Tivo (which is easy for the vaguely geeky).

Hi,
My ReplayTV is dying. I had bought a lifetime subscription. My son has a ReplayTV. He wants to give it to me. When I called ReplayTV, they told me that with a new ReplayTV I lose my old lifetime subscription and have to get a new subscription. I have a few questions:
1. Is there a way to take my son's ReplayTV and circumvent buying a new
subscription?
2. Can Tivo be used like ReplayTV, i.e. transferring to my computer? If so,
HOW? And do I have to subscribe all over again?
3. I have DirectTV. Can I use their DVR to transfer to my computer? If so,
HOW?

Thanks . . . Hangrumps
Can you add another unit to your account without incurring additional charges? I noticed this when I looked at their website..

Log-in to your account to make changes and edits to your ReplayTV service.

* Edit/Renew your credit card
* Change your billing address
* Change your subscription type
* Add another DVR to your account
* Update your email address
* View & track new or previous orders

Don't tell them that yours is dying, just tell 'm you want to add another unit for another room, and see what they say.

Hi,
My ReplayTV is dying. I had bought a lifetime subscription. My son has a ReplayTV. He wants to give it to me. When I called ReplayTV, they told me that with a new ReplayTV I lose my old lifetime subscription and have to get a new subscription. I have a few questions:
1. Is there a way to take my son's ReplayTV and circumvent buying a new
subscription?
2. Can Tivo be used like ReplayTV, i.e. transferring to my computer? If so,
HOW? And do I have to subscribe all over again?
3. I have DirectTV. Can I use their DVR to transfer to my computer? If so,
HOW?

Thanks . . . Hangrumps

First, as wajo says go the ReplayTV forum and you'll get good help there. I started out there and it's a great forum, if a bit quiet these days.

What's wrong with the ReplayTV you have? Most likely it will be a hard disk problem. If so, you can swap out the disk drive from your sons into yours and that may fix your problem. It's not very hard to do - even a klutz like me has done it. There are instructions and even pictures on how to do it. Al you need is a screwdriver and some patience.

The lifetime subscription is tied to the motherboard of your ReplayTV, so swapping disks will not affect that. Of course, this will leave your son's RTV broken. Another option is to buy a new hard drive. You can find them for around $100 all ready to go on eBay and elsewhere.

And, finally, if you prefer, you can send your RTV to Mikeyboy (a former ReplayTV Engineer) and he will fix it for you for a fee, no matter what's wrong, and you will still keep your subscription.

Go to the ReplayTV Forum and search and or post and someone will be glad to help you out. But, yes, you can get it fixed and yes, you can keep your lifetime subscription. And, by the way, you can even easily hook up 2 ReplayTV's (via ethernet) and share shows between them, watch one from the other, and so on. They are truly one of the best A/V devices ever made. I have several and love them.

Good luck!

Bron

P.S. Some problems can be fixed by clearing out and resetting your ReplayTV. You may lose your recorded shows, but using some special codes you can clear and reinitialize your RTV and sometimes that's all it needs to run smoothly again. This is likely the case if you have allowed your hard drive to completely fill up with hundreds of recorded shows. Again, over at the ReplayTV forum, if you describe the symptoms, someone will be able to diagnose the likely problem and fix.