# Supersized New THR22 DirecTiVos On The Way From WeaKnees



## sbiller1 (May 18, 2008)

http://www.gizmolovers.com/2011/12/13/supersized-new-thr22-directivos-on-the-way-from-weaknees/


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

...with an outrageous price tag.


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## sbiller1 (May 18, 2008)

sigma1914 said:


> ...with an outrageous price tag.


Have they published a price yet?


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

THR22 going to be an owned box? If not, how can they "supersize" the internal drive without violating DirecTv dealer policy?


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

When's the InstantCake coming out? That'll be the most economical route ... 

Oh wait - the THR22 is leased, so you can't open it to replace the drive.

(Is InstantCake still even sold ?)


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

sbiller1 said:


> Have they published a price yet?


It doesn't need to be for me to know they'll charge a ridiculous price like they do for all their "upgrades."


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

IIRC weaknees does warranty their stuff though so I'm sure that's part of it. However I still think their prices have always been over priced but the old TiVo's didn't support external and the new ones do.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

302 hours of HD programming = 12.5 days of HD programming
2641 hours of SD programming = 110 days of SD programming = 3.5 months of SD programming.

Yessss...... and when I upgraded my DirecTiVo back in 2004, I got the upgrade bracket from them. 

Lets just wait for the price of hard drives to drop again. I wonder how well this will work with the "green" drives verses regular drives.


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## ejjames (Oct 3, 2006)

I have a 1.5TB external drive connected to my HR20-700. My rough calculations show about 400 hours of MPEG-4 HD. I can't imagine why the tivo would be that different. Why would they show just over 300 hours of HD on a 2TB drive. The only explanation that comes to mind is they are factoring a lot of MPEG-2 recording via OTA.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

The phrase "they've been able to perform *their magic* on it" ... yeah, MAGIC ? To procure $$$$ price, sure.


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## dirtyblueshirt (Dec 7, 2008)

One could just as easy plug a 2TB eSATA drive into the back for the same effect at a substantially cheaper price.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Davenlr said:


> THR22 going to be an owned box? If not, how can they "supersize" the internal drive without violating DirecTv dealer policy?


Weaknees does upgrade but without ownership guarantees.

If the new DirecTiVo will be like the DIRECTV receivers it's likely it will be a lease...unless you can convince the CSR on the phone that it should be owned.

The following is from Weaknees online FAQ. (Link)



> If you order an upgraded HR20/HR21/HR22/HR23 from weaKnees, you may be able to have DIRECTV characterize the unit as being owned. To do that, you must call 800-DIRECTV and ask for the access card department. Tell them that you ordered an HR20/HR21/HR22/HR23, give them the price and tell them that you want it to be characterized as being owned. In some cases, the price alone will be enough to have DIRECTV characterize the unit as purchased. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have a unit characterized as owned, you will NOT be able to get the unit (or a dish) installed for free or at a discounted price. In addition, you will NOT be entitled to any discounted replacement equipment should the unit fail. See below for additional information.


Further, if a year or two down the line the drive fails you can't get a replacement if you want the larger capacity. If you have it replaced it will be with whatever they give you with a new commitment. Even with the PP you still can't get the larger capacity. Your only option is to replace the drive yourself.

Mike


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## Jerry_K (Oct 22, 2006)

Weaknees is the only place I could find with a refurb Phillips DirecTiVo box to replace the one I have that is going bad. And they have always been a higher priced spread.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Jerry_K said:


> Weaknees is the only place I could find with a refurb Phillips DirecTiVo box to replace the one I have that is going bad. And they have always been a higher priced spread.


If you would ask here, I would find working one (with original 40 GB drive) ...


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Weaknees has always had a "unique" interpretation of what their status as DIRECTV equipment dealers allows them to do. I don't know if there's some sort of deal in place there, since DIRECTV hasn't seen fit to shut them down after nearly 10 years of opening equipment before sending it to customer.


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## am7crew (Jun 6, 2009)

sigma1914 said:


> It doesn't need to be for me to know they'll charge a ridiculous price like they do for all their "upgrades."


Exactly, couldnt agree more. If you have a little confidence and willing to follow instructions all the upgrades they charge out of the *** for are simple.


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## leres (Jun 2, 2007)

am7crew said:


> Exactly, couldnt agree more. If you have a little confidence and willing to follow instructions all the upgrades they charge out of the *** for are simple.


Has anybody published instructions for the THR22 yet? From what I've heard, the 500GB Seagate has some sort of protection installed on it; you can't just hook it up to a PC and do a binary copy of it.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

'heard' is not counting here - wait for someone who will check it in real


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

sbiller1 said:


> Have they published a price yet?


from *this link:*

Stock THR22 w/500GB - $199.99
upgraded to 1TB - $399.99
upgraded to 1.5TB - $499.99
upgraded to 2TB - $599.99


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

trh said:


> from *this link:*
> 
> Stock THR22 w/500GB - $199.99
> upgraded to 1TB - $399.99
> ...


:lol::lol::lol: Seriously???? A $400 increase for a 2 TB drive? :lol::lol::lol:


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## leres (Jun 2, 2007)

P Smith said:


> 'heard' is not counting here - wait for someone who will check it in real


A guy I know tried it "in real" with two different PCs. The drive was the 500GB Seagate Pipeline HD. One system hung with a bios drive error and the other booted the mfstools 2.0 iso which had previously been used to upgrade two different HR10-100's but gave continuous kernel disk seek errors.

I was hoping to hear from someone who managed to get further.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

trh said:


> upgraded to 2TB - $599.99


For a leased box? They are kidding right?


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

Davenlr said:


> For a leased box? They are kidding right?


Nope. The fleecing has begun.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

RobertE said:


> Nope. The fleecing has begun.


...and how! :eek2:


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

...or we can get an eSATA enclosure and put our own 2TB and, if need be, you can replace it multiple times and you'd still be ahead of the game. 

Mike


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

If people are willing to spend that type of money for increased recording capacity from a internal drive, maybe DirecTV should be thinking about offering it on their stock product. Of course, this would be when the hard drive drop to a more reasonable level.


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## sbiller1 (May 18, 2008)

Models now available for pre-order with pricing.

https://www.weaknees.com/hd-tivo-directv-thr22.php


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

sbiller1 said:


> Models now available for pre-order with pricing.
> 
> https://www.weaknees.com/hd-tivo-directv-thr22.php


NO, thanks.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

With E-Sata and SOC I don't think they'll see the business they used to. Now they'll just get the people who have ordered from them before and don't bother doing any research.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Shades228 said:


> With E-Sata and SOC I don't think they'll see the business they used to. Now they'll just get the people who have ordered from them before and don't bother doing any research.


You may be able to add "USB Drive" to the list as well...

I was looking at new routers yesterday morning and picked up the Netgear WNDR3800. It has a USB port on the back and says it can extend TiVo storage, so I'm going to try it with my TiVo Premiere to see if and how it works.

With all of these other options there's no reason to pay exorbitant prices at Weaknees!


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

FYI it might work with a SA TiVo but it won't work with the thr22.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Shades228 said:


> With *E-Sata* and SOC I don't think they'll see the business they used to. Now they'll just get the people who have ordered from them before and don't bother doing any research.


eSATA ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA


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## davidjplatt (Sep 22, 2007)

Just because there is an eSata port on the box doesn't mean it's supported the same way that a stock HR22 supports eSata.

I suspect the hard drive is partitioned differently than the DirecTV HR-22 because of the way Tivo works. On all of the TiVos that were originally made for DirecTV, you could not just plug in a drive and have it work. It had to be setup correctly.

The original TiVos partitions for system software, guide data, meta data versus the recordings, showcases, season passes, etc. I seriously doubt that the TiVo software fits completely in the ePROM on the box.

The discrepancy between recording capacities could certainly be due to Season Passes (unlimited), Suggestions, etc. versus the Series Manager on the standard box as well as guide data storage, etc. It could also be that some of the TiVo software is located on the hard drive and not just in ePROM.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

davidjplatt said:


> Just because there is an eSata port on the box doesn't mean it's supported the same way that a stock HR22 supports eSata.
> 
> I suspect the hard drive is partitioned differently than the DirecTV HR-22 because of the way Tivo works. On all of the TiVos that were originally made for DirecTV, you could not just plug in a drive and have it work. It had to be setup correctly.
> 
> ...


No partitioning or anything is needed this has already been confirmed. External drives with eSATA work as well just plug them in.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

That's right, eSATA does work.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Drew2k said:


> You may be able to add "USB Drive" to the list as well...
> 
> I was looking at new routers yesterday morning and picked up the Netgear WNDR3800. It has a USB port on the back and says it can extend TiVo storage, so I'm going to try it with my TiVo Premiere to see if and how it works.
> 
> With all of these other options there's no reason to pay exorbitant prices at Weaknees!


With a premier you could also use a http://www.readynas.com/?p=4324 they see those easily as well.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

You may be right, regardless that capability isn't forthcoming for THR22s.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Stuart Sweet said:


> You may be right, regardless that capability isn't forthcoming for THR22s.


Correct I didn't mean to imply that it would as I stated it was for Premier.

External eSATA is going to be the largest way for people.


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## WSUPolar (Jun 18, 2007)

[strike]I tried three eSATA enclosures for my THR22, even the Antec MX1 that's long worked on my HR21.

In the end, i cracked the case, was only 5 security torx, to pull off the top. Pulled the 500GB and slapped in a WD Green 2TB.

Took me longer to pull apart the MX1 to get my HD out than it did to open the THR22 and pull it's HD out.

302 Hours HD/2600 SD capacity now.

*IE The TiVo software IS on the ePROM.*[/strike]

All well and good, nothing to see here.

The sticker on the back says my warranty was voided. Oh well.

/edited per below comment


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

That's all cool, except your customer agreement forbids you doing that unless you actually own the equipment.


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## WB3FFV (Mar 2, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> That's all cool, except your customer agreement forbids you doing that unless you actually own the equipment.


 Of course that begs the question, has anyone ever had anything happen for replacing the HD. I mean is there some formal listed penalty or something?

I have been paying DTV since 98, and though I have not modded any of my DVR's with a larger drive since the early TiVo days, I doubt they are going to give up the 100+ a month subscription because the box ended up with a larger drive.

Anyway I am not saying anyone should or shouldn't do a drive upgrade, but just curious if anyone has ever ended up in a battle with DTV over it...


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

WB3FFV said:


> Of course that begs the question, has anyone ever had anything happen for replacing the HD. I mean is there some formal listed penalty or something?
> 
> I have been paying DTV since 98, and though I have not modded any of my DVR's with a larger drive since the early TiVo days, I doubt they are going to give up the 100+ a month subscription because the box ended up with a larger drive.
> 
> Anyway I am not saying anyone should or shouldn't do a drive upgrade, but just curious if anyone has ever ended up in a battle with DTV over it...


If they enforce the tampering statute they charge you the cost of the unit. Having a larger HD in a unit received to them is the same as not having a HD in it because they have to replace it. People who have returned modified units have been charged before. It's not something you see a lot of complaining about because most people don't modify them.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Shades228 said:


> If they enforce the tampering statute they charge you the cost of the unit. Having a larger HD in a unit received to them is the same as not having a HD in it because they have to replace it. *People who have returned modified units have been charged before.* It's not something you see a lot of complaining about because most people don't modify them.


Haven't seen any complain about such case here, the forums are the place where most of technically savvy ppl gathering and discussing the mods.
If you not making it by yourself, please provide links to real facts.


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

P Smith said:


> Haven't seen any complain about such case here, the forums are the place where most of technically savvy ppl gathering and discussing the mods.
> If you not making it by yourself, please provide links to real facts.


Not everything is publicly linkable.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

P Smith said:


> Haven't seen any complain about such case here, the forums are the place where most of technically savvy ppl gathering and discussing the mods.
> If you not making it by yourself, please provide links to real facts.


Agreed. Never has one person reported that as happening here and this is where people would most likely be modding their receivers and be the ones that were charged. Now I'm waiting for the first "I got charged for modifying my HR thread" to suddenly pop up from a <cough> new member. 

You'd think Weaknees would have been sued or at least stopped by now for modifying leased equipment. It seems that maybe unless you destroy it in the process they are looking the other way.

Just to head of the next 104 "it's against the TOS" messages that always follow these types of comments I will do it for you:

YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED UNDER THE TOS TO MODIFY YOUR LEASED EQUIPMENT AS IT BELONGS TO DIRECTV. THIS IS UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH OR DISMEMBERMENT OR A $600 CHARGE!

You certainly don't want to be dismembered as I know I couldn't do without it.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

TBlazer07 said:


> Agreed. Never has one person reported that as happening here and this is where people would most likely be modding their receivers and be the ones that were charged. Now I'm waiting for the first "I got charged for modifying my HR thread" to suddenly pop up from a <cough> new member.
> 
> You'd think Weaknees would have been sued or at least stopped by now for modifying leased equipment. It seems that maybe unless you destroy it in the process they are looking the other way.
> 
> ...


How many people have come here and complained that they were turned off or fined for "moving" or had a civil action happen against them for account stacking or any other fraudulent issue?

Just because people don't post things doesn't mean it doesn't happen. So you can choose to believe or not believe but either way I'd put the tinfoil hat away if you think someone would create a new account just to post something to reinforce something. I'm pretty sure the mods see all of the IP Addresses anyways so if someone did it would be pretty obvious.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Doesn't matter.

Have no factual base - nothing to discuss. Period.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Shades228 said:


> How many people have come here and complained that they were turned off or fined for "moving" or had a civil action happen against them for account stacking or any other fraudulent issue?
> 
> Just because people don't post things doesn't mean it doesn't happen. So you can choose to believe or not believe but either way I'd put the tinfoil hat away if you think someone would create a new account just to post something to reinforce something. I'm pretty sure the mods see all of the IP Addresses anyways so if someone did it would be pretty obvious.


We have had a couple of threads asking if anyone has or knows someone who has been charged the fee for replacing the hard drive. So far no one has.

However, I'm not sure that fee would apply in the case of a Weeknees modified DVR. I'm not sure the subscriber can be held responsible for installing a larger hard drive in a DVR that they purchased from an online retailer with the drive already in it.

It doesn't seem likely DIRECTV has a problem with WeaKnees upgraded, leased DVRs. If they did I'd bet they would have tried to shut down that part of WeaKnees business long ago.

Personally, I don't think it's worth my money but if someone else decides to get one I'm guessing they won't have any problems. At least that's what makes sense to me.

Mike


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

Shades228 said:


> How many people have come here and complained that they were turned off or fined for "moving" or had a civil action happen against them for account stacking or any other fraudulent issue?


 Please ..... "account stacking or any other fraudulent issue(s)" is a completely different situation. Bottom line is, while it is "against their rules" they quite obviously look the other way.


> Just because people don't post things doesn't mean it doesn't happen. So you can choose to believe or not believe but either way.


 Correct, I choose to believe it doesn't happen.



> I'd put the tinfoil hat away if you think someone would create a new account just to post something to reinforce something. I'm pretty sure the mods see all of the IP Addresses anyways so if someone did it would be pretty obvious.


Geez man, that's why I put the "" after that comment however those kinds of things DO happen on the internet. And finally there is nothing wrong with a tin hat. It 100% stops all the radio broadcasts that I can hear coming out of my fillings every evening from outer space.

You'd think you work for DirecTV or something. Oh wait, you do!


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

Mike Bertelson said:


> However, I'm not sure that fee would apply in the case of a Weeknees modified DVR. I'm not sure the subscriber can be held responsible for installing a larger hard drive in a DVR that they purchased from an online retailer with the drive already in it.


 Why not simply state the obvious: "it's not allowed as per the TOS but they seem look the other way. Do it at your own risk."

Besides, it would be so hard to prove because over the years I have received "refurbs" with broken, unstuck, or even no warranty seals and there is no way they could blame the user for opening the box because they couldn't prove they actually did it (just like in the case of Weaknees).


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

TBlazer07 said:


> Please ..... *"account stacking or any other fraudulent issue(s)"* is a completely different situation. Bottom line is, while it is "against their rules" they quite obviously look the other way.
> Correct, I choose to believe it doesn't happen.
> ...
> You'd think you work for DirecTV or something. Oh wait, you do!


His pedaling the issue in many non-related discussions,it's telling me he is affiliate with Signal Integrity Dept or those contracted 'pinkertons'. Perhaps he is the 'bounty hunter' ?


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

TBlazer07 said:


> Mike Bertelson said:
> 
> 
> > However, I'm not sure that fee would apply in the case of a Weeknees modified DVR. I'm not sure the subscriber can be held responsible for installing a larger hard drive in a DVR that they purchased from an online retailer with the drive already in it.
> ...


 I don't think anyone can say what happens when the receiver comes in. You or I will only know what comes out as a referb and not what initial inspections are done prior to the referb. So, no it's not obvious at all.

My point in the sentence that you quoted is that one can easily prove they didn't modify/tamper with a DVR that was purchased (for lease) from WeaKnees. Therefore I believe it's a non-issue to return a WeaKnees modified receiver.

Mike


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

TBlazer07 said:


> Please ..... "account stacking or any other fraudulent issue(s)" is a completely different situation. Bottom line is, while it is "against their rules" they quite obviously look the other way.
> Correct, I choose to believe it doesn't happen.
> 
> Geez man, that's why I put the "" after that comment however those kinds of things DO happen on the internet. And finally there is nothing wrong with a tin hat. It 100% stops all the radio broadcasts that I can hear coming out of my fillings every evening from outer space.
> ...


I understand they're different situations however the point remains the same. Who would go to a forum like this one which is not a place that supports people doing things against TOS and make a post saying they got fined. If someone did open a thread like they they would just get replied with nothing but "Why are you surprised it's in the ToS" like most other posts when people come here and complain about something that is clearly identified.

Now as to how often it happens the only people that would know would be DIRECTV, but I doubt it happens often due to the fact that modifying receivers is such a small sample even on this board where it would be more common.

I have read complaints where this has happened at other sites before but they were sites that were setup for hacking and other things where it's encouraged to do things against terms of service and not discouraged like it is here.

So if someone posts that something never happens when it does happen I'll post what I know. People will do whatever they want however if someone comes here to find out information they should be given the correct information so they can make the best choice to them.

As far as modified HD's DIRECTV has to replace them if it's not one of the models that is approved for that receiver. So if you sent a receiver back with a 2GB drive or no HD it has the same financial impact to the company. It's not like they're going to resell the drive they're going to send it to the recycler.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

> I have read complaints where this has happened at other sites before but they were sites that were setup for hacking and other things where it's encouraged to do things against terms of service and not discouraged like it is here.


Direct question - are you a 'cop' ? 
I mean affiliating with Signal Integrity Dept DTV/subsidiaries ?
Or a hacker ?


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

P Smith said:


> Direct question - are you a 'cop' ?
> I mean affiliating with Signal Integrity Dept DTV/subsidiaries ?
> Or a hacker ?


Nope, and most of the people I have known that are in departments like that, for any company, will never be an "active" person on places like this when it's within their field. With the resources available to those departments they don't need "internet cops" as they can get what they need from the accounts anyways that are more reliable.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

They are do more that you say here; they do monitoring such boards, do sting operations. Well known fact ... And no one disclosing such affiliations, it's revealing in a court usually. Read that case NDS vs Dish (Tarnovsky). Anyway, your pedaling/persistence some such issues is not usual and perhaps just a little compromised you already.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

P Smith said:


> They are do more that you say here; they do monitoring such boards, do sting operations. Well known fact ... And no one disclosing such affiliations, it's revealing in a court usually. Read that case NDS vs Dish (Tarnovsky). Anyway, your pedaling/persistence some such issues is not usual and perhaps just a little compromised you already.


I could get into the Tanovsky case if you want but it's not really relevant to this thread and has nothing to do with being potentially charged for modifying a receiver. As for whatever you think my job is more power to you.

So with all that said if you want to continue this we can start a new thread somewhere or goto PM however on this topic:
:backtotop


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

We done.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I agree with Mr. Smith. Asked and answered, I'm closing this thread.


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