Author: Jeff

For the past month or two, many DIRECTV TiVo R10 users have found their TiVos rebooting and freezing randomly. We have notified DIRECTV about the problem and they tell us that TiVo is working on the issue. Based on feedback from some very astute customers, we have come to learn that BBC America (channel 264) will cause your R10 to freeze or reboot very quickly, so you might want to cancel your BBCA season passes (sorry, Orphan Black fans) until the problem is resolved.

UPDATE, 7/15: Discovery Channel and possibly History Channel are also being impacted by this problem. DIRECTV engineers have verified the problem and are pushing TiVo engineers to help get the issue resolved. We are cautiously optimistic.

Today we released the TiVo Roamio, TiVo Roamio Plus and TiVo Roamio Pro in two new capacities: One with a single 6TB internal hard drive (the largest internal drive available), and one with 12TB (one 6TB internal, one 6TB external). Our 6TB drives, as always, are designed for digital video recorders running 24/7.

The 6TB models record up to 960 HD hours.

The dual-6TB models record up to 1,930 HD hours.

We have also released self-install hard drive upgrade kits, both 6TB and dual-6TB, for those who already own a TiVo Roamio, Roamio Plus or Roamio Pro and want to upgrade.

Finally, we have released a 6TB external hard drive, which can be added to an existing Roamio, but the external 6TB is not available for self-installation due to software limitations. The price on these kits includes our work here to attach them to your TiVo, and outbound shipping for the assembly.

We can’t help but recognize the elephant in the room: TiVo’s release of the Mega, which has 24TB and redundancy. We hope to add this monster to our lineup when it is available (and yes, of course we’ll try to get this beyond 24TB when the time comes), but considering the Mega has no release date, we think our 6TB and 12TB options are compelling, especially given the pricing.

All new capacities of complete Roamios and kits are shipping immediately.

We have just dropped prices on all TiVo Roamio models! The base-model Roamio has dropped $50. The Roamio Plus has dropped by $75. The Pro has dropped by $100. Prices are good through the holiday season, while supplies last.

Remember that the TiVo Mini is still only $149.99, which includes lifetime TiVo service. This fantastic deal means that you can now eliminate all monthly fees for additional TVs in your home by using TiVo Minis in your other rooms. For example, if you purchase a TiVo Roamio Plus for the main TV in your home and subscribe in with lifetime service, you can add multiple Minis around your house and pay your cable company for your programming package and for one CableCARD. No DVR fees. No cable box subscription fees. No fees for additional rooms. And if you’re contemplating the Mini, don’t forget the TiVo Mini RF version, available only at weaKnees, which includes an RF TiVo Remote. With the TiVo Mini RF, your remote will not require a line of sight to the Mini, so you can hide the Mini behind the TV, in a closet or in a cabinet.

Over the last 3-4 days, we have had a rash of calls from TiVo customers reporting that their TiVo DVRs are rebooting at or toward the end of a recorded show. Early calls were from Series3 owners, but we’ve now heard from a Series2 owner as well.

It doesn’t seem to matter whether you press the TiVo button at the end of the show (to bring you back to Now Playing) or whether you delete the show. In either case, the unit reboots spontaneously. We believe that TiVo is aware of the problem and is working on a solution, but you should not assume that your TiVo itself has a problem. If you want some peace of mind, you can always run a hard drive test using the Kickstart 54 TiVo hard drive test.

EDIT (9/11/14): TiVo is reporting that they have resolved the problem. Please force an update on your TiVo DVR.

We have been selling TiVo DVRs for well over a decade now and I don’t think we have ever seen a situation quite like this one. TiVo is selling the Roamio Plus and Roamio Pro DVRs with lifetime service at far under our wholesale cost. The Roamio Plus is $599.98 with lifetime TiVo service and the Pro is $799.98 with service. Even for existing TiVo subscribers, this is a significant discount.

This will not last long (and we’ll probably remove this post once the sale is over).

Once you have your unit in hand, you can order a weaKnees TiVo Upgrade Kit to add capacity.