Pioneer DVR went down

[skeeter0055]

I have a Pioneer Elite DVR-57H that I purchased less than 2-years ago. The hard drive went on it around Thanksgiving. I called Pioneer and they said it was out of warranty and that I just had to send it to one of their authorized repair shops. I did just that and now they want $300 to replace the hard drive. I told they they were crazy, I can buy a new unit for $350 with more features than this one. What really has me ticked is this unit cost me almost $700 2-years ago and now Pioneer wants me to spend another $300 to fix it . That pretty much writes Pioneer of my list for any future AV purchases

Any suggestions on repairing it or replacing? Thanks

Mark

[steveryan]

It seems that you can replace the hard drive yourself -
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=+DVR-57H+replacing+hard+drive&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

[Bjs]

You might want to buy a new one ... but check this out :

http://www.area450.com/hardwaremods/upgradechecker.html

Has info about unit's , and hd swaps .

For your unit : http://tivo.upgrade-instructions.com/step1.php

Half way down , and over to the right is Pioneer 57H

From what I can see , if the drive itself is stuffed , you have no choice but either to allow the repairs , or forget it and buy a new one ... as the drive's contain's data required by the unit in order for it to function correctly .

Just like the xbox dose ...

----------------

From one link :

++ Pioneer DVD Recorder/TiVo combos: The Pioneer DVR-57h DVD and Humax recorder/TiVo combo can be upgraded by replacing the original 120GB A drive with a new larger upgrade A drive. Unfortunately, as of now, Mfs Tools is not functioning properly with the Pioneer DVR-810h image - but if you are able to locate a DVR 57h image (I am unaware of any download location for this image) – this image can be used to create a larger A Drive Replacement that so far seems to function normally in the DVR-810h models.

-----------------

http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/lba48_support.cfm (the thing you may need)

-----------------

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=144173 (what the read if you get stuck)

[skeeter0055]

Seems to me buying a new unit might just be cheaper and I'll get a lot more functions. Any suggestions on a new unit? Thanks

[Frobozz]

Sometimes your credit card company automatically doubles the length of factory warranties purchased with that card. Check into that. I purchase an annual service that gives me extended warranties on nearly anything I buy.

Otherwise I'd get rid of that recorder unless you just love it. In my opinion it is better to get the Tivo and have a separate DVD recorder.

[Frobozz]

Seems to me buying a new unit might just be cheaper and I'll get a lot more functions. Any suggestions on a new unit? Thanks

It depends on how much you want to keep Tivo. The current DVD recorders with hard drives do not automatically record channels you are tuned to or record while you are away unless you press record or program a recording. They do offer a chase play option for watching a program while it is recording, but you have to tell it to start recording in the first place.

JVC made some models that always record into a buffer whatever the recorder is tuned to, but I don't know if that is still available. Toshiba had a combo Tivo/DVD recorder, too.

I wonder if the DVD recorder function still works on your Pioneer. If it can record to DVD from a line input without using the HDD then all you need is a Tivo. When you want to make a DVD you could just play the Tivo to the Pioneer recorder.

[skeeter0055]

Great idea about the credit card. I'll have to check and see if mine extends the warranty.

The unit actually would get to the TiVO screen and lock up. It would just state "Please Stand By" and it would just stay on that screen. I actually left it for two days once and it still asked to stand by.

I tried shutting it down, unplugging it and resetting the system and it would go through the start-up process, but get to the TiVO screen and lock-up again.

Per Pioneer the hard drive had failed and since the TiVO's OS is installed on that drive, the unit would no longer function. From what I have read from other TiVO folks is those units are not very long lived since the hard drives spin constantly they wear out rather quickly.

Any suggestions on another unit? Non-pioneer that is!

[Brent G.]

My Pioneer DVR-220-s died this month and to replace the burner (just the burner) it was $265 (CDN). And yes, this is a DVR without a hard disk. After opening the unit up, I see it is using custom connectors and not the IDE connectors that I had hoped it was using. So that means an easy repair was out of the question. Apparently DVR manufacturers want to make it as expensive as possible to repair these units and this has turned me off.

I know this is going to sound blasphemous (at least on this forum) , but why not use a 2 year old computer with a DVD burner and burn the video to a hard disk. You can do all the editing you want without transfering the files, and burn to DVD whenever you want. If you run out of disk space, add another drive. It won't be quite as convenient, but it will last forever and fully expandable. You're also not in servitude to the OEM's.

Brent