question about buying VERIZON FIOS MOTOROLA HD DVR CABLE BOX MODEL #QIP6416-2
plyallstar
Newbie

Hello.

I have been trying to figure this check for a few days and I have not yet been able to find a definitive answer.

My question is this..."If I buy a VERIZON FIOS MOTOROLA HD DVR CABLE BOX MODEL #QIP6416-2 from ebay or somewhere else, and rent a cable card from verizon for $3.99/month, will it work normally as if I rented the same DVR box from verizon? 

I have read the restrictions of a cable card, which are you dont get the parental control and a few other things which are unimportant to me. 

The reason i want to buy an original verizon/motorola branded dvr is so that i can avoid paying the montly subscription fee for renting the dvr. If this works i don't mind paying the $4/monthly for the cable card to have a Verizon 160gb HD DVR.

If anyone knows if this will work/not work, please let me know. 

Thank You in advance.

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Re: question about buying VERIZON FIOS MOTOROLA HD DVR CABLE BOX MODEL #QIP6416-2
matcarl
Master - Level 1

Any Verizon box on ebay is stolen. Verizon will not activate yours and in fact may charge you to get the stolen box back.

P.S. The 6416 box doesn't even take cable cards.

Re: question about buying VERIZON FIOS MOTOROLA HD DVR CABLE BOX MODEL #QIP6416-2
Hubrisnxs
Legend

Verizon STB on EBAY

Unfortunately you can't buy a Verizon Motorola Cable Box and have Verizon Activate it.  They operate a controlled inventory.  So if that Set top box wasn't returned, then Verizon either coded it as stolen or written it out of their inventory.  Either way, when they activate it - it add's it to the bill at full price.  

There aren't a lot of cost savings in purchasing your own equipment.  

Tivo HD costs box costs about 99 bucks at blockbuster, or you can find them slightly cheaper online, Plus a 12.99 monthly fee for their guide data, and 3.99 for verizon's cable card which costs about as much as a Verizon DVR monthly rental fee. 

Most people will buy these for increased functionality, and "possible" LONG term savings (they buy a lifetime subscription for a few hundred dollars, and kill the 12.99 charge) but your return on investment is a few years at least. 


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Re: question about buying VERIZON FIOS MOTOROLA HD DVR CABLE BOX MODEL #QIP6416-2
mphare
Contributor - Level 2

From my personal experience, the boxes don't last forever, etiher. I owned 3 DIrectTivo boxes and had lots of fun learning how to upgrade and reimage them over the years. I learned how to replace and expand harddrives and I even learned how to replace a power supply. I never learned how to replace tuners and I had at least one of the tuners going out in each of the units.

When the power supply went out in another unit a few weeks back I decided I'd had enough fun and switched over to FiOS and leased equipment.

I now own three DIrecTivo door stops.

Re: question about buying VERIZON FIOS MOTOROLA HD DVR CABLE BOX MODEL #QIP6416-2
DeLong2
Newbie

I don't know how much the DVR box cost is, let's say $300 or $500, but if a customer rent for 6 years, everybody can calculate how much customer will have paid for the rental.

Is it legal for Verizon to do this? I mean only allow customers to rent their own DVR boxes, and rent to customer and get the huge profit. This is not fair competetion.

I was thinking to talk to my lawyer friend and see if we can sue verizon.

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Re: question about buying VERIZON FIOS MOTOROLA HD DVR CABLE BOX MODEL #QIP6416-2
tns
Master - Level 2

@DeLong wrote:

I don't know how much the DVR box cost is, let's say $300 or $500, but if a customer rent for 6 years, everybody can calculate how much customer will have paid for the rental.

Is it legal for Verizon to do this? I mean only allow customers to rent their own DVR boxes, and rent to customer and get the huge profit. This is not fair competetion.

I was thinking to talk to my lawyer friend and see if we can sue verizon.



You can by several other brands of DVR boxes, such as Tivo.  So Verizon is within the law. The Motorola boxes in question are not for sale to you but sold to V erizon and some other companies.

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