Help!

Our Tivo Series II went down a few days ago . We have a completely blank screen. I checked the cable and cable box by connecting directly to the tv and it works, so its the Tivo. I noticed there is no green power light on the front, and the tivo wireless device is not lit either. I can only assume the Tivo is dead.

I called Tivo customer service and they told me I would have to purchase a replacement unit from them. I had originally purchased the unit from Best Buy or similar (forgot which) and later purchased the lifetime service. Tivo said I had to purchase a replacement unit from them at $149. I thought this was strange since you can purchase a series II for $69 at many places. Tivo said it would not transfer the lifetime service to another unit . I went ahead and purchased the replacement unit yesterday. I just found out about the WeaKnees website and learned that I might be able to just purchase a new hard drive with additional hrs at lower price. I'm not sure whether its the hard drive though, using the troubleshooting page it could be something else. So my dilemma is this: purchase the replacement unit from Tivo and be "guaranteed" they will make it functional again and retain lifetime service, or, purchase from and attempt to replace the hard drive, but not sure if it will fix the problem. Please let me know what you suggest... Thanks By the way, if it helps, my model is TCD24008a

Tivak