If you're a Tivo owner with a HD Tivo, then chances are you've come to the right place. This drive is the right choice for upgrading your capacity. It is the ONLY brand that is supported by Tivo, your warranty will remain in effect, and it is a painless install.
This package is the right enclosure, the right eSATA cable, and most importantly the right drive. This drive is NOT a standard PC drive. It is specially designed for 24/7 spinning, low noise, PVR use.
Note that 1TB should give you over 165 hours of HD, not the "60 hours" in this listing. Also note that most Tivos don't recognize drives over 1TB, so spending more won't help you.
If you really want to get into the details of upgrading your Tivo storage, look here: [...]
All my info is current as of Spring 2009. Things change. Western Digital My DVR Expander 1 TB eSATA External Hard Drive
Those that live in the NY/NJ area and have Cablevision know that they changed most, if not all, of the regular channels to HD channels. So our DVR has been filling up faster than usual, and there is no way around it. Most of the popular channels are all in HD. So for the past month or so, my wife and I have been looking for a solution. Our DVR was always 70-80% full and we were constantly erasing stuff. I found the Western Digital My DVR Expander, and it was the solution to our problem. I called Cablevision customer support and asked them if it was compatible with our DVR. They said yes, and that it was actually the only one compatible, meaning that you can't just get any eSATA drive and plug it in. The My DVR Expander is formatted to function just like your DVR. I did read somewhere that only the 500 GB version is the only one compatible with the Scientific Atlanta Explorer, but the Cablevision customer support tech did not mention that.
It took one day to receive my package after ordering, AMAZING! I looked up the installation instruction on the Cablevision website and they were identical to the instructions that came with the drive. "Power off cable box, plug in the power cord for the DVR Expander, connect the eSATA cable, power on DVR Expander, and power on cable box, follow on screen instructions to format the drive." Simple right? You would think that, but I did not get the on screen instructions, so I knew something was wrong. I checked to see the about of space used, and it was still 85% full. I started to get a little frustrated, but I decided to try it again, thinking maybe I did something wrong. Followed the instructions again, and still it was not recognized. Now my frustration was starting to show, especially because I bought another one for our bedroom. I called Cablevision tech support, and spoke to high level tech guy. I explained the problem, and he said he doesn't understand why it wasn't working. He first said that maybe my DVR Expander was defective and to take it back. I said I can't do that. Then he came back and asked me if I had the 500 GB version or the 1 TB versions. I told him I had the 1 TB version, then he said that he checked with his supervisor and that this version is not compatible, and sorry for the inconvenience. Now I was furious, but I did not give up. I decided to try my own SIMPLE installation. With both the DVR Expander and the cable box powered on, I just pluged the eSATA cable to the back of the cable box, and VIOLA!!!! The on screen instruction came up asking to format the drive. It took less than one minute. I checked the space used, and I was delighted to see that it was only 10% full! The installation should have taken less than 2 minutes. You don't even have to wait for your cable box to reboot, which takes like 5 minutes or more.
Overall, I am very pleased with it so far. I've had it for two weeks now, and everything is working fine. I put my ear next to it, and I could barely hear it running. It has never gotten too hot, and I have it set next to my cable box in my entertainment center. If you are a cablevision customer, this is such a great upgrade, and it works fine. If you are having trouble, feel free to leave a comment.
When I saw Western Digital had come out with a 1 TB model, I decided to take the plunge and hoped it wouldn't exhibit the quality problems that plague so many new models. When the hard drive arrived, I connected to my HD TiVo with the included eSATA connector. Unfortunately, TiVo did not recognize the external hard drive despite numerous tries. After a bit of troubleshooting, I determined that the eSATA connector into the back of the My DVR Expander wasn;t making a solid connection. Nothing a little duct tape can't fix, right? I then enjoyed a wonderful month or so with the hard drive and was able to record over 100 programs in both HD and SD formats. Can't stay awake for the Tonight Show? No problem. I could record every night and not have to worry about running out of disk space.
Then a more serious quality problem emerged. Shortly after the disk space filled up, my TiVo froze in the middle of a program I was recording. Nothing I did could get it to restart. After a long phone call with TiVo technical support, together we identified that the DVR Expander had caused the meltdown. The only way to use TiVo again was to disconnect the hard drive (and lose ALL those recorded programs) and reboot without the external hard drive. What choice did I have? Fortunately, the drive was still under warranty.
I called Western Digital customer support, who assured me a new unit would be shipped in 3-5 business days. After a week, I checked its status on the WD website and read a notice explaining there were delays and it would be another 2 weeks. Another 2 weeks passed and I called again. The customer rep explained they were experiencing manufacturing problems with the new 1 TB model and were out of stock, but he would try to expedite my replacement request. Another 2 weeks and another call. This time the rep tells the problems are so severe, the company hasn't been able to make a single good unit since I first called and he could not assure me delivery "in any reasonable time frame." Holy Cow! So naturally I ask for a refund. The rep refuses my request for a refund because it's against company policy. So now it's been almost three months, I'm out the price of the hard drive and some recorded programs, and am on an indefinite wait for a replacement.
If you're willing to gamble, the 1 TB model is a great product concept and chances are your unit will work fine. If not, you might want to wait for Western Digital to work out the quality bugs or go with their tried-and-tested 500 GB model instead. - Esata - Tivo Expander - Dvr - Tivo Hd'
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