A make it or break it feature for me...

[landrvr1]

Just read megazone's excellent review, but this part really stuck out for me:

The next thing I noticed is that the E-SATA port is labeled 'For Future Use' on the diagram of the back of the unit. I also asked about this. The external expansion capabilities are not yet ready, so you won't be plugging in extra capacity just yet. And with TTG also disabled, it means you won't be able to make room by moving shows to a PC. This will definitely be enabled in a future release, but there is no sold time frame for that as of yet.

On this new unit, does 'For Future Use' mean:

1. When external expansion is ready I can upgrade the unit I just paid $800 for?

or

2. I'm s#&t out of luck and need to buy a new unit in order to take advantage of an external drive.

I was geeked about the thought of hooking up one of my Western Digital My Books to the Series3, and am a bit shocked that this feature isn't ready day 1.

[bkdtv]

1. When external expansion is ready I can upgrade the unit I just paid $800 for?
Yes.

The Series3 hardware fully supports eSATA expansion. The current Tivo software does not. Support for external expansion will be added in an upcoming software release, hopefully in the update slated for ~November.

[landrvr1]

Yes.

The Series3 hardware fully supports eSATA expansion. The current Tivo software does not. Support for external expansion will be added in an upcoming software release, hopefully in the update slated for ~November.

Whew. That's beautiful. Thanks for the quick reply.

[redrouteone]

Yeah nothing really new here.

I have been with TiVo since 2000 and it seems with every new hardware realise there is a short period before all of the add on features are implemented.

I remember waiting for the 2nd tuner support on my SAT-T60. I was so happy when the software was updated to support it. IIRC it took less than a year for the software to come out. So don't worry, if TiVo says they'll do they will.

[fergiej]

My guess on this is that they are going t have enough support issues to deal with for awhile. I would guess they really didn't want to have to support any number of external drive issues as well. As soon as they get their bearings on any possible support issues that may come up, my guess is we'll see the eSATA drive support. That's fine for me. I'm coming from a Moto DVR at Comcast. This thing has a world of space for me right now. ;)