Series 3: Can you upgrade the drive?

[jauburn]

Can you upgrade the hard drive on a series 3? That would be the only way I'd get it.

[filburt1]

IIRC, you can add external drives via eSATA.

[DPF]

I don't think anyone knows for absolute certain yet. Allegedly, they're SATA drives, but possibly with special WD connectors. I haven't seen any definitive answers on that. There are pics out there of internals so you should be able to find out with some looking.

But, it may not matter as there is an eSATA connector on the back for adding external storage. It's not activated with the initial release, but is supposed to be soon. I don't know if that is casued by the CableLabs stuff (possible as its a way to get things off the machine) or not, as with the disabled MRV and TTG with the initial software release.

-DPF

[jauburn]

It's not activated with the initial release
-DPF

NOT ACTIVATED? What the hell? Why would I plunk down $800 bucks for this dumb box if it doesn't give me enough space to hold a decent amount of HD?

[jauburn]

IIRC, you can add external drives via eSATA.

IIRC? What's that?

[SeanC]

If I Remember Correctly

[Dan203]

I don't know if that is casued by the CableLabs stuff (possible as its a way to get things off the machine) or not, as with the disabled MRV and TTG with the initial software release.

It has nothing to do with CableLabs. There are cable company DVRs out there that have this same feature. My guess is that they couldn't get the code working in time for release so they pushed it back. There is a lot of work in dealing with external storage. You have to be able to fail gracefully, without user interaction, and recover should the drive be reattached. I expect to see it active after the next release (i.e. the one with KidZone, Recently Deleted, etc...) which should be out in the next couple of months.

Dan

[jauburn]

That figures. That's why I never buy 1.0 products.

[Stanley Rohner]

NOT ACTIVATED? What the hell? Why would I plunk down $800 bucks for this dumb box if it doesn't give me enough space to hold a decent amount of HD?

What the hell ? Being able to record 32 hours of HD quality isn't enough for you ? A friend at work said that's about 2X larger than the COMCAST HD DVR.

I personally won't be plunking down $800 even if it held 400 hours of HD quality, but I wouldn't call it a dumb box.

[jauburn]

What the hell ? Being able to record 32 hours of HD quality isn't enough for you ?

Heck no. How many football games is 32 hours? Not many, right - a weekend? Plus other stuff I want to record? Forget it. That kind of capacity stinks. Double it, and you're getting somewhere.

Plus, of course, you want a way to save a whole season's worth of games on your computer or external device. You can do that, right?

Why do these DVR box makers give us great technology that's crippled by inadequate storage? It's a joke and a crime. In the days of the VCR, you could swap tapes. Now what? Often you can''t even upgrade the drive! Progress my butt!

[MichaelK]

do the usual boot disks and mfstools and the like have the ability to work with SATA?

I orderd a series 3 should be here friday.

Might go buy a 500gig SATA drive to try and replace the stock one. But I wont bother if the usual tools dont have the drivers for sata...

[jauburn]

do the usual boot disks and mfstools and the like have the ability to work with SATA?

I orderd a series 3 should be here friday.

Might go buy a 500gig SATA drive to try and replace the stock one. But I wont bother if the usual tools dont have the drivers for sata...


I doubt that they do.

[megazone]

Well, WeaKnees.com is already selling upgraded S3s and upgrade kits:
http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo.php
http://www.weaknees.com/series-3-hd-tivo-tcd648250b.php