Should I get new drive on Series 1 or pay $70 for a new driveless Series 2?

[bearymore]

The drive on my Series 1 Philips DSR6000 finally gave out after 4 years. I foolishly took up Directv's offer of a free R15. Now that I've suffered with it for 2 weeks, I'm ready either to fix or replace my original Tivo. My conundrum is this. I can buy a new drive and put it in the old Series 1. Alternatively, I can buy a new drive and a driveless factory refurb Philips DSR704 Series 2 from PTVUpgrade and put the new drive in that. The DSR704 costs $70 and maybe another $20 if DTV won't let me use my original Tivo's access card or the access card from the R15. Is it worth it to spend the $70 or $90 or should I just fix my old Series 1? I'm not familiar with Series 2, so I don't know what I'd get if I made the change.

I'd really appreciate some advice on the matter.

[stevel]

If the DSR6000 was otherwise working, pick up a 160GB drive fir $50 or less and replace the drive. There isn't all that much that a DSR704 would buy you.

[bearymore]

If the DSR6000 was otherwise working, pick up a 160GB drive fir $50 or less and replace the drive. There isn't all that much that a DSR704 would buy you.

I'd love some other opinions as well, but there is no reason not to get a drive now and do this at least in the interim if not as a long-term solution to my problem.

I did upgrade one of my old Tivos, but that was several years ago. Do you have any recommendations on the specs for the drive, rpm's etc.? I remember that used to be critical. I'm presuming software is still downloadable to format and initialize the drive, am I right? Also, 160 GB yields how many hours? I'm guessing 146, but you would know better.

Thanks again,

Charlie.

[goony]

Unless you want/need networked access, replacing the hard drive on the S1 should be just fine.

Do you have any recommendations on the specs for the drive, rpm's etc.? I remember that used to be critical.Not really, as long as it's an IDE/EIDE/PATA drive - avoid any drive that says 'serial' in the interface description, you want a 'parallel' interface drive.

5400 rpm drives will work fine, but they are getting harder to find - most are 7200 RPM these days. A 5400 rpm will run a little bit cooler. DO NOT get a 10,000 rpm drive - runs too hot, not needed whatsoever.

If you are getting a commodity drive (online I always use http://www.newegg.com or check http://www.salescircular.com for current 'deals' at the local stores), check out the website of the manufacturer and see if there is an 'acoustic management' utility you can download and use... that way, you can set the drives for quieter operation - a slight performance hit for a PC or a server, but in a DVR you'll never notice it.

I'm presuming software is still downloadable to format and initialize the drive, am I right?Yup, see http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/instantcake/. You buy a downloadable image (make sure you get the correct one for your box) that you use to burn a CD. Take your PC down, disconnect your Windoze hard drive (to be safe), connect your new bare drive and boot that CD up and follow the instructions.

Also, 160 GB yields how many hours? I'm guessing 146, but you would know better.Drive size, in GB * 0.875 gives you the rough number of recording hours in a DTivo, e.g. 300GB = 263 hours.

[bearymore]

If you are getting a commodity drive (online I always use http://www.newegg.com or check http://www.salescircular.com for current 'deals' at the local stores), check out the website of the manufacturer and see if there is an 'acoustic management' utility you can download and use... that way, you can set the drives for quieter operation - a slight performance hit for a PC or a server, but in a DVR you'll never notice it.
.

Thanks for the info. According to salescircular, Office Depot has a 200 GB for $50. I presume that will work. Is there any size limitation with the Series 1?

[wscannell]

With the series 2, you get some additional features like folders. In addition, it is easier to upgrade as series 2 to large hard drives (>137GB) - there are no extra steps to add the correct kernel.

[rminsk]

Thanks for the info. According to salescircular, Office Depot has a 200 GB for $50. I presume that will work. Is there any size limitation with the Series 1?Without hacking the kernel you are limited to the first 137 GB of the drive. A series 2 does not have that limit.

[willardcpa]

Use the drive out of the R15, reimage it and put it in your DSR6000. That'll show em! ;)