post your Tivo HD eSATA success story here

[milo99]

all right, i've searched around for info on if anyone has been using any eSATA drives w/ the THD, but can't seem to find anything substantial. Mostly S3 guys or those opting for internal upgrades.

I also would love it if someone has found any other 'supported' drives beyond the 500gb "My DVR Expander" being sold on the tivo site, or if you've found that one anywhere for less than the 199 on tivo.com.

or have you been able to add another eSATA drive (like the WD my books) with minimal mod/hacking of those drives?

[bkdtv]

Did you see the eSATA Expansion FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784) stickied at the top of the forum?

However, to answer your questions, the Western Digital My DVR Expander is the only drive currently supported by the "plug and play" expansion on the TivoHD. This drive is available from most Best Buy locations (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17006&type=page&sourceId=1185271084416&sourceType=product&skuId=8477105&productId=1185271084416&itemId=1049218).

You can add a different drive using the instructions in the FAQ above. Be aware that many of the My Books do not include a compatible eSATA cable.

[milo99]

you know, i tried sifting and searching through that for THD success stories, but didn't really come across any. So hoping that in the month or so that this capability has been around, if people have utilized it, I thought posting in a *much* shorter thread for others to more easily find would be helpful :)

And i did find it at BB for 219, was hoping anybody found it for less somewhere. Amazon was not a success even though they have the THD for $50 or so less than tivo.com...

[bkdtv]

And i did find it at BB for 219, was hoping anybody found it for less somewhere. Amazon was not a success even though they have the THD for $50 or so less than tivo.com...The FAQ has a link to a 10% off coupon, which brings it down to about $199 + tax. I haven't seen it for less than that.

You've probably noticed this by now, but most members don't post unless they have a problem. The Western Digital My DVR Expander is a supported solution and it works 100% of the time -- unless you've got a defective unit or a defective cable.

No other drive is going to work on the TivoHD because it looks at the drive firmware to determine compatibility.

[milo99]

You've probably noticed this by now, but most members don't post unless they have a problem.

hm. i'm new to the THD/s3 forum (a DirecTivo convert after 5 years) and the other forums always seemed to have success story type info, so i guess i need to adjust my expectations. :)

No other drive is going to work on the TivoHD because it looks at the drive firmware to determine compatibility.

damn.. that sucks. then i guess this thread is gonna die a short death.

[bkdtv]

You can use WinMFS to marry a different drive to the TivoHD, but if you're going to do that, it seems to me that you might as well upgrade the internal drive instead.

[HDTiVo]

Those b@$t@rd$ are charging $219! :eek:

[BigRichJ]

Yes, I was willing to bend over before the great Best Buy gods, and purchased the DVR Expander ($219.99, in-store, in Salinas, CA). Had some trouble on the first attempt at installing - as has been reported, the enclosed SATA cable made a horrible connection, resulting in a number of reboots. Fiddled with it a bit, tried two more reboots, and then everything worked out fine. System info reports up to 86 hD hours, 810 SD hours. Mine has been running for 2 weeks - no problems since I had it up and running. I'll go ahead and order the SIIG cable, just so that I can reach behind my system without jarring the current cable out of the Tivo, when I get my lazy butt away from actually WATCHING all of the programs I've been recording.

Rich J.

[benh57]

DVR Expander is out of stock everywhere online, it seems..

[pilotbob]

all right, i've searched around for info on if anyone has been using any eSATA drives w/ the THD, but can't seem to find anything substantial. Mostly S3 guys or those opting for internal upgrades.


I ordered the WD "verified" external eSata 500GB drive from the Tivo site for $199. It took about 5 days to get it... I think I ordered it the first day it was avilable.

I hooked it up to my Tivo... and after I thought it didn't work (no notification instantly on boot up after hooking it up) I went online to try to see what I might be doing wrong... when I came back after a few minutes, hit the Tivo button there was a message that it noticed I hooked up the external drive. It asked if I wanted to use it to expand the Tivo.... duh YES. It told me to wait.... after a few minutes it rebooted. After that Sys info reported up to 86hrs and all was working fine. Been good for about a week or so now.

Hope this counts as a success story!

BOb

[richsadams]

TiVo has an exclusive deal with Best Buy (or the other way around, you pick) to sell the WD DVR Expander at retail, so no need to waste any time looking for it anywhere else.

TiVo sells it for $199, BB for $219...not really a BB (even when it is in stock).

IIRC there are only one, possibly two posts on the Official eSATA Drive Expansion in 9.2: FAQ + Discussion thread (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784) that said there were any problems with adding the drive and I believe one ended up with a bad drive and the other with a bad eSATA cable.

As bkdtv points out…most folks only post when there’s a problem. No news is good news! :up: