Couple of questions

[Dave Sammy]

Apologizing in advance, these questions might be answered elsewhere but I'm not sure where to look. I've had my TiVo about 3-4 months. Under System Information, it tells me it's a Series 3 but the HD capacity says only 20 hours and the information telephone number starts with 652 - someone else here said those last two items would identify if you really had a Series 3 unit. Any thoughts?

Also, I have two Western Digital 1 TB My Books external hard drives - but from what I've seen here, these are not compatible with TiVo, right? That is, in terms of expanding memory, which I'm already out of.

Do I need to buy the Disk Expander or whatever it's called (500 GB, I think) that's made specifically for TiVo? Are there any other options?

I also have problems with the TiVo transfer of programs and movies from the TiVo disk (over my network) to my computer's hard drive. I see that many of the programs and movies seem to have been transferred but some of them don't seem to want to be transferred and the crosschecking between what's on the TiVo hard drive and what has been transferred to my computer's hard drive is very time-consuming. Because of this, I'm reluctant to erase anything from the TiVo and, therefore, I'm out of memory. I guess the TIVo doesn't automatically erase anything from its drive even though it's been transferred, so you have to backtrack and manually erase transferred programs, right?

I have other questions that I'll leave for later but if anyone can help me with the above, I'd appreciate it. It's probably apparent from this post that I'm not really a computer/TiVo technician, so the more basic the response, the better! Thanks! Dave

[RonDawg]

1. The 652 prefixed TiVo's are the TiVoHD models. They come stock with a 160GB hard drive, thus the 20 hour HD capacity. They are based on Series 3 architecture but have some significant differences from the original 648 prefixed Series 3 model.

2. The TiVoHD will ONLY accept the Western Digital My DVR Expander without any modifications. Some, but not all, eSATA drives can be made to work by "marrying" them with the internal drive, but if you're going to go through that much trouble and expense, you're better off just upgrading the internal drive. Many of the larger My Book series have had issues with even the Series 3/648 models, which don't have the same eSATA restrictions of the 652 model.

3. If you can get any programs from the TiVo to the PC, then the ones that won't transfer are likely copy-protected. And no, programs transferred using TTG/MRV do not automatically delete themselves.

[mattack]

Do I need to buy the Disk Expander or whatever it's called (500 GB, I think) that's made specifically for TiVo? Are there any other options?

That is currently the only OFFICIAL option. (Many are speculating that a 1 TB My DVR Expander will come out sometime.)

If you are willing to open up your Tivo and do some hacking, you can put in a bigger drive. Google for Tivo Hacking FAQ or similar. There are also places where you can buy upgraded drives to put directly in your Tivo, but they charge WAY more than just buying a drive and doing it yourself.

Of course, doing anything besides the official external drive could ruin your Tivo, electrocute you, make you go bald, etc.. Do it at your own risk. (I'm about to order a drive to replace my S3 drive that is apparently going bad, btw.)

[windracer]

1. The 652 prefixed TiVo's are the TiVoHD models. They come stock with a 160GB hard drive, thus the 20 hour HD capacity.
And that's 20 hours of HD .. or 180 hours at Basic.