Question About Buying A My DVR Expander

[SpiritualPoet]

Okay, now that there is a larger 1-Terrabyte My DVR Expander on the market, please answer:

When installing it to a TiVo, are any programs already recorded on the TiVo lost/erased due to the installation of the new external hard drive unit?

Thanks.

[lafos]

No. The existing programs remain, and stay on the internal drive. If you later divorce the external drive and some of the shows hadn't been deleted, then they would still be there.

[SpiritualPoet]

Great! Thanks.

[Bierboy]

I can confirm...just picked up the smaller My DVR Expander....nothing changed other than storage capacity. And it seems VERY quiet, which was one of my concerns since it's in the bedroom.

[Dan203]

After riding on the edge for months and actually losing a few recordings I broke down and bought a 500GB DVR expander for one of my S3s a few weeks ago. So far it has been flawless. It's virtually silent and the orange light on the front is about the same brightness as the display on the front of the TiVo, so it's not too distracting. And he extra space is great. In the past I was always on the edge with 1-2 things in Recently Deleted and I always felt pressure to watch things to clear up space for the next day. Now I have 60+ things in Recently deleted and feel like I've got plenty of space to hold everything I need to record.

Dan

[Bierboy]

After riding on the edge for months and actually losing a few recordings I broke down and bought a 500GB DVR expander for one of my S3s a few weeks ago. So far it has been flawless. It's virtually silent and the orange light on the front is about the same brightness as the display on the front of the TiVo, so it's not too distracting. And he extra space is great. In the past I was always on the edge with 1-2 things in Recently Deleted and I always felt pressure to watch things to clear up space for the next day. Now I have 60+ things in Recently deleted and feel like I've got plenty of space to hold everything I need to record.

Dan

I think I'm set; with an S3 outfitted with a 750GB weaKnees internal upgrade (107 HD hours) and my new TiVo HD with the 500GB expander (70 90+ HD hours), I think I'll be OK -- at least through the summer months :D

[jilter]

I think I'm set; with an S3 outfitted with a 750GB weaKnees internal upgrade (107 HD hours) and my new TiVo HD with the 500GB expander (70+ HD hours), I think I'll be OK -- at least through the summer months :D

I am Greeeen.....
not that kind of Green....
Green with envy.

[lafos]

In the past I was always on the edge with 1-2 things in Recently Deleted and I always felt pressure to watch things to clear up space for the next day. Now I have 60+ things in Recently deleted and feel like I've got plenty of space to hold everything I need to record.

Dan

Interesting how technology modifies behavior, but I know what you mean. We have a S3 with 1TB internal, two HD with the 500GB Expanders, and one stock HD. I still check the recently deleted folder almost every time I use one, just to make sure that I can procrastinate. And with all this, my wife & daughter still push it...

[joemamafresh]

Hey guys!
I was wondering if my situation would cause a problem. I have a HD TiVo (non series three) which I had upgraded with a 1 TB drive last year, now my question is this, I upgraded my TiVo, and now I'm interested in purchasing one the dvr extenders to increase space even more. I was wondering since I upgraded already, would adding one of the dvr extenders would cause a problem at all? Anyone have any ideas? It's REALLY amazing how fast a person can use up their space! T.i.a.
~joey~

[bkdtv]

Hey guys!
I was wondering if my situation would cause a problem. I have a HD TiVo (non series three) which I had upgraded with a 1 TB drive last year, now my question is this, I upgraded my TiVo, and now I'm interested in purchasing one the dvr extenders to increase space even more. I was wondering since I upgraded already, would adding one of the dvr extenders would cause a problem at all?As per the Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784), the "plug and play" eSATA expansion no longer works after you upgrade the internal drive. You could still add an external drive, but doing so would require you to open your TiVo and pair it using WinMFS.

[RTstratSpring]

Hello,

Purchased an Tivo Expander Drive a year 1/2 ago and have yet to install it.
The one I have is a much smaller capacity than recent releases. From previous post in this thread it sounds like I can just connect the drive following the quick start instructions and not loose any recordings already on the internal drive.

The only reason I'm asking is that I was under the impression from another thread that I would loose any prior recordings.

My equipment includes a TivoHD with latest software release.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[stujac]

Yes-just unplug the TivoHd and then plug in the new expander then plug in the sata cable and start up the TivoHd. After it's done booting up, it should bring you directly to the activate screen but if it does not just go into settings and then select expansion (or something like that). Piece of cake providing it is a supported expander.

[RTstratSpring]

Thanks much for the reply "stujac"

I really appreciate it!

[SpiritualPoet]

Ok... I'm sorry but I forgot the proper sequence. Please address the following two scenarios and indicate which needs done first:

1. If installing a replacement hard drive (the same capacity or larger capacity) and adding Cable Card decoders for the first time. (Which should be done first? If it doesn't matter please say so.)

OR

2. If installing a My DVR Expander for the first time and adding Cable Card decoders for the first time, which should be done first? If it doesn't matter, please say so.

Another way of looking at it, if memory expansion (internal or external) is already in place, can cable cards be added later or will they not work?

Thanks.

[Gregor]

1. I'd do the disk first. If you buy one of the 'drop in' disk kits from a 3rd party vendor, you may have to redo the cable card pairing.
2. Doesn't matter.

You can add cable cards after a memory expansion.

[Bierboy]

I can attest to #2. I added the My DVR Expander after having CableCARDS installed on my TiVo HD (took three tries...thanks Mediacom), and it did NOT affect the cards.

[SpiritualPoet]

Thanks to you both!!

[jrtroo]

I would say it depends.

If you are upgrading yourself to say a 1T I would pair the cards first, then do the upgrade. That way when you put in the new drive it will have the pairings all set up and if you need to go back to your old drive for whatever reason it will be plug and play.

[SpiritualPoet]

There has got to be an error of what Amazon describes with regard to the capacity of a 1 Terrabyte version of the My DVR Expander. It claims: Instantly add up to 60 hours of high-definition TV or up to 300 hours of standard-definition TV. However, looking at the 500 Gigabyte version of the device from TiVo's own Website claims "in excess of 60 hours". In other words, both descriptions read the same, from two devices almost identically priced. Wouldn't a 1 Terrabyte version have double the capacity (over 130 hours of high definition capacity) of a 500 Gigabyte version (over 60 hours of high definition capacity)?

[Doh]

It seems sometimes Amazon will not distinguish between different sizes of the same products when posting reviews or descriptions. Maybe that happened here?

[SpiritualPoet]

Most likely.

[Martyp]

Well was able to pick up a 500gig at best buy on close up for a price I could just not pass up . On the directv dvr is it really as simple as turn off plug in and start using the space ?

I guess I could play with it but wife still has a lot of stuff on the drive in it

[bkdtv]

Well was able to pick up a 500gig at best buy on close up for a price I could just not pass up . On the directv dvr is it really as simple as turn off plug in and start using the space ?

I guess I could play with it but wife still has a lot of stuff on the drive in itUnlike the DirecTV DVRs, external storage adds to the internal storage on the TiVo. It does not replace or disable the internal storage.

All new recordings made after the drive is added are split across the internal and external drives.

Be aware that people have reported TiVo reliability issues with the 500GB My DVR Expander after 12-14 months of use, forcing them to disconnect the drive to restore reliability. It is unknown whether the 1TB version ($165 online) improves long-term reliability, since it was only released a few months ago.