External DVR Expander VS Internal Upgrade

george.freeman · 01-13-2010, 04:28 PM

Hello everyone,

I recently changed over to FiOS HD package and noticed that my default recording space on my HD TiVO is not going to cut it!

I have been reading a great deal of reviews on what to do, DVR Expander or Internal Upgrade.

DVR Expander does not void the warranty, but they seem to have (the 'supported' WD ones) an extremely high failure rate to the point that they are being discontinued.

I have had my HD TiVO for over a year anyhow so should I worry about the warranty?

I know, in general, 1 TB drives are still iffy on longevity so I would not mind a 500GB one. I need some sort of solution, b/c there is NOT enough current space to record all of our shows when we go away, nevermind if we don't stay on top of it daily!

Please, if you have experience with this one way or another I would love to hear your opinions!!

ciscokid · 01-13-2010, 04:41 PM

If you have ANY kind of ability to just read........... and know how a screwdriver works you can EASILY swap out the TIVO's stock drive with a larger one. It will take you all of 15 minutes to do. You can pick one up from any reputable seller on ebay for under $120 (delivered in 2 days).

Contrary to what I've read here, I don't really think your warranty is voided because TIVO will not know that you opened up your case and swapped out the drives. Just keep your old drive available to put back in if it craps out under the original warrant period.

I looked high and low and there are NO TAMPER SEALS on the TIVO, at last not the new HD one I just opened.

This is the second swap I've done and believe me, if you can read, you'll have no trouble doing the swap.

And the new 1 terrabyte drives should come with a three year warranty from the seller. Mine did!

Hope that helps!

SJPstl · 01-13-2010, 04:41 PM

I bought a 1tb expander in April when the larger size first came out. No problems so far. Last Friday I was searching online for another to connect to a new HD unit. I found that they are out of stock and back-ordered everywhere I looked. You could still order one for future delivery so at least the retail vendors do not believe it has been discontinued.

I am hesitant to open the box and void the warranty but, as others have said and I have personally experienced, the item most likely to go bad is the hard drive anyway.

steve614 · 01-13-2010, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by george.freeman

I have had my HD TiVO for over a year anyhow so should I worry about the warranty?

No. Warranty is done. Do an internal drive upgrade.
I bought one of the pre-formatted 1 TB drives from Weaknees almost a year ago. Been happy ever since.

george.freeman · 01-13-2010, 04:50 PM

These pre-formatted drives? I usually shop at newegg and I am guessin I should not just purchase a stock HDD? I will read through the swapout walkthroughs to get some info on these but it sounds like the best idea (and I didn't really want yet another box).

ciscokid · 01-13-2010, 04:54 PM

Yes! These are preformatted. Just pop them in and do guided setup and you're ready to go. Formatting them is a pain in the rear. So I'd revommend spending the couple of bucks and get one that's finished and ready.

Again, really, 15 minutes and it's up and running!

george.freeman · 01-13-2010, 05:24 PM

Ok, I will search for pre-formatted ones thanks for the heads up!

Ahh just found a great walkthrough that preserves all my settings and recordings, including using any HDD (I am a techie so not worried about an extensive setup)

http://www.rosswalker.co.uk/tivo_upgrade/

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!!

steve614 · 01-13-2010, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by george.freeman

Ok, I will search for pre-formatted ones thanks for the heads up!

Ahh just found a great walkthrough that preserves all my settings and recordings, including using any HDD (I am a techie so not worried about an extensive setup)

http://www.rosswalker.co.uk/tivo_upgrade/

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!!

Excellent! I could have formatted a drive, too. And I don't consider myself as ''techie'' as other people on this forum.
I'm just lazy.

ciscokid · 01-13-2010, 09:06 PM

Yeah! I guess I'm a bit lazy too. I figure if I can afford a $225 Tivo HD unit AND a new terrabyte Hard drive upgrade for it, then I can afford paying $120 bucks for a drive that is "ready to go" rather than paying $90 for a drive that I can format myself, waste a half a day, and potentially "screwing it up."

Well worth the 30 or so dollars for the peace of mind and the savings in time for me.

Although, in all fairness it HAS gotten a bit easier with the new SATA drives and MFS for Windows that's now available.

When I got my first Tivo a couple of years ago, doing the upgrade was a lot more chancy, even for a "techie".. Booting into Linux making sure you didn't boot the drive while in Windows, etc., etc. made it a bigger risk than it now is.

Not worth the risk!

CraigK · 01-13-2010, 10:33 PM

Everything is covered pretty well in the first post of Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ in the TiVo Series3 HDTV DVRs forum here.

Lots of support from folks who have done the upgrades. You can skip to the end of thread to read the posts from those with recent experience. I upgraded two TiVo HDs in OCT/NOV to 1TB drives with the help of that thread.