how long do the drives last?

There are those here who say their old Series 1's still have the original drive, but they are the exception. My Sony Series 1 unit went for about 4 years before it needed a new drive.

If you are comfortable opening up your unit, I would say swap out the drive now and take advantage of the added space. Although it's not a DVR-specific drive, I picked up a Western Digital "Green" 1TB unit for my PC for under $100 just last night.

 

I have an S1 I bought in 2001 and upgraded a few months later with a second drive.

The unit is now two states away being used by my sister and running strong on those same two drives.

I don't think this is typical, though.

 

The life of a hard drive is HIGHLY variable. Some die a quick death, others chug along for many, many years.

If you plan on getting new hardware next September, then why bother upgrading a working unit now, and spending about $100 in the process.

If you plan on keeping the unit after your service contract is up (and going month to month, or new commitment) then you need to decide if you are content with the amount of recording space. If you are content with the recording space, then why bother fixing a unit that has not failed?

 

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The average lifespan is probably 3-4 years. Of course, there will always be some units that last two years and others that last eight.

Until you start to see the signs of a drive failure -- stutter, pixelization, poor menu responsiveness, partial recordings, and/or reboots -- then I see no need to upgrade the drive, unless you want to increase capacity.

 

I have an S3 that's about 2 yrs old and I just replaced the drive. I have an S3 that's 3 yrs old and it's still going.

YMMV.

 

I have a SONY TivO Series 1 (remember them?) from 2001, still running perfectly. Go figure.

 

Our first S1 was still working fine on the original 30GB hard drive after 7 years when we retired it. Our second S1 is still working fine in manual recording mode on an upgraded 120GB hard drive after 7 years as well (upgraded as soon as we bought it in 2002).

The 2 S3 units that replaced the S1 units are almost 3 years old now.

Scott

 

I wouldn't touch it unless you either had a problem, or decided you needed more capacity. Every time you open your TiVo you are taking a risk - Imagine how you'd feel if you broke a connector or something worse, just in the spirit of being "proactive."

As for drive lifetime, there is really no 'average lifetime' that will apply to your specific situation - as you know, a drive can fail within a few months of being put into service, or it can go virtually 'forever' - we are still seeing Series1 units today with drives that work just fine. And we see failed TiVo HD drives within a few months of being put into service.

It's really not a function of the drive. It's a function of your environment, how the drives are handled prior to being put in the units, and a function of the quality of the materials used when the drive is built, and everything in between!

Lou