[jmace57]

Well, my beloved first TiVo (80 hr Series 2) finally gave up the (disk) ghost after 4 years and 255 days.

I have been stockpiling some 160 gb drives for this and my other older PATA TiVos.

Anyway, I don't know why I posted this other than to say I'm very happy with the length of time it has been working - it has been on basicaly 100% of the time since Christmas 2002. It has gone thru at least 5 or 6 moves during my daughter's college career.

I guess I have been one of the lucky ones.

Jim

 

[wolflord11]

Now that is an impressive amount of time

:up:

 

[TiVoEvan74]

What's the usual expectation of a hard drive life in TiVos? Any stats or seat of the pants estimates?

Nearly 5 years does sound good...

Say if weaknees replaces a hard drive do they also transfer recordings, SPs over to the new drive? IIRC there's an extra fee for that, but it'd be worth it. Of course, if the HD has gone south, it might not be possible.

 

[ZeoTiVo]

What's the usual expectation of a hard drive life in TiVos? Any stats or seat of the pants estimates?

Nearly 5 years does sound good...

Say if weaknees replaces a hard drive do they also transfer recordings, SPs over to the new drive? IIRC there's an extra fee for that, but it'd be worth it. Of course, if the HD has gone south, it might not be possible.

yes Weaknees will do that and yes the drive does still need to be readable in order to transfer shows adn so forth. This is alos possible via the do it yourself tools and instructions. hard Drives in TiVo's have about the same expected lifetime as in any other use of a hard drive. The continuous use model that Tivo employs does not have any real effect on overall hard drive lifetime

 

[cooper243]

Since I have a lifetime sub on my s2dt, should I invest in another hard drive and back up my current one and put it on the shelf?

Almost 5 years does sound impressive.

 

[aus1ander]

I think this is hardly worth the expense. Spare parts, especially standard off-the-shelf hard drives, are pretty easy to find and will continue to get cheaper through the years. The tools to image your drive are easy to find as well, or you can pay Weaknees to do it for you.

 

[ZeoTiVo]

Since I have a lifetime sub on my s2dt, should I invest in another hard drive and back up my current one and put it on the shelf?

Almost 5 years does sound impressive.

yah this only makes sense if you do it often enough to have an up to date season pass list on the spare drive, which few of us would take the time to do

Your money is btter spent on a good UPS to keep a steady stream of power to the Tivo

 

[d_anders]

yah this only makes sense if you do it often enough to have an up to date season pass list on the spare drive, which few of us would take the time to do

Your money is btter spent on a good UPS to keep a steady stream of power to the Tivo

I still have a 30 hr Series 1 running for 6 years, 10 months. Yeah, I could have upgraded it by now, but I just wanted to know how long it can run...still going strong.

P.S. Yes, it's been on 2 different UPS' over the year....I'm sure that it has helped.

 

[aadam101]

My oldest living Tivo was purchased in April 2003. It is still going strong!!!

 

[LoadStar]

My Philips Series 1 TiVo still has the original drive, plus the extra drive I added shortly after getting it.

 

[cthomp]

Sony S1 bought June of 2000. Drive died, February of 2007.

 

[jmace57]

I wonder if PATA drives are going to be around for a while. I bought a couple of 160s (at really good prices) a few months ago just in case.

Jim

 

[hutchca]

Hmm.. Memories...
Bought my first Philips (Series 1) TiVo new in Oct of 2000.
I upgraded the hard disk in it not long afterward though. I still have the original disk in a box somewhere.
That series one is still running strong. The Quantum hard disk in there has been running almost continuously now for >6 years.

I upgraded to a Series 2 with the lifetime transfer deal in Feb of '03. It still has the original factory hard drive in it (80 hr) which has been running almost continuously now for 4 years, 176 days.

I better think about replacing the drive soon. I only have 79 days left 'till I catch up to you.

The series 2 was on a UPS 99% of it's life, the Series 1 was just plugged into the wall.
Only moved once though.

 

[WallyDilbert]

My HDVR2's first drive lasted about 2 years. The first replacement lasted less than 1 year.

 

[raianoat]

I wonder if PATA drives are going to be around for a while. I bought a couple of 160s (at really good prices) a few months ago just in case.

Jim

Check out this blog post:
http://www.dvrupgrade.com/blog/2007/08/seagate_confirms_no_end_to_db3.html

 

[jmace57]

Ask, and it shall be answered...seek, and ye shall find...

Thanks raianoat.

Jim

 

[Glich]

my s1 was from dec 1999 drive still works but it has odd issues when the front pannel goes dark and needs a power cycle or teh remote stops working .. just replaced it last week with a tivoHD (free lifetime trasfer for the WIN!)

 

[HerronScott]

Sony S1 still running with the original hard drive since June 2000 and Philips S1 running with upgraded 120GB hard drive since May 2002. I transferred the lifetime service on both to new S3's so the S1's are both using the year free service.

Scott