Those of you using the std. Premiere w/ the 1T WD My Dvr Expander ; comments please?

I am assuming you are looking for ways to expand storage and decided I would put my 2 cents in for you to consider.

First be aware that there are 2 versions/models of Western Digital My DVR Expander. A current model and an older out of production model that is still available through many vendors.

The newer model is this one:


The older model is this one:

I have the older model on a Series 3 HD - no issues but I would buy the newer model now - there is a reason Western Digital has increased the warranty on the newer model.

With that out of the way there are basically 2 ways to increase the storage on a Premiere:

1. Add an external 1TB WD My DVR Expander drive
2. Replace the internal Hard Drive with upto a 2TB drive

There are +s & -s to both methods.

On the plus side to adding an external DVR Expander Drive:

1. Fairly cost effective - about $120
2. Very easy to do - almost plug and play
3. No issues with TiVo's warranty

On the minus side to adding an external DVR Expander Drive:

1. Significant increase in potential points of failure. New failure points become connection port on TiVo, cable, connection on external drive, electronics in external drive, and actual hard drive in external drive.
2. If anything fails you lose all your recordings recorded after external drive was added.

There are also basically 2 methods to replace the internal drive - I am going to talk about replacing with a new 2TB drive.

1. Buy a drive with TiVo software already on it.
2. Buy a drive and install the software yourself.

On the plus side for buying a drive with the TiVo software on it:

1. Really easy to do - changing drives takes about 10 minutes.
2. Fairly cost effective - about $200 for 2TB.
3. Less failure point than adding external drive.
4. By saving original drive as is, you have a backup if/when the new drive goes bad.

On the minus side for buying a drive with the TiVo software on it:

1. May have issues with TiVo warranty - no really good data on this.
2. Costs more than putting software on a drive yourself.
3. You lose access to any recordings you have on your original drive.

On the plus side for buying a hard drive and installing the TiVo software on it yourself:

1. Very cost effective - 2TB drives can be purchase for around $80.
2. Process is very easy and you copy all the recordings from your original drive to the new hard drive.
3. Less failure points than adding external drive
4. By saving original drive as is, you have a backup if/when the new drive goes bad.
5. The most storage for the least amount of $$s.

On the minus side for buying a drive and installing the TiVo software on it yourself:

1. May have issues with TiVo warranty - no really good data on this.
2. You do have to have the skills and tools needed to do the job.

I have replaced the internal drives on my TiVo HD & Premiere with 2TB drives and added an external 1TB drive to my Series 3 HD - so I can say I find merit in both methods.

Good Luck,