What can you say - for a device like this, "scoring" is it easy. It either works as advertised, or it doesn't - this thing works as advertised. It's easy to hook-up/install, or it is not - the directions couldn't be clearer, and it was a snap to hook-up.
I have a Comcast DVR Scientific Atlanta 8300HD. I was constantly running into low space issues. No matter how hard I tried to keep up with "house keeping" it always seemed to run at or near capacity. And with the 2008 Summer Olympics coming up, I was finally motivated to find a solution.
I did few Google searches, and yielded some promising results. Other users of the SA-8300HD had the same problem and came up with varying solutions - build you own eSATA external drive, or buy an out-of-the-box device. I'm pretty tech savvy, having built a number of PCs and external USB drives. The cost of DIY-ing a similar device was about $100-110, delivered. For $40 more, I could get a pre-built and certified device. I didn't want any hassles, so I went with this.
It looks like and is the same size as any of the WD MyBook external drives. It's a little smaller than a hard covered book. It comes with an external power supply and an eSATA cable, and a Quick Install guide.
Total time to install - 15 minutes, tops. I could have done it in less than ten, if I read the install guide fully. I jumped the gun and instead of pulling the plug on the DVR, I just turned it off. YOU HAVE TO UNPLUG THE DVR BEFORE CONNECTING THE EXPANDER. Which is what the directions says, but I skipped.
So, to install, you:
1) Check Capacity of your recorder (mine was at 62%)
2) Unplug the DVR
3) Plug in the Expander
4) Connect the Expander to the DVR with the eSATA cable
5) Plug the DVR back in.
The DVR will go through its boot process. When the clock reappears, turn on your TV and then your DVR. A message will appear:
"Detected an external DVR Expander - do you want to format it for use with this DVR?"
Hit Yes and the message disappears. There is nothing to tell you it is performing the install/format. A few minutes later, a new message appears:
"The DVR Expander is ready to use"
Go to the recording section and check capacity. Mine dropped to 16%!
My recommendation - do not hesitate, buy this. Even if you are tech-savvy, is your time/effort worth $40? This is certified and guaranteed to work. WD drives are typically sturdy, and their MyBooks are highly rated.
Hurry - the Olympics start August 8!! Western Digital My DVR Expander 500 GB eSATA External Hard Drive
This is the same drive that's sold on the TiVo website at a much better price! It works as easily as everyone said it would too! Right away, on the system info screen, it'll tell you about the added capacity but it takes about an hour for the To Do List to catch up so don't panic. If you've got a big home theater set up, do yourself a favor and get a longer eSATA cable, this one only comes with one that is 3 feet long. Happy HD viewing!
Like the other 40+ reviewers, this was a breeze to install with my TiVo Series III HD. That was 18 months ago, and it's worked perfectly until today. I ran the Kickstart 54 SMART diagnostics, and the external drive has failed. A ton of stored stuff is gone forever (although I may try the trick of freezing the drive and transferring to my PC). 18 months is way too short for the life of an HD drive.
Read about it 10 days ago, sounded like the perfect product that I could not justify not having at around $200. Quick Western Digital order and delivery. Came home an hour early to install. Out of the box, a few plugs in a particular order, and turn stuff on. The Cablevision box acted funny and I thought that this would be a bust. Re-connected and connected 3 times with no apparant luck.
Went out for dinner .When I got home--2 -3 hours later, the DVR was running. The time already recorded on the Cablevision DVR had gone from 79% to 18%--Perfection.Compatible with Cablevision Scientific American hd digitial recorder. Need it when you want to record in HD.
Got a new HD set and Tivo HD just before the Olympics. Realized that only 20 hours of HD would not catch all the action. For just a few bucks, I was able to get up to 80+ hours of HD and more SD TV than anyone could ever watch. I hate having to manage space on the Tivo, and with this device, you don't have to.
Installation was dead simple. Follow the instructions, plug things in in the right order and is just works. Once installed, you can't remove it without losing all your recordings, but that is a fair compromise.
My plan was to eventually get this expander all along. I have always been a fan of Tivo, and when the right deal came my way I got the new Dual tuner HD Tivo that only recorded 20 hrs in HD. Tivo at the time was selling a larger Tivo with I believe 40 hrs recording in HD for $400-$500. 20 Hours is definitely not enough in my house, and if you are considering this, it's probably not enough in your house either.
At the moment they are selling a beast with 150 hrs in HD recording for $600!
Bottom line is that this expander worked perfectly right away. Setup to the device is as easy as plugging it in. Then setting up the Tivo to work with it was quite simple as well. Now I can record 86 hours in HD which for us is way more than enough. We went on a 2 week vacation and still had room to spare when we got back.
In my opinion it is much more economical to buy the standard 20hour HD Tivo and just get this expander to go with it. 86 full HD hours is huge and in just standard digital I think it's in the 500+ hour range. But if you are like me, if it's not in HD now, I don't watch it.
Definitely worth buying. - Hd Dvr - Tivo - Tivo Expander - Tivo Hd'
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