Anyone using Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander 1 TB?

[detroit_fan]

I would like to get an external HD for my HR21-700. Would the Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander 1 TB be a good plug and play option? Anyone use one of these?
Reading reviews it seems to be a good unit, but I have read a lot of complaints about the esata cable that comes with it, so I will buy a better cable if I decide to get it.

Thanks for any input

 

[detroit_fan]

looks like going with a 2TB HD and an enclosure is a better option, so please disregard this question

 

[Jimbo]

Will your recvr accept a 2 TB HD ?

There was a time when the largest you could use was a 1.5 tb, I don't remember what recvr it was though.

 

[navychop]

I just got a 1TB version. Works fine. Of course, I'm with Dish, so - YMMV.

I do recommend going with the smaller size. That way, when it dies, you'll lose less.

 

[jcrandall]

Will your recvr accept a 2 TB HD ?

There was a time when the largest you could use was a 1.5 tb, I don't remember what recvr it was though.

To my knowledge the Directv software supports up to 2TB on the entire HR line.

Nothing over 2TB is supported at this time, i.e. 3TB will not work.

 

[jcrandall]

I just got a 1TB version. Works fine. Of course, I'm with Dish, so - YMMV.

I do recommend going with the smaller size. That way, when it dies, you'll lose less.

Dish boxes use the drive as external storage that you can move files to or from.
Directv on the other hand essentially replace the internal drive with the external, and records / buffers everything to it.

That in mind, I highly recommend getting drives made for AV systems, just as WD's EURS line or EVDS line, made for DVRs or security systems with 24/7 writing planned. They are designed to use less error correction (given that you are streaming video) and other tweaks. Seagate makes the Pipeline series as well that are AV drives.

It should make that "when" much further out than a regular hard drive.

 

[Jimbo]

To my knowledge the Directv software supports up to 2TB on the entire HR line.

Nothing over 2TB is supported at this time, i.e. 3TB will not work.

Thanks Jason,
I knew there was a limit, but wasn't sure where it was at.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I've used the DVR Expander on several things, including Direct, and they always worked great.

I'm using a Thermaltake BlacX dock and 2TB WD Green Drive on my HR34 and love it.

 

[dfergie]

I've used the DVR Expander on several things, including Direct, and they always worked great.

I'm using a Thermaltake BlacX dock and 2TB WD Green Drive on my HR34 and love it.

Basically the same here(different brand dock)and the HR24 wouldn't recognize a 3 TB...

 

[navychop]

Dish boxes use the drive as external storage that you can move files to or from.
Directv on the other hand essentially replace the internal drive with the external, and records / buffers everything to it.

That in mind, I highly recommend getting drives made for AV systems, just as WD's EURS line or EVDS line, made for DVRs or security systems with 24/7 writing planned. They are designed to use less error correction (given that you are streaming video) and other tweaks. Seagate makes the Pipeline series as well that are AV drives.

It should make that "when" much further out than a regular hard drive.

Yep.

The Expander is marketed as intended for AV/DVR use. That's why I selected it to replace a suspect drive.

 

[gadgtfreek]

The Expanders have the AV-GP drive in them that is WD's AV drive. However, it is not always easy to find those drives by themselves, especially after the floods. Im not at all sweating the green drive. It was actually quite amusing, when I bought the green drive for the 34, the doom and gloom crowd next door had reservations with it and 5 tuners.

 

[gadgtfreek]

BTW, if I were buying now, it'd be a dock and this:

Amazon.com: Western Digital AV-GP 2 TB SATA II Intellipower 64 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Internal Hard Drive - WD20EURS: Electronics

 

[dfergie]

I pulled my 2 TB green from an External (as I did with the 3 TB which resides in this pc now as an extra drive)...

 

[gadgtfreek]

I pulled my 2 TB green from an External (as I did with the 3 TB which resides in this pc now as an extra drive)...

I have a spare green I got from a 2TB Mybook I gutted

 

[dfergie]

Around here that's the cheapest way for a quick HDD. I bought the dock at the local pc repair place, their drives are made of gold...

 

[gadgtfreek]

Thats how I got these drives after the flood. I bought two 2TB my books and tore em up. Was cheaper than buying a OEM 2TB green drive, if that makes any sense...

 

[jcrandall]

Thats how I got these drives after the flood. I bought two 2TB my books and tore em up. Was cheaper than buying a OEM 2TB green drive, if that makes any sense...

The down part of ripping open the cheap mybooks is you end up with no warranty on the drive. The internal drive is coded by WD as an OEM use with no warranty.

I've had enough drives replaced under the 3 yr warranty by WD over the years that I try to avoid doing that, even if paying slightly higher for a bare drive.

 

[ke4pym]

I just got a 1TB version. Works fine. Of course, I'm with Dish, so - YMMV.

I do recommend going with the smaller size. That way, when it dies, you'll lose less.

That's why you run a RAID 1 setup.

 

[navychop]

Yep. The most precious stuff goes on that RAID!

 

[gadgtfreek]

If I pulled my current HDD from the dock connected to the 34, and plugged it into a raid setup with say another 2TB drive, would it mirror my dvr'd content?