HR20 Hard Drive Upgrade

[Brewer4]

I went with:

Amazon.com: Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750 GB USB / eSATA External Hard Drive ST307504FPA1E2-RK: Electronics ($242)

Newegg.com - SIIG 6.56 ft. eSATA to eSATA Cable Model CB-SA0211-S1 - Retail ($20.99)

It does seem faster than the original internal drive, especially deletes.

-Chris

I was watching that one on Amazon too. I got a deal at Fry's a month or so ago so went with that one and an enclosure. $179 free shipping was hard to ignore. I like the performance so much I got the same drive at newegg for a few bucks more but was content the performance to price was good.

 

[dcwebman]

Just curious on the use of the DVR by others. Me, I time-shift mostly so at one time I may have a maximum of say 10 shows or movies on there so I don't think I've ever come close to running out of space. Do others leave favorites on there to watch multiple times which is why more storage is needed?

 

[Ramy]

I have all 6 Star Wars movies on there which takes up about 45% of the drive already and the All-Star game so the total being used right now is about 56%.

 

[Brewer4]

Just curious on the use of the DVR by others. Me, I time-shift mostly so at one time I may have a maximum of say 10 shows or movies on there so I don't think I've ever come close to running out of space. Do others leave favorites on there to watch multiple times which is why more storage is needed?

I mostly stay on top and clean out as soon as done. I am not a hoarder. However, I know when the Fall season begins, my DVR gets a work out and I dont get around to everything. And with all the HD, its gonna get filed real quick for me. 30-50 hours HD sounds like a lot but that can go in a few weeks for me especially with the MPEG2 HD and OTA stuff.

 

[Hamm3r]

I apologize if I've missed the obvious. I've read a couple threads on the eSATA external upgrade and am slightly confused. If you purchase something like the Seagate Free Agent 750gb external drive and the "proper cable", what are the steps to activate the exteranl drive? Do you simply shut down your HR20-700, make the cable attachment, power up both devices and it does the rest? Or do you have to access the internal drive and set some switches to make it bypass internal bootup?

Apologies again if I'm being thick.

 

[Ramy]

All you do is shut down your box and pull the power plug, plug in the drive and power it back up.

 

[vurbano]

We shouldnt have to do any of this ridiculousness. "Make sure you get a big enough external drive" Like 1TB is going to last how long? The silly thing has an ethernet port. Encrypt the files to only play on the machine they came from and let us move them across our networks to servers. Its so damn simple. WTF is the problem D*??? At least let us move them to different drives like E* does.

 

[atp1313]

I plan to, just not sure when ....
I may end up waiting abut 6 months and see what kind of prices are out there for a 1 TB or 1.5 TB set up , definitely External ....

Jimbo

Ditto, but maybe within that 6 month window. Once the new TV season rolls around, we fill up pretty quickly. But if some of that new stuff is MPEG4, it should take up less space, so we may be okay until fall sweeps. But more than likely I will do it over the holidays as we get caught up and before the spring season starts.

 

[Jimbo]

I just saw the Seagate FA 750 GB Esata drive on sale at CC today for $259, on sale, normally $ 279.
The thing does not come with a esata cable thou and CC or BB don't carry them.
It does come with the USB cable, but thas useless in this application.

apt, you have a good idea, I think I will keep my eyes open during the holidays, could possibly see a much better price then, but really want the 1.5 TB when it comes out, so if thats the case, I'll have to wait about 3 -6 months after it comes out in order to get a decient price.

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

We shouldnt have to do any of this ridiculousness. "Make sure you get a big enough external drive" Like 1TB is going to last how long? The silly thing has an ethernet port. Encrypt the files to only play on the machine they came from and let us move them across our networks to servers. Its so damn simple. WTF is the problem D*??? At least let us move them to different drives like E* does.

V,
The reason all this is nessasary is the fact that these External drives are our own doing, remember D* does not reccomend them yet and do not support them, once they get to a point where all this stuff that they are doing is up and working the way they want, then I would imagine they will address it.

Right now, I perfer that they spend thier time getting the HD offerings and improved PQ taken care of (mpeg4).

Jimbo

 

[atp1313]

apt, you have a good idea, I think I will keep my eyes open during the holidays, could possibly see a much better price then, but really want the 1.5 TB when it comes out, so if thats the case, I'll have to wait about 3 -6 months after it comes out in order to get a decient price.

Jimbo

I wasn't even thinking about the holiday pricing...I was merely referring to the holiday filler crap when First Runs are replaced by Specials and Repeats...oh, and the time off for my wife from work so that she and I can actually make sure that we are caught up. The WAF would take a serious hit if I did this with unseen episodes in the buffer and they were accidentally lost.

Thanks for the reminder to look out for that, though!!

 

[vurbano]

V,
The reason all this is nessasary is the fact that these External drives are our own doing, remember D* does not reccomend them yet and do not support them, once they get to a point where all this stuff that they are doing is up and working the way they want, then I would imagine they will address it.

Right now, I perfer that they spend thier time getting the HD offerings and improved PQ taken care of (mpeg4).

Jimbo

Ahh you mean they will fully develop the box like they did the HDTivo???? Yeah there are surely lots of documented uses for its USB ports in the manual. IMO they will likely get this thing barely working and then abandon the development of advanced features like they did with the HR10-250. WHat in their history would indicate otherwise? It amazes me that a company that is supposed to be "better" than DISH can be so far behind with its hardware. But if what you say is true D* will be rereleasing the HR20 instruction manual?

 

[Jimbo]

But if what you say is true D* will be rereleasing the HR20 instruction manual?

Do you mean re-relaeasing it with the stuff it says it already does that it doesn't removed ?

I look for the External HD to be supported about the same time the next generation HR box comes out.
This way If they decide to not Officaially support our use of the ESATA drives people cannot come back on them saying that they lost thier recordings.

Jimbo

 

[Jhon69]

Ahh you mean they will fully develop the box like they did the HDTivo???? Yeah there are surely lots of documented uses for its USB ports in the manual. IMO they will likely get this thing barely working and then abandon the development of advanced features like they did with the HR10-250. WHat in their history would indicate otherwise? It amazes me that a company that is supposed to be "better" than DISH can be so far behind with its hardware. But if what you say is true D* will be rereleasing the HR20 instruction manual?

Maybe the reason D* is behind E* is they don't want to be sued by T*.

 

[vurbano]

Do you mean re-relaeasing it with the stuff it says it already does that it doesn't removed ?

No Jimbo.

I mean saying something other than "for future use" for USB, ESATA and ethernet ports. That way they could actually document what the ports are to be used for. This would save everyone headaches when they go to find devices to plug into these ports. If D* published a list of products that worked with them it would be very helpful.

 

[Jimbo]

No Jimbo.

I mean saying something other than "for future use" for USB, ESATA and ethernet ports. That way they could actually document what the ports are to be used for. This would save everyone headaches when they go to find devices to plug into these ports. If D* published a list of products that worked with them it would be very helpful.

Sony kills kittens ???

Whats that all about ?

Jimbo

 

[gadgtfreek]

Sony kills kittens ???

Whats that all about ?

Jimbo

He hates Blu-ray


Since Ill most likely be switching back to the HR20, I think Ill hold off on an ext drive until it can function along with the internal. I really never saw a need for extra space on the HR20 anyways. This will prob change though as more HD nationals are added.

 

[stone phillips420]

I plan to upgrade to at least 2 750gb's externals for each hr20 i have but i have to complete my upgrades for *ish external storage 1st

 

[Jimbo]

He hates Blu-ray


Since Ill most likely be switching back to the HR20, I think Ill hold off on an ext drive until it can function along with the internal. I really never saw a need for extra space on the HR20 anyways. This will prob change though as more HD nationals are added.

With football and the new fall schedule for the normal sitcoms I watch I will have to consider the largest one I can find (reasonably priced that is. I 'd like a 1.5 TB but don't think they are available yet.

Jimbo

 

[atp1313]

He hates Blu-ray


Since Ill most likely be switching back to the HR20, I think Ill hold off on an ext drive until it can function along with the internal. I really never saw a need for extra space on the HR20 anyways. This will prob change though as more HD nationals are added.

Keep in mind that the MPEG4 format will reduce the file size of the recordings you do want, so right off the bat, you will have something like 30-40% more recording space if you only record in MPEG4.