# What to look for in replacement hard drive



## jakryk (May 18, 2006)

OK, I took the plunge and bought the Tivo Bolt Vox 1 TB. Now, if I want to upgrade the hard drive what specifically do I look for, other than it needs to be 2.5". When I look at older threads about replacing the drive, the drives mentioned are no longer available. I'd like to upgrade to 3 TB but can go to 2 TB if there is a big price difference.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

The often-recommended 3TB Toshiba 2.5" drive, available today with a 15%-off holiday discount at $186.46, with free ground shipping: MQ03ABB300 Toshiba Hard Drive. Also, from grooves.land (UK/Germany, with free shipping) at $124.75: Toshiba - MQ03ABB300 - Festplatte - 3TB - intern - 6,4 cm (2.5") - SATA 6Gb/s - 5400 U/min - Puffer: 16MB (MQ03ABB300) - Toshiba Hardware/Electronic Grooves Inc.

The Toshiba 2TB version, $109 with free ground shipping: Toshiba MQ03ABB200 Hard Drive SATA-6GBPS 2TB-5.4K RPM.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

You should keep reading. You are MUCH better off replacing that toy 2.5" drive with an external 3.5" drive. MANY more choices and much cheaper. This is covered in a lot of relatively CURRENT threads.


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## jakryk (May 18, 2006)

V7Goose said:


> You should keep reading. You are MUCH better off replacing that toy 2.5" drive with an external 3.5" drive. MANY more choices and much cheaper. This is covered in a lot of relatively CURRENT threads.


Is this as reliable as the internal drives?


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

jakryk said:


> Is this as reliable as the internal drives?


The ENTIRE point here is that the NONE of the 2.5" internal drives are particularly reliable. TiVo even totally quit making any boxes with 3TB 2.5" drives because of the rapidly rising failure rates.

In my opinion, ANY WD Red or Purple 3.5" drive, up to 8TB, in an external case directly connected to the internal SATA port on a Bolt will be MUCH MORE RELIABLE than any Bolt with a toy 2.5" drive.


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## jakryk (May 18, 2006)

V7Goose said:


> The ENTIRE point here is that the NONE of the 2.5" internal drives are particularly reliable. TiVo even totally quit making any boxes with 3TB 2.5" drives because of the rapidly rising failure rates.
> 
> In my opinion, ANY WD Red or Purple 3.5" drive, up to 8TB, in an external case directly connected to the internal SATA port on a Bolt will be MUCH MORE RELIABLE than any Bolt with a toy 2.5" drive.


Thanks. Do you need a specific drive for video recording or will any drive work? I've seen them up to 8TB and while I don't think I'd need that much, it would be nice.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

As I said in the above post you quoted - WD Red or Purple series drives. This is covered in about a thousand threads on these forums. Many drives might work, but those are the most recommended here.


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