# wtb: Tivo supported External 1tb Expander



## Shanezam203

My 1tb external HD gave out, looking to purchase a new one for my Premiere.

Thank you,

Shane


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## ThAbtO

You would be better to expand your internal drive rather then to add in an external because when 1 fails, you lose all recordings, and on a 1 drive box, you can reduce the chance of losing them.

You can go to a 2 tb and use JMFS to expand.


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## Shanezam203

ThAbtO said:


> You would be better to expand your internal drive rather then to add in an external because when 1 fails, you lose all recordings, and on a 1 drive box, you can reduce the chance of losing them.
> 
> You can go to a 2 tb and use JMFS to expand.


I thought of that but I figured I could get an external 1tb Western Digital for under $100, how much are the internal 1 or 2tb drives? $300 - $400?


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## ThAbtO

An internal 2 tb drive is about $150 at today's prices due to Thailand flooding for a while until it comes back down.

I think they are discontinuing in making the external expander drives, but I'm not sure.

Recently I bought a 2 Tb internal drive for $70 few months ago from amazon.com.


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## Shanezam203

ThAbtO said:


> Recently I bought a 2 Tb internal drive for $70 few months ago from amazon.com.


I'd pay that now if I could find one, but I'd need to format it for Tivo software after that right? that's the only advantage with External Tivo supported is its just plug and play.


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## unitron

Shanezam203 said:


> I'd pay that now if I could find one, but I'd need to format it for Tivo software after that right? that's the only advantage with External Tivo supported is its just plug and play.


When he said he paid that a few months ago, I think he meant before the flooding in Thailand.

You should sell me the old external cheap and put it towards a bigger internal.


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## unitron

If you can find someone selling a WD20EADS I can personally attest that it'll work fine in your HD, and others have had good results with the WD20EARS.


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## ThAbtO

Shanezam203 said:


> I'd pay that now if I could find one, but I'd need to format it for Tivo software after that right? that's the only advantage with External Tivo supported is its just plug and play.


There is no need to format a new drive for a Tivo. The 2 Tb drive I got, took 6 hours to format under Windows, and am using it to store my Tivo transfers.


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## Shanezam203

ThAbtO said:


> There is no need to format a new drive for a Tivo. The 2 Tb drive I got, took 6 hours to format under Windows, and am using it to store my Tivo transfers.


So your 2tb drive is added to your PC and you use Tivo Desktop to transfer recordings back and forth?


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## ThAbtO

Shanezam203 said:


> So your 2tb drive is added to your PC and you use Tivo Desktop to transfer recordings back and forth?


PyTivo and KMTTG, Desktop doesn't work for me any more. There are more abilities with PyTivo, multiple folders to transfer from, push transfers instead of going to Tivo to start transfers, etc.


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## Shanezam203

What I liked about the expander was there wasn't a delay in accessing the media, I could quickly Play or fast foarward any of the movies... with PyTivo it would take time to request the transfer. 

I think internal drive upgrade or expander is the way to go for me.


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## Shanezam203

This looks the way to go if I can't find an expander correct?

BRAND-NEW-TiVo-Premiere-2TB-Hard-Drive-Upgrade-Kit


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## ThAbtO

You can use that to swap out your Tivo drive but you then must run Clear & Delete Everything.


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## Shanezam203

Still looking for an expander before upgrading the internal... ttt.


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## ThAbtO

Amazon.com still has a 1 tb expander for $349.95 as new, but it still looks like its been discontinued.

Western Digital Store says its $159.99 but its out of stock.


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## Shanezam203

ThAbtO said:


> Amazon.com still has a 1 tb expander for $349.95 as new, but it still looks like its been discontinued.
> 
> Western Digital Store says its $159.99 but its out of stock.


Found one on craigslist for $90 but I didn't jump on it...


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## unitron

Shanezam203 said:


> Found one on craigslist for $90 but I didn't jump on it...


Take the one you have apart and see if the drive is bad or the enclosure.

If the drive is still good, get an eSATA enclosure from somewhere.

As I understand it, what the TiVo checks for is the drive model number in the drive's firmware, not for anything special in the enclosure's electronics.

If the drive is bad, see if you can find another of the same model raw drive, although I think you can forget about getting anything cheaper than $90.

If the one on Craigslist is the actual TiVo approved WD unit, that's probably the best deal you're going to find for sometime.

After the hard drive industry recovers from the Thailand floods, they're probably not going to making any of the older model drives anymore.


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## Shanezam203

ttt


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## unitron

Shanezam203 said:


> ttt


Is that another way of saying "bump"?


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## Shanezam203

to the top... so similar yeah.


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## Shanezam203

anyone else selling an expander?


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## Shanezam203

ThAbtO said:


> You would be better to expand your internal drive rather then to add in an external because when 1 fails, you lose all recordings, and on a 1 drive box, you can reduce the chance of losing them.
> 
> You can go to a 2 tb and use JMFS to expand.


I was looking at internal last night and below are the prices. Is that what I should do vs. getting another external?

Replace your drive(s) with 45 Hours* - Single 320gb Drive - $139.99 -

 Replace your drive(s) with 150 Hours* - Single 1 TB Drive - $249.99 -

 Replace your drive(s) with 236 Hours* - Single 1.5 TB Drive - $279.99 -

 Replace your drive(s) with 317 Hours* - Single 2 TB Drive - $299.99 -


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## lillevig

Shanezam203 said:


> I was looking at internal last night and below are the prices. Is that what I should do vs. getting another external?
> 
> Replace your drive(s) with 45 Hours* - Single 320gb Drive - $139.99 -
> 
> Replace your drive(s) with 150 Hours* - Single 1 TB Drive - $249.99 -
> 
> Replace your drive(s) with 236 Hours* - Single 1.5 TB Drive - $279.99 -
> 
> Replace your drive(s) with 317 Hours* - Single 2 TB Drive - $299.99 -


Those look to be preimaged drives so that's where the price premium is coming in. The suggestion was to buy a bare drive and do the imaging yourself with the free JMFS SW.


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## Shanezam203

lillevig said:


> Those look to be preimaged drives so that's where the price premium is coming in. The suggestion was to buy a bare drive and do the imaging yourself with the free JMFS SW.


Thanks, does anyone have a link for non formatted drives?

Thank you,

Shane


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## unitron

Shanezam203 said:


> Thanks, does anyone have a link for non formatted drives?
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Shane


Lots of places sell bare drives, both retail box and OEM.

The trick these days is finding the right drive at a price that doesn't involve selling body parts.

People seem to have had success using the WD20EARS in Premieres and I'm sure the WD20EADS would work and probably the WD20EACS would as well.

But those are older models, and I think the EARS has been replaced with the EARX

One user says they're too noisy

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=8878655#post8878655

I'd suggest seeing if the original drive was 1.5Gb/s or 3Gb/s, and getting something the same or only one notch higher. In other words, if you put a 6Gb/s in a machine made with a 1.5 in mind, the drive may or may not be able to autonegotiate down far enough.

The Premieres may be new enough to have come with 3s stock, I've never had one to take apart to see how it would have worked.


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## lillevig

Shanezam203 said:


> Thanks, does anyone have a link for non formatted drives?
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Shane


Just check prices on eBay, Amazon, Tiget Direct, Best Buy, OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, Frys, etc. In general, the prevailing sentiment is that Western Digital drives are much preferred over Seagate. Many users have had good results with the WD Green series of drives (WD10EARS or WD20EARS are popular choices) but they require WDIDLE to be run on them which requires cabling the drive into your motherboard. I'm running a WD Caviar Blue 1TB drive in my Premiere (no WDIDLE required). Actual imaging can be done using USB to SATA adapter cables.


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## lillevig

unitron said:


> The Premieres may be new enough to have come with 3s stock, I've never had one to take apart to see how it would have worked.


I pulled my original Premiere drive off the shelf and it is a WD3200AVVS which is speced at 3Gb/s.


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## replaytv

I saw this on Denver craigslist. It is not my listing. 
but it does say no shipping, so you would have to live in Denver or have a friend to buy it and ship it for you.

DVR Expander - $75 (Littleton)
Date: 2012-03-12, 5:03PM MDT
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]
I am selling a Western Digital brand DVR Expander with 1TB of memory. This is compatiable with TiVo HD and Series3 DVRs. It is new in the box with all instructions and cords!!
Asking only $ 75

Any questions please call 303-738-1500

NO TRADES PAYPAL SHIPPING CHECKS OR MONEY ORDERS

Location: Littleton


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## unitron

Here's a 1TB one in Caldwell, Idaho for $75

http://boise.craigslist.org/sys/2900912360.html


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## Shanezam203

unitron said:


> Here's a 1TB one in Caldwell, Idaho for $75
> 
> http://boise.craigslist.org/sys/2900912360.html


thanks! talked to him on the phone, he is hesitant to ship.


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## Shanezam203

got one for $50 thanks guys.


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## unitron

Shanezam203 said:


> got one for $50 thanks guys.


Where'd you get one that cheap?


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## Shanezam203

Craigslist, guy out in Phoenix.


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