# Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander



## Ziggy86 (Jun 23, 2004)

Is this the only option for an external hard drive to increase storage space or do other manufacturers external drives also work?

For the Roamio DVR.

Thanks,
Steven


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

I wouldn't recommend any external drive. Recordings are kept on both drives at the same time, spread all over. So, if a drive fails, you lose the recordings.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

That's the only supported drive. TiVo does a check on the drive and will reject all drives except the WD expander.


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## gigaguy (Aug 30, 2013)

I know it's not as optimal as a big internal drive but I hooked a 1TB one to my basic premiere with no problems, so far. Only been a few months, but I even moved the setup to another room and it restarted fine, but the My Book was only $50. Paying much more to use with an older TiVo would start making a Roamio look better.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I've used several of them. Both me and my wife had 500GB ones connected to our S3 units. My Wife's died after about 3 years, but it died slowly so we were able to get most of the shows off of it before replacing it. The replacement was in use for about 1.5 years before we upgraded the TiVo and no longer needed it. (sitting on my desk right now) My original 500GB one is still going strong and is now connected to my Mom's TiVo HD.


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## cmshep222 (Feb 18, 2005)

I have a 1TB MYDVR Expander on my Roamio Basic...smooth sailing since September!


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## anitacd (Nov 21, 2005)

I am wondering if TiVo is a "sole source provider" for the Western Digital My Book DVR Expander. I just spent close to $1000 for my TiVo Roamio and lifetime service so I was looking for a way to save a few bucks on the external hard drive. I bought one on Amazon that said it was TiVo compatible, but when I tried to install it, the screen said it was not supported by TiVo. I returned it, but I am looking for one that will work without having to pay $200 for it. Any suggestions?


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

If you want to wait until your warranty is done, or void your warranty, you can basically just throw a 3 TB drive inside of a Roamio and it will 'just work'. I haven't done it myself yet, but it's much easier than upgrading previous Tivos.

ALSO, you can download (non copy protected) shows to a computer hard drive with various tools (kmttg open source or if you're on Windows, there's an official program).

While in theory I like everything on the Tivo all the time, the fragility that Tivo has designed into external drives (if it becomes disconnected or one drive dies, you basically lose everything on both drives), the other solutions seem easier AND cheaper.


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## CloudAtlas (Oct 29, 2013)

anitacd said:


> I am wondering if TiVo is a "sole source provider" for the Western Digital My Book DVR Expander. I just spent close to $1000 for my TiVo Roamio and lifetime service so I was looking for a way to save a few bucks on the external hard drive. I bought one on Amazon that said it was TiVo compatible, but when I tried to install it, the screen said it was not supported by TiVo. I returned it, but I am looking for one that will work without having to pay $200 for it. Any suggestions?


TiVo has the 1TB expander for $129. BestBuy $94.99.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/wd-my-book-av-1-tb-external-hard-drive-retail/9958432.p?id=1218201436540


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