# What is the best hard drive to use for an upgrade?



## phylo (Oct 29, 2007)

I have been looking at the Seagate DB35 series of drives, but Im wondering if there are other options?

Thanks
Phil


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

This looks like a reasonable alternative to the Seagate DB35:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136111
Good Luck


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## hkancyr (Jan 20, 2002)

While that drive is cheaper, it is not as DVR friendly as the DB35. Get a drive that is intended for the TiVo it will be quieter and longer lived that one that is aimed at gaming machines. I would go for the DB35 if I were you, as a matter of fact I just ordered that very drive for $150 from thenerds.net. Got me some Instantcake for it too, which is the slickest way to put a new HDD into a TiVo.


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

I will match my Western Digital against any Seagate when you look at the drive statistics you can see why the Seagate's may be causing some of the stuttering people are complaining about. Suggest you check out www.tomshardware.com. the only difference is it has a 16GB buffer instead of an 8GB buffer. The drive is fast and quiet which is what you want. I agree Instantcake is the way to go it is what I use.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=297
Note: Lightning Last, Cool, Quiet. What you need for a DVR. :up:


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## Andrew_S (Nov 12, 2001)

While I'm not a fan of WD, I agree with rbtravis. Any drive will work in a Tivo and they all offer the same level of performace and reliability. Drives marketed for DVR's are exactly that, drives *marketed* for DVR's. A pc drive is no more or no less reliable than a dvr drive.


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## flatcurve (Sep 27, 2007)

WD, Hitachi, Seagate and Samsung drives are all pretty comparable. Picking a favorite is like splitting hairs. I do recommend going with a drive marketed for DVR use, though... only because they are quieter than drives configured for PCs. There are other reasons too, like stream integrity vs. data integrity, but for most applications it won't matter.


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

flatcurve said:


> WD, Hitachi, Seagate and Samsung drives are all pretty comparable. Picking a favorite is like splitting hairs. I do recommend going with a drive marketed for DVR use, though... only because they are quieter than drives configured for PCs. There are other reasons too, like stream integrity vs. data integrity, but for most applications it won't matter.


 WD, Hitachi and Samsung all have Acoustic Management Capability. Hitachi has a tool to implement it.


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

rbtravis said:


> I will match my Western Digital against any Seagate when you look at the drive statistics you can see why the Seagate's may be causing some of the stuttering people are complaining about. Suggest you check out www.tomshardware.com. the only difference is it has a 16GB buffer instead of an 8GB buffer. The drive is fast and quiet which is what you want. I agree Instantcake is the way to go it is what I use.
> http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=297
> Note: Lightning Last, Cool, Quiet. What you need for a DVR. :up:


I'm really trying to find out what the differences are between that oem drive and the retail packed 5000jb.

Maybe the oem is already tuned for quietness, whereas the retail one needs to be tuned for such?

Maybe that's why the retail one seems to be just a little bit cheaper?


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

dwit said:


> I'm really trying to find out what the differences are between that oem drive and the retail packed 5000jb.
> 
> Maybe the oem is already tuned for quietness, whereas the retail one needs to be tuned for such?
> 
> Maybe that's why the retail one seems to be just a little bit cheaper?


On every drive I install I run PTVnet, Instantcake, Hitachi Feature Tool, turn on acoustic management and set it to 128. If it is a dual drive system I use SmartStart on the primary master. And I use a fresh 2032 battery. I have been running 6.3e since it first came out and have not experienced any problems. As I have 7 units I have no need for multi room viewing. After 6.3e installed I reran PTVnet and like I say everything is fine. It may be that because I removed all the old drives I am not experiencing any problems. But thank you for your concern.


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## rescuefire (Jul 7, 2006)

rbtravis said:


> After 6.3e installed I reran PTVnet and like I say everything is fine. It may be that because I removed all the old drives I am not experiencing any problems. But thank you for your concern.


Could you tell a non-techie person what that is and how to get it and do it?


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

rescuefire said:


> Could you tell a non-techie person what that is and how to get it and do it?


You can get it from www.DVRupgrade.com but it is only available for certain machines. You can go to their website and see if it is available for your machine. It is called PTVnet. You can get the Hitachi tools from their website

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

under feature tools


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## raggs (Nov 9, 2007)

I am a Newbie and have dwld the PTViba48-4.04 iso and I am looking for instructions. ..
I have several HD's from 80 to 120 gb.
Any help for the old new guy?
raggs


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

what type of TiVo do you have? Manufacture & Model Number please? do you have a tivo image file? Are you software knowledgeable or do you want something easy? Have you considered Instantcake from DVRupgrade?


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## rescuefire (Jul 7, 2006)

rbtravis said:


> You can get it from DVRupgrade but it is only available for certain machines. You can go to their website and see if it is available for your machine. It is called PTVnet. You can get the Hitachi tools from their website
> 
> under feature tools


Yep it looks like it isn't available for me. I have an R10 so I'll check out that Hitachi site.

This is a pain in the hiney!


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