# eSATA Approved List (WD5000F032) ?



## rcoates777 (Jun 29, 2005)

I have an external eSATA HD from my old Series 3 HD. It's a 500 GB Western Digital Model WD5000F032 (My DVR Expander). Can I use this on my Bolt?

I just looked on Amazon and they list them for $350. Only 1 left - better hurry! That sounds awful steep to me.

Thanks!


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Yes, you CAN use that drive with a Bolt. But virtually all of us think that would be a TERRIBLE decision. It is a very old drive and GREATLY increases your risk of loosing all recordings. Those drives have not been made for about 160 years. Buying one from anywhere now would be an even more ridiculous decision than using the one you already have.

Much better decision would be to convert that Bolt to use a 3.5" drive in an external enclosure. VERY simple to do, and the total cost should be less than $100.


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## rcoates777 (Jun 29, 2005)

Thanks - it was sort of an academic question. I'm not a heavy user so my 1TB HDD will probably last me. I was shocked to see that they were still selling them and at that price! ($350)


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## Slumpert (Oct 18, 2019)

Don’t confuse Amazon for current items and third party sellers through Amazon for discontinued items.
Might as well just look at eBay for comparisons.


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## My Cape is a Recliner (Oct 5, 2019)

The one you linked goes to a $50 buy it now on ebay for me, for that model number. If it helps you feel better, I'll list one amazon, and list it for $10K....

The only reason you see this drive listed for higher than average is because some people just have no clue that you can use any hard drive. They search "TiVo hard drive", and sellers know this. There is NOTHING special about it.

As for you using your old hard drive, and people telling you not to, its not because of the cost. Its because of how unreliable they are when you compare them to a 3.5" drive. Adding an external drive also makes it so that if either of the two hard drives goes bad, you lose everything. Its not worth it, especially one that's so small. You are adding very little space, but adding a very big risk. All it takes is one cable and a little searching for the right threads to make that a single drive. Once you do that you can upgrade it to a much better drive


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

My Cape is a Recliner said:


> The only reason you see this drive listed for higher than average is because some people just have no clue that you can use any hard drive. They search "TiVo hard drive", and sellers know this. There is NOTHING special about it.


The drive is special because, except for the Series 3, the drives and enclosures that can be used are whitelisted in TiVo's firmware. To use other drives requires one to disassemble one's TiVo and run third party software to marry the drives to TiVo's own drive. The reason folks want to use an external drive in the first place is to avoid taking their TiVo apart, breaking the warranty, and dealing with the technical issues of putting two drives together.

So you seem have not correctly identified the person who has no clue.


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