Just upgraded my Tivo HD to 750 Gigs = 100 HD hours [Archive] - Glock Talk

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Deanster
09-27-2008, 11:06
A month or so ago, I bought a new TiVo HD for $250, and it's been a wonderful return to TiVo, after struggling for a couple years with Comcast's deplorable DVR.

However, it only came with 20 hours of HD recording capability, on a 160GB hard drive.

A little bit of searching brought me to a couple guides for upgrading, and I decided to take the plunge. $100 at NewEgg for a 750GB drive from Western Digital (their 'green' model - low power and low noise, which are both very good for a DVR), and a half-hour of set-up (plus an hour and a half of copying the old disk to the new while I grilled burgers), and it's working perfectly, with over 100 hours of JD capacity, and several hundred hours of standard definition recording.

Highly recommended purchase and upgrade. For $250 + $100, I have almost as much capacity as TiVo's new 'HD XL' product, which sells for $600. For another $20, I could have had the identical capacity.

WinMFS is the software that does the copying, though the instructions on their site are... sub-standard. http://www.mfslive.org/

The instructions on Engadget are better, though not nearly as detailed.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/17/how-to-upgrade-your-tivo-hd-with-winmfs/

jpa
09-27-2008, 11:17
very cool...I've been pondering doing this with my tivos for a while now, but I was waiting for my extended service contracts and warranties to expire (they will in Nov).

I love my tivo, thanks for the info and the links. I think Frys has specials on the green hard drives on a regular basis.

Blitzer
09-27-2008, 12:06
Nice info, how does one get download rights to winmfs? I registered with the site but the folder for Winmfs is locked.

Deanster
09-27-2008, 17:53
I just registered on the site, got the activation e-mail, then logged in, and the download was available.

PM if you can't get download rights, and I'll e-mail it to you - it's less than 1MB

fastsix
09-27-2008, 19:20
Thanks for the write up. I'm getting a Tvio HD next week and was thinking about doing this. Good to hear it works easily.

Deanster
09-27-2008, 19:40
An additional bonus is that the new drive is effectively silent. Whatever is in my Comcast DVR I can hear from the next room when it's recording - several times I've gone looking to see if there was something nibbling behind a wall in the other room, only to realize I'm recording 'House'...

The WD160 that came with the TiVo was very quiet. In a dead-silent room, I could hear it just a bit when recording.

The new WD750, I couldn't hear it writing with my ear 2 inches from the drive, with the case open. I certainly can't hear it with the case closed...

Very pleasant change.