Western Digital My DVR Expander 500 GB eSATA External Hard Drive
by Western Digital
(Click here)
Customers in the UK,
buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: Western DigitalAudio: English (Original Language)
Format: CD
Platform: Windows
Model: WDG1S5000VN
Product features:
- 500GB maximum storage capacity (up to 300 hours of SDTV; up to 60 hours of HDTV)
- eSATA interface - Enjoy rapid data-transfer rates up to 3 GB per second
- 7200 rpm for fast read/write times
- Soft amber LED screen is easy to read and helps avoid annoyance at night
- Cool operation
- Windows Live OneCare 2.0 (Up to 3 Users)
- Norton Antivirus 2010 1-User [OLD VERSION]
- Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard [OLD VERSION]
- Kroo CNDSZNP2-HD Western Digital My Passport Portable Hard Drive EVA Case (Hot Pink)
- Caselogic Neoprene LHDC-1 Portable Hard Drive Case (Purple)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Western Digital My DVR Expander 500 GB eSATA External Hard Drive
Customer Review: My DVR Expander With Moxi
Summary: 5 Stars
The My DVD Expander is not certified for use with the Moxi, but considering my qualified success using the Toshiba 2TB external HDD, which is not DVR certified at all, with the Moxi, I don't anticipate problems.
The problem with the Toshiba is that it automatically shuts down after 30 minutes of inactivity, and has to be turned on with the power switch. I got around this problem by filling the internal drive of the Moxi to capacity, and scheduling recordings 24/7 to insure that the Toshiba is always active. But filling the internal drive of the Moxi to capacity is not an easy task. Drive utilization is given as a percentage without any decimal points, and 1% of drive capacity is 40 minutes, even with HD. Complicating things is that the Moxi will not let me schedule programmed recordings without first overriding "keep until I delete", so it kept deleting programs when it hit 100%.
I ordered the 500GB My DVR Expander from Newegg for $69.99 figuring it could provide overflow capacity, enabling me to fill the internal drive to 100% then "disconnect" the My DVR Expander, and replace it with the Toshiba as desired. As it turned out, the Moxi hit 100% before the My DVR Expander arrived, so I have been able to use the Toshiba 2TB drive as intended without incident.
When my My DVR Expander arrived I did the following:
1) Plugged power adapter into My DVR Expander
2) Navigated over to Moxi Tools
2) Navigated up to External Drive
3) Selected disconnect.
4) Powered down Toshiba
5) Disconnected eSATA cable from Toshiba
6) Connected eSATA cable to My DVR Expander
7) Plugged My DVR Expander power adapter in
8) When Moxi prompted me to format I confirmed.
9) A few minutes later drive was ready for use
10) Recorded Bernie Mac to DVR Expander, Played, Fast Forwarded, Rewound, Paused Etc, without any problems.
Moxi has its problems, but it is leaps and bounds ahead of Tivo. I didn't even have to power down the Moxi to install eSATA drives. After recording to the DVR Expander for a while, I disconnected the DVR Expander, switched the eSATA cable back to the Toshiba, powered on the Toshiba, and waited for it to be recognized. Once the Toshiba was recognized I could access all the programs previously stored on it.
I think, in the future, I will buy the 1TB Western Digital My DVR Expander for archiving. At the current price of $119 this amounts to 80 cents/hour if I can get 150 hours of HD on a 1TB HDD, as Arris Group claims for the Moxi. As a point of reference, I started archiving exclusively in 2 hour mode on VHS when the price of T120 tapes reached $1.49. And if I can actually get 600 hours of SD programming on a 1TB WD, this would be just 20 cents/hour, which is more expensive than recording in 90 minute mode to 15 cent DVDRs, but competitive with recording to DVD-Rs in 90 minute mode at 30 cents each, which is what I was doing before getting the DVDRs. Buying a 1TB DVR Expander is much more convenient than buying 8x50 disc spindles of DVD-Rs.
I did not use included eSATA cable, perhaps if I did I would downgrade to four stars, but for now it gets five stars in my review. Will update later.
Dale LaRoy Splitstone
Description of Western Digital My DVR Expander 500 GB eSATA External Hard Drive
Western Digital My DVR expander 500GB eSATA Compatible with Scientific Atlanta 8300 Series TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs. Quiet and Cool - A unique no-fan passive cooling system and special hard drive design makes it quiet for the living room or bedroomDigital Cameras and Photo Categories
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