Upgrading ReplayTV with larger Hard Drive ...

[RossMAN]

I am seriously considering upgrading my ReplayTV 3060 with a larger drive to increase it's recording capacity from 30 hours to something much larger.

I'll probably get a Maxtor or WD hard drive through a Hot Deal.

What's the best GB size (40/60/80/100/120) to get and which speed 5400 or 7200RPM?

Thanks.

 

[Ameesh]

get a maxtor that is 5400 rpm


size is up to you, 1 gb == 1 hour of recording at extended
i think for high quality its 3:1


-Ameesh

 

[RossMAN]

Thanks Ameesh!

There are several 5400 deals out there, is there any particular reason why I want 5400 instead of 7200?

 

[Doggiedog]

My friend got a 120 hr one from a popular guy on ebay for about $20 more than the cost of the drive.

The guy said you should get a 5400 RPM version if you can because it emits less heat and is more quiet.

He said anything bigger than 120GB will probably not work.

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Thanks Ameesh!

There are several 5400 deals out there, is there any particular reason why I want 5400 instead of 7200?

they are reccomend because the heat generated by a 5400 is less then a 7200 and you dont gain any tangible benefit from getting a 7200.

 

[Ameesh]

remeber you can also have 2 drives in there at once

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
My friend got a 120 hr one from a popular guy on ebay for about $20 more than the cost of the drive.

The guy said you should get a 5400 RPM version if you can because it emits less heat and is more quiet.

He said anything bigger than 120GB will probably not work.

Thanks for the info.

Would you mind asking your friend what this guy's eBay user id is?

It's a long shot but I might be able to get a Maxtor 80GB 5400 HD and CenDyne 32x CD-RW for around $80 from Staples after some fancy Hot Dealing, search Hot Deals forum for Maxtor.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Ameesh
remeber you can also have 2 drives in there at once

I noticed that.

What are the benefits of a dual hard drive setup? I guess it would save me from selling or tossing out the original HD, if it isn't that much more difficult I guess I'd prefer a dual setup.

Thanks again for the info.

 

[Doggiedog]

PMed you the link.

Funny thing is, my friend offset some of the cost of new HDD by selling his old 20GB HDD on ebay as is and he got some ridiculously high amount for it.

I've got a 60HR RPTV and love it. Still on the borderline of whether to upgrade it or not.

 

[thereds]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
PMed you the link.

Funny thing is, my friend offset some of the cost of new HDD by selling his old 20GB HDD on ebay as is and he got some ridiculously high amount for it.

I've got a 60HR RPTV and love it. Still on the borderline of whether to upgrade it or not.

Totally off topic (sorry Rossman) but how much will a WD 7200 80gigger go for on ebay? Any guesstimates?

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: RossMAN

Originally posted by: Ameesh
remeber you can also have 2 drives in there at once

I noticed that.

What are the benefits of a dual hard drive setup? I guess it would save me from selling or tossing out the original HD, if it isn't that much more difficult I guess I'd prefer a dual setup.

Thanks again for the info.

yeah, what are you gonna do with an old drive

its not more difficult you just need to get a 'Y' power cable connector.

 

[Doggiedog]

I have no idea but here is his auction. Made a mistake. It was a 30GB HDD.

 

[PsychoAndy]

I cant believe i'm saying this.

Ross, go to OD and get a maxtor 40 or 60 gig. use an OD $20 off of $50.

I KNOW i'm not supposed to tell you to spend money...but if you absolutely have to, I'm going to have you spend the least amount of it.

40% off is 40% off. $30-$40 for a new hard drive out the door IMHO is pretty damn good.

-PAB

 

[RossMAN]

Thanks PAB, I might get a 60GB the price is a lot cheaper than a 80/100/120 would be.

What are the major differences between the Maxtor and WD 5400's? I want something reliable, QUIET, low heat, and 100% compatible with a ReplayTV upgrade.

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: thereds

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
PMed you the link.

Funny thing is, my friend offset some of the cost of new HDD by selling his old 20GB HDD on ebay as is and he got some ridiculously high amount for it.

I've got a 60HR RPTV and love it. Still on the borderline of whether to upgrade it or not.

Totally off topic (sorry Rossman) but how much will a WD 7200 80gigger go for on ebay? Any guesstimates?

Thats my department. New or used? With packaging? Sealed?

-PAB

 

[PsychoAndy]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Thanks PAB, I might get a 60GB the price is a lot cheaper than a 80/100/120 would be.

What are the major differences between the Maxtor and WD 5400's? I want something reliable, QUIET, low heat, and 100% compatible with a ReplayTV upgrade.

IMHO, Maxtor. I like my maxtor 20 gig OEM that came with my dell and I added a quantum 30 a little bit later.

IIRC, arent most HD builds compatible with replay TV?

-PAB

 

[dolph]

rossman -
i upgraded my old replay pvhs-1000 (panasonic's model) with 2 80 gb 5400 maxtors and a panaflo fan. not sure how it is now (i sold it some months ago), but i never heard back from the guy who bought it so i assume it's fine. i have heard that 7200 rpm drives run significantly faster than the 5400 rpm ones, without significant temperature difference (as long as you take off the ez-bake enclosure), though cooling solutions do exist.

my advice: get a couple of the wd 120 gb drives (hot deal here) or the 80 gb drives (the 7200 maxtors are fine), add a fan or go on ebay for a modified notebook cooling system (this dude is legit), and have fun! plus, upgrading it to a higher capacity increases the resale value of it if you want to trade up for a 4000 like i did (i managed to sell my upgraded 160 hour replay that had a total investment of $250 for $825, giving me the cash to get the 4040 when it first came out). you're gonna love it! if you need any help, pm me & i'll be glad to assist. gl!

 

[Thegonagle]

I just did my Tivo. Sadly, it was out of necessity, since the original HD was dying, causing skipping sound/video and random freezes and resets. I was originally planning to simply add a second drive to the first, 30 GB unit. I now have a 65+ hour Tivo from a 60 GB Maxtor D540X 5400 RPM drive. That's more storage than my computer!

(Now I've just got to resist the hot $100 deal 120 GB WD at Circuit City, because I still want more hours on my Tivo.)

Just be sure to print the instructions out on paper first, or have a second computer running, because you'll be using your computer to set up your drives for the upgrade (if the RPTV upgrade utilities are like the Tivo utilities, you'll boot from a CD or floppy into linux).

Good luck.

 

[RossMAN]

Garfang - I was looking at that 120GB for $99 also, looks very tempting esp since I'll probably visit CC B&M tonight to buy the FireWire card for $20 after rebate.

Your 65 hours capacity is that at the lowest quality?

 

[Thegonagle]

My bad! I just looked at my quality set-up screen again. It looks like this:

• Best Quality (17 hrs, 35 min)
  High Quality (28 hrs, 20 min)
  Medium Quality (37 hrs, 26 min)
  Basic Quality (63 hrs, 7 min)

So 63 hours, not 65. I was getting sleepy last night when I finished up the project.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Garfang
My bad! I just looked at my quality set-up screen again. It looks like this:

• Best Quality (17 hrs, 35 min)
  High Quality (28 hrs, 20 min)
  Medium Quality (37 hrs, 26 min)
  Basic Quality (63 hrs, 7 min)

So 63 hours, not 65. I was getting sleepy last night when I finished up the project.

I would probably view my ReplayTV at medium or high quality if I were to add a larger HD.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
I would probably view my ReplayTV at medium or high quality if I were to add a larger HD.

Yeah. I've set the default to medium quality now because it's so much better than basic (low) quality. If I upgraded to 180 hours (60 GB + 120 GB), I'd probably set it to high, good for 85 hours!