Western Digital My DVR Expander 500 GB eSATA External Hard Drive by Western Digital
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Digital camera reviews of Western Digital My DVR Expander 500 GB eSATA External Hard Drive
Digital camera Review: Don't Buy this product!
Summary: 1 Stars
I just couldn't get the product to work, even after I replaced my DVR to make sure it's a model that is tested by WD and paid for a replacement delivery of a new HD from WD. DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT.Digital camera Review: Don't forget to register it.
Summary: 1 Stars
Don't forget to register it with WD, so in 6 months when it dies you can get it RMA'd. This is the second one I have gotten that has died. IMHO, wait until your warranty is up and replace the internal drive. Replacements are available on the "auction" websites.Digital camera Review: Don't trust Western Digital to tell you the truth!
Summary: 1 Stars
After being informed by Western Digital that their 1 TB DVR Expander unit was not compatible with my Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 HDC, the Western Digital technical service representative told me that I had to get the 500 GB unit instead, since that is the one that is compatible with my DVR box. Unfortunately, I listened to this representative (who was either lying outright or or just too lazy to pay attention when he gave me this instruction). When I got the 500 GB unit, not only did it also fail to work but it also wiped out every recording from the last month on my DVR. Only after this did another rep now tell me that NONE of their DVR expanders work with the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 HDC.
After this shoddy customer service experience, I will never buy another Western Digital Product again, and I strongly recommend that none of you do either (unless you don't mind having your recordings erased and your time wasted).
Digital camera Review: Don't waste yoru money or your sanity
Summary: 1 Stars
I am extremely disappointed with this device. I bought it to expand the recording capabilities of my Tivo HD. Although it worked fine at first, after 14 months I started having all sorts of problems with my Tivo recording partials shows and locking up, even while trying to watch live tv. I called Tivo a number of times and they assured my the lock up issues were because my catv signal was 'too hot'. Comcast made several visits to my home for this issue and assured me everything from their end was fine. Like other reviewers, after months of missed programs, Tivo lock ups and reboots, I finally disconnected the expander drive and lost over 60 hours of programming. After disconnecting the drive Tivo started working fine again. I can't tell you how angry and frustrated this whole issue made me. I paid top dollar for an expander drive sanctioned by Tivo and it failed shortly out of warranty. I find that unacceptable. Read the Tivo Community Forum (google it). You'll find many other folks who've had the same issue with this drive. Wester Digital stinks. I will never buy another WD product again.
If you want to expand your Tivo's recording capabilities you're best off upgrading the internal drive. You can find the detailed procedure at the Tivo Community Forum. They even provide lists of drives that are known to work with Tivo's. You can get a decent (NON WESTERN DIGITAL!) 1T SATA drive for less than 100 these days. I bought the Hitachi Deskstar HD31000 and plan to upgrade my Tivo internal drive to that. You can find the drive here at Amazon.
Bottom line: DON'T DO IT - you'll regret it!
Update: 1/15/11
In my original review I mentioned my plan to upgrade the internal drive to the 1T Hitachi Deskstar. If you're at all technically inclined this procedure is a snap. In addition to the Hitachi SATA drive I had to purchase an additional SATA cable and SATA power supply cable to temporarily hook up the Hitachi drive to my desktop PC to program it. Both cables can be had for < 10 at monoprice.com. The instructions at the Tivo Community Forum were clear and concise. Now, 1 year later we're still enjoying our HD Tivo with it's new 1T internal drive. We record everything in HD and never run out of space. Ahhhh!
Digital camera Review: Drive Died In Less Than 2 Years
Summary: 1 Stars
Bought this drive and have been using it for less than 2 years. Has always been inconsistent when trying to mount the drive. One day it just stopped working. Starts to spin up, makes huge clunk sound, and stops. It does this 6 times in a row before stopping. Will never buy another WD drive. I'm really nervous because soon after I bought this one, I bought a 160GB Passport by WD. The Passport is still working - so far so good.