Iomega's DVR Expander does 500GB of eSATA storage for SA DVRs

So, your cable company stuck you with one of those boring, no-frills Scientific Atlanta DVR boxes. We feel your pain, but you don't have to just take it lying down. Iomega's new DVR Expander offers up 500GB of extra storage over eSATA for compatible Scientific Atlanta boxen. That's about 300 hours of SD TV, or 60 hours of HD. Using those incredibly intuitive SA menus it shouldn't be too hard to stumble through configuration and get this thing added on to your setup, and there's even an eSATA cable included to start things off on the right foot, but it's not like there's anything going on here other than a fairly standard-issue eSATA drive. Right now the drive is compatible with the 8300 DVR and the 8300HD DVR, but future models from Scientific Atlanta will be compatible as well. DVR Expander should be available this month for about $200.

[haX0r @ Jun 10th 2008 10:36AM]

A non-iPhone post. Thanks!

[Flashpoint @ Jun 10th 2008 10:42AM]

GReat addition to a Mac PRo G5 desktop.

[Vcize @ Jun 10th 2008 10:47AM]

So uh, what's the difference between this and your standard run-of-the-mill external hard drive that costs less than half as much?

Or is this just to sell to the same people that drop $100+ on monster HDMI cables?

[Reid @ Jun 10th 2008 12:29PM]

No difference except for the "certification" which probably just means somebody actually tested it. I bought a cheap Fantom 500GB eSATA drive about 6 months ago for around $100, plugged it into the SA DVR, and it recognized it right away. Any eSATA hard drive should work just fine.

[Richard @ Jun 10th 2008 2:36PM]

Actually, there is a difference. The SA DVRs won't work with an eSATA enclosure that supports "auto-sensing" or that goes into a power-save mode. Most external enclosures don't do auto-sensing, but some do, like every WD enclosure except the one marked for DVRs. Enclosures that support that go into power-save mode will initially work, but everytime it goes into that mode you have to pull the power cord on the DVR to get it to work correctly. Unfortunately I have experience with this.

[mikejcrowell @ Jun 10th 2008 10:53AM]

damn paul miller... ever heard of spell check. My little sister could have did better. ex....We fill your pain, and for compatible Scientific Atlanta boxen.
fill and boxen eh??? wake up fully before trying to get paid for crap next time.

[Allan @ Jun 10th 2008 11:13AM]

Spell check wouldn't catch the "fill" part... but a decent grammar check should. As for "boxen" ... well, it's really just a "geek" slang term of sorts. Gets thrown around referring to a box of some kind. Slightly more proper than filling my pain.

[dervheid @ Jun 10th 2008 10:53AM]

If you feel the need to have to store 300+ hours of TV, or even 60 HD, I think you should be re-evaluating your life!
Get out of the house.
Take some exercise.
Meet real people.

[Steven @ Jun 10th 2008 5:10PM]

"Meet real people"

Yeah, right! I've been living here in 2nd life for ages and I've never seen "real people". Everybody knows that there's no such thing as "real people"! Erm, that's right, isn't it..? Guys?

[Jon @ Jun 10th 2008 11:18AM]

Your a Tool . Get off Engadget and go run or ride a bike ..

[SGAg07 @ Jun 10th 2008 12:01PM]

Isn't the whole point of a DVR to record TV shows for those of us who DO get out of the house and have a life?

[scoville @ Jun 10th 2008 11:10AM]

You "fill our pain"?

[Jason @ Jun 10th 2008 11:10AM]

"We fill your pain.." - ?

Yes, you do.

[eddy @ Jun 10th 2008 11:14AM]

The only way I could truly dig something like this is if I was able to convert video files from my PC to make them DVR-playable, put them on this drive and then connect it to my DVR. Would eliminate the need for me to eventually do a media center PC setup.

[Cam @ Jun 10th 2008 11:17AM]

I've got one of these crappy SA 8300HD from Cablevision. If anyone out there has one of these, please tell me if you have figured out how to transfer content off of this to burn on to a DVD, or to store on my computer for later viewing, and/or burning onto a BluRay disc when I finally get a burner. I've searched the internet for a solution and everything seems to be extremely difficult. Thanks!

[eddy @ Jun 11th 2008 3:50PM]

If you have a DVD recorder, it's a piece of cake. Just use the 'Copy to VCR' function on the DVR and it'll dump it right into your DVD recorder in real-time (but still allowing you to watch regular programming or other recordings on the box).

From there, those files can be ripped into your computer using easily obtainable freeware and then converted into the file format of your choice with also easily obtainable freeware.

[Cam @ Jun 11th 2008 4:35PM]

Thanks, I actually hadn't thought of that before. I guess the only concern there is if it would keep the high-def format, which I'm guessing it wouldn't because a DVD isn't large enough. But even more important than HD, will it keep the 5.1 surround sound? The main reason I want to do this is because a concert I was at was broadcast on INHD and I've had it saved in my DVR until I could figure out how to get it off. It would be sweet if I could keep the surround sound.

[Allan @ Jun 10th 2008 11:15AM]

First... no, 500GB is not enough for some. I have 1.5 TB between 2x500GB internal and 500GB external (backup) add that up with a 74GB Raptor and I'll fill it up in no time. Had to get the second internal 500GB just recently when the first one filled up.

Secondly... take your crappy "sig" spam URL elsewhere.

[Philster @ Jun 10th 2008 11:16AM]

Will this work with a TiVo HD box?

[Robert Seery @ Jun 10th 2008 6:23PM]

I'm guessing that it does not. The only thing you can 'officially' attach to the S3 and HD is the WD My DVR Expander ($199 for 500Gb). Be nice if they let iomega in on the party, just to drive down the price. Be nicer if someone offered an expander containing a Seagate 1Tb DB35.4. That drive was announced last Sept, but most references to it have vanished, and when I emailed Seagate, they told me they didnt know when the drive would be out.... I'm holding out for a 1Tb add on from someone. You can only add it one time, so I'd rather do a 1Tb than a 500Mb. If it takes longer than the warranty, then i'm tearing it open and going with a 1Tb internal and a 1Tb external.

[kjb434 @ Jun 10th 2008 12:01PM]

Does Scientific Atlanta make TIVO?

Therein lies your answer....

[Vineet Madan @ Jun 10th 2008 11:19AM]

I've got a 500gb cavalry eSATA drive I bought for $115 last fall hooked up to my scientific atlanta 8300HD that works just fine. Why spend twice the money on this? HD video takes up a lot of space and I almost can't bear watching SD channels. I also prefer to time-shift just about everything other than live sports so you'd be surprised how fast the little drive in the SA box fills up! Have not had a problem running low on space (which used to happen all the time) since I added the 500 gig. Much better for saving shows for the kids as well.

[Jon @ Jun 10th 2008 11:20AM]

You Kidding 500 GB is nothing , i have a 4.5 TB HP Media smart server im looking to add more to .. Once you Back up Dvds , Blurays , Music .. It fills up rather quickly

[kal326 @ Jun 10th 2008 11:38AM]

I think my Dish 722Vip DVR comes with this much storage from the get go. Nice that it supports eSata, the dish box can only be upgraded by USB and they charge you to activate the port on the unit. Granted the use of USB allows almost every external drive to be used as a DVR capacity expander.

[The_Steven @ Jun 10th 2008 12:48PM]

What, no motorola dvr love?

[Galicki @ Jun 10th 2008 2:38PM]

Keep in mind that this is retail pricing. Expect it to be $140 in a month or two. At that price it may become worthwhile for people who don't want to mess with boot sectors in the future as IOmega will deal with it.

[Michael @ Jun 10th 2008 6:14PM]

would love to get something like this but the local TWC office still lists the USB and eSATA ports on my 8300HD as "planned for future expansion," worse yet even when calling just to find out if they have the ports enabled the phone rep got confused and had to look up eSATA on google!

[Twist @ Jun 10th 2008 7:11PM]

Here is another great thing about those SA HD-DVR's (and probably the normal ones as well) with the eSATA port: your cable provider has control over whether that port is enabled or not. So before buying this or a similar product you might want to make sure your provider will enable the port for you.

[eamonman @ Jun 10th 2008 8:53PM]

FYI, TWC in Los angeles will actually email you instructions on how to attach and make sure a eSATA drive works with your SA8300HD.
I was expecting furtive or even deceiving help (as some eye doctors will do when you ask about lasik), but their decently technical form letter email was great.

[tomokazu.osada @ Jun 10th 2008 11:12PM]

the acronyms kill me.

tomo

[HDkita @ Aug 28th 2008 8:07PM]

I just got Comcast Digital service with the SA Explorer 2000...no built-in DVR...and just record directly to my PC (via s-vid/RCA audio out) and then just transfer to DVD...simple.

[HDkita @ Aug 28th 2008 8:19PM]

I just got Comcast Digital service with the SA Explorer 2000...no
built-in DVR...and just record directly to my PC (via s-vid/RCA audio
out) and then just transfer to DVD...simple...limited, yes in that I can only watch one other program (thru my HD tuner), but rarely are there more than 2 shows to watch at the same time...