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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5 to CableTool

Premium Member

to CableTool

Re: Quad-Tuner DVR

said by CableTool:

I think people view Leased DVRs as archiving boxes... they arent really for Archiving all of your favorite programming, they are for recording it to view it later.

Yes. I don't get those who think a DVR is to archive and keep for years an entire season of some reality show. DVRs are time-shifting machines. And if you haven't watched what you recorded within a week or so, you probably never will watch it.

Though the ability to turn on an attached external hard drive should be technically doable for those fanatics that think everything that is recorded should be saved for all time. But we all know Hollywood would pressure the cable companies from doing anything of the sort.
yhp
join:2006-12-27
Philadelphia, PA

1 edit

yhp

Member

said by FFH5:

And if you haven't watched what you recorded within a week or so, you probably never will watch it.

Kind of depends on how many hours a day you want to spend on the couch "catching up". Different strokes for different folks. Some weeks are busier than others. "320 GB" is an arbitrary limit set by Comcast and the luck of one's hardware draw. "one week" is an arbitrary limit set by... well, by you, come to think of it.

Though the ability to turn on an attached external hard drive should be technically doable []

It is doable - just not if you have the misfortune of being a Comcast Motorola customer.

But I'll definitely tell my SO that people who save TV shows for longer than 1 week are "fanatics", so going forward, we definitely need to cook up every recipe recorded on the DVR within one week. I hope the stuff freezes well, because I apparently need to find time in the next 24 hours to finish watching the rest of TCMHD's 5-film Blake Edwards tribute from 12/27, or else this guy on the Internet will call me names. I can't be chopping vegetables and stuff.

cypherstream
MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
·PenTeleData
ARRIS SB8200

cypherstream

MVM

The Pace DVR's do have working eSATA ports. I have not seen one on Comcast though. Service Electric cable issues Motorola and Pace DVRs. Only on the Pace ones, external hard drives work. They all run I-Guide A25.

The RNG210n is made by Pace. I'm pretty sure the eSATA would work then. Motorola has been dragging their feet with a driver. One is now available and so far Verizon picked it up and packaged it in with their new IMG 1.9 guide, to be released over in the next couple of months.

I'm sure it's only a matter of time before other MSO's pick up this option. The hurdle is support. Many will enable it and not say anything. It will be a secret underground feature, like 30-sec skip. Some will actually create marketing and some documentation with a list of approved drives. Some may even charge a fee to activate it (like Dish Network). It's up to each individual company.

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4

Member

well if comcast allowed customers to attach external hard drives to their boxes that would save them money. People who swap out everytime a new box with a larger hard drive comes out are more likely not to swap out as much if they could do this.