Recommend a 2.5 inch HDD for PVR use

Ghostleader · Feb 5, 2017

Good afternoon chaps, been looking at getting a new receiver, as you know a lot of the newer models take the smaller laptop standard drives. So I was wondering what make and models are my best shout, cheapness would be good also say for example there's a "last years model" of a particular brand. Many thanks as always.

jeallen01 · Feb 5, 2017

What capacity do you want, and how much use is it going to get because "PVR" versions of disks are set up differently by the manufacturers to those intended for desktop/laptop use?

I know from "bitter" experience that desktop/laptop drives can fail if used for PVR - several failures in DRX 890s with 2TB "upgrades" after about 6 months intensive use. That's why I finally got an 895 which has had 4yrs hard use since purchase and is still going strong with the original disk.

Personally, I would try to get a box that takes 3.5" disks as that will give you more choice, and I would start with Western Digital disks and look for one with the "AV" prefix because (usually?)that means it is designed for PVR & similar use.
Possibly something like this one?

PS: and DON'T get a "recertified" drive - might be cheaper but could be a customer return that was deemed OK when checked, but, in fact, was not.

Ghostleader · Feb 5, 2017

Would never just "bang in" a P.C. drive mate, my dad thought he could do this and paid the same price as yourself mate. My Xtrend (Main user receiver) is fine because it does take a 3.5 drive, ordered the receiver bare (without drive) and just used a hardly used $ky HD drive. This time round I'm thinking 1TB will be fine.

jeallen01 · Feb 5, 2017

Ghostleader said:
Would never just "bang in" a P.C. drive mate, my dad thought he could do this and paid the same price as yourself mate. My Xtrend (Main user receiver) is fine because it does take a 3.5 drive, ordered the receiver bare (without drive) and just used a hardly used $ky HD drive. This time round I'm thinking 1TB will be fine.

Fine - you appear to know what you're doing but I would still avoid 2.5" drives!

In "my defence" on the subject of the 89o's, I didn't find out about the AV issues for sometime after I upgraded the 1st box, which then failed and I bought the 2nd one - after that one failed was when I did find out and bought the 895.

OTOH, when I went to fix the 2nd failed 890 up as a "spare", I bought what was advertised as a WD AV "Green" drive (that's what the fuzzy image seemed to show) for a Sky HD box upgrade from an ebay supplier - but when it turned up, it was a Seagate unit which I immediately tracked down to be a normal desktop drive unit. The guy who sold me that got a real "flea in his ear" about that the same morning it arrived, and he rolled over and accepted the return without a whimper - so he knew what he was selling (the lying "person").:mad:

Ghostleader · Feb 5, 2017

No choice with the size thing I'm afraid the Mutant receiver is 2.5 only, so's the Vu+ Solo 2 for example I'm also sure. Its no doubt because the companies are going for a smaller footprint for the receivers these days no doubt that has a part to play I think anyway.

jeallen01 · Feb 5, 2017

Ghostleader said:
No choice with the size thing I'm afraid the Mutant receiver is 2.5 only, so's the Vu+ Solo 2 for example I'm also sure. Its no doubt because the companies are going for a smaller footprint for the receivers these days no doubt that has a part to play I think anyway.

Mutant - could always fit an external USB disk?
Solo2 - didn't think about that when I ordered the m/c from WoS! OTOH, it's not going to get the hammering that the 895 regularly does, so probably (hopefully!) not too much to worry about.

Made me think though, and tracked down that the WD AV-25 range ARE 2.5" AV drives - like this one! Looks like that might fit the bill?

Channel Hopper · Feb 5, 2017

Ghostleader said:
Would never just "bang in" a P.C. drive mate, my dad thought he could do this and paid the same price as yourself mate. My Xtrend (Main user receiver) is fine because it does take a 3.5 drive, ordered the receiver bare (without drive) and just used a hardly used $ky HD drive. This time round I'm thinking 1TB will be fine.

I've banged in the larger PC drives in a number of receivers with a slot/space in the casing, and they are still - all of them - going strong, including the one in daily abuse by the wife (though it is now suffering three years after the event) from full disc status/mains interruption and the odd kick in the teeth.

Smaller 2.5" drives are going to be more picky, moreso with HD storage and encryption recording (x 2) required for current compatibility by the content providers.

jeallen01 · Feb 5, 2017

Channel Hopper said:
Smaller 2.5" drives are going to be more picky, moreso with HD storage and encryption recorng (x 2) required for current compatibility by the content providers.

C/H

You might well be right if the smaller disks get hot through continued heavy use - hopefully WD have done all the right design and test checks, but only time and experience will tell.

Channel Hopper · Feb 5, 2017

My experience with WD is not good - their Passport drives were/are a joke.

jeallen01 · Feb 5, 2017

Channel Hopper said:
My experience with WD is not good - their Passport drives were/are a joke.

Since those are probably 2.5" drives, then you may well have a very good point

. 3.5" drives probably still "rule"

Lazarus · Feb 5, 2017

Channel Hopper said:
My experience with WD is not good - their Passport drives were/are a joke.

+1

Analoguesat · Feb 5, 2017

Avoid Seagate Barracuda 7200.1x drives at all costs - they are absolutely appalling. Ive had no end of failures of the 1TB both at home & at work & there are loads of reports about them on line.

They are fine for about a year then fail without warning with the dreaded click of death.

Mickha · Feb 5, 2017

My VU+ Duo 2 can take either a 3.5", or a 2.5", hard drive, I just used a 3.5" out of my PC and it's been working fine for nearly 3 years.
What I would advise is that you ensure you get a large enough drive, my 1.5 TB drive looked big enough, when I put it in, but after a couple of years recording, especially the film series, when film channels become themed, like all the Bond films, in HD, it soon uses space up, as I tend to record films, but never get round to viewing them, unlike series, which last around the 42 minute mark, without advertisements, old films can easily be around the 2.5 hours mark.

Recommend a 2.5 inch HDD for PVR use

Ghostleader

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Channel Hopper

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