Yes, we get the question all the time: How can I see how much space is left on my TiVo?

It’s a good question. Since we’re in the capacity-upgrade field, our customers often want to know how far they are from filling up their unit.

The problem is, TiVo has no official way to tell how much space is left. Why is that, you may ask? We surmise that TiVo thinks it would cause more problems than it would solve. There really is just no easy way to express how much recording space is left, for a few reasons. On standalone TiVos, you have four different recording qualities, so TiVo would have to pick one, and it may not be the one you’d choose. On DirecTV combo units, different shows are compressed at different ratios, so a number could only be very general. Further, on each of these units, deleting a one-hour show may not make the reported number rise by one hour, further adding to the confusion.

But there is a way to get a rough, but usable, gauge about how much space there is left on your unit: TiVo Suggestions.

TiVo Suggestions is a feature where, based on your recording history, your Season Passes, and your thumbs settings, the TiVo will try to determine what shows you like. And it can auto-record them, which is the key.

When it is set to auto-record TiVo Suggestions, the unit will fill up all remaining space with suggested shows. This may take a few days. But once the Suggestions list is full, those shows are the first to delete as other shows that you’ve picked to record take priority on the drive.

So by viewing the list of TiVo Suggestions, and since they take all otherwise ‘available’ space, you can gauge how much space you have left.

Here’s a screenshot of one TiVo with some suggestions recorded:

TiVo Suggestions

As the list grows from 11 shows, more space is available. If it shrinks to single digits, then your shows may be in jeopardy of being deleted. If it’s down to one or two, watch out!

To turn on auto-record of TiVo Suggestions, you’ll find the option on most units here:

Messages & Settings -> Settings -> Recordings -> Suggestions

Just set it to auto-record, wait a few days for the queue to fill, and you’re all set!

As announced today, TiVo users will be able to stream VOD (video on demand) from Blockbuster’s library. We’re definitely happy to hear that TiVo is partnering with yet another big company in the video space. This adds Blockbuster to the VOD list that already includes Amazon, Netflix, and Jaman.

But, what we found exceptionally notable in this release, is that, unlike with the Netflix and YouTube links, Series2 users can play Blockbuster movies. That’s great – Blockbuster is taking the time to encode these movies in ways to make them available to more units.

So if you’ve got a networked Series2 or Series3 TiVo, you’ve got another great source of video content. This really helps further cement TiVo’s position as the best video box for you living room.

TiVo DVRs have some diagnostic utilities hidden under the hood. In certain situations, they can be useful for diagnosing TiVo problems, especially bad hard drives.

Here’s a screenshot from one of the tests:

For full info, see our TiVo kickstart code page and our page dedicated to TiVo kickstart 54.

Alex over at TiVoBlog posted a video of himself installing a WeaKnees external TiVo backup drive. We’re very happy to say that it was as easy for him as it should be for anyone. I just takes a few minutes!

Thanks Alex!

Well, we thought it would never happen. We thought that development on PATA drives was pretty much over. But Western Digital surprised us and there’s a 320 GB drive that works (very well!) in the AppleTV.

So we’ve added that option to our site in two ways. You can:

1 – Buy a complete AppleTV with 320 GB of space

2 – Upgrade your AppleTV to 320 GB of space

Either way, see our AppleTV Upgrade page.