Amazingly, given the age of the unit and the drives, it seems to have worked like this for several years. That’s pretty shocking to us, considering how that foam below the Maxtor would just hold the heat right against the drive. And the duct tape (haven’t seen it in that color before) keeps the whole thing vibrating nicely.

People, PLEASE! Spend the $14 for a TiVo Series1 upgrade bracket in the future!

No update. Sorry. We’re still hearing 2010.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts to get some sort of update, we just can’t get anyone to talk about the release date. But we decided to post on the blog because we get SO many inquiries about this. We think this will be a very popular product.

Of course, since our two biggest interests are TiVo and DirecTV, we may be uniquely positioned to hear from everyone who wants information. But it’s a lot of people, generating a lot of pent-up demand.

If you want the latest news (when there actually is some), we’d recommend you:

1 – Sign up on TiVo’s list for DirecTV information.

2 – Sign up on our general list for TiVo and DirecTV news.

3 – Watch this blog.

4 – Follow us on Twitter.

As soon as we have any news, we’ll likely post it to here and on Twitter, and if it’s substantial, we’ll probably send out an email.

For those that DO rely on off-air antenna signals and have a Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo (basically any TiVo other than the TCD648250, TCD652160 and TiVos with DIRECTV built-in), the transition to all-digital signals will absolutely impact your TiVo and its ability to record.

Those in this situation have several choices:

IF YOU HAVE A SERIES 2 TiVo (TiVo-brand starting with TCD1XXXX, TCD2XXXXX and TCD540XXX, any Humax-branded TiVo, Sony SVR3000 or any Toshiba-branded TiVo):

1) Continue using the Series 2 Tivo and get a compatible converter box.

2) Get an HD TiVo that can handle and convert the digital broadcasts.

3) Get cable or satellite.

Option #1: TiVo has released a list of compatible converter boxes (see the “Converter Boxes” tab after clicking link, or see the list below). These boxes will take a digital signal from an off-air antenna and convert it into an analog signal. The converter box contains a tuner. It will map the digital signal into an analog station and sent it out to your TiVo in a format that the TiVo can read. In order to change channels, the TiVo will have to communicate and control the converter box using an IR Blaster Cable. To cut the cost of the converter box, you can apply for a $40 coupon (limited supplies) from the Federal Government to help pay for the cost of the box. Remember that as of this date, the converter boxes will not work with your TiVo–you will need to wait for a software update before the TiVo can control the converter box.

Option #2: Get a TivoHD. These boxes are truly outstanding, are fully ready for the digital world, and can output high definition. The HD part may not be important if you don’t have an HD television, but you’ll be ready if and when you do change out your TV. The catch is that if you have lifetime service on your old Series 1 or Series 2, TiVo is not currently offering any transfer options. You would have to get new service on the TiVoHD and then sell or give away the Series 1 or Series 2.

Option #3: If you decide to abandon your antenna and go with satellite or cable, your Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo will work with just about any cable box and satellite (from DIRECTV, DISH Network and providers in Canada) set top boxes.

*Here is a list of the supported boxes:

Supported Models

• Insignia NS-DXA1
• Venturer STB7766G
• Magnavox TB100MW9
• RCA DTA 800A
• GE 22729
• Zenith DTT900
• Channel Master CM-7000
• Lasonic LTA-260
• Philco TB100HH9
• Samsonic FT300A
• Tivax STB-T9
• Artec T3Apro

Not Supported

• Digtial Stream DTX9000

IF YOU HAVE A SERIES 1 TiVo (HDR-series or SVR2000):

It’s a bit murkier for you, but as of now, TiVo is suggesting that it is not releasing a software version to make these units compatible with digital converter boxes. Series 1 owners using antenna signals are being told that Option 2 or Option 3 are the only options. For a limited time, Series1 owners (presumably, only those using antenna signals) can get a refurbished HD DVR for $100 and TiVo will move lifetime service for an additional $300. Not a bad deal at all.

TiVo Series3 Upgrade Kits

TiVo HD Upgrade Kits

So these kits come with two 1 Terabyte drives – one internal and one external. And they have to work together. This is the most storage capacity ever on a TiVo!

WeaKnees 2 Terabyte 292 Hour TiVo Series3

We still strongly recommend internal upgrade solutions for these units for several reasons including space, heat, stability, and ease. But TiVo’s addition of the ability to use external storage just gives us another way to help users get more capacity in their TiVo units, validating what we’ve been doing for years.

Thanks for making this possible TiVo!

UPDATE: Many have expressed interest in getting an eSATA case with a Seagate DB 35 hard drive in it. Two of the three externals we offer have DB 35 drives: the 500 GB and the 750 GB.

For the curious, here is a screenshot from a TiVo HD DVR with a 1TB hard drive inside:

This unit can record up to 145 hours of HD content, or 1368 hours of SD content.

The ONLY way to find the page where we have these is through this blog entry. We have a very limited quantity of these units, so we’ve been selling them by request only. We don’t expect to have good stock until late June.

Please note: the price is a bit high on these, reflecting the scarcity and price of the 1 terabye SATA drives. We do expect the price to come down a bit at least by the end of the summer, hopefully sooner.

We’re still making sure these units are totally ready for prime time in every way. We hope to have them authorized for sale soon. Initially, we’ll probably have a pretty small stock of these as the drives trickle out . . .

First: the confusion. The word “TiVo” has become so widely used that people often come to us for a “TiVo upgrade” when they really have a DVR that runs non-TiVo software. But we can still help with many of those. So here’s the list:

TiVo brand DVRs: We can upgrade the capacity on any TiVo DVR. Every model from the HDR series to the Series3, we can do it. Even models with DirecTV, or with DVD burners. If it runs TiVo, we can upgrade it.

If you have a TiVo DVR, find your model in our TiVo upgrade list and you can choose from the options. For most models, we have both add and replace kits – more info on the differences is here. For either type, our drives are formatted here at WeaKnees and don’t need to be prepared in a PC in any way before installation on the customer side.

ReplayTV DVRs: We have larger drives for every model of ReplayTV DVR ever produced. We only have one type of upgrade kit for ReplayTV models. In all cases, you remove the drive that was in the system and put our new, pre-formatted drive in. Sizes vary by model – see our full list of ReplayTV upgrade kits.

Scientific Atlanta Explorer DVRs: There are several SA DVRs out there, but a popular model, the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD is, fortunately, upgradeable. This is an HD DVR for use with several cable systems including Cox, Cablevision, Time Warner, Comcast, and others. The problem is, it only has a 160 GB drive inside. We sell external, plug-and-play drives for this unit that will add up to 300 GB more storage space. We use a special enclosure that Maxtor designed specifically to be compliant with this one DVR.

Please read the notes on this unit. Only models running SARA software are upgradeable; units with Passport software cannot be upgraded. Please see our Scientific Atlanta 8300HD Upgrade Kits.

UltimateTV DVRs for DirecTV: They’re getting old, but people who have them still love them. They have two tuners, and picture-in-picture and they do a great job with DirecTV. And if you want more space, or if the drive in your unit has failed, we’ve got the answer. We have UltimateTV Upgrade Kits that work in both the RCA and Sony models.

That’s the current list as of February 2007. If you have a DVR that you want to upgrade and we don’t mention it, feel free to send us an email to see what we have in the works. We do know that the DISH DVRs are not upgradeable (or even salvageable if they have a bad drive) and they likely never will be. We’ll be keeping our eyes on the Apple TV when it ships, and whatever else comes out in this arena.