4 TB Premiere

[TishTash]

I noticed you're again selling the 4 TB Premiere. Did you and TiVo at last resolve the issue of persistent rebootings (esp. after transfers) to the point of green screens?

[WK-Michael]

Yup - it's been completely resolved. Contact us if you want to send your units in to get to 4 TB.

[email protected]

[TishTash]

Yup - it's been completely resolved. Contact us if you want to send your units in to get to 4 TB.

[email protected]

No kidding: You can upgrade a 2 TB internal to a 4 TB without losing the already recorded data? What's the usual turnaround time?

P.S. Just out of curiosity, (what is the layman's version of) what was going wrong?

[WK-Michael]

Yup - we can do it. The unit has to come here for it.

Unfortunately, I'm not really at liberty to discuss the technical issue, but I do know for sure that there was a known problem once it was clear what was going on, and it has specifically been resolved.

[TishTash]

Yup - we can do it. The unit has to come here for it.

For what it's worth, I decided to just get a fresh 4 TB unit to see how it plays. Two breakdowns is three too many, if you get my drift.

(I hope TiVo allows for a transfer of service between units instead of shanghai'ing me to a $20.00/mo. plan, but I'm not selling the house hoping.)

[WK-Michael]

TiVo is pretty tough on service transfers, but please post back and tell us what they allow.

[TishTash]

TiVo is pretty tough on service transfers, but please post back and tell us what they allow.

When I requested a transfer of a month-to-month service from an older TiVo to the newer Premiere, the customer rep proceeded with no problems. So there you go.

One point of concern: You advertise the capacity of your 2 TB units as "317 HD Hrs" and that's reflected accurately in the System Information screen. Logically, you claim twice the amount--"640 HD Hrs"--with your 4 TB units, but the System Information on mine states 402 HD Hrs--which is little above a 25% increase. Am I paying for twice the capacity and getting slightly more than a quarter above that? Is my external drive really 2 TB, or less than 1? Or was the internal drive never upgraded from 1 TB to 2 TB? Please advise.

[WK-Michael]

When I requested a transfer of a month-to-month service from an older TiVo to the newer Premiere, the customer rep proceeded with no problems. So there you go.

Huh. Great. I'm surprised, but that's excellent.

One point of concern: You advertise the capacity of your 2 TB units as "317 HD Hrs" and that's reflected accurately in the System Information screen. Logically, you claim twice the amount--"640 HD Hrs"--with your 4 TB units, but the System Information on mine states 402 HD Hrs--which is little above a 25% increase. Am I paying for twice the capacity and getting slightly more than a quarter above that? Is my external drive really 2 TB, or less than 1? Please advise.

As with previous very large upgrades, the meter is a little broken on TiVos, but, as before, they usually fix it within a few software revisions. But it'll record correctly to the full capacity.

[TishTash]

As with previous very large upgrades, the meter is a little broken on TiVos, but, as before, they usually fix it within a few software revisions. But it'll record correctly to the full capacity.

I apologize for my annoying-ness, and I hear what you're sayin', but the machine is definitely skewing toward not-quite-twice-as-big. A 2TB unit usually maxes out at around 300 HD hours (as advertised). You'd think that the 4TB would at least approach 600 HD hours, but it's maxing out at 400 (which is what the System Info counter actually states, amazingly enough).

Can you be certain that the internal drive (or even the external) isn't actually 1TB? (I almost thought maybe the original drive from TiVo was inadvertently left in, but that would only be with an XL, and mine is just a non-XL Premiere. Still, I wonder ...)

[TishTash]

By the way, what "capacity" do you guys get reported (erroneously of course) in System Info on your 4TB Premiere units? 420 HD hours as well? Or does it show up as 600 or so, like it should?

[WK-Jeff]

The drive serial numbers in your record indicate that they are both 2TB drives; that's all I have to go on from here. Is the unit deleting recordings after 400 hrs?

[TishTash]

The drive serial numbers in your record indicate that they are both 2TB drives; that's all I have to go on from here. Is the unit deleting recordings after 400 hrs?

Yes. I suppose I could pop open the hood and see exactly for sure. I'll let you know.

[TishTash]

Well, the latest 4TB unit does say 640 HD hours in its System Info screen. The older two 4TB units continue to state 402 HD hours, and indeed do start deleting recordings around 400 HD hours. (The old 2TBs state 320 HD hours, and also delete recordings around then.) They all have the latest TiVo firmware.

I'm going to assume the new 4TB unit will go all the way to 600 some-odd HD hours as stated in its System Info screen, which is gratifying. My quandary lies in why the first two 4TB units state only 402 HD hours and more importantly actually record only up to about 400 hours, even though the drives total 4TB.

Even the old 4TB units that broke after a month would show 640 HD hours. Why do these particular two units top out at 400? Are they just hitting some virtual ceiling after what appears to be 2-1/2 TBs? I feel I paid retail for less than three-quarters capacity--actually five-eighths, which is even more aggravating. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

[WK-Michael]

I think we probably need to get at least one of those back here. Should we email you a shipping label?

[TishTash]

I think we probably need to get at least one of those back here. Should we email you a shipping label?

Yes, please do. Whatever you end up doing, the recordings should keep, right?