I've been using a factory reurbed 750 GB Essentials on a 211k for over a year now without any issues. Got it off Ebay. WDU is the start to refurb model #s.
Which WD EHD is better?
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You can sometimes find great deals on ide drive enclosures from newegg and zipzoomfly.
I bought a new one just over a month ago for 17 bucks shipped and its working great with a 650Gb seagate ide drive.
Another good place to find them is on ebay.
I bought a new one just over a month ago for 17 bucks shipped and its working great with a 650Gb seagate ide drive.
Another good place to find them is on ebay.
I just heard back from WD about their EHD's for Dish HD DVR's. They said that the only major difference between the Elemental and the Essential is the Smartware on the Essential.
It's hard to find any actual reviews of specific models in regards to DVR back up. I found one at amazon and the guy loved the HP Simplesave 1.5TB HPBAAD0015HBK-NHSN. Any feedback would be appreciated.
One thing I noticed about the WD essentials, is that it takes a bit longer for the dvr to recognize (once you go into my media). I used to have a maxtor, was faster.
Why are you still beating your head over this???
Inside, it's a WD. You could have been enjoying the feature five weeks ago, but you don't want to take our recommendations. Hope you're having fun.
I have been using WD My Book Essentials 750g drives on my 722 and 211 for almost a year. No problems at all.
So I don't take you're recommendations. You have your opinions and I'd like to hear some others. Read the reviews on Amazon regarding the WD Essential. I've never seen a product bad mouthed as much as the Essential while everybody seems to love the Elemental. I'm not talking a few people, I'm talking dozens of people, many have used WD EHD's for years and will now never use WD again. The "smartdrive" is driving experienced users crazy and they have all deleted it and still hate the EHD. Many there consider the Essential the cheapest quality construction of any WD product they've used. I keep asking because I get conflicting reports and prefer not to spend my money on a poorly designed product. I did wonder about the model number of the HP that many liked a lot and realize it must be a WD number. It's not the hard drive they hate it;'s the finished package.Since you think I should automatically bow down to your recommendation and have berated me several times here for not following your advice maybe you could read all these bad reviews (it won't take but 5 or 6 minutes) and reasonably dispute them. Instead of Telling me what to buy give me a logical reason other than because you said so. I've asked before what the difference is between the Elemental and the Essential. Why did WD come out with the Essential. I actually e-mailed WD and asked that question and got no response. I assume you probably understand those differences, so kindly explain it to me please.Why are you still beating your head over this???
Inside, it's a WD. You could have been enjoying the feature five weeks ago, but you don't want to take our recommendations. Hope you're having fun.
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I don't need to read all the Amazon reviews (Non DishNetwork Applicable). YOU just need to read all the posts on this thread from people who have experience. If you feel berated because I don't understand why you won't pay attention to all the recommendations contained herein, that's your problem. What you are doing is telling US, you don't trust our opinions. I pray you don't over analyze everything in your life this way.
Why don't you want to read amazon's reviews? Are other peoples opinions beneath your expertise level? I trust your opinions, as long as you are open to the possibility that what was fact 3 or 4 months ago might not be fact now. If you are so gung ho on the Essential I would think you would want to know why so many are having these problems. Just because the people on this thread have experience doesn't mean the detractors on amazon aren't just as experienced. I don't over analyze eveything in my life, but when expert opinions differ I like to see some accounting. It doesn't matter if we're looking at Dish Network applications or computer applications. These complaints are related to the "Smartware" mostly which you also suggest needs some alteration. When you say "I don't need to read the Amazon reviews" you sound like a self proclaimed guru whose opinion should never be questioned. Please read them and offer some constructive criticism. Now that would be truelly helpfull instead of saying 'do what I say because I say so".
This whole thread is full of recommendations from a LOT of people who actually uses these WD drives with Dish DVR's. That's what it was started for in the first place. Much, much more on point than reviews from Amazon whose majority are using them for file storage. And most of them are from people who don't know better than to disable the"smartware". And with that said Sir, I'm done.
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Well, I bought the 1.5TB WD Elements yesterday and it seems that this model is perfect for the Dish 722. Installation could not have been easier. I plugged in the power cord and the USB wire Then I called the number indicated and a recorded voice asked me if I wanted to install a new DVR or a EHD. When I said EHD I was asked if it was OK to charge $39.99. I said yes and I was told the EHD is ready to go. A screen popped up telling me that the EHD was being formatted and several minutes would be needed (15 for the 1.5) and the DVR would reboot automatically. It worked perfectly. For those who do not know this, in the next step you go to menu, then Multimedia. You are then led to USB storage then select My Media. Item 1 is labeled Manage Device which brings up the list of programs on your EHD. You highlight the recording you want to watch and select the recording just like off the 722 recording list. Item 2 is labeled Send to Device. This brings up your DVR's recorded list, you then highlight the selected recording and the choices of what to do include selecting Archive. This transfers the recording to the EHD. A message come up telling you how long it will take and would you like to switch back to watching TV. When the transfer is complete a short message pops up telling you it's done. You can also watch one recording while transferring another.
I don't know if the Essential is any better of faster but with the Elements there is no "smartware to delete and the Elements is cheaper. The 1.5 Elements is on sale at Fry's throughout this week for $99.99. So far I have transferred 8 of the "Life" episodes as well 5 concerts, 8 hours of boxing, and 6 movies. It's fast and easy and I highly recommend the WD Element
I don't know if the Essential is any better of faster but with the Elements there is no "smartware to delete and the Elements is cheaper. The 1.5 Elements is on sale at Fry's throughout this week for $99.99. So far I have transferred 8 of the "Life" episodes as well 5 concerts, 8 hours of boxing, and 6 movies. It's fast and easy and I highly recommend the WD Element
Finally?? That's funny. In your post number 30, your response to my question regarding the difference between the Essentials and the Elements, you told me the Elements was no longer being produced and that I should just get the Essentials. I'm not sure why anyone would buy the Essentials over the Elements for DVD use.
I looked at the Elements that is on sale at fry's, it has the power save feature. Does anyone know if this is an issue for use with a DVR?
Also, I wanted to know if it stands up like a book?
It works great for my Dish 722. I'm not sure how the "power save" works but I haven't even noticed it. It lays flat like a book and has four little rubber nubs at each corner for stability. It's stone cold quiet, vibration free, and transfers much faster than I anticipated.
I bought an Elements 1.0TB for my 211K about a month ago:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-External-WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN/dp/B002QEBMB4"]Amazon.com: Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop?@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31pqfG8%2BefL.@@AMEPARAM@@31pqfG8%2BefL[/ame]
It has worked flawlessly so far, does not have any power-save software installed, and is a reasonable alternative to the Essential drives recommended by others on here. I personally like how the Elements drive has only one small LED on the back, and is in a small black case that's easy to conceal. Only thing is to make sure an get a model with external AC adapter (some Elements drives run off of USB power, which is a no-no for Dish DVRs).
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-External-WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN/dp/B002QEBMB4"]Amazon.com: Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop?@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31pqfG8%2BefL.@@AMEPARAM@@31pqfG8%2BefL[/ame]
It has worked flawlessly so far, does not have any power-save software installed, and is a reasonable alternative to the Essential drives recommended by others on here. I personally like how the Elements drive has only one small LED on the back, and is in a small black case that's easy to conceal. Only thing is to make sure an get a model with external AC adapter (some Elements drives run off of USB power, which is a no-no for Dish DVRs).
I am using a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black in a Icy-Dock MB664US-1SB external enclosure hooked up to a VIP 211k receiver. Everything seems to be working just fine. This configuration gives me 97 hours of recording time in HD.
Hi all,
I have been reading this thread with interest, since I will be adding an external hard drive to my VIP 722K once the delete 'bug' has been confirmed to be fixed. Anyway, price is less of an object to me than warranty. Simply put, I'd rather spend $20 or $30 more and get a drive that has a 3 or 5 year warranty. Especially since dvr service will beat these drives to death.
That said, I have noticed that the Seagate 'Free Agent' models seem to have a 5 year warranty. They also have a 7200rpm spindle speed, which should make them pretty fast. Has anyone had success with one of these? I'm thinking of getting the 1.5 Tb or the 2 Tb. Are there any other drives you can suggest with the longer warranties?
Thanks in advance,
Ed
I have been reading this thread with interest, since I will be adding an external hard drive to my VIP 722K once the delete 'bug' has been confirmed to be fixed. Anyway, price is less of an object to me than warranty. Simply put, I'd rather spend $20 or $30 more and get a drive that has a 3 or 5 year warranty. Especially since dvr service will beat these drives to death.
That said, I have noticed that the Seagate 'Free Agent' models seem to have a 5 year warranty. They also have a 7200rpm spindle speed, which should make them pretty fast. Has anyone had success with one of these? I'm thinking of getting the 1.5 Tb or the 2 Tb. Are there any other drives you can suggest with the longer warranties?
Thanks in advance,
Ed
