eSata potential newbie questions

[Indiana627]

Sorry for yet another esata thread, but I've searched and read many of the existing threads and still have some questions. I have the -100 and am thinking about getting an esata (minimum of 750GB). Please forgive me if these have been asked before.

1) If my HR20 died, could I hook up the esata to the replacement HR20 and still have all the recordings on it?

2) Do the drives need their own power source? Or is power provided through the esata cable like a USB device? (Plugs are at a premium behind my entertainment center.)

3) How risky is the combination of esata and CEs? I've seen some posts that CEs can sometimes delete the esata recordings. Is this widespread or very rare?

These are my main questions. I understand the esata replaces the internal drive instead of augmenting it (I hope this would change someday). The two drives I'm considering are the Free Agent and the Cavalry unit. Any thoughts on which is better?

Other than what I've mentioned here, are their any other pros/cons I should be aware of before getting an esata?

Thanks.

[rayxxxle]

Sorry for yet another esata thread, but I've searched and read many of the existing threads and still have some questions. I have the -100 and am thinking about getting an esata (minimum of 750GB). Please forgive me if these have been asked before.

1) If my HR20 died, could I hook up the esata to the replacement HR20 and still have all the recordings on it?

No, it is "married to the receiver

2) Do the drives need their own power source? Or is power provided through the esata cable like a USB device? (Plugs are at a premium behind my entertainment center.)

No, all I have seen require external power

3) How risky is the combination of esata and CEs? I've seen some posts that CEs can sometimes delete the esata recordings. Is this widespread or very rare?

I have had both internal and external drives wiped upon download of not only CE's, but also on national releases. Doesn't happen often, but has happened on both drives with me. Conventional wisdom is that the program download detects a problem of some kind with the drive and reformats to take care of the problem.
:confused:

These are my main questions. I understand the esata replaces the internal drive instead of augmenting it (I hope this would change someday). The two drives I'm considering are the Free Agent and the Cavalry unit. Any thoughts on which is better?

No thoughts, I use a 3Gen 1 TB, and a Seagate 500 and both work fine. 3 Gen is a lot louder though (Fan noise):scratch:


Other than what I've mentioned here, are their any other pros/cons I should be aware of before getting an esata?

Thanks.

Good Luck,
Errol

[Indiana627]

The answer to my first question is very disappointing. So if my HR20 dies, then my esata drive would be worthless?

[Michael D'Angelo]

The answer to my first question is very disappointing. So if my HR20 dies, then my esata drive would be worthless?

No, you can move it over to the new HR20/HR21 but your recordings will not work on the new unit. So you will have to delete them which sucks but the eSATA drive is still usable.

[Mike728]

The answer to my first question is very disappointing. So if my HR20 dies, then my esata drive would be worthless?


Not worthless, you would just have to start over with the replacement receiver.

[Indiana627]

No, you can move it over to the new HR20/HR21 but your recordings will not work on the new unit. So you will have to delete them which sucks but the eSATA drive is still usable.

Not worthless, you would just have to start over with the replacement receiver.
Ah, so the first time you plug it into the replacement receiver, the receiver would format it and wipe it clean? Or would the recordings still be listed but unplayable, forcing you to manually delete each?

[Michael D'Angelo]

Ah, so the first time you plug it into the replacement receiver, the receiver would format it and wipe it clean? Or would the recordings still be listed but unplayable, forcing you to manually delete each?

The recordings will still be showing but will be unplayable.