How much hardware difference within a model?

[JerryElbow]

I have to DVRs, both the same model (HR20) and both gotten at the same time. Both went through the same software update recently. One of them came through with no problems. The other locked into record mode and wouldn't power up. I had to do a red button restart on it. When it finally finished rebooting, all of the series recording information was still there but it had lost ALL recordings (which REALLY cheesed off my wife as that is "her" DVR).

My question is, how much difference can there be between DVRs of the same model? Assuming that the same software update came down to both units and they had such different reactions, the difference seems like it MUST be in the hardware. But what is different? CPU? Memory? Hard drive? What?

[Earl Bonovich]

Are they both the same full model? Both an HR20-700? Both an HR20-100?

IF they are the same full model number... on a hardware level, there is very little difference between them.

As for why one would act differently then the other... that is the million dollar quesiton

[Stuart Sweet]

One reason to lose all your recordings is that the hard drive's data became corrupt in some way, and the drive automatically reformatted. It could be that you have the same hardware, but one had a random, recoverable failure and one did not.

[glennb]

Assuming that the same software update came down to both units and they had such different reactions, the difference seems like it MUST be in the hardware.

Why MUST it be the hardware ?

If the DVRs are the same hardware they MUST be the same inside.

I'd have to guess your wife's DVR MUST have had a hard drive problem and reformatted.