I have a Scientific Atlanta 8300 HD DVR (digital video recorder) from Charter Communications. I was wondering how to go about upgrading the hard drive to one with higher capacity. I know that the warranty would be voided, and I would have to buy my own DVR instead of using the one for the cable company, of course. I would get the same model so that it would be compatible with Charter’s system. Actually, it is a great DVR, much better than any other DVR that I have used (Charter may have different software than other providers). The drive capacity is okay for recording regular TV, but it can only record 12 hours of HDTV, which is why I want a bigger drive. Would I be able to get the software necessary for running the DVR from Charter or my current DVR (I know that updates are sent through the cable, but I do not know if there is some kind of base software from Scientific Atlanta that Charter justs adds onto)? Does the drive need special formatting? Do I need a really fast drive so that the DVR can keep up? Does the drive need to be more rugged than a standard drive due to the constant recording and erasing? If so, how do I determine ruggedness? Thanks for any replies.
I apologize if this question has been asked before. I tried searching, but I was hampered due to the fact that the search function will not allow me to search for “DVR” because it only has three letters.
The easiest solution, if Charter has enabled the eSATA port on your DVR, is to add an external eSATA drive.
You won’t be able to buy another 8300 and put in a larger hard drive. The cable company authorizes each box individually and they won’t let unauthorized hardware on their network. They won’t authorize a box you supply yourself (though you could possibly trick them into doing it if you’re clever enough).
I’ve read claims from people who say they successfully upgraded the internal drive in an 8300, but I haven’t seen reliable instructions for doing so. You would risk breaking it and having to pay the cable company (generally around $400 - $600 per box).
Another option is to get a TivoHD. You can easily upgrade the drive in a Tivo.
Agreed about the external SATA drive being the easiest option (if Charter has the port activated, that is…). But disagree about the cable company not authorizing boxes that don’t belong to them. By law, as of last summer, they have to. You can buy your own DVR and the cable company will supply you with a cable card that fits into it. The cable card will be authorized with the codes allowing you access to your programming. Cite.
Thanks for your replies. I do not know if Charter would be cool with me getting my own box, even if they have to do it by law. It also depends on if the employee you talk to is a dick or not. They do let you buy your own cable modem to avoid the rental fee, though. Perhaps they will go for it if I let them continue to charge me for renting a DVR. It’s $15 a month, but it is worth it if I can get more storage space. I think that the DVR’s internal interface is SATA. There is also an external SATA slot. However, I called Charter and they said that the SATA slot is not enabled. They said that they may enable it in the future, but it may take a while. If I did use an external drive, would it seamlessly increase the memory of the DVR or would there be two drives to record to? Thanks
I talked to Charter about getting my own DVR, but they claim that they own all Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD DVRs and that people selling the boxes have stolen them from Charter. They said that they have an exclusive contract with Scientific Atlanta and that no one can own the DVRs except them. However, I checked on the Internet and found that other major cable companies, including Comcast and Time Warner, also use the same model. Also, while some people are selling cable company equipment illegally, mostly on eBay, it looks like there are plenty of suppliers that have obtained the DVRs legally. Therefore, either the Charter employee is seriously misinformed or she is lying. I think that she is just misinformed, but she reacts strongly against the idea of customers having their own equipment. I think that Charter probably instills this attitude during training. She put me on hold several times to talk to her supervisor, so he or she may be giving incorrect information as well.
As far as how seamless an external SATA drive is; I haven’t done it myself (my SA 8300 HD is from Cox and I have no idea if the port is enabled). But I’m told that once the internal HD is full it will automatically begin recording to the external SATA drive. Again, though, I’ve never done it…
I have the same box you do through Time Warner Cable. When mine started to fill up too easily, I just added an additional external hard drive by connecting through the eSata port. It was pretty easy to do, I just followed the instructions on this site, and it recognized the drive with no problem.
Thanks for the information on adding the external hard drive, everybody. It is possible that the port is active but that the employee had the wrong information. However, she said that they just completed the activation of the port with their other brand of DVR, which makes me think that she is more likely to be correct. Unfortunately, I don’t have a hard drive to test it with. I’ll send them an email about the port and getting my own DVR. In the past they have been much better at answering questions correctly by email than phone calls. Thanks again.