i'm a time warner cable subscriber and i'm on like my 5TH DVR cable box and i want to know why dont they last longer than a month thru regular every day use? its a scientific atlanta explorer 8300.
2007-05-13 16:52:35 · 2 answers · asked by dyokum3 1 in Consumer Electronics ➔ TiVO & DVRs
The short answer is "Excessive wear and tear." I'm a former employee of TWC and the Explorer series DVR's use a standard hard drive unit integrated into them but the software that runs the unit is not smart enough to disengage the hard drive when it is not in use. Most PC's have a power saving feature that will disengage or "park" the heads on the hard disk when its not in use, but on these DVR's the hard drive is always in use. Imagine if your computer was turned on using a standard 40 gig hard drive and you filled the drive and erased it continuously for 2 months straight without ever stopping? As an employee I had this problem and had to carry my DVR into work to be replaced almost as much as I took calls from actual customers who were just as frustrated. Some never had a problem. All you can do to minimize the risk is to keep your unit well ventilated and turn the Explorer off when its not in use. Your programs will still record as normal.
2007-05-13 17:24:22 · answer #1 · answered by blazerboyxp 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is certainly unusual.
I suspect "heat'". Make sure your DVR is ventilated correctly.
Leave enough space around it and don't block any of the airways in the unit.
2007-05-13 16:58:17 · answer #2 · answered by TV guy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋