Tags: digital video recorder, global investing news, western digital

With its DVR Memory Expander, Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) Brings an End to "Recorder's Remorse"

By , Executive Editor, Money Morning •

William Patalon IIIWilliam Patalon III

The next time Money Morning's Keith Fitz-Gerald is scheduled for another FoxBusiness appearance while you're at work - and you want to record it on your digital-video recorder (DVR), but realize that there's no more memory capacity - don't fret.

You no longer have to erase recorded programs you and other family members have been waiting for weeks for the chance to watch - just so you can squeeze Fitz-Gerald's scheduled "Lightning Round" interview onto your DVR hard drive.

Thanks to an easy-to-install/easy-to-use DVR memory expander, "recorder's remorse" is now a thing of the past.

I'm referring to the "My Book AV DVR Expander," which is made by Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC).

The DVR Dilemma

We don't do a ton of product reviews here at Money Morning. But every once in awhile, you run across an offering that's so easy-to-use - and so relevant to our times - that you just want to tell everyone about it.

And when that product solves a problem that you just know lots of other folks are dealing with, well, in my mind that makes it a proverbial no-brainer to do a product review story.

After all, "Job One" here at Money Morning is to help our readers (**).

So that's just what we're going to do.

I've been a journalist - and mostly a business journalist - for virtually my entire adult life. By definition, that means that I'm a news junkie. Add to that the fact that I'm the editor of a global-investing news service with a daily e-letter with more than 600,000 subscribers, well, that means that I have to watch all the news programs dealing with business, economics, global investing and even politics (just between us, I'd watch all that stuff anyway).

The bottom line: Because of my busy schedule here, I record everything.

I'm also the father of a 4-year-old who loves "Thomas & Friends" and Disney (NYSE: DIS) Playhouse's "Chuggington."

Money Morning Product Review
We record those, too.

With all of this as my personal reality, you can't blame me for feeling as if the digital-video recorder had been invented ... just for me.

But DVRs - like everything else in life - have their limits. And in this case the limits have to do with memory capacity.

In fact, I discovered that the DVR's internal memory fills up pretty quickly, meaning I wasn't always able to keep the things I'd recorded until I had the chance to watch them.

I figured that there had to be a solution ... some kind of product that served as a DVR memory expander.

How to Turbocharge Your TiVo

I understand that there are scads of tech experts who evaluate products like this based on their components, engineering parameters and arcane performance measures. But as a consumer, when I look at a product like this, I want to answer three questions:

  • Does it solve my problem?
  • Is it reasonably easy to use?
  • And does it achieve No. 1 and No. 2 at a price that I feel is reasonable?

If the answer to all three of these questions is "yes," then in my mind it's a pretty successful product.

One Saturday, after doing my "due diligence" on the Web, I took a trip out to the local Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE: BBY) store to chat up one of the in-house "experts" who I've found to be quite helpful.

What he told me was this: In terms of plug-and-play DVR memory expansion, there's not a lot out there. But the clear front-runner - the "My Book" DVR Expander - is a relatively easy upgrade.

This device is pretty similar to the external hard drives you can buy for your laptop or desktop PC. It has both USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces, making it compatible with most DVRs and other audio-visual (AV) devices.

[Editor's Note: To see if your system or AV devices are compatible, check out this chart on the Western Digital Website.]

Here's what Western Digital says about its "My Book" device: "Expand your DVR storage so you can record more of your favorite TV shows. Or transfer and store videos from your compatible camcorder to free up space for more recording. Connect the drive to a game console, Blu-ray Disc player or media player, like WD TV, to smoothly stream video to your big screen TV. It's the perfect solution for your video storage and playback needs."
No More 'Recorder's Remorse'

The unit that I bought had 1 terabyte (1 TB) of storage capacity - enough to add hundreds of hours of high-definition programming to your DVR.

To give you some context, before I installed the "My Book" expander, I was getting a "low/no memory" warning when I tried to record additional programs.

After adding the 1 TB device, it said I was at only 15% of capacity.

Needless to say, I'm thrilled with the performance - especially because the installation was so easy. In essence, you're talking about connecting the hard drive to the DVR via a special cable (the cable is provided, and it's pretty clear where it's supposed to be connected to both the DVR and the drive), and then plugging the power cord into the drive and then into the wall.

After that, there are a couple of setup steps to take. But then you're off to the races.

Now, I will admit that it took me two tries: I missed a step the first time around and had to make a second attempt. After that, however, the unit has worked flawlessly. And it's seamless, meaning that there's no differentiation between the internal DVR memory and the external drive.

That seamless operation is just what I was looking for. In fact, I believe that's part of what author and futurist Arthur C. Clarke was driving at when he stated that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Although engineers, scientists and technologists are often enrapt by the technology itself, most folks just want the results ... the benefits. They want more DVR memory - and don't really feel the need to see how it works.

We've even had several power outages in our neighborhood since I installed the memory expander, including one that lasted seven hours. There was no re-installation, no separate "re-booting" of the drive. Once the cable box and DVR were back on line, so was my expanded memory - still all operating as a single unit.

Final Thoughts...

I bought my Western Digital "My Book" DVR Expander at a bricks-and-mortar Best Buy store, because (as I noted earlier), I was seeking the advice of a particular employee who works there - and who'd helped me with some previous purchases..

Since that time, I've seen this device listed at the online stores of both BestBuy.com and Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) - and for much less than I paid at the Best Buy retail location.

It's also offered at the "Western Digital Online Store."

As the editor here at Money Morning, I have tough choices to make each day: What stories do we run today ... and which ones do we ignore.

It used to be that I'd get home and have more choices to make: Which news program can I afford to record ... and what documentary, news special and "Chuggington" episode will I have to erase to do so?

At home, those tough-decision days are gone. So when Keith Fitz-Gerald, our chief investment strategist, appears next on FoxBusiness' "Varney & Co.," or Money Morning Columnist Shah Gilani again appears on CNBC to tell investors why Wall Street is oh-so-wrong to not be worried about the looming muni-bond crisis, I'll just hit "record" in the morning before I leave for work ... and not give it a second thought.
I won't have to erase anything. And I'll know that these programs will be there for me to watch - no matter how late I get home that night.

(**) Special Note of Disclosure: Money Morning did not receive, and is not reaping, any financial benefit from this product review. This was written purely as a service to our readers.
[Editor's Note: At Money Morning we strive to always give our readers exactly what they need to know. Whether it's a breaking news story, a budding investment opportunity or an update on global economic conditions, we aim to provide "only the news you can profit from."

And while our financial gurus are constantly working to get you the best information from the markets, we also want to hear from you.

Is there a question that you have? Is there a topic that you'd like to see us explore? Is there a story that you want us to do? If so, let's hear it! Take this chance to tell us what you want to know.

E-mail us at [email protected] and we'll do our best to address your question, topic or comment in an upcoming issue. Look for answers to your questions in our Money Morning Mailbag feature.]

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William Patalon IIIWilliam Patalon III

About the Author

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Before he moved into the investment-research business in 2005, William (Bill) Patalon III spent 22 years as an award-winning financial reporter, columnist, and editor. Today he is the Executive Editor and Senior Research Analyst for Money Morning at Money Map Press.

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