Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This thing is a complete joke. First off, it does not work at all with Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HDC models, only the 8300HD series (on Time Warner Cable at least). Simply does not recognize the external drive.
So, an immediate call to their customer service got me an answer "yeah, it doesn't work on the HDC, we've been meaning to get that info out". Thanks very much for mentioning that ANYWHERE before I purchased it.
Next step, call TWC, ask to get an HD instead of HDC box (still couldn't tell you the difference and neither could they, but I know the HDC is the newer and much more common box). I didn't want to lose all of my existing recordings now that I didn't have much confidence this would work on the other box either, so I brought home a second DVR and put my original one in the bedroom. Hooked up the Expander to the new box and vuala! works like a charm. NOW FOR THE REAL PROBLEM.
So as I am happily taping away about a hundred hours of shows and bragging to all what a great little item this is, I am completely oblivious to the fact that EVERY TIME the cable box is REBOOTED, UPDATED, UNPLUGGED, or otherwise INTERRUPTED, the Expander is no longer recognized and needs to be reformatted, hence LOSING ALL RECORDINGS. Inevitably, the box started acting goofy and required a reboot. Without knowing otherwise I did a restart. When it started back up, I could see all of my recordings listed, but couldn't play them, the Expander would need to be formatted all over again in order to work.
This is ridiculous, and sure enough, when I go to Apricon's website, there it is under FAQs that whenever the cable box is reset, all recordings will be lost. Except they make it seem like the only time your box would actually be disconnected from power would be if your cable company made you get a new box. Not for the more routine and ever frequent instances of power outages, moving furniture, swapping cables, or whenever your box starts acting goofy and you just need to refresh it with a reboot...
What good is having 864 hours of recorded space if you lose everything if the box hiccups or the power goes out? If I have to back up everything on a DVD I may as well just stick with the original set top DVR.
Complete waste of money and time. Would be an excellent product if it worked. Maybe in a few years someone will get it right but I wouldn't trust APRICORN again.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Apricorn 1.5TB Aegis Desktop 3.5 Inch USB 2.0 / eSATA External Hard Drive
Product Description:
Apricorn-s Aegis Desktop is the ultimate storage & backup solution. Featuring a sleek aluminum fan cooled enclosure and the blazing speed of a dual eSATA / USB 2.0 interface, the Aegis Desktop enables you to backup your data faster than ever before. Aegis Desktop is PC / Mac compatible and includes cloning, backup and synchronizing software.
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