DVR, off or on?

[JMT]

I just switched from DISH to cable (WAVE Broadband). I did not have a DVR when I was with DISH but had the opportunity to upgrade when I made the change. The owner's manual that came with the Motorola DVR leaves a lot to be desired and does not mention whether the unit should be turned off when not in use. I would normally keep it on, but since it is constantly recording I am wondering about the wear and tear on the hard drive. My old DISH non-DVR unit used to go into sleep mode after 3 hours, should the DVR be powered off at the end of the day?

[mudbone]

I have a Tivo that I haven't powered off in 5 years.

YMMV.

[shokhead]

I have a Tivo that I haven't powered off in 5 years.

YMMV.

:thumbsup:

[Ryan]

I have a Tivo that I haven't powered off in 5 years.

YMMV.

Same here!

[mudbone]

Same here!

Great minds. :thumbsup:

[Ryan]

Yes...mine is lifetime subscription, so it's worked out to less than $5/month for this DVR. My cable Co. wants at least $9 for theirs.

[lv70smusic]

Unless you seldom use your DVR, it makes more sense to leave it on 24/7 so that it can record programs. As far as I know, there isn't a DVR that goes into the equivalent of power-save mode in between scheduled recordings, so your options are to leave it on or totally disconnect it from the power source (or turn it off, if it even has an on/off switch). If you decide to power it off between scheduled recordings, you are going to lose some of the features that make DVRs (well, at least TiVos -- I've never used another DVR) so much better than VCRs such as buffering of live TV, recording suggestions, continuing to check program listings to change the times of scheduled recordings as necessary, and, most importantly, simply recording the shows you tell it to record without you having to pay attention to details such as at what time and what channel the program is going to be on. If you give up most of the benefits of having a DVR, you might as well just use a VCR and save the monthly fee.

[onebit]

Well, if you live with a cable DVR in your bedroom, you know that even when it's off (i.e. the switch is off, but the unit is still plugged in), it's still quite busy.

My theory is that it downloads program information from the cable feed (periodically during the day and night), as well as defragging the hard drive (or some other maintenance routine). I often hear it come to life early in the morning (4 a.m.) as it does something with the hard drive. Really annoying at first, but I'm used to it now.

My cable company insists that you turn it off when not watching TV so that the hard drive will last longer. Makes sense, since you don't want it filling itself with live TV you're never going to watch, at the expense of shows you are trying to record.

[lv70smusic]

Hopefully any DVR is programmed sensibly enough that your hard drive would not fill up with buffered live TV. It should only buffer 30-60 minutes and then dump that unless the user chooses to save what's in the buffer by sending the appropriate command.

My cable company insists that you turn it off when not watching TV so that the hard drive will last longer. Makes sense, since you don't want it filling itself with live TV you're never going to watch, at the expense of shows you are trying to record.

[onebit]

Good point! It's been a long time since I visited the setup menus - there probably is something in there about how much live TV to save at a time.

[pdenny]

My DISH DVR has an option to power down after a certain period of inactivity.