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storage posts

Ask Engadget HD: Would an SSD upgrade help my HTPC performance?

by Richard Lawler posted Oct 14th 2009 at 12:25PM


Facing a need for speed during our own HTPC build we suggested a Western Digital VelociRaptor drive combined with another 2TB disk, but in the neverending quest for speed and silence, would an SSD make more sense? That's James' question, considering his current specs what would you upgrade next?

"Wondering if you guys think it's worth upgrading my HTPC to an SSD. The SSD I think will make a huge impact, as a lot of the caching of images, etc. is all done on the main OS drive (from what I understand). Have you ever experienced an HTPC based on an SSD or done a side by side comparison of one with a regular HDD vs. an SSD? My current configuration is as follows:

Q6600 2.4GHz CPU
8GB DDR2-800 RAM
2x 1TB hdd's
nVidia 9300 IGP based MicroATX motherboard (ASUS)
Hauppauge HVR-2250 dual tuner PCIe card
Antec Fusion Remote Black HTPC case
Windows 7 RC (Soon to be Home Premium Retail)"

Anyone gone the SSD route for a HTPC yet and seen any difference? The main problems we see are cost and size capabilities, but if it means quicker loading times and less fans it could be a worthwhile upgrade. With Windows 7 just around the corner we're sure James isn't the only one eyeing an upgrade or two, let us know how your project is going in the comments.

Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.

HP MediaSmart LX195 boasts 640GB HDD, 1.6GHz Atom, $400 MSRP

by Ross Miller posted Apr 29th 2009 at 8:39PM

Yearning for more info on the HP MediaSmart LX195? Here's some new concrete details for you to go along with the leaked images from earlier this month. As previously suggested, it's got a single 640GB internal SATA drive with 7200RPM, with the only option for expansion being via the four USB 2.0 ports in the back. We're also looking at a 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor, 1GB RAM, Windows Home Server software and support for Apple's Time Machine. Mum's the word on price, but if you're looking to start saving early, suggested retail price is just under four Benjamins.

Gallery: HP MediaSmart LX195 boasts 640GB HDD, 1.6GHz Atom, $400 price tag

The Photo Archival Company offers Blu-ray archival solution for camcorder footage

by Darren Murph posted Nov 5th 2008 at 4:19PM

For camcorder owners with mind enough to know what Blu-ray is (and own at least a Blu-ray player), yet not enough time / knowledge to bother archiving your footage onto the format, The Photo Archival Company is ready and willing to take your dough. The archiving outfit has formally introduced a solution that involves placing old (albeit valued) content on USB hard drives, camcorder tapes, etc. onto Blu-ray Discs for safe keeping, though there's no mention of just how costly this convenience will end up being. But no, it won't be cheap.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Pioneer finds 20-layer 500GB Blu-ray Disc "feasible"

by Darren Murph posted Aug 5th 2008 at 1:15PM

Now here's a rate of progress we could get used to. Nary a month after Pioneer trumpeted a 400GB Blu-ray Disc, out pops another press release from the firm boasting about a 500 gigger with a score of layers. Based on research at its Tokyo headquarters, specifications have been drafted for an incredibly capacious 500GB BD. Granted, this very company already had plans for a 500GB optical disc nearly four years ago, but there's no time like the present to make this stuff a reality, right?

[Via TrustedReviews, thanks xdragon]

Inteset unveils ultimate media server: 15TB TeraRAID XV-NAS

by Darren Murph posted Jul 11th 2008 at 4:21PM


When 8TB just isn't enough to shack up all your media on, look no further than Inteset. This firm has just unveiled one of the craziest NAS servers we've ever seen, with 15 hot-swappable bays armed with 15TB of storage space. The latest beast in the TeraRAID family is obviously AV focused and comes in a 5U enclosure perfectly suited for racks. Additionally, the system comes pre-configured to play nice with the company's Media Library, and of course, the internals are built to handle multiple high-bandwidth video streams. If you're ready to get serious about media storage (and deplete your bank account), you can snatch this one up for $14,495 (or snag a 7TB version for $10,995).

Japanese researchers devise method for cramming 42GB on a DVD

by Darren Murph posted Jun 27th 2008 at 11:57AM


Never mind those fancy BD-R critters, how's about a 42GB DVD? Researchers with a good deal more intelligence than us over at Tohoku University have reportedly figured out a way to "multiply the amount of data that can be stored on a DVD or CD by 9." Based on our best guess at translating a foreign language (we kid... sort of), the achievement was realized by shaping the pits on a DVD's surface like Vs, essentially making the disc more capacious in the process. Unfortunately, said project will probably never see any mainstream attention, as existing DVD / CD players won't recognize the malformed media, and worse still, the process can't be applied to Blu-ray Discs.

[Via CrunchGear]

WD's 500GB My DVR Expander drives certified for use with DISH HD DVRs

by Darren Murph posted May 16th 2008 at 2:20PM


From what we can tell, this is just marketing hoopla to get you to buy a drive "certified" for use in a particular application; in all actuality, users can connect any USB 2.0 external hard drive to their DISH Network HD DVR and expand their storage capacity for a one-time fee. Nevertheless, Western Digital has just let loose its 500GB My DVR Expander, which "more than doubles" your available recording hours by storing up to 300 hours of SD content and 60 hours of high-def goodness. As predicted, the drives work with the satcaster's ViP family of HD DVRs, and WD is apparently looking to expand the brand to other carriers as soon as they get with the program and enable USB storage. Those willing to fall for this ploy can procure the half-terabyte drive for $149.99, but considering that the port activation fee is still charged, we can't imagine looking elsewhere first.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

TenBox storage device looks cute with your DirecTV HR20 / 21

by Darren Murph posted Dec 17th 2007 at 3:06AM


If you aren't rocking any kind of upgraded / external storage alongside your primary DVR, you just aren't with the times, man. Thankfully for those relying heavily on a DirecTV HR20 / 21, you can finally grab hold of a storage solution that doesn't destroy the aesthetics of your overall setup. Granted, any DVR that accepts eSATA expansion will play nice with the TenBox family, but it's fairly evident which boxes these things were designed to sit atop. The trio of models differ from typical external storage solutions by utilizing three ultra-quiet fans to keep noise to a minimum, and while it certainly looks more at home in your AV cabinet than propped up beside your PC, it'll function just fine as a backup HDD should you need it to. TenBox is offering up the device with 1TB (TB1000), 1.5TB (TB1500) and 2TB (TB2000) of storage, but considering the $1,199, $1,499 and $1,999 price tags, we sure hope you weren't counting on a bargain.

[Via TV Squad]

WeaKnees takes TiVo HD units to 2TB

by Darren Murph posted Dec 9th 2007 at 3:32PM

Earlier this year, we saw that WeaKnees was offering up TiVo HD boxes with enough storage to hold a staggering 144 hours of HD content, and now the company is aiming to make a few holiday wishes come true by more than doubling that previous number. You heard right, TV packrats can now order up a TiVo HD Series 3 DVR from WeaKnees that can hold 292 hours of HD programming (or 2,800 hours of SD content). The DVR itself will house a 1TB SATA hard drive and come bundled with a 1TB external drive, and will cost you a whopping $1,599 (after $200 rebate, no less) to claim one as your own.

Can't get enough format war? Wait for Blu-ray vs HD DVD enterprise storage!

by Erik Hanson posted Jun 26th 2007 at 6:16PM

Blu-ray vs HD DVDWe just know no one ever tires of discussion about the format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray, so why should something as obscure as enterprise storage get overlooked? Top Tech News has a short intro piece on archival storage and how the two formats are attempting to get ingrained there, with Blu-ray touting its larger layer size, and HD DVD showing off its perceived lower cost to switch from DVD or other optical formats. We've certainly heard these arguments before when it comes to video storage (although thankfully codecs don't matter here!), but the article mentions that with the costs of disk- and network-based storage being so low, might business even notice which side "wins?"

Ritek gets green light for rewritable BD and HD DVD discs

by Evan Blass posted May 22nd 2007 at 4:54PM

In great news for torrent freaks worldwide, Taiwanese optical disc giant Ritek has announced its accreditation to manufacture rewritable versions of both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs, meaning that pricing on the still-rare media should begin to drop once production ramps up in the third quarter. According to a company spokesperson, archiving all those TV shows and movies onto 20GB HD DVD-RE and 25GB BD-RE discs will set you back around $10-per-platter, though you are getting either quadruple or quintuple the capacity, respectively, of a regular DVD-RW. No matter, we'll be tossing these things around like cheap CD's in no time anyway.

[Via Gadget Lab]

Cablevision loses networked DVR case

by Erik Hanson posted Mar 23rd 2007 at 1:13PM

CablevisionCablevision once had dreams of keeping all your recorded shows on a network-based DVR system, which would have kept them from having to send boxes to all their subscribers. Then Hollywood and the TV networks stepped in with the lawyers last May, and here we are today, with a ruling that this would have broken copyright rules by effectively "rebroadcasting" the programs. The cable operator is considering an appeal, although Scientific Atlanta, Motorola, TiVo, and other DVR manufacturers are likely relieved that their revenue streams are firmly intact.

Panasonic announces five new Japanese DVRs

by Erik Hanson posted Mar 1st 2007 at 4:21PM

Panasonic DMR-XW51 1TB DVR
Panasonic has announced five new high definition digital video recorder units for the Japanese market, with all models sporting hard drives from 250 GB (DMR-XP11 and DMR-XP21V) to 500 GB (DMR-XW31 and DMR-XW41V) to 1 TB (DMR-XW51) and DVD drives for burning archives or placeshifting content. Two of them (the V-series) also include VHS recorders for converting that old pile of Miami Vice episodes you've got lying around. The largest of the models has the one terabyte drive, which should get you, what, at least half of American Idol this season? Each of the five recorders has HDMI output, with the DMR-XW51 model using progressive scan 1080p, and all include S-Video and composite inputs for recording other sources. We'd imagine this makes them upscaling DVD players as well, but that isn't mentioned in the release. Most include an ethernet jack for getting program guides and downloading track data from the online Gracenote music database when recording CD audio onto the drives. They utilize a quick-start power-saving mode that allows them to begin recording in three seconds from standby. Because these are Japan-specific recorders, they include BS/110 CS digital or analog tuners, with the VHS-less models freeing up room for two tuners instead of one. They will be released in April and May with prices ranging from ¥80k to ¥200k ($669 to $1,688).

Hitachi develops AVSM software to make DVR hard drives "smarter"

by Darren Murph posted Jan 6th 2007 at 11:56PM

It's one thing when the most taxing task your DVR will ever face is the furious fast-forwarding necessary to get the next scene in your favorite recorded drama, but if you've got over 100 hours of HD VOD to churn through while recording tonight's game and sifting through next week's programming list, having a more intelligent hard drive just might help out. In an effort to reduce DVR hard drive fragmentation, lengthen the life of set-top boxes, improve the quality of service / speed to the end user, and give your average DVR the ability to "manage up to 14 HDTV (19.3Mbps) streams from a single 3.5-inch HDD," Hitachi has developed AVSM technology to help your DVR's HDD think things through before going through the motions. The background software differentiates between "streaming applications and best-effort, non-real-time applications" such as electronic program guides, IPTV downloads, and photo browsing in order to manage the line of tasks more efficiently. Overall, the software reportedly reduces duty cycles "by up to 60 percent" and all but eliminates disc fragmentation, but realistically, with new units popping up entirely more frequently than your average hard drive takes to perish, hooking DVRs up with all these smarts might be a bit unnecessary for those who stay on the bleeding edge.

Mivx officially unveils MX-760HD HD WiFi media streamer

by Darren Murph posted Nov 29th 2006 at 12:33PM


Mvix has certainly found its way to your living room before, and we've heard the rumblings of its latest HD streaming / storage device coming to fruition, but just before the holiday rush the firm is officially releasing the MX-760HD Wireless HD Media Center. This feature-laden box supports wireless media (HD thankfully included) streaming over 802.11g with full WEP support, and comes packed with an optional 200 to 750GB hard drive to store files remotely. Sporting a 7.4- x 7.6- x 2.3-inch enclosure, the Linux-based box plays nice with Windows systems and outputs in NTSC / PAL, and even includes an external LCD to give you quick updates on what's going where. Aside from WiFi, it also features Ethernet connectivity and USB ports, and Mvix even includes a remote to control the action from afar. On the rear, you'll find outputs for DVI, component, composite, stereo, and optical / coaxial digital audio to play back any of your DivX, MPEG 1/2/4, WMV, ASF, DAT, DVD, IFO, VOB, ISO, MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, PCM, AC3, DTS, BMP, JPEG, and PNG files -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg. So if you're scouting a svelte HD streamer with internal storage to boot, the MX-760HD can be pre-ordered now (sans an internal HDD) for $329.

[Thanks, Chris and Rich]




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