DVD Recorder Hard Drive Reliablity

[Bagnall]

How reliable is a DVD recorder's hard drive? PC hard drives often crash. If this happens with a DVD recorder do you have to bin it or fork out nearly as much as it cost to buy in order to repair it?

[tomd]

PC Hard drives themselves don't crash, it's the software that does. The actual hard drive itself should last a long time (maybe >6 years with heavy usage). If you are having to replace the hard drive in your pc on a regular basis, perhaps you should fork out a bit more for a quality one. Also, DVD recorders tend to record onto DVD, so unless it's a DVD recorder with same memory as well I assume you mean a PVR.

[Oneeyedvic]

I wouldn't have thought this would be a problem. The reason most hard drives crash is either viruses or programmes. Since DVD recorders will not be used for downloading, there should not be a problem with viruses. Also, ther should be no compatibilty glitches working with other software. I have a TIVO which records on to a hard drive. Not had a problem in 4 years (quick touch wood). I do know that I can use a normal hardrive if needed though.