Which SATA drive for new Quad unit

Support & Troubleshooting
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I just purchased the new Quad unit which is an upgrade from a refurbished dual tuner unit. I have been using a 2TB WD USB drive on the dual so now I would like to double that toa 4TB SATA drive for the Quad. This is where I am a bit out of my element. I know Tablo recommends WD and Seagate drives but I am trying to figure out the exact specifications. What I know so far is I am looking for a 4TB 2.5" SATA drive. But should I be looking for 7200 RPM or is 5400 RPM fine for this application? I also understand that there are issues with the thickness of the drive to consider but I do not know exactly what I should be looking for there. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

…and just to add; I get a great deal of enjoyment out of my OTA TV, especially now with the Tablo PVR.

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https://www.tablotv.com/setup-networking/#harddrive

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5400 rpm is good enough for video playback. However, depending on how things are, be prepared for an extensive search to find a suitable 2.5 inch 4 TB drive, stand alone. Especially one that is thin enough to fit inside. No thicker than 9.5 mm. The problem is finding one listed larger than 2 TB. I’m sure they’re probably out there but finding how they are listed is the problem. Normally 2.5 inch drives are considered laptop drives. Your best bet might be to look at external USB drives and then shuck the drive…as long as it’s thin enough.

My son’s external drive he used with his Playstation died. So I attempted to fix it. I just bought him another similar model and kept his unit. The unit died but the drive was still okay. It was a 4 TB model but too thick for most normal enclosures. Like 12 or 12.5 mm thick. Too large for the Tablo.

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Thanks BamainArk, this is very helpful and certainly matches my experience so far…

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Thanks djk44883, I did see this but coming back to it helped.

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But you gotta really think, archiving shows (you’ll likely rarely watch) are worth the price. Then again price is relative to each income I guess.

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Why SSD though? Wouldn’t a 4 TB 2.5” HDD be cheaper? I’m not sure on the physical dimensions though of a HDD with that much storage space.

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I would certainly like to think so as well. As noted, at that capacity, if/when you find them they are large > 9mm.

I was looking through Save up to 25% on Western Digital & Sandisk Products and noticed it… only 2.5 4TB available. :slight_smile:

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Yeah if you just want to archive a bunch of programming then just use an external enclosure with a larger drive attached. The other issue with an internal HD is the extra heat generated by the drive itself. My Tablo Quad is sitting on a 140mm fan to help keep it cool. I use an internal 2 TB drive.

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"thing is" I have archives of shows… shows for nostalgia, shows I just want to watch series form the beginning… terabytes - weeks, if not months of shows it now seems I’ll never get around to watching.

Some I have watch, and that was it. But still I save them. Some of them I probably could see on some service, either I already pay for, or for the cost of ad watching… or if it’s important enough, a small fee. Then there’s the internetarchive.org and other library and archive sites.

I agree, I don’t like the idea of paying, but for the rareness I watch some of my archives, and the storage space I devote to them, I’ve starting to debate it. But I just know if/when I delete something I’ll regret doing it. :frowning:

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I have started to learn the “art” of saving “just enough” shows to get the job done and not max out the drive. I now use the “limit the number of episodes recorded to X” feature and I find it works great for me. That said I think I would still like to upgrade from 2TB to 4TB. I have also decided to just go with an external 4TB drive. Thanks everyone for all of your great insights and advice.

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