I picked up some more information from WeaKnees and DVRupgrade.

I asked WeaKnees about their TiVo HD upgrades. They seem to be getting more time per unit of storage than other expansions are showing, so I was curious about what tool they’re using. They reported that they’ve developed their own tool in-house, and it is not based on Spike2k5′s WinMFS nor on the GPL’d MFSTools. They’re not sure if they’ll make the effort to roll the technology back into the public tools, especially as Spike2k5′s WinMFS is out there and he’s now released an alpha version of the MFSLive CD with TiVo HD support. They explained that they’re in-house tools access space that the traditional MFSTools don’t use or see, providing the slightly higher capacities. I’m sure the user community would love to know their secret, but it is also a competitive advantage so I can understand not releasing the info too.

And DVRupgrade reports that they did receive a shipment of TiVo HD units today, and they got them upgraded and back out the door to people who pre-ordered them. They’re expecting more units to ship to them tomorrow, and they’ll continue to fill orders as fast as they receive units. Orders will probably remain in backorder status until early next week, when they expect to have received enough units to have cleared the order backlog.

They’re using Spike2k5′s WinMFS tool (with permission) for their current upgrades with much success. They’re also testing his new MFSTools update, and plan to incorporate it into their software products once it is officially released.

They will continue their coupon specials until they have a steady stock of units. Right now the specials are a free ‘Glo’ remote with the purchase of any upgraded TiVo S3 or TiVo HD, or $15 off a ‘Glo’ remote or a free 6′ HDMI cable with the purchase of a stock TiVo HD. They sell the ‘Glo’ remote for $49.00 normally.

Here’s a price comparison of the pre-expanded TiVo HD offerings from the two vendors.

TiVo chimed in on the TiVo HD macroblocking issue publicly last night, in the form of a TiVoCommunity.com post from TiVoPony:

Hey guys,

We are aware that some of you are still reporting macroblocking or pixelation on certain channels. The team here continues to gather information to understand possible causes – they’re making good headway.

The update we released on August 1st has proven to fix the issue for some customers, and we are working hard on a fix for the remaining cases. We will provide more concrete information as we can.

In the meantime, we appreciate your patience and the detailed feedback you’ve been providing.

Pony

It is nice to see them addressing the issue publicly, and re-affirming that they’re actively working on a fix.

Following up the three videos she uploaded last Friday, TiVo Shanan has uploaded three more videos. The final two new tour videos of the five new videos included on the TiVo HD, and a video introduction to Swivel Search.

The TiVo Rewards Referral points are appreciated, thank you Samuel.