It isn’t quite as good as the recent $131.99 deal at Buy.com, but it is still a good one. Amazon is selling the Western Digital 500GB My DVR Expander eSATA drive, compatible with the TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD (and Scientific Atlanta cable DVRs) for just $134.99. That’s 29%, $55, off the usual Amazon list price of $189.99.

Thanks to my friend Jer for the heads up on this great deal. Buy.com is selling the TiVo-approved Western Digital 500GB My DVR Expander eSATA External Hard Drive for just $131.99 - and that’s with free shipping. That’s a great deal, Buy.com has the list price as $179.99 and TiVo.com still lists them for the old $199.99 MSRP. This is the only eSATA drive officially sanctioned by TiVo for use with the TiVo Series3 and the TiVo HD. I’ve had one connected to my Series3 for quite a while and it works great.

EDIT: Reader Mike Turpin points out that you can get the same deal through Amazon.com from the seller BuyNow Incorporated (see the ‘More Buying Choices’ on the right) and avoid the sales tax Buy.com charges in several states. BuyNow Incorporated is really Buy.com, so it is the same deal, without tax for those who would be charged from Buy.com. Thanks Mike!

In a post to the USENET group alt.video.ptv.tivo (Google Groups) user Douglas Bullard shared a cautionary tale. Apparently Western Digital changed something in the way they prepare the My DVR Expander eSATA drives and this causes the TiVo HD to not recognize it as an approved drive. (Since the Series3 works with most eSATA drives I’d expect it to still work with the S3.) It seems that Douglas was the first (un)lucky person to discover this change in the wild, so the extent of the issue is currently unknown.

TiVo and Western Digital are now aware of the issue and are investigating, so there will probably be a fix for the issue forthcoming. TiVo is replacing Douglas’s drive with one that will work with the TiVo HD. So if you buy a WD My DVR Expander and have trouble getting it to work with your TiVo HD you might want to contact TiVo and/or WD. If this impacts a batch of drives just returning to a store for another may not solve the issue, as other drives on the shelf are likely to be from the same batch.

From June 23rd through June 29th Buy.com is selling the Western Digital 500GB MyDVR Expander eSATA drive for just $149.99. They normally have it for $172.99, and the full MSRP is $199.99 - which is what TiVo.com sells it for. This is the only external eSATA drive officially approved for use with the TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD. It also works with the Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 Series DVRs.

They’re actually have a sale on a number of Western Digital external drives, if you’re also looking for more capacity on your PC:
Western Digital 750GB My Book Essential Edition USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $139.99
Western Digital Elements 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $89.99
Western Digital 500GB My Book Essential USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $96.99
Western Digital 320GB My Passport Elite USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Bronze $148.99
Western Digital 1TB My Book Essential USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $197.99
Western Digital 500GB My DVR Expander eSATA External Hard Drive $149.99
Western Digital 320GB My Book Essential II USB 2.0 External Hard Drive $79.99
Western Digital My Book Home Edition 1TB - Triple Interface (USB 2.0, eSATA & FireWire 400) External Hard Drive $237.99

Mark noticed that Amazon is now carrying the 500GB eSATA Western Digital My DVR Expander, the only drive currently approved for use with the TiVo Series3 and the TiVo HD, in fact the only drive that works with the TiVo HD without hacking. It looks like Amazon started stocking it on April 30th. The $192.23 price is better than the full $199.99 MSRP that TiVo.com sells them for, but not the lowest price available online, for example, Buy.com has it for $172.99. I use one of these with my Series3 and it works great. I’ve also updated the site store.

Western Digital already has eSATA MyDVR Expander models for Cisco/Scientific Atlanta DVRs and TiVo, and now they’ve released a USB model for Dish Network DVRs. The $149.99 500GB USB drive adds up to 60 hours of HD capacity or 300 hours of SD capacity to the Dish Network ViP Series HD DVR.

Picked up from The Gagdetress.