Review on WD 1TB My Book AV DVR Expander HDD - USB 2.0 - WDBABT0010HBK-NESN by Douglas Norton

I am upgrading my hopper and need a device to store the contents of my existing hopper hard drive which would otherwise be lost when replacing the old hopper. I could have gone for the 2TB model, but I found this unit on sale at Revain. Since Dish recommends this device, I decided to use it instead of experimenting with other external hard drives. Keep in mind that for Hopper users the connection is USB 2.0 so any video transfer from Hopper to WD or vice versa will not be fast. However, you can watch videos directly from WD without affecting video performance. This is not WD's fault, it is an operational limitation imposed by the Dish Hopper DVR. It really was plug and play. Once connected to Hopper, Hopper recognized the device immediately and performed a quick format. Once completed, the installation was ready to use. Also note that WD has its own independent power supply and does not draw power from the case's USB port. Dish Hopper is currently unable to power this drive via USB. To my knowledge, a WD hard drive always spins when the power switch is in the "on" position. This is unlike more modern drives that have power saving features that can slow down the drive when not in use. While this sounds like a drag, it also reflects that Dish Hopper may not always wake up and save power on some external hard drives. If time is of the essence since you are working with video, turning the dial up and down may interfere with video recording, which may result in dropped video frames or quality issues. Product.