Share Your Ideas with Verizon

[#1]

Greetings, Verizon Idea Exchange:

Here are my ideas for new features of the Veriizon FiOS DVR, when using an external eSATA drive:

1. New setting allowing the user to specify whether the external (eSATA) or internal (local) drive is the primary/default for scheduled or individual recordings.

See http://www22.verizon.com/residentialhelp/fiostv/other hardware/esata/129841.htm, which includes the following:

“Once connected, all recordings automatically record on your eSATA device until it is full or disconnected from the DVR. Once your eSATA device has reached recording capacity, additional programs then record to the hard drive of your DVR.”

This new feature would make it possible for the customer  to permanently remove the external drive, once its content has been viewed and/or deleted. Otherwise, the customer is not only stuck with content on the external drive, but also the inability to prevent additional scheduled or manually selected recordings from being added to the external drive while the customer is trying to "catch up" with unviewed recordings.

2. New setting allowing the user to specify whether the external or internal drive is used for "caching" the currently selected station (tuner channel).

This new feature would alleviate the need for constant disk access of the external drive, when not set as the "cache."

3. New setting allowing the user to specify whether a specific program or series is to be recorded on the internal or external drive.

4. New ability for the user to move content between external and internal drives.

Thank you.

[#2]

That would be really useful.  A friend of mine uses external storage and had an incident of some sort a few weeks back that wiped out all of his recordings.  I take it there's a single filesystem that spans both drives?

[#3]

I wote this because my need for external storage was temporary. Now I can't reformat that external drive and put it back into service for computer backup until (if I can) I remove all its content. Plus, I have to listen to it clack away all day next to my desk and computer (which, incidentally, uses the same, usaully quiet external drives).