You can easily upgrade your Scientific Atlanta 8300, or 8300 HD DVR (digital video recorder) by adding an external hard disk. Your cable company may not support adding periperhals to your DVR, Scientific Atlanta, the manufacturer of the hardware, has provided this feature for years, and allows you to easily upgrade the unit with addtional disk storage.
Getting Started
In this article, I'll show you step-by-step how to increase the storage of your Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300, or 8300 HD DVR.
External Hard Disk Options
First step, get an external hard disk. There are two options:
- Get a pre-packaged external hard disk, and case. Prices of packaged disks have come down enough that there is really no need to put one together yourself anymore.
- Build your own, with an internal hard disk, with a case
Disk Requirements
- External SATA Connector - eSATA or SATA 1 Cable and Connector
- Minimum 8 Mb Cache
- Drive Speed: 7200 RPM (5400 RPM without Multi-room); 133 MB/sec
Recommended Hardware Configurations
eSATA External Drive Packages
Seagate 500 GB
$157.99
Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500 GB
$190.00
Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750 GB
$277.98
3.5 eSATA to SATA Disk Enclosures
I-ROCKS
$31.25
Vantec NexStar Black
$39.99
Vantec NexStar Blue
$39.99
