I love my TiVo – it's one of my most favorite and useful gadgets that I own. Once you get used to the TiVo way of recording shows you can never go back to the old VCR. But my 40GB Series2 TiVo has been feeling cramped. I've had situations where I turn on my TiVo with the intent of catching up on some of my shows but realized with horror that the shows had been recorded over by newer shows. So, I finally bit the bullet and ordered a 320 GB TiVo Replacement Drive Kit from www.weaknees.com.

The kit arrived within a few days and opening it up revealed the following items:

1. Seagate 320GB PATA hard drive
2. Instructions
3. 2 Torx screwdrivers
4. A Pamphlet
5. A “Upgraded by www.weakness.com” sticker

The hard drive was sealed in an anti-static bag and looked new. This surprised me because I thought that hard drives must be “prepped” before they can be used in a TiVo. Maybe weaKnees prepped the drive and resealed the drive in an anti-static bag?

I had some trepidation with upgrading my TiVo but I needn't have worried. The upgrade was very easy! The instructions were well written and it took about 30 minutes to upgrade my TiVo because I was extra careful. I think some people could do it in 15 minutes. All you have to do is to:

1. Use the Torx screwdrivers to remove the screws on the back of the TiVo.
2. Slide off the metal cover of the TiVo
3. Use the Torx screwdrivers to remove the hard drive bracket
4. Unplug the IDE cable and power plug from the old hard drive
5. Use the Torx screwdrivers to remove the old hard drive from the bracket
6. Replace the old hard drive with the new hard drive and screw the new hard drive to the bracket
7. Screw the bracket back to the TiVo
8. Plug the IDE cable and power plug to the new hard drive
9. Screw the metal cover back onto the TiVo

If you have ever fiddled around inside your PC, it should be very simple for you. It was almost as if the TiVo was designed for easy user upgradability. When I opened it up, the insides reminded me of a desktop PC (which is basically what a TiVo is – a Linux based computer).

After installing the kit and turning it on, you basically have a new TiVo and have to go about resetting all your Season Passes and stuff. With 320GB hard drive, I now have about 270 hours in Medium Quality Mode so I never have to worry about having my shows be overwritten by new recordings.  I've been using my “new” TiVo for a few days and everything seems to be working great!