WeaKnees Blog

We’ve got the BOLT upgrades tested and ready to go! They start shipping today.

TiVo’s latest generation of DVR, the TiVo BOLT is available from TiVo in two capacities: 500 GB and 1000 GB. These hold about 53 and 110 hours of HD programming, respectively.

Here at WeaKnees we say, That’s Not Enough!

So we’ve got larger options. We have units with 2 TB internal drives, doubling the largest size TiVo makes available, that hold 243 hours of HD recordings. And we have units with an internal and an external drive, with up to 8 TB of storage, for up to just under 1000 hours of HD recording space.

See our whole line of Upgraded TiVo BOLT DVRs.

And if you want a unit with more tuners and more space (but no 4K or commercial skip), we’ve still got full stock of the TiVo Roamio line.

We received a large shipment of TiVo® BOLT™ DVRs today and in between processing pre-orders, we managed to get a few BOLT upgrade configurations up and running.

As we suggested previously, the BOLT uses 2.5″ laptop hard drives rather than full-sized 3.5″ drives. This severely limits the upgrade path because laptop drives do not currently come in capacities greater than 2TB.

We have booted the BOLT with the following upgrade configurations so far:

2TB internal 2.5″ drive (240HD hours)

6TB “internal” 3.5″ drive (737HD hours): This is really a full-size 6TB connected to the internal sata port. In our test, the drive drive was just hanging outside the box…this was really just a proof of concept, an experiment, to see what worked. Given the way the BOLT is constructed, it is actually possible to connect an “external” drive to the internal port without too much difficulty but it’s not particularly pleasing aesthetically.

6TB “internal” 3.5″ and 6TB 3.5″ external–12TB (1478HD hours): This is the 6TB above together with an external 6TB.

We fully hope and expect to be offering upgrades soon. Most likely, we will be offering 2TB internal drives as well as BOLT options that include the factory internal plus an external of up to 6TB. We’ll update the Blog when we have info and you can always find the latest TiVo BOLT options on our website.

TiVo announced a new DVR today—the TiVo BOLT. It is designed to replace the base-model TiVo Roamio. The BOLT will record off-air OR cable (but not both) and comes with either a 500gb hard drive ($299.99) or a 1TB hard drive ($399.99). Lifetime service increases to $599.99 and there appears to be no discount for existing TiVo subscribers.

These are the primary benefits of the BOLT over the base-model TiVo Roamio:

• BOLT is faster
• BOLT has gigabit Ethernet
• BOLT supports 4K/UHD (to the extent content is available)
• BOLT supports faster AC wifi speeds
• BOLT supports commercial skip (SkipMode) for some shows
• BOLT includes QuickMode (watch a show in fast-forward mode with minimal audio distortion)
• BOLT includes one year of annual service

The BOLT uses a small, 2.5” laptop drive, which enables the entire unit to be smaller than the Roamio. The funky shape means that the BOLT will be at the top of your entertainment system stack. In addition, because the BOLT uses a 2.5” drive, upgrading that drive internally is limited. Currently, drive manufacturers are not making 2.5” drives that are larger than 2TB. Thus, once 4K content becomes available and can be recorded (now, most 4K content is streaming and therefore never permanently resides on the hard drive), storage limitations could become a hassle. TiVo only offers 1TB external drives and the DVR Expander from Western Digital lacks a fan and in our opinion is terribly unreliable.

In the near future, we expect to be offering 2TB internal upgrades to the BOLT as well as external storage options.

Despite the features of the new BOLT, there are a handful of downsides…and these may be among the reasons why TiVo is keeping the 6 tuner Roamio alive:

• As we indicate above, major storage limitations
• The Plus/Pro have 6 tuners as opposed to 4. This is particularly useful if you have multiple Minis running concurrently.
• Form factor of the Plus/Pro is more accommodating for high-end entertainment systems
• QuickMode likely to come to Plus/Pro in the future
• BOLT lacks out-of-home streaming

Overall, the BOLT is an exciting addition to the TiVo line. The increase in lifetime service fees (and no discount for existing subscribers) is frustrating, and the BOLT lacks some attractive features of the older Plus and Pro, but overall, we’re thrilled to see TiVo continue innovating!