TiVos are great devices and I covered my experiences with the Series 3 HD TiVo in my first installment here. Of course, once you get a TiVo and you start enjoying it, eventually you’ll find the recording capacity can be limited. At that point, it’s time to upgrade.

Weaknees offers a full range of upgrade drives for any model of TiVo, and I received a 750Gb upgrade drive for the Series 3. The stock 250Gb drive sounds ample, but if you record a lot of HD sports, you may find a single weekend’s worth of college and pro football games can wipe out everything previously saved. With the 750Gb monster drive in it, you get about 100 hours of HD content and anywhere from 200-900 hours of standard def content, depending on quality settings (I decided to set it the maximum quality).

The install is an easy 10 minute process and the tools needed (plus instructions complete with photos) were included. Since I was doing an upgrade on an existing TiVo, I did have to re-setup all my season passes and recommendations. If you don’t have a Series 3 and are thinking of getting one, you might want to just start with an upgraded device, which Weaknees also sells.

I did hit a snag with Comcast and their CableCards — I had to call in to Comcast several times and it took some effort to find a technician that could re-authorize the cards correctly. Weaknees tells me this experience isn’t normal and most cable systems will function properly after install.

Weaknees has put a lot of effort into getting the quietest drives possible for this device — it’s not something you’d find at a computer store. I’d say with the 750Gb drive installed, my TiVo was no louder than the stock Series 3 drive, which is really quiet for a DVR.

Overall I’m quite happy with the drive and loving my Series 3 TiVo even more. I have massive storage capacity for movie marathons and can enjoy non-HD shows at the highest quality. It’s certainly a pricey option, but if you’re serious about TV, it doesn’t get any better than this.