Woohoo, a better FiOS DVR set-top box, and it can’t get here soon enough. Verizon is testing out the new Motorola DVR QIP7232, and while it is more energy-efficient, I don’t think that’s the most important new feature. The Motorola QIP 7216 DVRs that Verizon currently deploys to FiOS consumers have 160 Gb hard drives standard, which provides you about 80 hours of SD video, but only a skimpy 20 hours of HD video. The new DVRs are spec’d out with 320 Gb hard drives, so that’s a nice upgrade. No word yet on any other specs. I never quite understood why the old Moto 7216’s have all these disabled ports on the back, never to be utilized, e.g. USB, Ethernet, and even eSATA. What a waste.
In the past 30 days of HD recording and viewing, we’ve hit 100% capacity nearly every day. In a house with a family of four sharing one DVR and HDTV, 20 hours isn’t enough. Sure, Lily doesn’t watch her own shows per se, but after recording a few shows for the adults, some Sesame Street, some Sid the Science Kid, and your DVR is filled to capacity.
Motorola QIP7232