One issue we found, we use an external hard drive for a dvr connected to the receiver via usb cable. In our case, each receiver demands that the hard drive be reformatted to work with just that receiver. Even two identical receivers. So we purchased a second hard drive and use it strictly with the TT receiver and it stays powered up and recordings set. We check the guide and set up movies a week at a time to record as well. We've got about 30 movies on the dvr along with the 400 dvd's stored in a cd case in the tt.