is the dvr kept in an enclosed area in your entertainment center? perhaps its over heating. also, if you disable the standby mode, the rec never gets a chance to wind down. it re-arranges the harddrive to let it perform more efficiently when both tuners are not in use. if you disable standby mode, most likly the tuners never turn off. just throwing some ideas out there, it is frustrating. prior to having dish, i was going through the motorola /scientific atlanta dvr's at a rate of once every 4 months from cox.