(Wish*) R3 - USB 2.0 socket for BIG HD's

[Matt_SK]

I've just come across this product and website, and while it seems promising, there is one big issue that is preventing me from buying this at its present update:

The CF/Microdrive/memory twig playback is incredibly limited.
A 2 Gig card can be had for under $100, but why not create a Recorder that is designed to stand apart from PC's and focus on just playback for the TV/Receiver setup?  A basic concept that would work great would be to have a USB Port on the back or front, that you could hook up a common PC external drive to, ie: Maxtor 300 Gig One-Touch II etc.  maybe even enable potential for hooking up a 4-port hub so you could run multiple HD's.  

This logic comes from my experience with a Panasonic DVD Recorder I had since '02, and it has a 40 Gig HD built into it.  You can rename the files on the library, and watch what you like in whatever quality mode it was recorded in.  It even has an optical port for superb digital reproduction, as well as RCA's and co-ax (RF) out to go right into the TV or receiver.  OR, even S-Video or component video quality.

All that would be fine for me but now that the HD is filled, it would be nice to just hook up another HD to it and extend my present library, but that's not possible.  


In Summary:
A high-quality, DVD-quality capture/recorder device with the ability to add on whatever mass-storage device possible, and use it as a home-entertainment hub for music or video, whatever format.  That would put this product line at above any other item on the marketplace, since the storage capacity would be limitless. Since it already can capture and save in different formats, the external drive could then be reconnected to my (MAC, don't see much of a mention about that at all here either) computer, read as a mounted storage drive and then the files could be added to DVD authoring later, if desired.

OK! That's my short version of feedback, forgive me if this has already been covered, sounds like it may have been to a degree, but trying to find a way to convert the CF/Drive slot to read externals sounds rigged and archaic.

Thanks!
-matt