Directv DVR

[panerd]

So I have had a Directv/Tivo for over a year and came to find out that you could add additional DVR boxes for no additional monthly charge. I thought what the hell, why not add one to my downstairs so that I can watch movies etc while I am hanging out down there. So I bought one of Directv's new non-tivo boxes figuring it probably wouldn't match my Tivo's qulaity, but it would certainly be similar to our local cable's "Moxi" box. Well, who the fuck designed this piece of shit? It is like they took every decent feature and timesaver from the Tivo version and replaced them with some flashy graphics. Does Tivo have a copyright on logical recording menus? Are there any new features I am missing or did Directv just go to a local community college electronics class and give the class an assignment to design their new DVR box?

[Eaglesfan27]

If you have the R-15 (I believe it is R-15) model, it will mess up a lot as well and lose shows. At least, 2 of mine have..

However, my HD-DVR box has performed like a champ (of course it is a TIVO version.)

Just double checked, and it is the R15.

[Draft Dodger]

it's amazing how lousy it is. it's loud, very slow to respond, and has just about the most confusing interface I've seen outside of SI's website (*rimshot*).

our main TV has the DirecTV Tivo. our bedroom has the new pos. luckily, we don't need to use that one for much more than simple channel surfing at bedtime. if the Tivo one downstairs goes, I think I'm just going to stop watching TV altogether.

funny anecdote: a couple weeks ago, I had to call DTV for a repair issue (which was a story all to itself, albeit for another time). While talking to the rep, I happened to mention how much the new R15s are a piece of crap compared to the old Tivo versions. She was either a great actress or was legitimately SHOCKED to hear that, as I was, literally, the FIRST PERSON who she had heard from that preferred the Tivo version. (yeah, she was a great actress).

[saldana]

the r15s SUCK... i am on my 3rd one since christmas, and it just died for no reason sunday night, so i have to trade it in again....i have just about had it with directv...if it werent for the fact that my house is totally set up for satellite (i dont even have normal cable lines run) i would probably have packed them up by now

[Eaglesfan27]

If my most recent R15 dies again, I'm demanding a different model. Trust me, that rep was an actress. It's all over various boards how bad the R15 is. I only realized that after my first one died.. My rep was a great actress too.

[panerd]

the r15s SUCK... i am on my 3rd one since christmas, and it just died for no reason sunday night, so i have to trade it in again....i have just about had it with directv...if it werent for the fact that my house is totally set up for satellite (i dont even have normal cable lines run) i would probably have packed them up by now

Not sure I understand the cable lines part. Except for running the cable into your house you should be able to use all of your current lines for either Directv or cable.

Sunday Ticket is what has me. I don't really have a problem with Directv, but I have two or three places (my computer room, my bar, a workout area) where it would be nice to have a tv set but I am not going to shell out another $6 mirroring fee in any of those places.

[saldana]

Not sure I understand the cable lines part. Except for running the cable into your house you should be able to use all of your current lines for either Directv or cable.

Sunday Ticket is what has me. I don't really have a problem with Directv, but I have two or three places (my computer room, my bar, a workout area) where it would be nice to have a tv set but I am not going to shell out another $6 mirroring fee in any of those places.

should have been more clear...i dont have a cable line coming off the pole or one of their little boxes on the outside of my house

[panerd]

it's amazing how lousy it is. it's loud, very slow to respond, and has just about the most confusing interface I've seen outside of SI's website (*rimshot*).

.

Yeah I thought that I might just be used to Tivo or the Moxi interface, but this directv dvr just doesn't make sense. I wonder if they agreed to not make their menu system similar when they broke off their connection with Tivo or if they actually thought what they have now is easier to navigate. I think the only feature that is an improvement is the length of time you can rewind a live tv show as compared to Tivo. But I have no idea what the 4 colored buttons purpose is half the time.

[Eaglesfan27]

Speaking of the devil, my R15 died yet again tonight. After speaking for over an hour and going up the chain to two different supervisors, I got them to waive the 1 HD-DVR per household policy. Now, I'll be getting my R15 upgraded to a HR10-250 (which has worked great for me, and I'm glad to have two HD-DVR's.)

[Hammer755]

I have the Dish Network dual-DVR and love it. You can either hook both lines up to one TV and be able to watch one show while recording another, or you can split the single DVR to two TV's and be able to watch & record the same shows on both televisions (this is what we do).

One of my buddies has DirectTV with a TiVO, and, while the TIVO UI is fantastic, mine holds more than twice as much programming and I didn't have to buy the box. I also have a friend with DigiCable, and the Dish blows it away by miles in pretty much every facet.

The only thing that I really don't like about Dish (other than not having Sunday Ticket) is that they don't offer a free HD-DVR option. I don't have an HDTV just yet, so it's not a huge deal right now, but you either have to choose an HD box, a DVR, or pay out the nose for the combo unit.

[Cuckoo]

I've had the R15 for several months now. While I've had some minor issues with it, there hasn't been anything major yet. But after reading this thread, I'm now worried.

[cuervo72]

Like DD, I called up to try to get an R-10 (tivo), having heard that the R-15 is a piece of dung. The csr seemed indignant at that thought, and wanted to know what I'd be missing *specifically* in not getting a TiVo enabled box (I found a list later (hxxp://www.wkblog.com/2005/12/the_weaknees_r10_r15_compariso.html).

I wona SD-DVR40 off of eBay instead, and plan to hook that up to our main TV. We have a couple HDVR2's already, though the main one is starting to pixleate on the second tuner. I plan to move that upstairs (where we only have one feed anyway) and replace it with this one.

Daimyo relayed that he got an R-10 as a replacement for his in-laws, but when I asked about that the csr was steadfast in saying that was not possible, that all they had were R-15's. She wished me good luck with finding a DirecTiVo elsewhere.

[Eaglesfan27]

I asked about getting an R10 and was told that was impossible. Then again, I was told it was impossible to get a 2nd HR10-250 as well, until I got up to my 3rd level of supervisors.

The 2nd HR10-250 is supposed to be connected early next week (as long as it is in time for Football season, I will be happy.) With Sunday Ticket, I plan on taping and watching at least 5 or 6 football games per week.

[Subby]

Speaking of the devil, my R15 died yet again tonight. After speaking for over an hour and going up the chain to two different supervisors, I got them to waive the 1 HD-DVR per household policy. Now, I'll be getting my R15 upgraded to a HR10-250 (which has worked great for me, and I'm glad to have two HD-DVR's.)EF - are you still getting your locals via the antenna? How is that working with the DVR?

[cuervo72]

Oh, and regarding the space issue...it's pretty trivial to upgrade space on one of the TiVo boxes, but from what I understand that isn't an option on the R-15. You're stuck with what you got (which is more to start out with, granted...but the R-15 is in no way upgradable/hackable. Though I haven't hacked any of our boxes themselves anyway, though if the pixleation problem is actually a HD one, I'll gladly swap in a new HD for it).

[Eaglesfan27]

EF - are you still getting your locals via the antenna? How is that working with the DVR?

I'm getting local non-HD channels via DirectV's main signal right now. I'm considering adding an antenna (however, our neighborhood association has a lot of rules about what can be in the yard, attached to the house, etc.) for HD Local channel access which is possible with the HR10-250 (it has 2 different inputs for an antenna.)

[Subby]

Ok - so if I switch to HD and opt to not have an antenna I can still get local channels via that signal? They just wont be in HD...right?

[wade moore]

Ok - so if I switch to HD and opt to not have an antenna I can still get local channels via that signal? They just wont be in HD...right?
I'm confused.. My future in-laws in Springfield have the local channels in HD via the satellite...

[Eaglesfan27]

My understanding from DirecTV's site is that most markets have local channels via the satellite, and that a fair percentage of markets have local channels in HD from the satellite. They also have a list of cities that have had or will be getting HD local channels in the next few months. I believe Springfield is on that list. Unfortunately, I don't see Baton Rouge on the list yet. I'm guessing that Baton Rouge will be added in the next year, which is why I'll probably just hold off on getting an antenna and fighting that battle with my neighborhood association.

[Subby]

Yeah - the issue is that they don't have an HD-DVR that does locals...

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah - the issue is that they don't have an HD-DVR that does locals...

However, you can still get local channels, just not in HD, I believe. We definitely get local non-HD channels despite having the HD-DVR on the TV.

[wade moore]

Yeah - the issue is that they don't have an HD-DVR that does locals...

ahhhhhhhhh.. .well, that makes no sense whatsoever...

I know that my twin brother who lives in Logan Circle in DC uses an antennae for HD Locals and has an HD-DirecTivo fwiw...

[lordscarlet]

I'm getting local non-HD channels via DirectV's main signal right now. I'm considering adding an antenna (however, our neighborhood association has a lot of rules about what can be in the yard, attached to the house, etc.) for HD Local channel access which is possible with the HR10-250 (it has 2 different inputs for an antenna.)

What most people do is put the antenna in their attic. It works fine and doesn't ugly things up outside.

[Eaglesfan27]

What most people do is put the antenna in their attic. It works fine and doesn't ugly things up outside.

Thanks for the info! I thought it had to be outside for it to work.

[lordscarlet]

Thanks for the info! I thought it had to be outside for it to work.

I'm on the first floor, in the city, with glorified bunny ears, and it works. :) Passing through one wall shouldn't be a problem. (Granted, the glorified bunny ears probably wouldn't work as well for people that aren't within 2 miles of all the broadcast towers)

[stevew]

Thanks for the info! I thought it had to be outside for it to work.

I thought they made an antenna that mounted right onto the satellite dish as well, at some point. Maybe you could also install that one, as it wouldn't seem to be much different from the dish that's already there.

[Bee]

ahhhhhhhhh.. .well, that makes no sense whatsoever...

I know that my twin brother who lives in Logan Circle in DC uses an antennae for HD Locals and has an HD-DirecTivo fwiw...

That's interesting. When I looked into it a year or so ago I was told the same thing as Subby, that Directv didn't offer an HD-Tivo. That's why I stuck with Cox since they offer a HD-DVR. If Directv now offers a HD-Tivo, that might get me to switch.

[Ksyrup]

We tried to do the antenna for local HD and it didn't work. It is a grill-looking thing that mounts right on the main satellite base. The guy who installed it told me if it didn't work, he wouldn't charge me for it. Then, of course, I got charged, and when I bitched to DTV, they read me the standard disclaimer about how they don't guarantee a signal. But I made clear to them that the installer gave me the option, and had I known I was stuck with it if it didn't work, I would have told him no. So they refunded the charge and I've still got the (useless) antenna.

The funny thing is, AFTER he installed the damn thing and found that it didn't work, he pulled out the 2-inch antenna that comes with the until and screws onto the back of the DTV receiver. And we get 3 of the 6 channels in HD that we wanted. So you might want to try that option as well, because you might end up with better reception than with the add-on antenna. I get ESPNHD, the Sunday Ticket HD package, and local NBC in HD, so I'm happy with that.

[lordscarlet]

That's interesting. When I looked into it a year or so ago I was told the same thing as Subby, that Directv didn't offer an HD-Tivo. That's why I stuck with Cox since they offer a HD-DVR. If Directv now offers a HD-Tivo, that might get me to switch.

I have had my DirecTV HD Tivo since April of 2005. It wasn't brand-new then. You have to do research outside of the moron people on the phone.

hxxp://directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=900025

[marshall881]

I live about 45 miles outside of Nashville and have a Digital Antenna in my attic.
It picks up all of my locals just fine.
It is a Terk unit that is a 2'-6" square grey plastic box. It just sits in the attic and works great.

[marshall881]

I live about 45 miles outside of Nashville and have a Digital Antenna in my attic.
It picks up all of my locals just fine.
It is a Terk unit that is a 2'-6" square grey plastic box. It just sits in the attic and works great.

[Bee]

I have had my DirecTV HD Tivo since April of 2005. It wasn't brand-new then. You have to do research outside of the moron people on the phone.

hxxp://directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=900025

Sorry I misread wade's post. I thought he said his brother was getting the HD local channels through Directv vs an antennae. I know you can do it with an antennae but I wanted the local HD channels using the HD Tivo without the antennae. I'm assuming that's what Subby was looking at as well.

[cuervo72]

I think you have a problem with a signal repeater.

[Subby]

Sorry I misread wade's post. I thought he said his brother was getting the HD local channels through Directv vs an antennae. I know you can do it with an antennae but I wanted the local HD channels using the HD Tivo without the antennae. I'm assuming that's what Subby was looking at as well.Yeah exactly. Apparently they are debuting the unit in the LA area this month - so I guess it is going to make its way here eventually...

[saldana]

i do get my hd locals through my dish, without any extra antenna...i had to get an enourmous 5 lnb dish mounted on my roof to do it with, and as far as i know, there is still the issue with the HR10/250 not being able to pick them up. last time i talked to the dummies at DTV about it, they said the model would be out this summer...maybe thats what you were talking about being in the LA market, Subby?

[saldana]

dola, the dish i have is probably 2x the size of the oval 3 lnb dishes

[Subby]

saldana - yeah - the issue is not being able to do HD locals with a HD compatible DVR. the unit that can do that is being tested in LA starting this month

[lordscarlet]

OK. Here's the deal. You can get an HD Tivo through DirecTV only (for now). You can get HD locals over the satelite only with a non-DVR reciever (for now). You will never, as far as has been announced, be able to get a Tivo that gets local HDs over the satelite. There will be an HD-DVR with the same OS as the R15 that can pick up local HD signals from the satelite.

The Tivo Series 3 will do HD and have dual tuners, and it is scheduled for the fall. It will probably bring a lot of people back to cable that went to DirecTV for it's version of the Tivo box. If it weren't for Sunday Ticket, there'd probably be a lot more people that switched back as well. I will have to face the dilemna when the Series 3 comes out.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks to info in this thread, I just did some research (not sure why I didn't do it over the last few months) but according to antennaweb.org's site and a few other places that I read, and based on the environment around my place, I think a good size indoor antenna should work well for my Local HD needs. I just bought it from Bestbuy and will pick it up tomorrow.

[saldana]

saldana - yeah - the issue is not being able to do HD locals with a HD compatible DVR. the unit that can do that is being tested in LA starting this month


so i just called the dummies at DTV and got two tidibits i thought i would share.

1. i asked about the HDDVR that could record local networks through the dish, and the girl told me it is now available...$399...model number is HR20-700. i did some googling and this is what i found as far as spec go.

Here is a brief summary of the HR20 features

-) High Definition TV Output (via HDMI and Component)
-) 2 Sets of RCA (Red/White/Yellow Outputs) - 1 S-Video
-) 1 Optical Digital Output
-) Dual SAT Tuners
-) Dual ATSC Tuners (functionality is disabled at this time, see notes later in the review)
-) Wired RJ-45 Ethernet Port
-) External SATA Connection
-) 300gb SATA Internal Hard Drive
-) RF Remote Compatible with the Included RC24, and the soon to be released RC32RF

Estimated Recording Space (Not a cumulative value)
~ 30 Hours of MPEG-2 (OTA) HD
~ 50 Hours of MPEG-4 HD
~ 200 Hours of Standard Definition (SD)

Unit was manufactured by PACE
The Official Model Number: HR20-700

2. the original reason for my call was actually to cancel sunday ticket...the guy asked me why and i told him that the Superfan upgrade kind of had me pissed off, and since i had HD now, i would just watch the games that Fox broadcasts in HD each week, regardless of who was playing.

his response - what if i give you the superfan upgrade for free? i still said not thanks.

his 2nd response - what if i give you the superfan upgrade and 4 months of your HD package for free? so i went from cancelling my 209$ subscription to sunday ticket to getting 140$ of programming for free.....now i can watch my niners go 3-13 in HD!!!

back to point 1....i plan on calling about the HR20-700 later on, since my shitty R10 is currently dead, and i need a new DVR.

[saldana]

dola,

link to a serious review...the guy literally took the entire machine apart, pictures of external and internal so you can check out the hookups and moddablitly.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=61862

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks again for the information in this thread. I bought a small indoor HDTV Amplified Antenna today, and it works great for HD Local ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and (I think) UPN. It also gets PBS' HD Local Channel, although that breaks up periodically. Speaking of which, how does PBS afford HD broadcasting equipment if they are always so broke? Anyway, even if a box with local HDTV comes out that can record, I'll keep the antenna as I've read that it should still get a signal even in storms unlike the satellite at times.

[Eaglesfan27]

his 2nd response - what if i give you the superfan upgrade and 4 months of your HD package for free? so i went from cancelling my 209$ subscription to sunday ticket to getting 140$ of programming for free.....now i can watch my niners go 3-13 in HD!!!



I feel kind of stupid now for paying for NFL Ticket and the Superfan upgrade :(

[saldana]

double dola,

at the top of the thread i linked to above, there is a link to a discussion of the review Earl gave...one thing there is alot of talking about is that the ATSC tuners are disabled right now, so if you are getting HD Locals from OTA, you cant record them...if you get them from your dish, you are golden.

[Eaglesfan27]

Ok, I just re-plugged the antenna into the HR10-250 instead of directly into the TV (which has a built-in HDTV Tuner itself) and now the local HDTV channels are integrated seemlessly into my Tuner Guide and I can tune to them via the HD-DVR Box. Also, I thought I wouldn't be able to record the local HDTV channels, but they record just fine. I just recorded a stunning looking HD Nature show on PBS just to see how it worked.

[saldana]

Ok, I just re-plugged the antenna into the HR10-250 instead of directly into the TV (which has a built-in HDTV Tuner itself) and now the local HDTV channels are integrated seemlessly into my Tuner Guide and I can tune to them via the HD-DVR Box. Also, I thought I wouldn't be able to record the local HDTV channels, but they record just fine. I just recorded a stunning looking HD Nature show on PBS just to see how it worked.

now i feel kind of stupid for not having done this 8 months ago.

[Eaglesfan27]

After you plug the antenna into the HR10-250, you'll have to re-run the setup if your stupid technician set the box to just use satellite and not use the antenna too. I thought for a few minutes that my antenna wasn't going to work with the box, until I re-ran the guided setup to make it use the antenna input as well as the satellite input. Once I did that, the integration really was/is seemless.

[Eaglesfan27]

Do local HDTV channels generally broadcast with a stronger or weaker signal at night? I'm pretty sure AM stations broadcast stronger at night and thought if anything HDTV would as well, but while NBC has come in strong all day, it is now pixelating occasionally (a second or two every 3-4 minutes) since I've started watching Sunday Night Football.

[ausonny]

Also for those who have the HR10-250 and haven't heard, the 6.3 update is finally coming, the CS reps are saying September 6, so give at least till November. ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

Also for those who have the HR10-250 and haven't heard, the 6.3 update is finally coming, the CS reps are saying September 6, so give at least till November. ;)

Searching on the DirectV and Satelitte boards, I'm having a hard time figuring out what the 6.3 does exactly. Do you have a good link or can tell me what 6.3 will do? :)

[ausonny]

Speed increase and folders are the two biggies, at least for me. I'll find a link.

[Eaglesfan27]

Speed increase and folders are the two biggies, at least for me. I'll find a link.


Thanks. Found another board where it talks about the upgrade, and those two things do seem to be the big improvements for those people who aren't modding them (I'm not willing to take a chance on modding mine.)

[saldana]

i do get my hd locals through my dish, without any extra antenna...i had to get an enourmous 5 lnb dish mounted on my roof to do it with, and as far as i know, there is still the issue with the HR10/250 not being able to pick them up. last time i talked to the dummies at DTV about it, they said the model would be out this summer...maybe thats what you were talking about being in the LA market, Subby?

so i called the retention department about the fact that when i bought all my hd gear last winter, they didnt tell me about the need for the 5lnb dish and the lack of an mpeg-4 dvr until after i bought everything...needless to say i was not happy about it, and the supervisor i dealt with promised me that that when the mpeg-4 dvr came out, he would sent it to me.....so i called the retention dept. on monday to remind them of this, and added that my shitty R10 has broken for the 3rd time in 10 months....sooooooo....my new HR20-700 is being installed on Friday morning...total cost....$0.00


(i will let you all know how soon it breaks)

[Raiders Army]

Long story here. We moved out of our house in New York in May and moved in down here in June. We suspended our DirecTV account and activated it only in time (so we thought) for the NFL Sunday Ticket. Because we're also Road Runner junkies, we have cable as well and stuck with the "premium" package until today. We're going back to basic cable to go along with our internet and phone through Time Warner.

My wife makes an appointment for a mid-August installation from DirecTV. Because I was TDY (away at work), she cancelled and rescheduled for the end of August. Still plenty of time until Pro Football starts. Anyhow, they mess up our order and don't bring the HD package. So...we're rescheduled for September 15th...the earliest they can do it. I'm like, okay. The Raiders play on MNF so I'll see that game and if they install it before week 2, I'll be okay. Last Sunday was one of the most boring Sundays I've watched football since I only had two games to watch at one time. Also, I went TDY again this week to Yuma, AZ, and had to get an early flight back to El Paso so I could be here for the installation.

I know, boo hoo for me.

Anyhow, the guy gets lost and calls me literally six times asking for directions. He's an idiot. He asks me if I wanted a pole mount or a tripod and I tell him a pole mount over the phone. During the installation, the guy sets up a tripod because doesn't bring a pole mount. Because we live in government quarters he can't install it on our roof, so it's either a pole mount set in concrete in our yard or a tripod. Now, it gets pretty windy here so I'm not too keen on a tripod. I specifically ordered a pole mount. The guy doesn't bring it. He says that the soonest he can come back is today. Now, I've wasted an afternoon waiting on his dumb ass and now I have to hang out tomorrow morning.

Not a big deal really since I'll play on the Xbox 360.

*Side story: I call DirecTV and tell customer service what happened. They transfer me to Installation and after waiting for 20 minutes on hold, I finally get through. One minute into my complaint, the guy hangs up on me. I'm pissed.*

Anyhow, the installation guy gets here today and does a half-ass effort in installation. I hound his ass to ensure he does it correctly. For instance, he drills one hole for the satellite cable and I ask him if I need another satellite cable. He tells me no, I'll be okay. A few minutes later I ask him if I need two cables to record two different shows at once and he says yes. So I ask him if he's going to drill two holes and install two cables. He backpedals and says that he was going to and that he didn't know that I wanted that capability. Uhhhhhhh...fucking idiot, yeah, I want full capability of my $400 DVR. :rolleyes:

Anyhow, he's almost done when he puts the satellite dish on the pole...and it slips down. The pole is too skinny. I'm doing a really good job of not swearing at him and not jumping all over his shit. He tells me that he'll get another pole and be back this afternoon. I tell him he'll be back here and done with the installation by 12:00 PM. "Make it happen. Call someone and make it happen. I'm not waiting around after noon." He leaves and makes it happen. I'm done by noon.

Well, I got the HR20-700 and it's sweet. Worth the effort? I'm not sure since it cost $400 but I plan on getting it back through complaining to DirecTV. My local channels aren't in HD and look like shit, but the HD channels look really good. Free Starz this weekend too. This is the first DVR we've owned and we love it already. My wife told me that we won't know what to do when we have to do without it.

[CraigSca]

Btw, I'm having the new HD-local receiver installed Sunday. I was going to wait until FiOS offers TV here, but Verizon said they're not sure when it's going to happen. I'm sick of having my locals look like garbage, so I'm taking the plunge with the new receiver.

[saldana]

so i recorded survivor thursday night on my spiffy new hr20-700, and last night when i went to watch it, it was gone....i know it recorded, because i saw it there on friday, and when i checked my history, it shows that it was recorded, but never shows it was deleted...somewhere over the weekend, it was spontaneously erased..i checked all the settings and it was programmed to be kept until full, but it was the only thing on the recorder at the time.

has this happened to anyone else in the past? did directv have anything to say as far as preventing it in the future if you called them?

thanks

[cartman]

I've been wondering about the new HR20 myself. I've got the Microsoft MCE setup, but it is a hack job to get it record HD, and I haven't been to happy with it. I may ditch it if the HR20 is as good as it sounds.

[saldana]

I've been wondering about the new HR20 myself. I've got the Microsoft MCE setup, but it is a hack job to get it record HD, and I haven't been to happy with it. I may ditch it if the HR20 is as good as it sounds.

i will keep posting then about any issues i have with it. Raiders army just got one as well, so we can let people know if they suck or not.

[Raiders Army]

As I said in the NFL Supercuts thread, the HR20-700 is now $300 instead of $400. The price reduction happened September 12th.

We just got it Saturday afternoon so I haven't messed with it too much. It works as advertised, but I had a problem recording the Raiders game (which I am glad I didn't record).

I set it to record to our local CBS channel. The game was not broadcast in HD, FWIW. My local channels look like shit, so I cancelled that recording and set it to record the game on the NFL Sunday Ticket channel (70-something).* When it was supposed to come on, it was blacked out so I quickly went back to our local channel and hit the record button. It didn't record and I wasn't able to pause it, rewind, and (of course) fast forward. Strangely enough I was able to pause The Amazing Race and record that show...but I programmed it to record the show instead of hitting the record button.

*Previously in El Paso, all games came on regardless of whether they were on our local channels. In New York, they were blacked out if the games were on the local channels there.

[saldana]

*Previously in El Paso, all games came on regardless of whether they were on our local channels. In New York, they were blacked out if the games were on the local channels there.

how far is el paso from either houston or dallas?

if it is more than 100 miles, i believe that takes you out of their broadcast radius as far as blackout rules apply

[Raiders Army]

We're closer to Phoenix than Houston or Dallas. :)

The only blackouts we would get would be UTEP games. :D

[Raiders Army]

With my HR20 I have encountered a problem playing a recorded show. Because Transformers comes on at 4:30 in the morning here and my son usually wakes up about 6 AM, we record the show. Two mornings ago, the show paused about 30 seconds into it and wouldn't go any further (according to my wife). We were watching the Daily Show from Tuesday and it did the same thing. I hit the fast forward and it went backwards to the beginning and I hit play again and it showed the whole show.

Just an update for those considering the HR20.

[CraigSca]

Hmmm....that's weird.

Mine was to be installed last Sunday, but they called me the day before to let me know they didn't have them. ARGH. They then set me up for an October 10th install and have since said this Monday will be the day. Of course, I need to postpone it now because I won't be home when they want to install.

Pain in the tookus.

[Raiders Army]

Call customer retention; saldana also recommended this to me. Also, note that the price is now $300.

[saldana]

Call customer retention; saldana also recommended this to me. Also, note that the price is now $300.

retention dept. rules....they are dying to give shit away.....need the number:D :D :D :D

[Eaglesfan27]

retention dept. rules....they are dying to give shit away.....need the number:D :D :D :D

If I have any further problems in the future, I will need the number :)

[saldana]

With my HR20 I have encountered a problem playing a recorded show. Because Transformers comes on at 4:30 in the morning here and my son usually wakes up about 6 AM, we record the show. Two mornings ago, the show paused about 30 seconds into it and wouldn't go any further (according to my wife). We were watching the Daily Show from Tuesday and it did the same thing. I hit the fast forward and it went backwards to the beginning and I hit play again and it showed the whole show.

Just an update for those considering the HR20.


i have had this happen a couple times...the playback just randomly stops in the middle of a program. all i have needed to do is hit the forward jump button, wait a second for the jump to actually move forward, and then hit play...all i ever miss is about 1 second of program, and it runs fine for the rest of the show.

other things that i have noted that i have seen reported in error.

when i stopped a playback in the middle and then selected the same show again, it didnt start over, it picked up where i left off

it does have FF forgiveness (or whatever that feature is called)...when you are fast forwarding through a recording, when you press play, it goes backwards a few seconds to compensate for the delay between you pressing the button and the machine responding..

also, i havent had any more problems with spontaneous deletion of my recordings.

[Raiders Army]

when i stopped a playback in the middle and then selected the same show again, it didnt start over, it picked up where i left off
I don't think this is an error, but a feature. I believe it's more like a VCR tape instead of a CD.

[saldana]

I don't think this is an error, but a feature. I believe it's more like a VCR tape instead of a CD.

i agree, that is how it is supposed to work...my comment was pointing out that it does work....early reports i saw on another board were complaining that if they stopped playback and restarted it, it went back to the beginning.

[Raiders Army]

ah, gotcha.

[lordscarlet]

For those that don't know, the DirecTV Tivo is going to be getting the 6.3 OS upgrade. That means folders and a significantly faster interface. Unfortunately I have not been given the upgrade yet. :)

[Raiders Army]

Do we download it through the dish?

[saldana]

Do we download it through the dish?

its not for us...its for the HR10-250 model.

[Raiders Army]

Thanks. FWIW, the freezing problem is becoming more prevalent. It happened when we were watching the Colbert Report today as well as Heroes again. While not a showstopper, it's pretty annoying.

[saldana]

Thanks. FWIW, the freezing problem is becoming more prevalent. It happened when we were watching the Colbert Report today as well as Heroes again. While not a showstopper, it's pretty annoying.

it happened to me about a half dozen times spread out over 3 or 4 hour long recordings...but then didnt happen at all for the next 3 or 4....i think it is a software thing that will hopefully be fixed by an upgrade.

[lordscarlet]

I'm quite glad right now that I haven't picked up the HR20.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm also glad that I haven't gotten the HR20, hearing these problems. Looking forward to the 6.3 update for my HR10-250's which I hear will be released today (I got the message that it was coming a few days ago.) I just hope this update doesn't introduce any bugs. For the last few months, the HR10-250 has been rock steady, and I would hate to see any bugs introuduced by this upgrade..

[lordscarlet]

I'm also glad that I haven't gotten the HR20, hearing these problems. Looking forward to the 6.3 update for my HR10-250's which I hear will be released today (I got the message that it was coming a few days ago.) I just hope this update doesn't introduce any bugs. For the last few months, the HR10-250 has been rock steady, and I would hate to see any bugs introuduced by this upgrade..

Many people received it days ago. Not only that, but we're already on 6.3a. People with 6.3 are upgraded to 6.3a, and us lowly people that didn't get 6.3 are moving straight to 6.3a.

[ausonny]

Well, be glad you didn't get 6.3, there were 2 satellites that you couldn't connect with on 6.3.

How that got through beta I'll never know. Anyway, I've been on 6.3a for a few days and it's been smooth so far. The little extras other than the folders and speed increase are nice as well.

[Eaglesfan27]

This is probably a stupid question, but did you lose any shows that were recorded when you upgraded to 6.3 or 6.3a? Also, did you have to reset the box to get it to start 6.3 or 6.3a? From the system information screen, it looks like I might need to restart to get the upgrade working.

[ausonny]

It will restart itself, I believe at 2:00am. I came home and it was installed without my doing anything.

If you have pending restart on the phone settings screen then you can restart it yourself and it will install the update.

As far as the shows, nothing was lost.

[lordscarlet]

This is probably a stupid question, but did you lose any shows that were recorded when you upgraded to 6.3 or 6.3a? Also, did you have to reset the box to get it to start 6.3 or 6.3a? From the system information screen, it looks like I might need to restart to get the upgrade working.

You'll lose a few inconsequential things, like Favorites.

[ausonny]

If you mean favorite channels you do have to redo them, yes. It's a new way of doing it as well, under the channel list hit thumbs up on your favorites.

[lordscarlet]

If you mean favorite channels you do have to redo them, yes. It's a new way of doing it as well, under the channel list hit thumbs up on your favorites.

Really? Sweet. I had read something aobut having to reset them -- even the "upcoming update" message said you did.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah, I read that in the update message as well. Not a big deal to me, since I hardly use channel favorites anyway. However, for when I do, that new method sounds a bit easier.

As long as I don't lose my season passes or any of my recordings, I'm looking forward to seeing the update applied (hopefully when I get home from work today.)

[ausonny]

Sorry guys, I may have been a little unclear, by channel list I meant under settings where you choose what channels you receive, not the guide.

[maddmic]

Been reading this for a couple of days and thought I'd throw my 2 pennies in.

For those of you with an R-15, how is it placed? We are on our 2nd one since we signed up in Feb and though we were going to have to get yet another one. We pulled the R-15 out of the built-in ent center and put it on a small table by itself. We went from having to push the rest button (little red one) 6 to 8 times a day to ZERO. I have to believe that there is a possible overheating issue on these things. That or one of the internal fans went out and this is a temp fix....

Plan on going to Dish anyways once I can figure out a way to get out of the DirecTv contract. I seem to have to talk to them on a monthly basis and their cust service is just terrible.

[Eaglesfan27]

Been reading this for a couple of days and thought I'd throw my 2 pennies in.

For those of you with an R-15, how is it placed? We are on our 2nd one since we signed up in Feb and though we were going to have to get yet another one. We pulled the R-15 out of the built-in ent center and put it on a small table by itself. We went from having to push the rest button (little red one) 6 to 8 times a day to ZERO. I have to believe that there is a possible overheating issue on these things. That or one of the internal fans went out and this is a temp fix....

Plan on going to Dish anyways once I can figure out a way to get out of the DirecTv contract. I seem to have to talk to them on a monthly basis and their cust service is just terrible.

My R-15 was in a well ventilated entertainment unit with plenty of "breathing room." However, it did often feel hot, and I also wondered if it had a heating problem. The HR10-250 in the same unit never seems to become hot and when I check system information it is always the normal temp.

[lordscarlet]

Plan on going to Dish anyways once I can figure out a way to get out of the DirecTv contract. I seem to have to talk to them on a monthly basis and their cust service is just terrible.

I don't understand this. I have been talking to a friend that says he will never get DirecTV because the place he is renting at has DirecTV and the signal goes out on a regular basis. Mine has gone out exactly two nights in the past two years and that was during a tropical storm each time. In addition, I have rarely had to call DirecTV, and when I do their customer service has been very helpful. I don't know why there is such a discrepancy.

[Eaglesfan27]

My Main HR10-250 in my media room has gotten the 6.3a update successfully installed (since the 5th or so.) However, the HR10-250 in my living room still hasn't installed (or downloaded) the update as far as I can tell. It still on 3.1.5.something. Anyone know how to force it to update to 6.3a? Is there a reason that it is so much later than my other box?

[saldana]

they are doing random downloads of the upgrade, 1 access card at a time, IIRC..so it would be possible to be in the boat you are in with one done and not the other.

[Eaglesfan27]

they are doing random downloads of the upgrade, 1 access card at a time, IIRC..so it would be possible to be in the boat you are in with one done and not the other.


Ahh, I thought it was by Zip code. Thanks for the info.

[jbmagic]

So the HD Tivo that DirectTV currently offers is the HR20?

I know I would need the 5lnb dish for it. Will that dish work with standard directv receiver too?

[Eaglesfan27]

So the HD Tivo that DirectTV currently offers is the HR20?

I know I would need the 5lnb dish for it. Will that dish work with standard directv receiver too?


Yeah. I have the 5lnb dish, and it works fine with all different receivers. I have 2 D10's (the standard receiver), a regular HD receiver, and the HR10-250's hooked up to it.

[ausonny]

You are dialing in the receiver that has not received the download, right?

[lordscarlet]

I'm still on 3.1 as well :(

[Eaglesfan27]

You are dialing in the receiver that has not received the download, right?


Yes.

[lordscarlet]

It's finally here! I'm at 29% of acquiring information from the satellite after the install...

[Eaglesfan27]

My other box updated sometime during my weekend trip out of town.

I love the speed boosts.

[Ksyrup]

I have a question that, in order to answer it myself, would force me to risk missing a show. So, I'll ask you guys, since you likely know the answer.

Let's say I have a show set to record from 8 to 9, but I'm going to watch it live if I can. But, I get home 15 minutes late. Can I start watching the recording 15 minutes later and still see the entire recording, or will I stop the recording when I try to go back and view the first part I missed? Does that make sense?

We just waited until the show ended at 9 to watch it, since we weren't sure if we would screw up the recording by trying to watch it while it was recording.

As you can tell, I'm a moron when it comes to DVRs.

[gstelmack]

Let's say I have a show set to record from 8 to 9, but I'm going to watch it live if I can. But, I get home 15 minutes late. Can I start watching the recording 15 minutes later and still see the entire recording, or will I stop the recording when I try to go back and view the first part I missed? Does that make sense?

Yuppers. DVR would be pretty useless if you couldn't watch while recording. I do this all the time (with New England's playoff games most recently). Just go in to the "Now Playing" list, select the recording, and start watching. It'll keep recording.

[Ksyrup]

That's what I thought, but I didn't want to take the chance to find out otherwise. I don't know enough about it to understand what it can or can't do. It's not useless to me to simply be able to record and watch later. That I can record and watch it from the beginning while recording is just a bonus, at least in my VCR-driven brain.

I still haven't even used the "rewind live TV" feature yet, because it just doesn't fit with the way I've watched TV my whole life and I haven't found a use for it or remembered that I can do it. I don't like the idea of missing what I skipped to go back, or watching the rest of it delayed just to hear a word I missed. I don't know, doesn't fit with my mindset at all.

[Butter]

Once you get used to it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. If you miss a line or a piece of info. in a show, no more wondering what they said... rewind it and find out. Not to mention the utility of being able to start watching a show scheduled for 9 PM at 9:20 and being able to skip all the commercials and still finish around 10. It's awesome.

[lordscarlet]

That's what I thought, but I didn't want to take the chance to find out otherwise. I don't know enough about it to understand what it can or can't do. It's not useless to me to simply be able to record and watch later. That I can record and watch it from the beginning while recording is just a bonus, at least in my VCR-driven brain.

I still haven't even used the "rewind live TV" feature yet, because it just doesn't fit with the way I've watched TV my whole life and I haven't found a use for it or remembered that I can do it. I don't like the idea of missing what I skipped to go back, or watching the rest of it delayed just to hear a word I missed. I don't know, doesn't fit with my mindset at all.

I mainly use it for "What did they just say?"

And of course during sporting events.

[Bee]

Once you get used to it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. If you miss a line or a piece of info. in a show, no more wondering what they said... rewind it and find out. Not to mention the utility of being able to start watching a show scheduled for 9 PM at 9:20 and being able to skip all the commercials and still finish around 10. It's awesome.


That's so true. You just get used to being able to pause tv or rewind tv whenever you want. I've caught myself a couple times at a friend's house asking him to pause something while I go get a drink or use the restroom or something. He doesn't have a DVR so just looks at me strangely...:D

[Ksyrup]

Once you get used to it, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. If you miss a line or a piece of info. in a show, no more wondering what they said... rewind it and find out. Not to mention the utility of being able to start watching a show scheduled for 9 PM at 9:20 and being able to skip all the commercials and still finish around 10. It's awesome.

The second part of that is what I was asking about. That's nice. My problem with the "missed what he said" thing is then I miss what happened while I was rewinding. I don't know, it seems like more of a hassle than it's worth. I just like the increased and more convenience recording capabilities, but I'm not sure I'll ever use it for anything more than that. Trying to switch between live and recorded stuff just seems to cause as many issues as it solves.

[Ksyrup]

That's so true. You just get used to being able to pause tv or rewind tv whenever you want. I've caught myself a couple times at a friend's house asking him to pause something while I go get a drink or use the restroom or something. He doesn't have a DVR so just looks at me strangely...:D

But then the whole show is delayed, right? If you pause it, then you've got to watch it delayed - until you "catch up" to the live section by skipping commerials, etc., I guess. That just seems way too complicated. That's why the way we're using it now is to just record stuff we can't watch in real time.

[Bee]

The second part of that is what I was asking about. That's nice. My problem with the "missed what he said" thing is then I miss what happened while I was rewinding. I don't know, it seems like more of a hassle than it's worth. I just like the increased and more convenience recording capabilities, but I'm not sure I'll ever use it for anything more than that. Trying to switch between live and recorded stuff just seems to cause as many issues as it solves.


Don't switch back to live tv, just rewind and watch from there and then fastforward during commercials and you'll probably end up getting back to live tv. That way you don't miss anything.

[cuervo72]

Why does it matter if you're behind?

[lordscarlet]

The second part of that is what I was asking about. That's nice. My problem with the "missed what he said" thing is then I miss what happened while I was rewinding. I don't know, it seems like more of a hassle than it's worth. I just like the increased and more convenience recording capabilities, but I'm not sure I'll ever use it for anything more than that. Trying to switch between live and recorded stuff just seems to cause as many issues as it solves.

Er. How do you miss what happened while you were recording??? You hit rewind, it goes back a few seconds, and you just rewatch and get back to that point?? You don't do any "switching". You just hit "rewind" from the live program.

[lordscarlet]

But then the whole show is delayed, right? If you pause it, then you've got to watch it delayed - until you "catch up" to the live section by skipping commerials, etc., I guess. That just seems way too complicated. That's why the way we're using it now is to just record stuff we can't watch in real time.

I really don't understand your logic here. What is so complicated about catching up?

[Barkeep49]

I understand about wanting not to be behind for sporting events, but otherwise, skipping commercials, by starting to watch 15-20 minutes after it began is a wonderful thing.

[Bee]

Yep, sports is the only thing I watch "live" now. And even with that I pause/rewind occasionally and then fastforward through commercials to catch up.

[wade moore]

Yep, sports is the only thing I watch "live" now. And even with that I pause/rewind occasionally and then fastforward through commercials to catch up.

Yeah..

It feels like KSyrup is missing something about the fundamentals of how DVR works, but I'm not sure exactly what piece...

[Eaglesfan27]

Yep, sports is the only thing I watch "live" now. And even with that I pause/rewind occasionally and then fastforward through commercials to catch up.


Ditto. I never watch commercials in shows, and we'll usually rewind at least once or twice in a good show such as Heroes, to re-watch something that was very interesting or to double check something.

[Ksyrup]

Why does it matter if you're behind?

This is the genesis of my problem. I can't get beyond the idea of not watching something in real time, if it's actually on at that time. If it was yesterday, then I don't mind watching it because I couldn't watch it then. But being in the final 15 minutes of a show that ended 10 minutes ago...doesn't work for me. It's just a mindset I can't get over.

And that's just with your typical TV show. With sports, I won't watch a tape-delay of even an hour. If it's a live sporting event and I missed it, oh well. I'll read about it online and watch the next game. My aversion to missing live sports is even more pronounced than with a regular TV show.

So what I'm saying is, my DVR is basically a VCR with a hard drive.

[wade moore]

This is the genesis of my problem. I can't get beyond the idea of not watching something in real time, if it's actually on at that time. If it was yesterday, then I don't mind watching it because I couldn't watch it then. But being in the final 15 minutes of a show that ended 10 minutes ago...doesn't work for me. It's just a mindset I can't get over.

And that's just with your typical TV show. With sports, I won't watch a tape-delay of even an hour. If it's a live sporting event and I missed it, oh well. I'll read about it online and watch the next game. My aversion to missing live sports is even more pronounced than with a regular TV show.

So what I'm saying is, my DVR is basically a VCR with a hard drive.

You really need to adjust this mentallity, particularly with regular old TV, but also with sports. I haven't watched a commercial in I don't know how long..w hen you have a DVR, there's no reason to ever watch them... You miss nothing by being 5 minutes behind of "live" TV.

[cougarfreak]

The only thing I watch live is sports as well. Most of the time, the wife and I are watching Sunday night shows on Monday night, Monday nights on Tuesdays, etc. Ksyrup, once you get used to it, you'll never want to watch a commercial again.

[lordscarlet]

This is the genesis of my problem. I can't get beyond the idea of not watching something in real time, if it's actually on at that time. If it was yesterday, then I don't mind watching it because I couldn't watch it then. But being in the final 15 minutes of a show that ended 10 minutes ago...doesn't work for me. It's just a mindset I can't get over.

And that's just with your typical TV show. With sports, I won't watch a tape-delay of even an hour. If it's a live sporting event and I missed it, oh well. I'll read about it online and watch the next game. My aversion to missing live sports is even more pronounced than with a regular TV show.

So what I'm saying is, my DVR is basically a VCR with a hard drive.

This is why people say "What's the big deal about a TiVo compared to other DVRs?" :) You really just don't get it.

[Ksyrup]

You really need to adjust this mentallity, particularly with regular old TV, but also with sports. I haven't watched a commercial in I don't know how long..w hen you have a DVR, there's no reason to ever watch them... You miss nothing by being 5 minutes behind of "live" TV.

See, I don't get this. What do you do with sports, purposely not watch it live so you can watch it later without commercials? I guess I like the idea of shortening the time it takes to watch it, but I don't have an ounce of interest in a sporting event that already occurred. Sometimes I'll watch a piece of an old game on ESPN Classic for sentimental reasons, but I can't imagine wanting to watch a regular season game at a later time simply to avoid the commercials. And since I'll already know what happened, because I need to know now, I have too many things going on in my life to want to sit down and watch a commercial-less football game I already know the outcome to.

I can see the benefit for regular TV shows, and I'll have to work on that part of it. But for sports...no way. Even if I had missed the Colts/Pats game and could have recorded it, I wouldn't have, because I never would have watched it.

[Ksyrup]

This is why people say "What's the big deal about a TiVo compared to other DVRs?" :) You really just don't get it.

So what makes the TiVo different from a regular DVR as it applies to what we're discussing right now? It seems to me the limitations on my DVR system are those I've put on it, not that it's put on me.

[wade moore]

See, I don't get this. What do you do with sports, purposely not watch it live so you can watch it later without commercials? I guess I like the idea of shortening the time it takes to watch it, but I don't have an ounce of interest in a sporting event that already occurred. Sometimes I'll watch a piece of an old game on ESPN Classic for sentimental reasons, but I can't imagine wanting to watch a regular season game at a later time simply to avoid the commercials. And since I'll already know what happened, because I need to know now, I have too many things going on in my life to want to sit down and watch a commercial-less football game I already know the outcome to.

I can see the benefit for regular TV shows, and I'll have to work on that part of it. But for sports...no way. Even if I had missed the Colts/Pats game and could have recorded it, I wouldn't have, because I never would have watched it.

Yeah, I think you're missing what I'm saying...

On Sunday I'll get my lunch together, settle in, and try to start watching the game at like 1:20-1:30... That puts me almost right on target to not have to watch any of the halftime show and miss most of the commercials through the whole game. I'm not saying let's start watching the game 6 hours after it starts, but to start it just a little ways in (Depends on the sport, for football 20-30 minutes is good for college basketball like 10-15 minutes, etc)...

[Bee]

See, I don't get this. What do you do with sports, purposely not watch it live so you can watch it later without commercials? I guess I like the idea of shortening the time it takes to watch it, but I don't have an ounce of interest in a sporting event that already occurred. Sometimes I'll watch a piece of an old game on ESPN Classic for sentimental reasons, but I can't imagine wanting to watch a regular season game at a later time simply to avoid the commercials. And since I'll already know what happened, because I need to know now, I have too many things going on in my life to want to sit down and watch a commercial-less football game I already know the outcome to.

I can see the benefit for regular TV shows, and I'll have to work on that part of it. But for sports...no way. Even if I had missed the Colts/Pats game and could have recorded it, I wouldn't have, because I never would have watched it.

I'm similar with sports. I usually watch it live, but will occasionally rewind it if there's a play I want to see again and they didn't show the replay. I've also stopped a live sports event to pay for a pizza or something, but I can almost always get back to live tv by the next commercial break.

Everything else though is commercial free in Bee's Crib. :D

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I think you're missing what I'm saying...

On Sunday I'll get my lunch together, settle in, and try to start watching the game at like 1:20-1:30... That puts me almost right on target to not have to watch any of the halftime show and miss most of the commercials through the whole game. I'm not saying let's start watching the game 6 hours after it starts, but to start it just a little ways in (Depends on the sport, for football 20-30 minutes is good for college basketball like 10-15 minutes, etc)...

I see. I don't ever see myself doing that. I'll just pick up where it is live in that case. Plus, I flip around to so many games, I don't see how that would work. And just the idea that I'm living out some artificial, cocooned, tape-delayed life would keep me from doing this. I can just see the actual score now in real time, so why pretend it hasn't happened yet?

Not criticizing you and the millions of people who obviously do what you are describing; I'm just explaining my thought process. Missing commercials isn't that big a deal to me, because there is almost always another game I can be watching when the main game I'm watching goes to commercial.

[wade moore]

I see. I don't ever see myself doing that. I'll just pick up where it is live in that case. Plus, I flip around to so many games, I don't see how that would work. And just the idea that I'm living out some artificial, cocooned, tape-delayed life would keep me from doing this. I can just see the actual score now in real time, so why pretend it hasn't happened yet?

Not criticizing you and the millions of people who obviously do what you are describing; I'm just explaining my thought process. Missing commercials isn't that big a deal to me, because there is almost always another game I can be watching when the main game I'm watching goes to commercial.

It applies a little less for football when you have other games to turn to, I use it more for like Sunday/Monday night games...

That being said, I think I put the caveat that I understand with sports more - I can see that... but having this view with regular primetime TV is just strange ;).

[Ksyrup]

That being said, I think I put the caveat that I understand with sports more - I can see that... but having this view with regular primetime TV is just strange ;).

With regular TV, I need to change my view, but the first thing I needed to find out, which is why I posted today in the first place, was whether I could do this to begin with. And obviously I can. So I plan to try it out in the near future. What we did last week was just wait until it ended and watch it, which worked just fine as well, since we were able to fast-forward through the commercials anyway.

[wade moore]

With regular TV, I need to change my view, but the first thing I needed to find out, which is why I posted today in the first place, was whether I could do this to begin with. And obviously I can. So I plan to try it out in the near future. What we did last week was just wait until it ended and watch it, which worked just fine as well, since we were able to fast-forward through the commercials anyway.

It's a habit of mine now that any time i sit down to turn on the tv I hit the "Tivo Button" (Main Menu) first before TV Power for this exact reason.

[KWhit]

So what makes the TiVo different from a regular DVR as it applies to what we're discussing right now? It seems to me the limitations on my DVR system are those I've put on it, not that it's put on me.

I have no idea what lordscarlet was referring to in his post, but you're right - nothing you have stated in your viewing habits/hangups would be affected much either way based on whether you have a Tivo or a generic DVR. For most users, they functionally provide the same features.

[Ksyrup]

I have no idea what lordscarlet was referring to in his post, but you're right - nothing you have stated in your viewing habits/hangups would be affected much either way based on whether you have a Tivo or a generic DVR. For most users, they functionally provide the same features.

And recognition of my problem is the first step toward curing it. :D

[lordscarlet]

So what makes the TiVo different from a regular DVR as it applies to what we're discussing right now? It seems to me the limitations on my DVR system are those I've put on it, not that it's put on me.

I'm not saying it necessarily applies to this instance (although, I've noted in the past that some DVRs don't handle the situation you questioned very well -- when the "live" show ends, the "recorded" version jumps to the beginning of the show) it just shows a general lack of "getting" it, so you're unlikely to see the differences.

[Ksyrup]

Hey, you're a fucking elitist TiVO snob!

[lordscarlet]

Hey, you're a fucking elitist TiVO snob!

Quite so, but you use your DVR as a VCR. :)

[wade moore]

I'm not saying it necessarily applies to this instance (although, I've noted in the past that some DVRs don't handle the situation you questioned very well -- when the "live" show ends, the "recorded" version jumps to the beginning of the show) it just shows a general lack of "getting" it, so you're unlikely to see the differences.

Only other thing is I've seen people mention that the "replay" button or whatever you want to call it is VERY reliable with TiVO (always the exact same time.. 8 seconds?) whereas on others sometimes it's 3, sometimes it's 11, sometimes it's 5, often times it's 0.

[Butter]

I understand what Ksyrup is saying about the sports... I can't usually watch sports unless they're really live, unless it's something like an English soccer match where I can reasonably assume that I'll be able to avoid the outcome for several hours until I can watch it.

But taping something in the early afternoon then watching it in the evening doesn't usually work for me, because when my team starts running bad, I just start fast forwarding, and inevitably I'll just decide to hit up ESPNEWS for the score. It just doesn't feel the same.

[panerd]

The live show thing makes no sense at all. No offense intended Ksyup but unless you are watching Jimmy Kimmel or the news or an actual live program you are watching a tape of something when the network wants you to see the show. I don't see why it matters if I am watching ABC's tape of "Lost" at a different time then they want me to. TIVO/DVR's are a godsend in that regard.

For sports, it took me a little bit to get over the sports thing but about the only sport I watch live now is the NFL. This is only because I want to be able to follow the other games that are also happening at the same time. But for Sunday night football, Monday night football, MLB, NCAA, etc I never watch them live. The only real problem I can think of is avoiding friends calling about the game. But if I can do that a 60 minute Mizzou game without commercials, horrible halftime shows, and analysis during timeouts is soooo much more preferable than sitting through all that shit for two and a half hours. Different strokes I supposed. I will say though that I attempted to go back to regular TV in between cable and Directv once and it was impossible to do. So I hope to never be in a situation where I don't have a DVR.

[panerd]

Only other thing is I've seen people mention that the "replay" button or whatever you want to call it is VERY reliable with TiVO (always the exact same time.. 8 seconds?) whereas on others sometimes it's 3, sometimes it's 11, sometimes it's 5, often times it's 0.

Yes. I might have even posted in this thread.

TIVO replay button always the same.
Directv DVR completely random.

TIVO speed 1: Can skip a small segment of the show easily.
TIVO speed 2: Useful for jumping forward several minutes reliably.
TIVO speed 3: Can fast forward through a set of commericials, user sees the show come back on and ends up right at the end of the last commericial.

Directv DVR speed 1: Useless
Directv DVR speed 2: Pretty slow never ends up near where I think it should.
Directv DVR speed 3: Will take 3-4 attempts to get to end of last commerical
Directv DVR speed 4: Who knows what the fuck this speed does? It is kind of like the random feature on a CD player. It let it go for 3-4 seconds and I have skipped forward 35 minutes.

[RPI-Fan]

I'm not saying it necessarily applies to this instance (although, I've noted in the past that some DVRs don't handle the situation you questioned very well -- when the "live" show ends, the "recorded" version jumps to the beginning of the show) it just shows a general lack of "getting" it, so you're unlikely to see the differences.

This USED to be the case with my Timewarner DVR, but they upgraded the software (box stayed the same), and this problem went away. It was SUPER annoying, especially for sporting events (you can imagine why, I bet). I'm now curious about the replay button thing.

I think I will record a soccer match (that has a constant running clock on the screen), and test out the replay times.

(Note: I have a Timewarner DVR but it sounds very much like or identical to the DirecTV DVR)

[RPI-Fan]

Ok, I just tried out the replay button on my Timewarner DVR, and it appears to be just about exactly 8.5 seconds every single time.

[panerd]

(Note: I have a Timewarner DVR but it sounds very much like or identical to the DirecTV DVR)

Ok, I just tried out the replay button on my Timewarner DVR, and it appears to be just about exactly 8.5 seconds every single time.

Statement two negates statement one.

[RPI-Fan]

Statement two negates statement one.

Well, that could be true. But the Timewarner one does have 4 rewind settings that function in a similar manner to what was described earlier -- the slowest does nothing, the 2nd one is good for skipping the between-play action in football/hockey games and nothing else, the 3rd one is Ok for commercials but still difficult to time, and the 4th one is only for going to the middle of a long recording.

That's why I thought maybe they were similar or the same device.

[Ksyrup]

Here's another DVR-related question, and perhaps this is another of those "TiVo is vastly superior" items, but even if it is, I'd like to know how the DVR users deal with it.

A couple of weeks ago, I set the Simpsons to record at 8pm. Of course, football ran long, so in the middle of the week when I went to watch the Simpsons, I quickly realized that it didn't record the show, but the 30 minute segment (8-8:30) that the Simpsons was supposed to be on. As a result, I got 15 minutes of that fucktard Terry Bradshaw and the first 15 minutes of the episode.

As wonderful as these things are supposed to be, I find it hard to understand why it can't adjust and record the show, not the time slot. But anyway, is this something TiVO can do that DVR can't, and how do I deal with this issue?

[Eaglesfan27]

Here's another DVR-related question, and perhaps this is another of those "TiVo is vastly superior" items, but even if it is, I'd like to know how the DVR users deal with it.

A couple of weeks ago, I set the Simpsons to record at 8pm. Of course, football ran long, so in the middle of the week when I went to watch the Simpsons, I quickly realized that it didn't record the show, but the 30 minute segment (8-8:30) that the Simpsons was supposed to be on. As a result, I got 15 minutes of that fucktard Terry Bradshaw and the first 15 minutes of the episode.

As wonderful as these things are supposed to be, I find it hard to understand why it can't adjust and record the show, not the time slot. But anyway, is this something TiVO can do that DVR can't, and how do I deal with this issue?


A TIVO can't adjust when it records, it also records the time slot. Or at least, that is true for my DirecTIVO. However, I can (and do) always set my box to record 1 hour extra any time a show comes on after a live sporting event (or if a show is on later that night on the same channel as a live sporting event earlier in the day.)

[wade moore]

A TIVO can't adjust when it records, it also records the time slot. Or at least, that is true for my DirecTIVO. However, I can (and do) always set my box to record 1 hour extra any time a show comes on after a live sporting event (or if a show is on later that night on the same channel as a live sporting event earlier in the day.)

Yeah, you have to know the channels that are at a high risk for this.

As wonderful as these things are supposed to be, I find it hard to understand why it can't adjust and record the show, not the time slot. But anyway, is this something TiVO can do that DVR can't, and how do I deal with this issue?

Here's the thing, how do you expect it to do this? It's not like the DVR is reading some secret signal that the TV channel is sending saying "show start" or "show end"... it is using a downloaded TV schedule just like the TV Guide. There is no way for the DVR to just know a TV Show has shifted times.

[Ksyrup]

It's a fucking magic box, so it should know these things!

As far as recording an hour more, I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I thought that was only available for single recording sessions? So in other words, if I want the entire season of something recorded, I'm not sure (maybe I can) if I can set it up that way. I don't recall it giving me that option, but I could be wrong. I know I can set it that way (1, 15, or 60 minutes before or after) if I manually record, though.

[wade moore]

It's a fucking magic box, so it should know these things!

As far as recording an hour more, I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I thought that was only available for single recording sessions? So in other words, if I want the entire season of something recorded, I'm not sure (maybe I can) if I can set it up that way. I don't recall it giving me that option, but I could be wrong. I know I can set it that way (1, 15, or 60 minutes before or after) if I manually record, though.

I can't speak to the DVR you're using, but the Tivo it is in the Season Pass options for any season pass.

[Bee]

You also might be able to edit it from the scheduled recordings list. That's how my non-Tivo DVR works.

[RPI-Fan]

It's a fucking magic box, so it should know these things!

As far as recording an hour more, I don't have a lot of experience with this, but I thought that was only available for single recording sessions? So in other words, if I want the entire season of something recorded, I'm not sure (maybe I can) if I can set it up that way. I don't recall it giving me that option, but I could be wrong. I know I can set it that way (1, 15, or 60 minutes before or after) if I manually record, though.

On my TW DVR, when I choose the show to record, before confirming the recording I am brought to a screen where I can adjust the times manually. I'd be shocked if there wasn't some way on your DVR to edit the times when you schedule the recording.

[Ksyrup]

I think that's probably true, but there's also a shortcut where I just push the 'R' button on the listings screen, which is what I use most of the time (double click to record the season). I probably need to manually select the show to bring up that menu.

[Kodos]

Comcast DVRs suck. Someday I will be able to use my beloved DirecTivo again. That is all.

[KWhit]

Comcast DVRs suck. Someday I will be able to use my beloved DirecTivo again. That is all.


They just updated the software which IMO was a slight step backward, but I really like my Comcast DVR. I find it 90% as good as a Tivo. And the equipment is free (and the monthly fee is cheaper than with Tivo).

[Kodos]

I find it to be a buggy, unreliable piece of crap.

[KWhit]

I find it to be a buggy, unreliable piece of crap.

I find your findings to be inaccurate.

And your armpits smell.

[Kodos]

I must admit that part II of your assessment is dead on.

[wade moore]

They just updated the software which IMO was a slight step backward, but I really like my Comcast DVR. I find it 90% as good as a Tivo. And the equipment is free (and the monthly fee is cheaper than with Tivo).

And, I'll repeat, Comcast has gone into an agreement with TiVO and will eventually have TiVO software anyways ;)...

[wade moore]

I find your findings to be inaccurate.

And your armpits smell.

FWIW, and I think we've had this debate about 100 times, I still find you to be the only person I've met that has used TiVO and still likes their cable DVR.

Edit: What I'm saying is that Kodos's assessment is more in line with what I generally hear.

[KWhit]

FWIW, and I think we've had this debate about 100 times, I still find you to be the only person I've met that has used TiVO and still likes their cable DVR.

Edit: What I'm saying is that Kodos's assessment is more in line with what I generally hear.


Oh, I know. And I did like the Tivo software better. At the time, though, my Comcast DVR was clearly the better product for me (because it had 2 tuners and the top-of-the-line Tivo only had 1 tuner).

But what I am basically arguing now is that the Tivo is slightly better now that the Comcast DVR, but the improvements in no way justifies the cost, IMO. Basically, I can get 90% of the Tivo's functionality for "free" through Comcast. If you already are a Comcast subscriber, it seems like a no brainer to me to go with the Comcast DVR. I'm just surprised that more people choose to spend money buying a Tivo.

[wade moore]

Oh, I know. And I did like the Tivo software better. At the time, though, my Comcast DVR was clearly the better product for me (because it had 2 tuners and the top-of-the-line Tivo only had 1 tuner).

But what I am basically arguing now is that the Tivo is slightly better now that the Comcast DVR, but the improvements in no way justifies the cost, IMO. Basically, I can get 90% of the Tivo's functionality for "free" through Comcast. If you already are a Comcast subscriber, it seems like a no brainer to me to go with the Comcast DVR. I'm just surprised that more people choose to spend money buying a Tivo.
Well, part of it is my impression is that Cox's DVR and Time Warner DVR are far inferior. I don't know Comcast's coverage, but I don't think it's all that large.

FWIW, My mother tried the Comcast DVR after having TiVO and found it unuseable and sent it back. I never actually saw the interface though.