Directv DVR
 

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?

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.

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).

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

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.)

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...

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.

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.

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...

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

I think you have a problem with a signal repeater.

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...

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?

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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? :)

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.)

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)

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

ah, gotcha.

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. :)

Do we download it through the dish?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

I'm still on 3.1 as well :(

Yes.

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

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

I love the speed boosts.

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.