Hi-tech-tv.com: Television technology news & answers

They finally forced one on me. (At least the HDMI and OTA antenna issues have been resolved.) There are two tuners, but is it possible to actually switch back and forth as I always could with the HR 10/Tivo unit? As far as I can figure, the only way to use both tuners at once is if you are recording. Am I missing something? (The 90 minute buffer isn’t worth the trade-off, as I mostly use my buffer when I’m watching two things at once.)

I’ve already seen some synch issues after pausing live TV. Is the only way to address this by FF’ing to Live again?

Finally, is there anyway around having to push Guide twice to get my Favorites list? Going through the filter everytime is a wasted step. Not a big deal, just annoying.

I know some of you have dealt with this box for awhile. Thanks in advance for sharing the knowledge. Actually, I didn’t want to upgrade. The woman said they’d send me an HR10, but this is what arrived last night. I called back and, long story short, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. I never got the same information twice.

Answer 1: you do not have to have active buffers like you had on the old Tivo unit.. thats one reason I refuse to upgrade

Answer 2: I use to love my old Direct TV tivo with dual buffers. I still have the unit but not DTV- it was a sad day when my new dual tuner couldn’t dual buffer.

Answer 3: Bottom line, though, is that we need these for the big HD rollout. Well, the box plus two B Band Convertors I had to hook on (between the wall and the HR20), which really junks things up.

On the positive side, the interface isn’t terrible, and there are some cool bells and whistles that the old box didn’t offer. It’s also true I’d had three HR10’s crap out in two years.

Mostly, I want my two tuners back. Anyone know if this is something they could fix with software, or it’s a hardware issue we need to be resigned to?

Answer 4: Call back and demand a TIVO unit.. they have them.. refurbished, but they have them

Answer 5: The HR20 is getting better reviews. It moves a lot faster than the HR10 (and apparently the 15). Recording and setting up Season Passes is virtually instananeous (the HR10 always made me wait and wouldn’t let me watch TV while setting up a Season Pass).
I don’t blame you for feeling burned. I think it was, mostly, a case of getting in on the technology before it was ready. While not having the dual tuner is a big negative, in truth, most of what this unit offers does feel like a significant upgrade. (Not changing my tune, just offering a fuller evaluation.)

Answer 6: The e-mail I got from DTV this morning. I am writing you as promised in response to your request to have your HR10-250 HD DVR replaced with the same model. I emailed our warehouse today and was told that we no longer have the HR10-250 in stock, which is why it was replaced with an HR20. If you would like to speak with advanced technical support, please call which is good for 5 days. A specialist will be happy to discuss with you all options. Again, my apologies that we couldn’t replace your HD receiver with the same type.

Guys, help me understand all of this. I am buying an HD capable TV in the very near future and am totally lost on all of this stuff. I currently have Direct TV w/ TiVo. Works great no problems at all. What will my options be when I get the new set?

Answer #1: I upgraded Direct TV TiVo to Direct TV DVR. I fell for Direct TV’s ‘free’ DVR since it cost nothing and provided a 100 GB HD which was 3 times the HD I already had. Big Mistake!

It is probably the worst electronic device ever assembled. It freezes, dropping shows already taped, doesn’t tape shows it was supposed to, is slow as sh!t, etc. etc, etc.

So I bit the bullet and took my old DirectTV TiVo in to get a larger HD (250GB) with 220 hours of space. Pure heaven!

Now most of you have HD DVR and that is the next step for me, but for those with reg. Direct TV, stay away from their DVR!

Answer #2: I upgraded a month or so ago from DirecTV’s standard def DVR to the new HD DVR you are talking about.
The standard def DVR definitely worked much better, it was basically flawless. The new HD unit definitely has software issues. It will miss or corrupt recordings probably about once a week for me which is a big pain in the butt. They seem to download software patches to it about once every two weeks so far. Performance has gotten better, but still nowhere near the original unit.

All that said, I am actually glad I made the switch. I have had a HD TV for awhile now and was waiting to make the switch to HD programming until they released a HD DVR that would pick up HD locals without an antenna. The difference between standard def and the HD is obviously pretty huge.

When this unit works (about 95% of the time) it is amazing; when it doesn’t it’s obviously annoying. I still have my old DVR sitting around and if push came to shove, I could switch back. Hopefully they will get all of the issues resolved in the next software fix or two in the coming weeks.

Answer #3: If you have an R10, it’s still a TiVo. Don’t let it go unless you want to give it to me. If it’s not TIVO then it’s an R15.

I had the R15 hooked up for less than 4 hours. It’s total crap. I disconnected it and re-hooked up my TiVo. I sent that POS back to DTV. Its horrible. I then bought a 3rd Directivo on Ebay. Next I’ll upgrade the Hard disks. DTV has a Major problem with their lack of TiVo. It’s a downgrade in technology. I even have an R15 in my garage, brand new in the box that DTV didn’t want back. If NFL sunday Ticket gets onto Cable, I’ll drop DTV.

Answer #4: I’ve had the DirecTV HD DVR for a couple of years now. It was slow as shyte until the recent software upgrade (which also enabled folders, which are great). It gets a little hinky now (dropped a couple of shows, failed to record others), but overall it’s a better piece of equipment. I’ll happily stick with it a while longer.

But I’d also say to the early adopters, you guys probably know it’s always like this with the first few generations of just about any sophisticated new technology. A year from now, the R15 may well be a different story. I’m sure they’re anxious to get their boxes into our houses and this kind of word of mouth should get them working pretty hard.

Answer #5: the R15 gave me a headache after 3-4 hours. I disconnected it and boxed it up, and reactivated my TiVo. My big fear is that DTV will cut off TiVo support and I’ll be stuck with their POS DVR. I think DTV signed a deal with TiVo this year to support the units for 3 more years. After that I guess everyone will have to make the switch to DirecTV new DVRs and receivers to receive HD. Hopefully they will have all the kinks worked out by then.

Answer #6: I’ve had the new DVR for 2 months, and have had no issues (knock on wood). I really like it, outside of the missing dual buffers. I ordered the HD TiVo unit and was pretty pissed they sent this one istead, but it’s been pretty good so far – specially since I’m too far from the TV tower and need this box to get local channels in HD.

However, because it’s missing the dual buffers I am not able to record two programs at once. I hate that. It sounds like they rushed it out and/or are hoping that because the HD universe is still relatively small, newcomers won’t know what they’re missing.

iO DVR: Anyone have it? Comments or complaints? Just ordered one and it should be here by mid week. Time to move out of the dark age of the no-tivo life.

Answer #1: It’s awesome and works great. Actually, it’s the best thing ever. It seems better than TiVo because its essentially the same thing and it costs less.

Answer #2: I have Time Warner with the DVR and love it. I’m sure iO is pretty much the same.

Answer #3: I’ve just gone back to IO after years of using a DirecTivo DVR. I prefer the 8300hd dvr, but I have some Tivo withdrawl symptoms.

What do I like better than the TiVo?

PIP is cool, as is the viewable picture when in menus and guides. I also like the really fast channel and guide scrolling plus the channel info surfing without changing the channel or going to the guide.

For those of you who have TiVo, I know you can go to their website and pick programs to record, but can you cancel scheduled programs or anything that it recommends? I want to make sure my TiVo records the office tonight, but it’s on at the same time as The Wire. I’m trying to find a way that I can cancel the wire and get The Office and My Name is Earl. I want to make sure this is TiVoed and I’m not home so I ahve to do this through the TiVo website.

Answer#1: On your season pass option if you put The Office and My Name is Earl higher than the Wire then it will record those instead.

Answer #2: Do you have TiVo via DirecTV or is it a stand alone unit? Because I have it via DTV and can record two things at once (in addition to watching a 3rd recorded program); don’t know how the stand alone units operate…

Answer #3: I have two TIVOs, one in the family room and one in the master bedroom. The family room unit can record two shows at once. The one in the bedroom can only do one. I know it had something to do with how I had them installed as opposed to what kind of units they were.

Anyway, this will work: set a manual recording for The Office and My Name is Earl on the TiVo website. When you set it up to record you will be asked what to do if there are conflicts.
 
Answer #4: Whether you can record two programs at once depends on what model Tivo you have. Newer models have dual tuners (DT models). Older models (which they still sell) have a single tuner and can only record one program at a time.