HR20/HR21/HR22: Report Card 0x254/0x255

[Doug Brott]

It's been well over a year since we last did this, so I though I'd give it another shot.

0x254/0x255 was made available on 16-Jul-2008.

How would you grade the 0x254/0x255 software release?

0x254/0x255 Report Card B- (3.587)

--
There is no absolutely correct answer to this question.
Simply choose the answer that best fits the you.

[hanzelin]

I have two HR20-700s

One is totally fine, the other needs a reboot almost every day in order get rid of 771s. And that only started happening after 0x254/0x255 released.

I grade it a 'D'. My wife would grade it an 'F'.

[Bronco70]

Just one HR-21 here. Remote response is still slow.

[skyboysea]

I gave it a D because of the blank recordings, the need to reboot the receiver every week since it becomes very slow, mediashare performance.

[Ken S]

I grade it a C...might even give it a C+ if that was an option. This is up from a year ago. The high number of patches continued during the last year...some causing significant issues. From the outside looking in the QA at DirecTV is still lacking. I believe the quality of the HR2X series is the weak link in a customer's DirecTV experience....they can do much better.

Pros:

1. Audio/Video Sync Issues are better than they were in the past.

2. DoD is a reasonable video delivery service. It's not "On Demand", but it does work. UI could be a lot better and much faster.

3. Machine is more stable than a year ago not rebooting as often.

4. Game Search works and helps.

5. Addition of 30 second skip was a nice improvement.

6. Remote scheduling works well.

Cons:

1. It still is undependable when it comes to the Blue's Clues/daily shows issues...but on weekly shows it has been better.

2. The UI and response to remote is just slow. Is it horrible? No...but it is far slower than any other consumer device we have.

3. Mediashare is inconsistent at best...it's so bad we have given up on using it for videos, the software lacks the functionality to make it useful for viewing pictures (rotation/zoom, etc). This feature borders on being an embarrassment on a device such as this.

4. Channels I Receive after yet another year still does not work.

5. The Parental Controls still don't work well enough that you could let a young child have access to the box on their own.

6. Search still pulls up channels that can't be watched and presents show titles from stations that should be blocked.

7. No MRV yet.

8. Showcase still shows content from a year back (NFL highlights) and Movies Now appears to be shoe-horned in to the UI.

9. The remote command that require Push to Hold (slow motion, skip to tick) are poorly implemented and very difficult to use.

10. Guide Data is still poor when compared to other DVR systems.

[Doug Brott]

The high number of patches continued during the last year...some causing significant issues.

Well, the poll is about the current national release and your experience today .. not what happened in the past. :grin:

[dave29]

i gave it a B, just because of my media share being inconsistent. im happy other than that.

[mosoccer]

I gave it a C, mainly for the fact that I had never had a blank recording until this release and since I've had 2.

[ATARI]

Voted 'C', though would give it 'C+' if had the option. That's down from the 'B' I gave it last year. Reason: last year I didn't have any missed or blank recordings.

[tcusta00]

I gave it a B for slow guide speed and response times. Other than that I'd give it an A.

I would love to see MRV as part of it but I didn't take that into account.

[davring]

I guess I am generous, I gave both of mine an A. They come to class on time, and do what they are told.

[Ken S]

Well, the poll is about the current national release and your experience today .. not what happened in the past. :grin:

And my grade was based on the current condition...but part of the current condition is the high likelihood that we will continue to receive numerous patchs ;)

[woj027]

I went with a C. Although I have had good stablity, I would still say that the software is not meeting my expectations.

1. Slow UI, changing channels, between menus
2. Have not resolved 50 SL issue

[webhype]

I gave it an "A" since it appears to had fixed my OTA audio recording issue using the AM-21 with PBS. MPEG-2 FF and REW still seams to be a little flakey. But in general it has made my DVR's more reliable.

Now if I could only say the same for my "DTVPal/Echostar/Dish" converter I got from Sears Dish as part of the analog to digital transition.

[lukep10]

I gave the receiver an A, based on the number of issues I have with it in its current state.

very responsive
rarely locks up or needs an RBR
smooth preformance with interactive features, DOD, and game lounge
ease of use
functionality

all of the above give good reason for a box to have a high score... could it have done better in some unmentioned areas? Sure! and I could also stand to loose a few pounds, quit smoking and learn to juggle. Just like me, the box may not have every dream frill I want, but it gets the job of delivering home entertainment to me consistently everyday, and I still can't juggle to save my life.

p.s. to all of those who do have issues with blank recordings lock ups slow responsiveness, I guess i got lucky, i never have had any of those issues even durring high risk CE's I rarely have to RBR my box even though i have friends and family who do, and I understand your pain!

[jaxfan]

F - Still no "something better than DLB"

[rudeney]

I graded it a B. I’ve had no issues specific to this release. However, I’ll wait until the new fall TV season is in full swing and the DVR’s are getting a real workout to see how things are.

Oh, and if it had MRV, I’d have given it an A+++!

[jodyguercio]

Overall it rates an "A" from me. Solid performance in doing what it is supposed to do. Minor glitches I can live with so its good to go.

[Doug Brott]

F - Still no "something better than DLB"

Oh, so you don't use any of the other features :shrug:

[CTJon]

gave it an A. Have no problems with either of my DVR's.

[Radio Enginerd]

HR20-700, HR21-700 and HR21-200 checking in. All 3 boxes are pretty darn stable.

I vote A-, B+

I'm leaning more towards A- so I vote A.

[Sixto]

I only have one way to judge the HR2x. Ask the wife and kids. They much more match the primary DirecTV audience then I.

The family's view is that the HR2x is a very reliable DVR. Never ever an issue.

They primarily use the HR20's (3), with casual use of an HR21 (1). Never an issue, never a complaint, never a missed recording, not a peep.

Total truth.

[mightythor88]

I say "F". A DVR's sole purpose is to record programs. With this release a lot of my old problems flared right back up. missed recordings, black/grey recordings, pixelation etc.

To me it is simply a Pass/Fail option. I see a lot of people gave C's even if they had blank recordings. I guess I am a harsher grader, but if a DVR (or it's software in this case) cant be trusted to record a show it is a failure.

[Ken S]

Oh, so you don't use any of the other features :shrug:

Doug,

To some people failing in one aspect is enough to make the device a failure. Just as others in this thread have given the device high grades because they don't use some of the more problematic features.

[daveriv]

Voted B due to not having consistent success with media share. Otherwise has been very stable here.

[bonscott87]

Gave it a B. Don't have any problems with either HR20 or HR21 other then the GUI is a bit slower. Still faster then any Tivo I've owned but it has gotten slower over the past year. Other then that rock solid stable, never missed a recording.

[Doug Brott]

Doug,

To some people failing in one aspect is enough to make the device a failure. Just as others in this thread have given the device high grades because they don't use some of the more problematic features.

It was just a question ..

[inkahauts]

B I have no issues on the NR.. but its guide is to slow compared to what I've seen it be before, and currently in ce...

[CliffV]

I gave it a D because of 2 blank recordings. A DVR really needs to record digital video.

[mjbvideo]

F + Can you imagine what would happen if airplanes required a random 10 minute reset every other day? Would you fly that airline if its planes had ongoing hardware/software problems causing the planes to fall from the sky? I'm sorry folks, apparently I was spoiled by my 4 + years of HD TIVO. I'm having a hard time keeping my frustration under control.

[bonscott87]

F + Can you imagine what would happen if airplanes required a random 10 minute reset every other day? Would you fly that airline if its planes had ongoing hardware/software problems causing the planes to fall from the sky? I'm sorry folks, apparently I was spoiled by my 4 + years of HD TIVO. I'm having a hard time keeping my frustration under control.

If your receiver requires that then get it replaced. Sounds like a bad receiver to me.

[sgluck]

I don't know if this post belongs here but, I recorded Generation Kill on HBO Channel 501 HD tried to watch it and got sound and no picture just a grey screen Unit was an HR 20-700. Looked at live TV and found that all of the HD premiums were the same. Stars, HBO, Showtime. HD channels only SD was fine. The MPEG 2 channels 70-71 were fine. Called DTV. was told it was a known customer problem with certain units and they were working on it. Picture came back in about 5 mins after phone call.

[jtudor]

I have been relatively happy with this release, but there are bugs.

My remote response is slower than it used to be.

I scheduled 3 back to back remote recordings last week, the middle one failed to record. All 3 were on the same channel.

I have had a few other programs fail to record, and a rare black recording.

[ub1934]

Would have given it an A if it had " DLBs " :grin:

[alexjb12]

On the HR21 to remote response time is way to slow... on the HR20 it is on the spot

On the HR21 and HR20 the UI is still not as fast as I feel it should be

thats why I gave it a B

if it was faster -A

[jaxfan]

Oh, so you don't use any of the other features :shrug:

I could care less about Media share (or MRV for that matter).

What I do expect and come to rely on with other dual tuner DVR's is DLB. I use, excuse me, used to use that feature every time I sat down to watch tv. Sports or no sports. Yes I do record programs but not to the extent that I used to use the DLB feature. To me that gives the HR21 and F.

I know D* will never implement DLB in the HR2x's, they will make me purchase a new receiver to get that feature. That is if they are smart enough to realize they made a stupid mistake not including DLB in the HR2x's. Which I don't think D* are.
I have been with D* way too long (my account # is in the 90,000) to fall for the "something better is coming" BS.

[the new guy]

I am giving it an "A" for both of my HR21's. I had one issue with the screensaver while watching Live TV, and a few Mediashare issues because TVersity locked up on my server. I haven't missed any of the few recordings I have made (we'll see what happens when the new season starts), and neither unit has rebooted.

If we were grading on features, however, it would get a "C," due to lack of DLB. Without that, these DVR's are merely average. I know they are working on MRV, so no points will be deducted there.

Tim

[t_h]

It gets a "D" because it fails to record some of our shows, gives blank recordings on some, records shows on channels I dont have, deletes stuff when I've told it not to, doesnt give me a comprehensible reason why it didnt record something and doesnt adequately report conflicts when I schedule recordings.

I'd have given it an "F" but I hate to be negative. It hasnt caught fire or shot laser beams at us yet.

[hasan]

HR20-700 = A-

HR20-100 = A-

HR21-200 = C+

With respect to the HR21-200:

Excellent feature set, and the features work, no blank recordings, no missed recordings, no hangs, very solid OTA-tuner performance withi the AM21.

Trick Play anomalies with OTA recordings. The UI is unbearably slow. It makes using the HR21-200 quite unpleasant. Here is what I mean by slow:

1. Pressing menu can take 3 or more seconds for the menu to appear
2. Navigating inside a menu (cursor down or up) can take 3 seconds or more.

Doing a channel info list (highlight channel number in guide, press Info), is tedious. The list eventually comes up and then cursoring up or down requires a several second wait to go one line. Channel up/down takes same time, but goes through 5 times as many lines (as it should).

The responsiveness of the user interface is central to being able to enjoy the box. Right now, it isn't very enjoyable.

[rahlquist]

For my HR20 I gave an A because for the advertised features it functioned well, did not crash, wasnt so slow I screamed and did its job 100% of the time under that release. So just like a kid in school it got an A based on its current work at its accepted level. Whether it wasnt able to run a particle collider in 3rd grade or not is irrelevant. You asked a concise and pointed question and I am happy to answer.

[ATARI]

For my HR20 I gave an A because for the advertised features it functioned well, did not crash, wasnt so slow I screamed and did its job 100% of the time under that release. So just like a kid in school it got an A based on its current work at its accepted level. Whether it wasnt able to run a particle collider in 3rd grade or not is irrelevant. You asked a concise and pointed question and I am happy to answer.

So you've never had a missed or blank recording?

[ldspears]

I gave the software release 0x254 a big old " F " because of the many blank recordings that I have received on my HR20-700 DVR. Now on my HR20-100 I would give it a " B " because I've had only a few blank recordings, but I can't vote but one time so it got an " F " when I voted.

DirecTV Tech Support said they were working out the blank recording problem a couple of weeks ago. They said it would be fixed in the next software release. Anyone know when we could expect the blank recording issue to be resolved?

:)

[bonscott87]

So you've never had a missed or blank recording?

I know you didn't ask me but no, I've never had a blank or missed recording in the 2 years I've had the HR20 or the year I've had the HR21. Honestly.

[davring]

No blank recordings here either, ever, on either machine.

[ccr1958]

i gave it a B only because the HR20 that uses the current NR i rarely watch...
but when i have used that box it operates well except the delay when operating the remote(IR) & response time for the GUI to react is too slow....
my other 2 HR20's are always on a CE..

[rahlquist]

So you've never had a missed or blank recording?

Not a single one. I have had it hang during a thunderstorm (not on ups) and I did get a bit of caller ID issue the other day(weird chars). I didnt get it for caller ID I got it for a dvr and for that is has rocked.

[t_h]

Just as a point of clarification, any of you folks that havent ever had a blank recording also have 50 series links including autorecords and regularly record 10-15 hours of programming per day?

I seem to have noticed a little correlation between people who havent had the blank recording problem and a later comment that they only record a few shows a day or a dozen or two a week.

I record a dozen or more per day.

[Maruuk]

It seems to have stabilized trick play some on dish recordings, but OTA/AM21 recordings are completely screwed via trickplay. Almost useless, major lags on input, buggy, a complete disaster.

And on both OTA and dish recordings every few minutes the entire picture and audio break down into pixilization and stuttering for up to :30 seconds, then it gradually returns to normal. I'd call that worse than "F", a serious failure to address major software issues.

I'd love it if it were hardware failures, I could just go out and pick up a HR-22 and be done with it. But the 22 is the same stuff as the 21: pure crap.

[rahlquist]

Just as a point of clarification, any of you folks that havent ever had a blank recording also have 50 series links including autorecords and regularly record 10-15 hours of programming per day?

I seem to have noticed a little correlation between people who havent had the blank recording problem and a later comment that they only record a few shows a day or a dozen or two a week.

I record a dozen or more per day.

I do probably 15-20 shows a week, there isnt that much worth watching for me LOL

[bonscott87]

Just as a point of clarification, any of you folks that havent ever had a blank recording also have 50 series links including autorecords and regularly record 10-15 hours of programming per day?

I seem to have noticed a little correlation between people who havent had the blank recording problem and a later comment that they only record a few shows a day or a dozen or two a week.

I record a dozen or more per day.

Once hockey and football season starts up again I'll be up around those numbers no problem. Right now during the summer they are lucky to record 10-15 hours a *week*, if that. There is just isn't that much good TV.

[rebkell]

I say "F". A DVR's sole purpose is to record programs. With this release a lot of my old problems flared right back up. missed recordings, black/grey recordings, pixelation etc.

To me it is simply a Pass/Fail option. I see a lot of people gave C's even if they had blank recordings. I guess I am a harsher grader, but if a DVR (or it's software in this case) cant be trusted to record a show it is a failure.

F Same reason, it's supposed to record programs, they are scheduled, I check it and there it is in the guide and there is no red record light on. And no reason for not recording. I have HR20-100 units and both have randomly just decided some of my series don't need recording or that there isn't anything to record. Even when I put it in manually to record, it may just decide to not record. Right now, neither box is recording Eureka, and both are set to record it. This upgrade has been horrid.

[t_h]

Once hockey and football season starts up again I'll be up around those numbers no problem. Right now during the summer they are lucky to record 10-15 hours a *week*, if that. There is just isn't that much good TV.

This is what might be the usage model difference. People who record a lot with a lot more dual tuner recording might be more susceptible to the blank recording problem than people who record a few shows a day.

As far as the quality of tv, tell that to my 3 year old, and then figure out a way for me to put series links on the machine for his shows that are on 3-5 times a day, and only have a handful of them record and then stop until I delete one.

I did say "keep until I delete", but its not listening... ;)

[carl6]

I voted a B. Only a few (relatively minor) irritants kept me from giving it an A. One of the most irritating issues for me is the lack of being able to use IR and RF simultaneously on the remote. I really want the RF remote capability around the house, but require the IR remote capability for use with the slingbox.

The second irritant is that the unit sometimes loses the live buffer when coming out of standby. Very irritating, because I intentionally leave it tuned to a particular station with the intent of turning it on during a show and backing up to the start of the program and viewing from the buffer.

Carl

[luckydob]

Oh, so you don't use any of the other features :shrug:

No DLB...no grade better than C. Give it a C for continued missed recordings and lack of DLB.

[Doug Brott]

And on both OTA and dish recordings every few minutes the entire picture and audio break down into pixilization and stuttering for up to :30 seconds, then it gradually returns to normal. I'd call that worse than "F", a serious failure to address major software issues.

Well, on the scale of zero to 5 that I use, you can't get worse than an 'F' .. It's like saying you gave 110% .. simply not possible.

[Doug Brott]

No DLB...no grade better than C. Give it a C for continued missed recordings and lack of DLB.

OK .. now this I can understand and I'd never question it .. Giving it an 'F' simply because it doesn't have DLB just seems odd to me, but folks are free to vote how they want ..

[Seamsealer]

I have had the hr21 700 since last December. It just does not work right for the job it is intended. This stuff should work right out of the box. If you plug in a new TV and you don't get a picture, it goes back. The product doesn't work. We should not be the testers, especially with what we pay for these things.
My 2 cents. Have at it.

[hasan]

I have had the hr21 700 since last December. It just does not work right for the job it is intended. This stuff should work right out of the box. If you plug in a new TV and you don't get a picture, it goes back. The product doesn't work. We should not be the testers, especially with what we pay for these things.
My 2 cents. Have at it.

I have plenty of dead-end electronics devices as they sit, so I'd rather put up with bugs and development as opposed to mostly working and no development. (I have not one piece of moderately sophisticated consumer-grade electronic equipment that is bug free....none.),

Having been involved with the HR series development for nearly two years, I have to say the progress has been astounding. Then again, I never expect (or expected) these boxes to be bug free.

As long the boxes do mostly what they should most of the time (in the most mission critical areas) and development continues at a rapid pace, I'm satisfied. The alternatives are dust in the closet, or permanent work-arounds, or (as many manufactures have done) throwing in the towel, saying to the customer: find a better box..

Perfection just hasn't arrived for consumer-grade electronics devices, and I'm not holding my breath in anticipation of same.:)

[rebkell]

I have had the hr21 700 since last December. It just does not work right for the job it is intended. This stuff should work right out of the box. If you plug in a new TV and you don't get a picture, it goes back. The product doesn't work. We should not be the testers, especially with what we pay for these things.
My 2 cents. Have at it.

I hear you, I must be the only one that the unit just isn't finding programs to record. I have 2 HR20-100 boxes and they have basically the same series set to record, one of my boxes says there are no Monk episodes to record, another box says it found two Monk episodes to record, last night one box didn't record Eureka, I said above that both boxes were set to record Eureka, I was wrong only one was set to series record.

The other night, my Stargate Atlantis didn't record, it wasn't set in the guide to record and it's been set in both boxes forever. The other box recorded it just fine, I saw that the one wasn't scheduling it to record and so I set it manually to record that episode, when it came on, I noticed the box wasn't recording, I went looking in the history and it said it was canceled by the User(wtf) ... I had to reboot one of the boxes because out of about 11 shows I had set to record, it was only showing about 6 of them having any showing this week, which was crazy since 9 out of the 11 had or should have had 2 or more shows to record.

I have not had the blank recording problem, I have had the absolutely no recording whatsoever problem, it's like they don't exist, the history doesn't complain because it didn't even recognize the show as needed to be recorded. I'm totally confused and wish all these updates would slow down. I don't know it for a fact, but I think most of my problems came along about the time all the new Olympic channels got added.

[bonscott87]

As far as the quality of tv, tell that to my 3 year old, and then figure out a way for me to put series links on the machine for his shows that are on 3-5 times a day, and only have a handful of them record and then stop until I delete one.

I did say "keep until I delete", but its not listening... ;)

A lot of people I know with young kids have a 2nd (or 3rd) DVR just for the kids. That way they can fill it up with all their stuff and not interfer with your main DVR. Only costs $5 a month more for the 2nd DVR and worth every penny from what they say. :)

[RAD]

HR20-700's OK but the performance of the HR21-100/AM21 continues to be horrible on the user interface side. From selecting channels to calling up the guide to trick play functions it needs a lot of work yet.

[allenn]

I have two HR21-700's and AM21's. I had an HR20-100 but sent it back because of reboots and unresponsiveness. All dvr's are on rel. 255.

Media Share is a failure; slow returning from a delete (black screen); slow remote response; fast forward or reverse is jerky and not responsive; frequent black screen when recording; too many reboots.

The DirecTV HR20/21 DVR is not ready for prime time. I have been on DirecTV since 1994, but my wife and I are seriously considering AT&T U-verse. I had no problems with my HR10-250 TIVO.

[rahlquist]

A lot of people I know with young kids have a 2nd (or 3rd) DVR just for the kids. That way they can fill it up with all their stuff and not interfer with your main DVR. Only costs $5 a month more for the 2nd DVR and worth every penny from what they say. :)

+1

My 6 yr old just inherited our Directivo unit for her room, she records the heck out of some programs.

[billsharpe]

I gave the software an A. All selected programs are recording and starting on time, even the manual recordings for the Olympics, where I don't want to record the entire five hours of NBC coverage. No searching for satellite messages; no receiver freezes. VOD is working. Photos and music are networking properly.

YMMV.

[JACKIEGAGA]

Well for me these are solid releses and never had any issues so I gave it an A

[Maruuk]

Of course there is perfection right out of the box. 97% of every electronic device I've bought in the last 10 years is the very personification of perfection out of the box: MP3 players, computers, musical equipment, digital audio interfaces: all work perfectly out of the box and continue to this day. You push their buttons, they respond INSTANTLY. They work precisely AS ADVERTISED. They do not fail.

Perfection in satellite receivers? You need look no further than TIVO! Never failed me, INSTANT button response every time. Dedicated slo-mo. Always instant and immediate response to every input. Perfect pic and audio, rock solid on all levels. RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX with no need for desperate patch downloads which do nothing.

Compared to the competitive field, D* is the Yugo to everyone else's Honda. Except they charge the same as a Honda.

F is too good for D*'s outrageously shoddy and incompetent workmanship on both the hardware AND the software side. We need to start moving down the alphabet. Waaaay down.

[hasan]

Of course there is perfection right out of the box. 97% of every electronic device I've bought in the last 10 years is the very personification of perfection out of the box: MP3 players, computers, musical equipment, digital audio interfaces: all work perfectly out of the box and continue to this day. You push their buttons, they respond INSTANTLY. They work precisely AS ADVERTISED. They do not fail.

.

You obviously buy better equipment than I do. I've never had a computer, no matter what its cost, not show bugs, particularly in the OS, but also hardware incompatibilities.

I applaud your purchasing acumen, not to mention your luck.:)

[TJFriday]

I'm giving them an F on this one... and most of the other releases, too.

Too many of the old problems are back... Blank recordings. "This episode was not recorded because the program was no longer available (13)" on Discovery Channel HD (and other) shows. Locks up a couple times a week if connected to the network.

I've had a case open with DirecTV Case Management on these issues since February. I speak with them 1-2 times a week providing continued details of my problems. They have exchanged receivers almost once a month and have had many different technicians/field supervisors visit. Even after all of that, all my Case Manager can tell me is "It's been escalated to Engineering, but there's no resolution, yet." The Case Manager is at least as frustrated as I am. I find it humorous that there are several cases that my Case Manager handles that have been open longer than mine that are also unresolved.

There are many things that are core to DirecTV's business that they do extremely well and continue to improve upon. However, their software for their STBs is a glaring weakness that hasn't improved since they took development "in-house" a few years ago. Their lack of transparency around these problems and other issues are an ominous sign. If one of my HR-21's burst into flames, I'm fairly certain DirecTV reps would be forced to tell me that it's expected behavior--they would tell me that fire, heat and smoke can be expected in some cases and I should try disconnecting and reconnecting the power cord or pressing the red button next to the Access Card--then they'll send a tech out to re-align my dish and replace all of my cabling. I've got so many spare B-Band Converters, I'm considering giving them as Halloween treats to neighborhood children.

I would love to be able to love DirecTV again, but their lack of respect for their customers and always putting their stock valuation first show their corporate values are lost. To me, DirecTV has just become another company that cares more about my monthly subscriber fees than they do about actually delivering a great product worthy of those fees. And if I tell them I'm not happy, they simply try to throw more product at the problem rather than finding a solution. They take no responsibility for their problems at all. Think of all the times companies like Apple, Sony, Intel and Microsoft have had issues, yet have stepped up and addressed them--it's a PR nightmare at first and then they're able to really show their stuff by addressing the issues head-on. When was the last time we saw DirecTV do this? Is it unreasonable for us to expect that from them?

I have reasonable expectations for the products that I purchase. I believe the first measure of product quality is reliability. These HR-series receivers simply are not a quality product--they do not reliably perform their primary function. In the end, DirecTV's customers are financing the continuing poor decisions and lack of quality. Every receiver they've sent or I've had to return has meant that somewhere money is being spent to ship, diagnose, recondition or scrap that equipment. Every phone call to Case Management is services, equipment, personnel and time that must be paid for. I guess I should thank all of the rest of the paying DirecTV subscribers for making it possible for me to have a case open with DirecTV Case Management and hold them responsible. Perhaps if everyone having problems were as persistent as I was at holding DirecTV responsible instead of treating DBSTalk like the "real documentation and troubleshooting resource" for DirecTV, we might see them put more effort into addressing these issues using the subscriber fees we're already paying them.

[Wired]

I submitted a "C" for 0x255 on HR21-200 mostly due to the fact that VOD is pretty much useless. When Ethernet is connected, the box will become progressively slower to respond to commands and after about 1-2 days it consistently freezes requiring a (painfully slow) reboot. Thus, I keep the Ethernet cable unplugged. I can't use VOD but then again, my box is (relatively) responsive and doesn't freeze. I've tested this many times. Plug the Ethernet cable in and like clockwork, the unit gets slower and slower until about a day later it will be frozen. Leave the Ethernet cable unplugged and the until will remain responsive and not freeze. It's a shame I can't use one of the main features advertised and that I was looking forward to use.

The exact same issue has been reported many times over by other folks in the issues thread as well as separate threads so I'm far from the only one with this problem.

I submitted my own problem report for this about a month ago along with diagnostic key http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1697734&postcount=94. I've had this problem though 2 or 3 software updates and there's been no improvement which is why I give a grade of "C". We also really miss the DLB feature we have with our HR10-250.

Cheers,
Wired

[rebkell]

They need to have a recovery point or rollback for the last upgrade or something. I'm still having all kinds of issues with my series links, randomly just deciding not to record. I don't understand it at all, this only started about a week or so ago, but it's a constant on both of my HR20-100 boxes now. I manually set Monk to record this week, checked it was in the todo list, because my Series list said there were not episodes to record. I checked and it was in the todo list to record Friday. Checked last night and it was gone and not in the todo list anymore. What can I do, I have to be there to watch the shows, because the boxes have become totally unreliable for recording. I'm at a loss as to what or why this has started happening. I don't have tons of things in my series recordings either, 10 to 14 at max on both boxes. :confused:

[hillncharge]

I gave it a B due to annoying audio glitch that happens to just about every recording. Other than that, it has been very stable. Only had to RBR twice.

[BattleScott]

A solid D.
C is customarily a designation of 'satisfactory', I would require a 100% reliability of the core DVR functions to be satisfied.

fwiw, had this poll been issued for 0x235, I would have given it a B.

[Barry in Conyers]

A solid F for 0x254 on my HR20-700. The only reason to have a DVR is to RECORD AND PLAYBACK programming; unfortunately, my HR20-700 with 0x254 does not reliably do that. My wife is still griping about the blank recording of the opening ceremony at the Olympics.