Movies Now...It's baaaack!

[kw2957]

I woke up this morning and checked the Showcases & Movies Now tab on my HR21-100 as I always do to see if anything downloaded overnight. Well, now I have a new addition to my Movies Now folder: The Jumper, which expires 12/14. The HD DVR Welcome video also redownloaded. I thought that Movies Now was being phased out, but I guess that was wrong information... I'm never going to use Movies Now so this is just a waste. :rolleyes:

[Stuart Sweet]

Movies Now is not being phased out. I for one am glad it's there, it's an extra option for me that costs me nothing, does not use my available hard drive space, and does not tie up my network bandwidth.

[TimGoodwin]

I for one have never understood why people bash movies now?:confused:

[tonyd79]

I am actually glad it is back. Another option for impulse movie watching.

[tcusta00]

I'm never going to use Movies Now so this is just a waste. :rolleyes:

I am going to use Movies Now so this is a boon. :)


When a company starts creating features and services that cater to one person's habits and desires give me a call, I'd like to short that stock.

[kw2957]

When a company starts creating features and services that cater to one person's habits and desires give me a call, I'd like to short that stock.

I'm not the only one on these boards that would like Movies Now to vanish... :eek2:

[dmurphy]

Movies Now is not being phased out. I for one am glad it's there, it's an extra option for me that costs me nothing, does not use my available hard drive space, and does not tie up my network bandwidth.

Me too .... it's not something I'd use every day, but on those nice winter nights, it's great to snuggle up with the wife in front of the fireplace, get some popcorn, and watch a movie ...

And YES, before anyone mentions it, I have a Netflix subscription. Sometimes we're in the middle of a "series run" with Netflix - watching entire seasons of TV shows ... sometimes I just want a movie instead.

Better to have MORE options, than less!

[tcusta00]

I'm not the only one on these boards that would like Movies Now to vanish... :eek2:

You're the only one in this thread though, so apparently there's some demand for it. :eek2:

[fluffybear]

I am actually glad it is back. Another option for impulse movie watching.

I have no objections to the service. The thing I liked the most is the night we used it, it did not interfere (conflict) with any of our recordings and took up no additional space..

[kw2957]

You're the only one in this thread though, so apparently there's some demand for it. :eek2:

Well if you're willing to pay five bucks for a 24 hour rental when you can pay $15-20 more for lifetime ownership of a movie, have fun with that. I'm not trying to bash anyone, I'm just bashing the service. Now if D* lowered the cost, then I'd consider using it, but $5 is a bit excessive in my eyes.

[TimGoodwin]

As Stuart said, it cost us nothing and does not use up any of or hard drive space. So if some one does not use the service then leave it alone.

[tcusta00]

Well if you're willing to pay five bucks for a 24 hour rental when you can pay $15-20 more for lifetime ownership of a movie, have fun with that. I'm not trying to bash anyone, I'm just bashing the service. Now if D* lowered the cost, then I'd consider using it, but $5 is a bit excessive in my eyes.

I am willing to pay $5 for a PPV movie. You're not. Welcome to freedom of choice. I'm glad we don't live in China and we're able to make these decision for ourselves.

Now, back to our regularly-scheduled complaining about things that are irrelevant.

[tonyd79]

Well if you're willing to pay five bucks for a 24 hour rental when you can pay $15-20 more for lifetime ownership of a movie, have fun with that. I'm not trying to bash anyone, I'm just bashing the service. Now if D* lowered the cost, then I'd consider using it, but $5 is a bit excessive in my eyes.

Well, it costs me about $2 to make spaghetti and meatballs at home but sometimes I just want to order it out and pay $11.50. It just works that way.

BTW, how do you own a first run HD movie for $15-20 bucks? Try more like $25-30. And if you don't plan on watching it more than once (or at least 3 times), the extra cost is a waste.

Granted, the 24 hour limit is not good and should be longer but assuming I want to buy every movie I ever watch is a pretty bad assumption.

[RobertE]

Glad it's back here as well.

I sat down the other night to watch one, went to the tab and saw that they were gone. :(

So instead later in the week, I got the same movie from a Redbox (purchase).

I've got no problem paying $5-6 to see a movie RIGHT NOW when I want to see it. If I like it, then there is a good chance I'll buy a hardcopy of it at some point.

As to just buying it outright, I've bought my fair share of DVDs that I now regret (movie sucked, etc). I've probably got somewhere between 400-450 DVDs. Many, many of them have been watched once, maybe twice. That, in hindsight is a waste of money.

[tonyd79]

As to just buying it outright, I've bought my fair share of DVDs that I now regret (movie sucked, etc). I've probably got somewhere between 400-450 DVDs. Many, many of them have been watched once, maybe twice. That, in hindsight is a waste of money.

Interestingly, most of the DVDs (probably 95%) that I own are movies I watched previously (usually the theater but mostly stuff I paid to watch at some time).

And now, with my Blu-Ray being shipped to me, they are all depricated.

[TimGoodwin]

As to just buying it outright, I've bought my fair share of DVDs that I now regret (movie sucked, etc). I've probably got somewhere between 400-450 DVDs. Many, many of them have been watched once, maybe twice. That, in hindsight is a waste of money

I have about the same amount myself and most likely at least 300 to 350 have only been watched once or twice.

[SteveHas]

I'm glad they are back.
Its a great option, with imediate gratification
$5-6 its a bit bit much, but this winter it will be a god send for sure some cold snowy weekend

[dphil9833]

Well if you're willing to pay five bucks for a 24 hour rental when you can pay $15-20 more for lifetime ownership of a movie, have fun with that. I'm not trying to bash anyone, I'm just bashing the service. Now if D* lowered the cost, then I'd consider using it, but $5 is a bit excessive in my eyes.

I would tend to agree, its nice to have the feature, but the price point is all wrong. I can Blockbuster a movie for $5 for 2 nights for a new release, 5 nights for an older release. Paying the same for a 24 hour rental is not proportional. For that matter, I have a Redbox at our local Walmart and a Moviecube at our local Albertsons that is $1 for 24 hours. :rolleyes:

[Athlon646464]

Well if you're willing to pay five bucks for a 24 hour rental when you can pay $15-20 more for lifetime ownership of a movie, have fun with that. I'm not trying to bash anyone, I'm just bashing the service. Now if D* lowered the cost, then I'd consider using it, but $5 is a bit excessive in my eyes.

There are some movies I'd pay $5 for, but not $15 for (and some I'd only shell out $2 for :lol: ), so having the choice is a good thing, IMHO.

Just one question - $5 is excessive compared to what? I know, somewhat retorical, and everyone's opinion will be different.........

Bottom line - you don't have to use/pay for the service if you don't see the value.

;)

[Michael D'Angelo]

You can add me to the list that is happy to see it back too. I have not used it yet but it will be a very nice option to have when I do want to watch something.

[lmurphy]

You can get around the 24hr limit by ordering your movie online. I have one that I rented & watched the same night over two weeks ago and it was never deleted. I watched it again last night and it still worked fine. I manually deleted it last night finally.

[man_rob]

Meh. I never even noticed it was gone. For those who don't mind shelling out the $5 per movie, I guess it's good for them. I choose to get more bang for my buck.

[FlBillsfan]

I am willing to pay $5 for a PPV movie. You're not. Welcome to freedom of choice. I'm glad we don't live in China and we're able to make these decision for ourselves.

Now, back to our regularly-scheduled complaining about things that are irrelevant.

Talk about freedom of choice, I wish I had the choice not to have this, & reclaim that hard drive space for something useful. Why can't Direct TV give the sub an option to turn this off if they don't want it?

[tcusta00]

Talk about freedom of choice, I wish I had the choice not to have this, & reclaim that hard drive space for something useful. Why can't Direct TV give the sub an option to turn this off if they don't want it?

Don't click the tab and it will be like it's not there. And you're getting the hard drive space/recording time that they advertised to you when you voluntarily signed up, so where's the issue? :confused:

Round and round we go, when it stops nobody knows. Probably when my head explodes.

[gregjones]

And a lot of it depends on your viewing habits, the distance to the local retailer, how much you value your time, etc. If it works for you, great. If it doesn't, great. But trying to evangelize to convince someone else that they should set the parameters the same way seems a bit much.

[gregjones]

Talk about freedom of choice, I wish I had the choice not to have this, & reclaim that hard drive space for something useful. Why can't Direct TV give the sub an option to turn this off if they don't want it?

You never had this hard drive space in the beginning. It is part of the DirecTV reserved space that has been there since you got the box.

[jacksonm30354]

Don't blame Directv for the 24hr limit. I believe that is forced on them by the movie industry.

[curt8403]

Don't blame Directv for the 24hr limit. I believe that is forced on them by the movie industry.

indeed, that is correct. it is the movie Industry

[karlhenri]

Okay, PEM: What is Movies Now? Did a search on D* website but got nothing. Is that how we call it on this board or that's the name of the feature? Is it something you need to sign up for? How does it differ from PPV and on-demand?

I know I could search this board, but perhaps one of you is dying to educate a rookie.

[Athlon646464]

Okay, PEM: What is Movies Now? Did a search on D* website but got nothing. Is that how we call it on this board or that's the name of the feature? Is it something you need to sign up for? How does it differ from PPV and on-demand?

I know I could search this board, but perhaps one of you is dying to educate a rookie.

It's in the Tab when you look at your list of recorded shows. Just scroll to the top of the list and then go up one more and then one to the right and then hit select.

It differs from PPV and on-demand because they push it to you, you do not ask for it.

;)

[gfrang]

I am not a ppv fan but i like it, tonight i might get The Ruins to watch. I am glad the are keeping it.

[tonyd79]

Talk about freedom of choice, I wish I had the choice not to have this, & reclaim that hard drive space for something useful. Why can't Direct TV give the sub an option to turn this off if they don't want it?

If you really think you would get this disk space back if they didn't do Movies Now, you are mistaken. They took this disk space away long before Movies Now was ever thought of. In fact, even Tivo did this about 10 years ago. Ever hear of Showcases?

[RAD]

I would hope that D's going to use Movies now for pushing any 1080p movies (or at least what they think will be the most popular) to you don't need to wait for them to download via DoD.

[Herdfan]

I for one have never understood why people bash movies now?:confused:

The 24 hour limit.

If these were early releases, then fine, put some limits on them. But all of these are on DVD and all but Superhero are on Blu-ray.

So I can get them from my local BB or via Netflix and keep them for a week if I want. So as long as the 24-hour limit is there, I won't use the service.

I don't care that they are there and my only complaint is the unreasonable limits that are placed on them and IMHO that is a valid criticism.

[dcowboy7]

I for one am glad it's there, it's an extra option for me that costs me nothing, does not use my available hard drive space

but someone said they had 10 movies at 1 point....how can 10 movies not be bleeding beyond the 50gb directv has reserved.

[gregjones]

The 24 hour limit.

If these were early releases, then fine, put some limits on them. But all of these are on DVD and all but Superhero are on Blu-ray.

So I can get them from my local BB or via Netflix and keep them for a week if I want. So as long as the 24-hour limit is there, I won't use the service.

I don't care that they are there and my only complaint is the unreasonable limits that are placed on them and IMHO that is a valid criticism.


I think there's a significant difference between "I won't use it" and "I don't like that others have it as an option." I know it is difficult for people to separate the two but I think it is important. Often, someone asks why Movies Now is bad, the answer is "I hate PPV." While a completely acceptable opinion, it is not very helpful. If someone has a problem with content being delivered by satellite for storage on the reserved partition (aside from their opinion of PPV), that would be helpful information.

Thank you, Herdfan, for distinguishing between the two.

[gregjones]

but someone said they had 10 movies at 1 point....how can 10 movies not be bleeding beyond the 50gb directv has reserved.

If my math is correct, this isn't very surprising:

An 8Mbps stream translates to 0.000977 GBps (8Mbps -> 1 MBps -> 0.000977 GBps).
A 90 minute-long movie would be 5400 seconds.
5400 * 0.000977 = 5.27 GB

If, with MPEG4 compression, they can get into the range of 7.5 - 8 Mbps, ten movies will fit in 50 GB.



EDIT: Are there any obvious errors or was it really that straightforward?

[jimb726]

If my math is correct, this isn't very surprising:

An 8Mbps stream translates to 0.000977 GBps (8Mbps -> 1 MBps -> 0.000977 GBps).
A 90 minute-long movie would be 5400 seconds.
5400 * 0.000977 = 5.27 GB

If, with MPEG4 compression, they can get into the range of 7.5 - 8 Mbps, ten movies will fit in 50 GB.



EDIT: Are there any obvious errors or was it really that straightforward?
Looks good to me. Lol Curiously, this just occurred to me, is anyone certain that the entire movie is downloaded on the harddrive? I wonder if its possible that maybe 50% of the movie is downloaded, to make it an "On Demand" offering, but once you start viewing, the remainder of it downloads in the background? Is this even possible? After the download is completed it would stay on the hard drive for 24 hours and then delete itself?

[Janice805]

OK, just looked under my NOW PLAYING LIST (after reading this thread) and found that TAB. I honestly never noticed it before. Would someone explain what the point of it is? There's just PPV movies there (like in the 100's) and they cost the same. What am I missing? Am I not doing something correctly?

[inkahauts]

Well if you're willing to pay five bucks for a 24 hour rental when you can pay $15-20 more for lifetime ownership of a movie, have fun with that. I'm not trying to bash anyone, I'm just bashing the service. Now if D* lowered the cost, then I'd consider using it, but $5 is a bit excessive in my eyes.

$5 is cheaper than any movie theater ticket... and If I haven't seen the movie, I'd rather spend the $5.. and if I like it, someday when its on say for 5 or 10 I might buy it then. making it cheaper than just buying it... Also, how much is it to rent a movie from blockbuster these days? I haven't done that in years...

[inkahauts]

Looks good to me. Lol Curiously, this just occurred to me, is anyone certain that the entire movie is downloaded on the harddrive? I wonder if its possible that maybe 50% of the movie is downloaded, to make it an "On Demand" offering, but once you start viewing, the remainder of it downloads in the background? Is this even possible? After the download is completed it would stay on the hard drive for 24 hours and then delete itself?

No, its all on there... people without internet connections get these movies too...

[gregjones]

OK, just looked under my NOW PLAYING LIST (after reading this thread) and found that TAB. I honestly never noticed it before. Would someone explain what the point of it is? There's just PPV movies there (like in the 100's) and they cost the same. What am I missing? Am I not doing something correctly?

It's a best-of-both-worlds combination of PPV and VOD. It is just like the PPV offerings under OnDemand, but they are automatically downloaded to the reserved portion of your hard drive via satellite. You get VOD for those movies without an internet connection, in essence. The other way to look at it is to call it a PPV that starts whenever you want it to.

[dcowboy7]

but someone said they had 10 movies at 1 point....how can 10 movies not be bleeding beyond the 50gb directv has reserved.

If my math is correct, this isn't very surprising:

An 8Mbps stream translates to 0.000977 GBps (8Mbps -> 1 MBps -> 0.000977 GBps).
A 90 minute-long movie would be 5400 seconds.
5400 * 0.000977 = 5.27 GB

If, with MPEG4 compression, they can get into the range of 7.5 - 8 Mbps, ten movies will fit in 50 GB.



EDIT: Are there any obvious errors or was it really that straightforward?

this is over my head but here is how i broke it out:

hr21-700 has a 320gb hard drive broken out like this:
40gb dvr operating usage.
230gb user usable = 50 hrs hd.
50gb directv showcase reserved.

1. 230gb = 50 hrs hd we have available.
2. 10 movies in movies now on directvs 50gb averaging 1:45 each = about 17 hrs.
3. so if 230gb only holds 50 hrs then how does 50gb hold 17 hours ?

[gregjones]

this is over my head but here is how i broke it out:

hr21-700 has a 320gb hard drive broken out like this:
40gb dvr operating usage.
230gb user usable = 50 hrs hd.
50gb directv showcase reserved.

1. 230gb = 50 hrs hd we have available.
2. 10 movies in movies now on directvs 50gb averaging 1:45 each = about 17 hrs.
3. so if 230gb only holds 50 hrs then how does 50gb hold 17 hours ?

I think the issue here is that you can't equate the number of hours of HD as the same MPEG2 to MPEG4. We know these are MPEG4 movies. The hours stated for the DVR (in the original materials) are MPEG2 numbers.

[dcowboy7]

I think the issue here is that you can't equate the number of hours of HD as the same MPEG2 to MPEG4. We know these are MPEG4 movies. The hours stated for the DVR (in the original materials) are MPEG2 numbers.

so u are saying if everything we dvrd was mpeg4 we can get over 50 hrs ?

this link says 30 hrs hd for mpeg2, 50 for mpeg4:


"Record up to 200 hrs of SD, up to 30 hours of HD, (MPEG-2) programming or up to 50 hours of HD (MPEG-4) programming**"

http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Products/DirecTV/HR21-700-DirecTV-Hi-Def-MPEG4-HDTV-receiver.htm

[jlancaster]

Yesssss! I am glad they are back!

[cnmsales]

I am also glad its back. I will use this a BUNCH.

[Jason Whiddon]

Im glad its back. Im new to it but I like the concept of DOD and the Movies Now feature.

I just wish they put ALL of the new PPV movies on instead of being selective.. They apparently skipped Never Back Down (already seen it on Netflix but would have considered buying it).

[FlBillsfan]

You never had this hard drive space in the beginning. It is part of the DirecTV reserved space that has been there since you got the box.

That's probably correct, but it would be nice to be able to claim rather than reclaim a chunk of hard drive space. I & many others I'm sure would like the ability to turn off movies now even if it won't increase the space on the hard drive.

[FlBillsfan]

If you really think you would get this disk space back if they didn't do Movies Now, you are mistaken. They took this disk space away long before Movies Now was ever thought of. In fact, even Tivo did this about 10 years ago. Ever hear of Showcases?

Yeah, I was an early adopter of TIVO, I loved showcases on TIVO in the old days. I would much rather see this on my hard drive than movies now.

[Jason Whiddon]

Check out test channel 1001. Couple of newer movies on freebie download ;)

[Herdfan]

this is over my head but here is how i broke it out:

hr21-700 has a 320gb hard drive broken out like this:
40gb dvr operating usage.
230gb user usable = 50 hrs hd.
50gb directv showcase reserved.

1. 230gb = 50 hrs hd we have available.
2. 10 movies in movies now on directvs 50gb averaging 1:45 each = about 17 hrs.
3. so if 230gb only holds 50 hrs then how does 50gb hold 17 hours ?

When I last broke it out comparing the hours/drive sizes between the current 320g drive and the new 500g 100 drive, the numbers worked out as follows:

320g - 140g for D* = 180g/user/50 = 3.6g/hr
500g - 140g for D* = 360g/user/100 = 3.6g/hr

So if D* is using 40g for operating usage, then 100g is left for Movies Now etc.

[dcowboy7]

When I last broke it out comparing the hours/drive sizes between the current 320g drive and the new 500g 100 drive, the numbers worked out as follows:

320g - 140g for D* = 180g/user/50 = 3.6g/hr
500g - 140g for D* = 360g/user/100 = 3.6g/hr

So if D* is using 40g for operating usage, then 100g is left for Movies Now etc.


but the person with the 10 movies didnt have the new 500gb....they still had the 320gb.

[luckydob]

Don't blame Directv for the 24hr limit. I believe that is forced on them by the movie industry.

Interesting...I guess Microsoft can cut a better deal than D*? I can download a HD movie on the Xbox 360 and wait 2 weeks to watch it...granted I only get 24 hours after I start it, but I still get 2 weeks to start it. So which is it? A D* thing or a movie industry thing that can be negotiated and D* just did a bad job??? :eek2:

[bigboyman2]

Interesting...I guess Microsoft can cut a better deal than D*? I can download a HD movie on the Xbox 360 and wait 2 weeks to watch it...granted I only get 24 hours after I start it, but I still get 2 weeks to start it. So which is it? A D* thing or a movie industry thing that can be negotiated and D* just did a bad job??? :eek2:

Basically, the 24 hours starts when you pay for it. Now the Xbox has more control, because it's connected to the internet, an easy two-way connection. So they know when you started watching it, and start the 24 hour rule no matter when you d/l it (I'm sure there's a time-out clause somewhere, though).

Now D*, they put the Movies Now feature there, so you don't have to wait for a particular time frame on movies to start, and the 24 hour window doesn't start until you order. Kinda the same, kinda different

24 hours basically starts after you order it, not nessisarily download/record

[gregjones]

Interesting...I guess Microsoft can cut a better deal than D*? I can download a HD movie on the Xbox 360 and wait 2 weeks to watch it...granted I only get 24 hours after I start it, but I still get 2 weeks to start it. So which is it? A D* thing or a movie industry thing that can be negotiated and D* just did a bad job??? :eek2:

The DirecTV PPV 24-hour clock only starts when you begin watching it. I would never pay for a PPV before watching it because there is no reason to do so. You can record it without paying for it. You pay for it when you begin watching it and you have a 24-hour window from that point. How is this significantly different than hat you describe on XBox?

[gregjones]

That's probably correct, but it would be nice to be able to claim rather than reclaim a chunk of hard drive space. I & many others I'm sure would like the ability to turn off movies now even if it won't increase the space on the hard drive.

The reserved space has been there since day one as a design element of their HD DVR. You won't be getting that space back. I have not heard many others say they would like the ability to turn it off. I have heard many say they may not use it.

[Herdfan]

but the person with the 10 movies didnt have the new 500gb....they still had the 320gb.

Sorry, I didn't make that clear. The 50/100 hours is the number of MPEG-4 recording hours that DirecTV advertises for the 320/500 models. Here is the math:

(320 - X) = 50
(500 - X) = 100

So in theory, 2(320 - X) = 2(50) or 640 - 2X = 100, so then

500 - x = 640 - 2X gives us

140 = X

320 - 140 = 180/50 = 3.6gb/hr and

500 - 140 = 360/100 = 3.6gb/hr

So X = 140

So DirecTV is reserving 140g on both model DVR's. If it needs 40g for operations, that leaves 100g for Movies Now etc.

[Jason Whiddon]

So on my 640 gig, 500 total is left for DVR.

[dcowboy7]

Sorry, I didn't make that clear. The 50/100 hours is the number of MPEG-4 recording hours that DirecTV advertises for the 320/500 models. Here is the math:

(320 - X) = 50
(500 - X) = 100

So in theory, 2(320 - X) = 2(50) or 640 - 2X = 100, so then

500 - x = 640 - 2X gives us

140 = X

320 - 140 = 180/50 = 3.6gb/hr and

500 - 140 = 360/100 = 3.6gb/hr

So X = 140

So DirecTV is reserving 140g on both model DVR's. If it needs 40g for operations, that leaves 100g for Movies Now etc.

im still confused:

hr21-700 has a 320gb hard drive broken out like this:

40gb dvr operating usage.
230gb user usable = 50 hrs hd.
50gb directv showcase reserved

directv is reserving a total of 90gb....but only 50gb of that is for movies now....so i still dont get how they can fit 10 movies in thier reserved 50gb.

[gregjones]

im still confused:

hr21-700 has a 320gb hard drive broken out like this:

40gb dvr operating usage.
230gb user usable = 50 hrs hd.
50gb directv showcase reserved

directv is reserving a total of 90gb....but only 50gb of that is for movies now....so i still dont get how they can fit 10 movies in thier reserved 50gb.

Look at my math above. An 8Mbps MPEG4 movie becomes a roughly 5 GB file. 5 GB x 10 movies = 50 GB. A 16 Mbps MPEG4 movie becomes a roughly 10 GB file. If they have 140 GB for the reserved space, as Herdfan suggests, they could store 14 16 Mbps movies or 28 8Mbps movies.

Note the significance of Mb vs MB as this is often overlooked in these calculations.

[Sixto]

Did notice last night that the movies were back under Movie's Now.

This seems like a great way to remove the need for a massive number of PPV HD channels for DVR users. The problem is how may folks actually watch PPV HD without a DVR (H2x's).

If every current movie had the HD movie downloaded to Movie's Now then they could remove many PPV HD channels and just have the PPV HD channel take the user to the Movie's Now downloaded file, and you wouldn't need movies every 30 minutes. The only movies that would need a "real" channel and use real bandwidth would be those not in Movies Now.

This doesn't solve non-DVR users but again I wonder how many of those there are.

[Ken S]

Drive stuff:

Guys...a few things...a "320GB" advertised drive is really on 300GB in actuality. Drive manufactures still use fuzzy math.

I took a 320GB drive out and looked at the partitions. There were 3. One was very small, the second was about 15GB and about 285GB was left for data. That's the chunk that DirecTV is using for Movies Now, Showcases, and of course user recording.

So...use 285GB as the total available.

When I looked at the partitions on a 1TB drive the >1GB and 15GB partitions were still the same size.

[dcowboy7]

If they have 140 GB for the reserved space, as Herdfan suggests, they could store 14 16 Mbps movies or 28 8Mbps movies.



but they dont have 140gb reserved...its only 50gb.

whatever...just havin some fun with the #'s.

[RAD]

I wonder what determines if the STB will get the movie or not? One of my HR20's has 5 movies and a HR21 has only 3. The HR20 that has 5 was in standby the entier time things were being download, the one with 3 I was using, but didn't have anything being recorded, only viewing live TV.

[Stewpidity]

Under "movies now" i have 5 PPV movies...4.99 each 24 hour rentals...

[Ken S]

I wonder what determines if the STB will get the movie or not? One of my HR20's has 5 movies and a HR21 has only 3. The HR20 that has 5 was in standby the entier time things were being download, the one with 3 I was using, but didn't have anything being recorded, only viewing live TV.

I'm pretty sure they look at tuner use...I wonder if they can do partials or they have to find a block of time where they can download the whole thing at once.

It might be hard to really do a Pause and Resume type of download ...so my guess is they start the downloads...and if it completes it goes on the menu...if not they have to wait and find a time to start it over again.

[jimb726]

No, its all on there... people without internet connections get these movies too...
I understand that, I dont have an internet connection, so they must be getting there somehow. I was just wondering if there was a way to get several movies with using less space.

[Jason Whiddon]

Yeah, Ive got 4 in mine. Were there when I got hom yesterday.

[RunnerFL]

but someone said they had 10 movies at 1 point....how can 10 movies not be bleeding beyond the 50gb directv has reserved.

As has been said before... The reserved space is more than 50gb. It's been reported that it's closer to 100gb.

[Jason Whiddon]

Is it really that big of a deal

:beatdeadhorse:


:grin:

[RunnerFL]

Is it really that big of a deal

:beatdeadhorse:


:grin:

No, not at all.

The way I see it you're either going to use it or not. And if not then just ignore it.

Some people just like to complain. :)

[Jason Whiddon]

Must be full moon friday. The guys in the CE thread are getting pissy too



:uglyhamme

[RAD]

I'm pretty sure they look at tuner use...

Agreed but what rules are they using? I checked on the HR20 that was in stanby and one of the movies pushed was a 8AM and that's one of them that wasn't on the HR21. The HR21 wasn't in standby at that time but there were no recordings schedule during that time or for the length of the movie that would have caused a conflict. Maybe to be safe they just do it if the box is in standby?

[JLucPicard]

I've never put any of my boxes in stand-by.

[Mike Huss]

I think it's a good thing to have, although since I can still rent movies at the video store for $2.50 as well as rent three get the fourth free, I doubt if I'll use it much. But options are always good.

[Herdfan]

My calculations are based on if a 320g (advertised) drive provides 50 hours of MPEG-4 recording and a 500g (advertised) drive provides 100 hours of MPEG-4 recording then 140 equals the reserved portion if both record at a rate of 3.6g per hour.

Based on posts here, 40g of the 140 is reserved for operations leaving 100g for DirecTV use.

I have no idea where the 50g # for Movies Now came from.

[gregjones]

I've never put any of my boxes in stand-by.

And are your Movies Now populated? With how many?

[gregjones]

Agreed but what rules are they using? I checked on the HR20 that was in stanby and one of the movies pushed was a 8AM and that's one of them that wasn't on the HR21. The HR21 wasn't in standby at that time but there were no recordings schedule during that time or for the length of the movie that would have caused a conflict. Maybe to be safe they just do it if the box is in standby?

It seems they do it when they don't think you're watching. Now, I think we are all guessing on what criteria they would use to determine that. It could be "standby and not recording." It could be "no recording and current tuner not changed in X minutes." We don't know.

Often people leave the tuner on (not in standby) because they want the buffer to be full when they choose to watch. In this case, the perceived behavior (it not using that tuner to download Movies Now) seems to be in line with user expectation.

[tonyd79]

And are your Movies Now populated? With how many?

My boxes never go into standby either. One had 5 movies, another 4 this morning.

[gregjones]

My boxes never go into standby either. One had 5 movies, another 4 this morning.

They've obviously incorporated a secret camera to use the tuner when nobody is watching...

It is probably a length of time that the "other" tuner has not been active. After X minutes of no channel changes, etc., it may assume you are not likely to use the other tuner for a while.

[JLucPicard]

And are your Movies Now populated? With how many?
All five boxes have the same five movies.

I'm generally watching TV late, but usually just one of the boxes.

[dcowboy7]

I have no idea where the 50g # for Movies Now came from.

it came from a post when this was talked about when movies now first started months ago.

[richiephx]

I just noticed this tab in the setup. The HR21 that I am using is not hooked up to either a telephone or an internet connection. I was testing it to see what would happen so I pressed one of the movies and it started to play. I panicked and went into setup and immediately canceled it. Will I be charged $4.99 even though I don't have a phone/internet connection to the HR21? Can I watch the movie for free?

[JLucPicard]

I think the way those work is a few minutes play (as a preview?), then it asks you to purchase it.

So no, you won't be charged because of the few seconds you saw and no, you won't be able to watch for free.