PVR or TIVO

[BobFly]

In your opinion what is better tivo or a pvr 721? Right now i have Dish with a 721 but thinking of switching to direct with tivo! What is your opinion?

[platinum]

I have a HDVR2 from Hughes and I love it.

[TerryC]

I've had both and the there is no comparison. Even after Dish gets rid of the numerous annoying bugs in the 721, and it works as advertised, it still won't have features such as name based recording (season passes and wish lists). The only drawback to Tivo is the $5 a month charge for service, but even with that I'm paying less for more channels with DirecTV than I was with Dish. I also get more (all) of my locals using one dish with DirecTV than I could have had using two dishes with Dish Network. These kinds of programming variations are things you should also consider when contemplating a switch.

[gcutler]

Probably only issue with TiVo is the small hard drive compared to 721, but that is easily upgraded.

[MikeW]

All you need to do is browse the forums for completely satisfied Dish PVR owners vs. completely satisfied Tivo owners. You'll see plenty of "bug" complaints from Dish owners and you'll see alot of "if only my PVR could...". On the Tivo side, you'll always see 100% completely satisfied. Here's an example of what Tivo would have done for me last night vs. what my 508 actually did..My wife is into America's Funniest Home Videos. Last night was the season ending 2 hour special. My 508 has a weekly timer set for 1 hour of ABC on Friday night. My wife was less than happy to see she got half of the show. If I had been using a Tivo, the complete show would have been recorded because of Name Based Recording vs. Time Based Recording. As a Dish PVR and Tivo SA owner, my money would be with D* and Tivo.

[AllieVi]

Buying two DirecTiVo's instead of a single 721 would seem to make sense. You then have four tuners instead of two, almost as much storage and the benefits of the TiVo capabilities. The TiVo storage can also be upgraded if you so choose. As I understand it, the $5/mo fee covers any and all TiVo's on the account.

[cnsf]

Had both and the Tivos win hands down. There are some things I miss like onscreen caller ID, the "Manage" function and the PVR seems much faster. The Tivo guides (Live guide and the DirecTV guide) are pretty slow. The search on the PVRs is also better.

There is no comparison when it comes to stability and intelligence. The Tivos are just smarter and more reliable. I have yet to have the Tivo freeze up on me. The only glitch I could find is a sound dropoff after a pause.

Finally, the Tivos can be easily upgraded while the PVRs are now married to their hard drives. There is a whole underground for Tivo tweaking that is widely accepted and encouraged. Not so with the PVRs.

Definitely more for your money. The DirecTivos can't get the Home Media Option though (HMO).

[raj2001]

DISH has always been giving customers too little too late with the DishPVR's. The 721 was released much later than its initially announced date, and it seems as though they've been delaying the 921 indefinitely. Who knows what will happen next.

TiVo on the other hand is a bit strange with the relationship they have with DirecTV. DirecTV has decided to take over the marketing of TiVo powered DirecTV units (DirecTiVo's) and call them DirecTV DVR's instead. Because of this our menus look different (as of s/w version 3.1) and DirecTV controls the release of new features, like the much talked about Home Media Option (HMO). When you talk to TiVo about it, they say that it's out of their hands and DirecTV controls the marketing.

With regard to features, name based recording is the biggest reason why TiVo wins hands down. I just hate the fact that you have to set timers on DishPVR's. It's been said on this board that it's a patent issue, but I simply don't buy that. DishPVR has PiP, which I like. DishPVR comes standard with a 120GB hard drive, which I like. However, many people with PVR's don't care for PiP, and I can upgrade the drive in my TiVo quite easily.

[mattmill]

Having moved and trying to reset up my E* system and add a 508. I was pleasantly surprised that I had no line of sight to the 119 satellite and therefore switched to D*. I got a regular receiver and a HDVR2 and WOW we love it and wish that we had purchased 2 instead. Other than the audio glitch that everyone mentions it is a great technology.

matt

[lee120]

tivo all the way if you want to pay least buy a ultimatetv go http://www.orbitsat.com/UltimateTV/Products.asp

[lee120]

or http://www.americansatellite.com/products/list.asp?SID=Q7O4SG6746044UNRIW21G02B0E19SHPJD&CAT=15100&mfg=rca

[Jerry 42]

I can only speak for myself.

I have an old series 1 and new series 2 TiVo, each connected to a individual Dish receivers (no OTA available). The Dish / TiVo combos work well together and my wife can work TiVo without problems. My daughter had a Dish 508 but had to return it - bugs - now has TiVo.

Note - Best info I had is TiVo will be coming out with a HD TiVo in 4th Quarter 2003. You might want to wait if you have HDTV. TIVo has been prety good on dates but like Dish the dates are not guaranteed.