Considering DTV

[elj]

Hi
I am currently on Dish. I am considering switching to DTV to take advantage of their current offer of a free hd dvr to upgrade to hd service. I have a couple of questions though. My Dish dvr can operate on 2 tv's and each can view the same recordings. Can can the HR##'s view recordings on other dvr's in other rooms?

Also, what capabilities are gained by hooking them up to a lan? Can I view media stored on a pc that uses Windows Media Center? I have a pc next to my 60" Sony.

Thank you
Ed

[miketorse]

Regarding that "Multi Room Viewing" that feature apparently is in testing, so it will eventually be available, but not quite yet. I believe you need (someone can confirm) to have those DVR's networked in your home network to make that work, so that's one advantage of hooking them to your network.

Some other advantages would be DirecTV On Demand, and DirecTV2PC which allows you to view recordings from your DVRs on your computer.

[Spanky_Partain]

Hi
I am currently on Dish. I am considering switching to DTV to take advantage of their current offer of a free hd dvr to upgrade to hd service. I have a couple of questions though. My Dish dvr can operate on 2 tv's and each can view the same recordings.
This is a two part question.

The options of the amount of TV's that can be hooked up to one reciever is limited to the amount of outputs on the box. They all output the same thing and are all enabled at the same time.

Here is the first look thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=117744) if you want to take a look at the receivers.

Can can the HR##'s view recordings on other dvr's in other rooms?
This is a future release. This is discussed in the CE Forum (http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=118).

Also, what capabilities are gained by hooking them up to a lan? Can I view media stored on a pc that uses Windows Media Center? I have a pc next to my 60" Sony.

Thank you
Ed

This is a two part question.

Welcome to DBStalk. Have fun and ask questions if you need answers. :)

[Mertzen]

Hi
Can can the HR##'s view recordings on other dvr's in other rooms?

Nope, All the outputs are active but they can show only one program. you can't independently control another TV with it.

EDIT: Misread. In the future you can through LAN. Right now it is still in beta.

Also, what capabilities are gained by hooking them up to a lan?
You'll have access to on demand if the LAN is hooked up to high speed.
In the future there will be Multi Room Viewing, Widgets.


Can I view media stored on a pc that uses Windows Media Center? I have a pc next to my 60" Sony.

Nope, You can't feed anything into the HR20. You can however watch shows from the HRs on compatible PCs by using DirecTV2PC.

[Greg Alsobrook]

First off, :welcome_s to DBSTalk!!

Currently, the only way to watch a program from a DVR on another TV is to use a different output on the receiver and run that to another TV. This is possible because all outputs are active at all times.

Multiroom Viewing (MRV) is expected to be released at some point, but no time table has been set. This will stream the program to another compatible receiver.

You can learn about the advantages of networking your DVR here (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=149141).

[elj]

Thanks Mike
So, when you say I need to connect to lan, you mean "will need when it becomes available". Why do you need home network to view on demand? My dish doesn't use it. And does DirectTv2Pc work the other way around and allow you to view what's on your pc?

[Mertzen]

Thanks Mike
Why do you need home network to view on demand? My dish doesn't use it.

DirecTV has an On Demand system much more similar to Cable's. It gets its content of 1000s of shows over the internet.
Dish doesn't have a similar system.



And does DirectTv2Pc work the other way around and allow you to view what's on your pc?

Nope, it's a one way only system.

[elj]

Wow, I got several replies withing 5 minutes. Thanks guys. One possible solution? If I recorded something on the bedroom dvr and wanted to watch it in the living room, I could view it on my pc next to my tv and output that to the tv on monitor2. I don't suppose that there's any way to copy a file on one dvr to another and then watch it on that dvr?

[Mertzen]

If I recorded something on the bedroom dvr and wanted to watch it in the living room, I could view it on my pc next to my tv and output that to the tv on monitor2.
Yup, that would work just fine.

I don't suppose that there's any way to copy a file on one dvr to another and then watch it on that dvr?

No, the HD can't be accessed.

[Mertzen]

You can check the requirements for DirecTV2PC here:

http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/event/2008/directv2pc/enu/index.jsp

[elj]

Thanks everyone, You've been a big help. Thanks for the links to other pertinent info.

[cmtar]

Hi
I am currently on Dish. I am considering switching to DTV

Best move you can make!!!!

[Athlon646464]

Thanks Mike
So, when you say I need to connect to lan, you mean "will need when it becomes available". Why do you need home network to view on demand? My dish doesn't use it. And does DirectTv2Pc work the other way around and allow you to view what's on your pc?

TVersity will allow you to watch media streamed from your PC to your DVR. There are a few more choices as well, but TVersity works well, and is free.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=75287

That thread is a long one, and TVersity is much easier to set up now than when the thread was started. If you network your DVR's & PC's, you should be able to watch most media stored on your PC on your TV connected to your DVR.

:D

[Rich]

Thanks everyone, You've been a big help. Thanks for the links to other pertinent info.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, D* has the YES Network. They broadcast the Yankees games and are the main reason I turned to D* after that fool Jim Dolan of MSG fame, who also owns Cablevision decided not to carry YES in '02. I nearly lost what's left of my mind when that happened and called Dish, thinking that, surely, everyone else would carry YES. Wrong, another foolish Dish mistake. Join us, be happy. (After you are firmly entrenched in D*, we'll tell you about D*Hell.) :lol:

Rich