Best models, anyone?

[DS0816]

Hello,

I posted a few weeks ago in the DirecTV General Discussion under "Your input, please!" about my intention to buy my brother -- an existing customer -- new receivers that are DVRs. I thanks those for responding.

I was at Best Buy Saturday, Nov. 29 and was about to buy two of those $99.99 DVRs -- 35 hours' worth of recording time on each -- that are RCA and Hughes models. I wanted to buy two that are also not the same manufacturers. These, coincindentally enough, were the only two such DVRs that particular Best Buy had in stock.

My question is this: Does anyone feel passionately toward the 35-hour-recording DVRs about any particular brands worth tauting? (For example, anyone saying that I should not get one of those two -- RCA and/or Hughes -- and should be looking for, say, Sony, Philips, Samsung, et al.?)

By the way, the reason I have not bought yet is because the Best Buy employee advised me to wait at least a week in case there's any downtime between my brother opening his gift, and for the date that he would actually install possibly exceeding the 30 days after this purchase (which would incur a hefty non-activation fee onto purchasers' credit card -- mine!).

Thanks once again, folks! :)

[bonscott87]

They are all exactly the same, made in the same plant in Mexico. Just have a different name and faceplate on them. Get the one with the better warranty.

[boba]

Even the remotes are fully interchangable, RCA will operate Hughes, Hughes will operate PHILLIPS ETC. A little cosmetic difference but same unit under the skin.

[Karl Foster]

As an owner of four RCA receivers - albeit, not the Tivo models - I would have a hard time recommending them simply because the remotes on their units are not very robust. I have replaced two of them in two years time. YMMV.

[cnsf]

I think with all the HDVR2/3 and equivalents, they all have the same peanut remote, so shouldn't matter which you get.