TopCat99
01-17-04, 10:23 PM
I've been a happy D* customer for about 11 hours now :hurah: and I ran out to get a DVR after I realized how much I missed it (have/had a PVR501 with E*).
So I wandered into my local Best Buy to find an overwhelming number of choices for a TiVo: four ;) Three were on sale for $93-94 and were basically all the same judging from the shelf tags; the fourth was the same with an 80 gig HD. One was an HDVR2 and I forget the other. The one I got (sort of pushed on me by the sales guy, actually) was the Philips DSR7000R/17. Looked OK from the description and the box, so why not?
I should also note the 7000 and the HDVR2 looked identical to me. I did look at the nameplate to be sure they were different, too... ;)
Brought it home and hooked it up and called D*, then set out to finding out what every damn button and option does :D I like the TiVo features and I've already set up a few WishList items. But the rest of the interface seems, well, primitive--both in comparison to my PVR501 and the original receiver that came with my kit.
Basically it feels "clunky" to me--the guide is sorely lacking in how it can be customized as is the info screen, the guide is SLOW, there's no way to change the color scheme (I have difficulty reading the guide at times with its size and colors), there are no number-key shortcuts in the menus, no thumbnail in guide, and there doesn't appear to be a way to customize on a per-user basis.
I had the original receiver set up for the two people that would be in this room including guide customization, color schemes, etc. I don't see where you can do any of that on the DSR7000. And it was a lot easier (faster) to navigate. I also got used to a lot of those things on the E* box--which is much older--so I suppose I expected them to be "standard" on newer stuff.
Soooo the question becomes, which DVR *should* I have gotten? Which one has all the bells and whistles a nerd dreams about? :lol: And I should note I'm not looking for a huge hard drive (40 gig is fine) since it'll be retired for HD in the not-too-distant future anyway :)
And does ANY of them have a UHF remote??
So I wandered into my local Best Buy to find an overwhelming number of choices for a TiVo: four ;) Three were on sale for $93-94 and were basically all the same judging from the shelf tags; the fourth was the same with an 80 gig HD. One was an HDVR2 and I forget the other. The one I got (sort of pushed on me by the sales guy, actually) was the Philips DSR7000R/17. Looked OK from the description and the box, so why not?
I should also note the 7000 and the HDVR2 looked identical to me. I did look at the nameplate to be sure they were different, too... ;)
Brought it home and hooked it up and called D*, then set out to finding out what every damn button and option does :D I like the TiVo features and I've already set up a few WishList items. But the rest of the interface seems, well, primitive--both in comparison to my PVR501 and the original receiver that came with my kit.
Basically it feels "clunky" to me--the guide is sorely lacking in how it can be customized as is the info screen, the guide is SLOW, there's no way to change the color scheme (I have difficulty reading the guide at times with its size and colors), there are no number-key shortcuts in the menus, no thumbnail in guide, and there doesn't appear to be a way to customize on a per-user basis.
I had the original receiver set up for the two people that would be in this room including guide customization, color schemes, etc. I don't see where you can do any of that on the DSR7000. And it was a lot easier (faster) to navigate. I also got used to a lot of those things on the E* box--which is much older--so I suppose I expected them to be "standard" on newer stuff.
Soooo the question becomes, which DVR *should* I have gotten? Which one has all the bells and whistles a nerd dreams about? :lol: And I should note I'm not looking for a huge hard drive (40 gig is fine) since it'll be retired for HD in the not-too-distant future anyway :)
And does ANY of them have a UHF remote??