considering getting new DirecTV Tivo

[woobman]

I've been a subsriber to DircTV for many years (when Sony systems first became available...'95-96?) and have been getting along just fine with my original Sony receiver and dual LNB dish. However, over the years as I've installed systems for my friends and family I've noticed the vast improvements in the menuing and overall interface as compared to my old system (transparent menus, improved look and functionality - I noticed after hooking up my uncle's system last week even a caller ID feature?!). With the availability of a DirecTV receiver with built in Tivo, I am seriously considering upgrading especially considering the reasonable price through DirecTV as a Sunday Ticket subscriber ($79.99) My fundamental question is whether Tivo is all it's cracked up to be. Is the system stable? Does the Tivo receiver available from DirecTV have the vast improvements in the DirecTV system (menus, etc) as much as the common non-Tivo systems do? Should I make the jump? And finally, does anyone know of any super-special offers on the system that are a better price?

Many thanks!

[Steve Mehs]

Welcome to DBSTalk, woobman :hi:

By all means, yes it is worth it, the DirecTiVo is a very stable machine, with top notch software. I don’t have much experience with any other DirecTV boxes besides the TiVo, but the menus and user interface are based on the TiVo interface are radically different then the other DirecTV receivers (from what I’ve seen by watching the DirecTV Basics channel and DirecTV News). I know each manufacture of DirecTV receivers has slightly different user interface, but the TiVos is completely unique from other boxes.

The DirecTiVo does not support caller ID like a lot of the other DirecTV boxes. The DirecTiVo is also a little pokey when accessing some features and the grid style EPG fills in slower. These are just a few compromises. With a dual tuner DVR and name based recordings, you no longer have to follow the networks schedule, you can watch what you want when you want. Season Passes allow you to record all episodes of a series, excluding repeats if you want, and if the show gets changed to a different day, or there’s an extended episode TiVo will take care of it for you, you don’t have o reprogram anything like you would a VCR. You can also set up Wishlists to have TiVo record programs/movies for you that meet a set of guidelines that you set up. Such as record all Action/Adventures movies with Nick Cage.

The $80 price for a 40GB DirecTiVo is not a special price, it’s the new going rate that anyone can get at just about any DirecTV retailer. I just picked up a new Philips DSR704 DirecTiVo at Best Buy yesterday to replace an RCA DVR40 that will be kept as a back up unit. With the price being dropped from $100 to $80, combined with a $50 gift card, I went on impulse and picked it up.

[paulh]

I would assume any Tivo deal through D* would include installation (Which may be real nice if you need an additional cable installed or dish/multiswitch upgraded to use both tuners.)
Yes, the D*Tivo is not made for ideal live TV surfing, But what good does all the pretty menus and channel surfing speed matter if you still do not find anything interesting that currently on. At least with the Tivo, you'll be much more likely to have a program that you want to watch on the drive, ready to go, plus you can watch it faster as you FF through commercials on a pre-recorded show.
With 2 tuners, you can easily swap between 2 games playing at the same time (And pause, instant replay or rewind up to 30 minutes either of the 2 games) Plus you'll be able to get the Monday highlights on demand that NFL-ST has.

[jdspencer]

woobman,
Visit the TiVo Community
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/index.php?s=