View Full Version : Pondering the change from Dish to Direct TV
tuckercom
09-30-04, 03:56 PM
Is there anyone in the Tulsa or OKC area that is using the HDTivo, getting the OTA's and are able to use the trick play functions (pause, record, etc.)for those OTA stations?
I'm currently using the dish 921 which I do like, but not being able to record 3 of the 4 networks from OTA is getting me frustrated. I'm getting great signal strength from all OTA stations, but I'm only able to record the FOX affiliate. Not the NBC, CBS & ABC affiliates.
Any help would be appricated.
bavaria72
09-30-04, 04:18 PM
I also am considering moving back to D* around Christmas time however I have some questions about this whole Tivo thing. Say if I purchase the HR10-250 (I currently have the E* 811) do I have to pay that Tivo fee? Never have owned a Tivo. The DVR that comes with the E* equipment is perfectly OK by me. I really don’t care if I can’t search by name or what ever. I know what I want to record and I know when it is on so really don’t care to pay a monthly fee for that option. So do I have to pay a monthly Tivo fee or can I waive it but still have have basic recording functionality? Also, since D* is dumping Tivo, what exactly are they going to do in the future regarding recording devices? I really don’t want to drop a grand on an HR10-250 with Tivo and then 3 months later D* starts putting their own DVR in them. Any word on that? Thanks - Art
D* is not "dumping" TiVo. It would appear that D* is positioning to have their own basic DVRs and TiVo being the 'deluxe' models.
I'm in the same boat of getting ready to dump E* for D*
Short answer on the Tivo fee is no, you can't not pay it, unless you have Total Choice Platinum, then it's waived. BTW, D*'s Tivo fee is $4.99, not the $12.99 for a non-D* Tivo.
What's going to happen in the future is not clear, Yes, D* is going to come out with their own PVR's but no official specs have been released on their functionality.
Art, you say you don't need Tivo but once you use name based recording you'll love it. For example, You want ER recorded, if you used a E* box and had it set to record the same date/time every week you'd have the debate tonight, not ER. Tivo knows and doesn't record anything today. Or you like Big Brother, which tends to change dates and times during it's run, no problem, Tivo knows that it changed and records it correctly.
bavaria72
09-30-04, 04:33 PM
Thanks for the info. More to ponder....
tuckercom
09-30-04, 05:47 PM
I would have to agree with RAD. I've had E* for 8 or so years. Then I moved to a new house with many trees, so I had to go to cable. I had the stand alone tivo, for use with cable and the NBR is pretty cool. I since, cleared a few trees, (couldn't stand the quality of cable) and went back to E*. I would agree Art that if you know what you want to record and when, then it's not that big a deal. But when programming changes, or like NBC will run some episode that goes 5 or 10 minutes longer, Tivo knows it, and your not missing the end. Also, like mentioned above, ER won't be on because of the debates, so it won't record it.
I would like to know if the HD10-250 has any problems with the OTA program guides, and if it does record the OTA channels. As I mentioned above, the E* 921 isn't recording 3 of 4 of my important OTA's. If the HD10-250 will, then I'm going to switch.
I would have to agree with RAD. I've had E* for 8 or so years. Then I moved to a new house with many trees, so I had to go to cable. I had the stand alone tivo, for use with cable and the NBR is pretty cool. I since, cleared a few trees, (couldn't stand the quality of cable) and went back to E*. I would agree Art that if you know what you want to record and when, then it's not that big a deal. But when programming changes, or like NBC will run some episode that goes 5 or 10 minutes longer, Tivo knows it, and your not missing the end. Also, like mentioned above, ER won't be on because of the debates, so it won't record it.
I would like to know if the HD10-250 has any problems with the OTA program guides, and if it does record the OTA channels. As I mentioned above, the E* 921 isn't recording 3 of 4 of my important OTA's. If the HD10-250 will, then I'm going to switch.
I have a HD10-250 and the OTA works fine except for one broadcaster that messes around with PSIP. They should normally be using channel 26.1 for their main station and they should be using 26.2 for another station that they own but to save costs use a subchannel. The problem is they use PSIP to remap to channels 1.1 and 1.2, which really isn't valid according to the standards so the OTA guide doesn't show programming for 1.1 and 1.2. It does show the correct programming for 26.1 and 26.2 but the HR10-250 has a problem where it's shifting up by .1 so nothing is on 26.1 and 26.2 has 26.1 program. Clear as mud???? There's a thread on this issue and other threads on the HR10-250 over at www.tivocommunity.com. I've had my box since May and except for this problem and the missing logo issue, which was fixed a week or so ago by a download, it's been fine, even the HDMI output.
tuckercom
09-30-04, 06:01 PM
[QUOTE=RAD] Clear as mud????
Yeah, I got it. Thanks for the info. I'm willing to dump E* and spend the $ if I was sure that in my area, I would have no problems with the OTA. I will wait until the next s.w. update and if it doesn't fix it and I do find out that D* would work, than I will make the change.
[QUOTE=RAD] Clear as mud????
Yeah, I got it. Thanks for the info. I'm willing to dump E* and spend the $ if I was sure that in my area, I would have no problems with the OTA. I will wait until the next s.w. update and if it doesn't fix it and I do find out that D* would work, than I will make the change.
Do you have a BestBuy/Circuit City near by where you can go try it out? I've seen te HR10-250 in the big box stores, so you can if they can tune in all your stations there before buying. If you do a self install I'd guess you could buy it, take it home and set it up without activating service and see how it tunes in. If not take it all back.
MikeHDTulsa
09-30-04, 07:27 PM
I get all the Tulsa digital channels on my HD TiVo and the guide data has been great for all the channels except for PBS but I think it is still in test mode. I had been with Dish Network for 5 years and switched to DirecTV in January and I have had my HD TiVo for at least 4 months and it has not missed a recording yet. You can pause, rewind, FF, frame by frame advance, and 30 second skip on the local HD channels just like the satellite channels and the picture looks great.
tuckercom
09-30-04, 07:51 PM
"I get all the Tulsa digital channels on my HD TiVo and the guide data has been great for all the channels except for PBS but I think it is still in test mode. I had been with Dish Network for 5 years and switched to DirecTV in January and I have had my HD TiVo for at least 4 months and it has not missed a recording yet. You can pause, rewind, FF, frame by frame advance, and 30 second skip on the local HD channels just like the satellite channels and the picture looks great."
Great! Thanks for the insight. It is comforting to know that if I make the change, that it will work. As you are probably aware, we are struggling over here at E*.
Thanks again.
bavaria72
09-30-04, 08:54 PM
Struggling is an understatement Tuckercom. Of course if D* hadn't been such jerks 16 months ago about upgrading my 6 year old equipment I wouldn't even be having this conversation. And lets not even bring up the ugly wounds regarding D* abandoning those of us who bought into their forray into terrestrial DSL (what a debacle that was.) :mad:
tuckercom
09-30-04, 09:29 PM
Do you have a BestBuy/Circuit City near by where you can go try it out? I've seen te HR10-250 in the big box stores, so you can if they can tune in all your stations there before buying. If you do a self install I'd guess you could buy it, take it home and set it up without activating service and see how it tunes in. If not take it all back.
That's a great idea. I'll go that route for now. Both Best Buy & Circuit City are here is Tulsa.
bavaria72
10-01-04, 07:09 AM
Good luck on finding one. Neither the BB or CC in Frisco (North Dallas) have them in stock. they say they are on back order. Perhaps you will have better luck than me.
Good luck on finding one. Neither the BB or CC in Frisco (North Dallas) have them in stock. they say they are on back order. Perhaps you will have better luck than me.
The BB by me had 15 to 20 out on shelves the last time I was there a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised to see so many there on the shelves.
rpope02
10-01-04, 11:25 AM
No problems here from OKC, or my parents in Tulsa. We are able to record with no problem. I do know what you are talking about though becuase I did get a 921 to try and was not able to record OTA. E said it should be fixed in October with a software upgrade..I took it back, why send 1k on something that doesn't work. By the way, get rid of the flag! Go Pokes!
tuckercom
10-01-04, 02:19 PM
By the way, get rid of the flag! Go Pokes!
Great, an aggie. Well, thanks for your input. I think that I will make the change. I have seen a handful around here that isn't having any OTA problems with the HD10-250. Wish I had gone that route first.
I would have to agree with RAD. I've had E* for 8 or so years. Then I moved to a new house with many trees, so I had to go to cable. I had the stand alone tivo, for use with cable and the NBR is pretty cool. I since, cleared a few trees, (couldn't stand the quality of cable) and went back to E*. I would agree Art that if you know what you want to record and when, then it's not that big a deal. But when programming changes, or like NBC will run some episode that goes 5 or 10 minutes longer, Tivo knows it, and your not missing the end. Also, like mentioned above, ER won't be on because of the debates, so it won't record it.
I would like to know if the HD10-250 has any problems with the OTA program guides, and if it does record the OTA channels. As I mentioned above, the E* 921 isn't recording 3 of 4 of my important OTA's. If the HD10-250 will, then I'm going to switch.
Hmmmmmmmmm..............I currently have D* (for nine years now - switching to E* this coming Weds. local channels issue) and a Sony Series 1 stand alone TiVo - it ALWAYS misses the ending if a program runs long - unless I safeguard and manually add minutes - and ALWAYS misses a "double run" such as when Will & Grace runs a double episode (set to record via Season Pass) it always misses the second episode immediately following the first. Is this a problem with a series one TiVo or a bug??
tuckercom
10-01-04, 08:40 PM
That's a new one to me. I never experienced that kind of problem. I had Tivo for 6 mths and I don't recall that ever happening.
Alan Keith
10-02-04, 03:21 PM
That's a great idea. I'll go that route for now. Both Best Buy & Circuit City are here is Tulsa.
I can save you some time shopping since our BB does not have a Directv working in the store and CC does not have any HDTIVO's is stock. They both seem to be clueless about what it takes to sell something.
MikeHDTulsa
10-02-04, 08:17 PM
I ordered mine from Ultimate Electronics in Tulsa and I do not think they are stocking them yet. You might want to wait for them to have a 10% off sale and then just order it from them then. You could call the Oklahoma city BB, Circuit City, or Ultimate Electronics and see if any of them are stocking it yet. I would have just bought mine online but at that time I could not pass up the delivery date they were quoting. Have fun looking for your new toy.
tuckercom
10-02-04, 09:54 PM
Thanks for all the info. I wll probably order online as I have checked with BB & CC which do not carry them in their store. I will check with Ultimate Electronics also. From everything I have read/researched, I REALLY wished I'd gone the D* route from day one.
bavaria72
10-04-04, 01:01 PM
Went and checked the BB in Plano and Mesquite. Both stores did not have the HR10-250 and the snotty pimply face kid in Plano glared at me like I was stupid and said that they were on back ordered and they probably wouldn't get any more in until after the first of the year....
tuckercom
10-04-04, 09:48 PM
Well I have ordered my hr10-250 from BB and it will be here Wednesday. I'm slowly going to make the leap to D*. I still have to get the dish and other SD tivo receivers to replace my E* receivers, so I'm cautiously optimistic about the change.
MikeHDTulsa, you have given me hope here in Tulsa. If I have problems, I'm coming after you!! :D
bavaria72
10-05-04, 07:59 AM
Just checked BB's web site. They say they have it in stock and available for shipment (1 to 2 days), $999.99. Hmmm, I don't have a balance on my BB store credit card......(I can hear my wife screaming form here!) :sure:
tuckercom
10-05-04, 08:07 AM
Hmmm, I don't have a balance on my BB store credit card......(I can hear my wife screaming form here!) :sure:
That's exactly my thoughts.
freakedout
10-05-04, 04:10 PM
That's exactly my thoughts.
Especially with the over $299.00 24 months no interest financing.
It's Looking real good and I have not even bought my hdtv yet.
John
MikeHDTulsa
10-05-04, 09:45 PM
Tuckercom,
Call DirecTV and tell them you are thinking of switching from Dish Network and see if they can give you some account credits to offset the cost of the HD DVR. I have heard of them giving a none DVR HD receiver to a Dish Network customer to get them to switch over and thats worth about $299.00 but if your not so lucky you should be able to get about a $150.00 credit if you can find the right CSR. I think you will be glad you made the switch to DirecTV I know I use the dual tuners all the time which is a great step up from the Dish Network 508.
tuckercom
10-06-04, 07:40 AM
Tuckercom,
Call DirecTV and tell them you are thinking of switching from Dish Network and see if they can give you some account credits to offset the cost of the HD DVR. I have heard of them giving a none DVR HD receiver to a Dish Network customer to get them to switch over and thats worth about $299.00 but if your not so lucky you should be able to get about a $150.00 credit if you can find the right CSR. I think you will be glad you made the switch to DirecTV I know I use the dual tuners all the time which is a great step up from the Dish Network 508.
I will do that. I have to replace two other receivers, a dish 508 & 311, plus the dish. I wanted to get the HR10-250 in my hands first via BB which is being delivered today. Then I will work on DirecTV for credits for getting additional receivers. Thanks for the info.
bavaria72
10-07-04, 11:52 AM
I called Directv and, unfortunately, my name is still in their database. I was told to "inquire about the options available for our former customers wanting to reconnect..." Oh well. I'll start working on the wife this weekend about switching. This should take about 2 months...... :rolleyes:
tuckercom
10-07-04, 09:16 PM
The BB by me had 15 to 20 out on shelves the last time I was there a couple of weeks ago. I was surprised to see so many there on the shelves.
You mentioned that BB has them in stock. Are you in Dallas? I got mine delivered from BB yesterday, and it appeared to have been opened and then resealed. I'm sending it back but I will be traveling to Dallas this weekend and thought if you had seen them in stock, I would buy it when I'm in town.
Now that I'm working again, my Dishplayer is on borrowed time. Starting to save up for the D* HDTiVo setup.
bavaria72
10-08-04, 09:23 PM
Hey Tuckercom. Well drive save making that drive south. No, there are no receivers down here. Looks like the BB web site is the only option. Beat the hell outta t.u.....
MikeHDTulsa
10-10-04, 06:47 PM
The Best Buy in Tulsa finally received their first HD TiVo's I was in there today and they had two of them on the shelf. Tuckercom if you hurry down there you might be able to get one and they still have the factory seal on the box.
tuckercom
10-11-04, 01:18 PM
The Best Buy in Tulsa finally received their first HD TiVo's I was in there today and they had two of them on the shelf. Tuckercom if you hurry down there you might be able to get one and they still have the factory seal on the box.
Hey, thanks for the tip. I went there this morning and got one of the two they had left. I will be sending the first one back to BB Tuesday.
Bavaria72- thanks also for the heads up in Dallas. I didn't even worry about it once I got down there. Game was great.
bavaria72
10-11-04, 04:11 PM
No sweat. Now as long as you don't do that well against A&M!....(wishful thinking!)
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