trying to decide- Dish or DTV?

[bigbadmoo]

I am an existing subscriber to dish with a 721. I am moving soon and will sign up with a new account to get some freebies plus installation.
I NEED two tuner style drecording that I get with the 721, so what are my options? I don;t think I can get a 721 with dish anymore so how about dtv tivo? can you record two channels at once?

Thanks so much...

[jdspencer]

The DirecTV DVR with TiVo has dual tuners which allow you to record two DirecTV channels at the same time. And while doing that you can watch a previously recorded program. It's a good choice.

Visit the TiVo Community for more info.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=7

[TerryC]

It's a no brainer for me. The only regret I have is that I didn't make the switch in satellite providers long before I did. My DTivos were much cheaper than my 721 and they actually work. And as jdspencer said, you can record two channels at once. Or you can record one channel while watching another. It's just like the 721 in that regard.

[bbriggs]

Just a thought, I've chosen to stay a non-customer of Direct just in case I ever really need to get some serious free stuff, or E* really gets me PO. Doesn't E* have dishmover, they'll set you up for free? Why not take your 721 with you and keep your trump card for later? Maybe they'll soon have the HD Tivo as low as E* at $250.

[missileman]

I am an existing subscriber to dish with a 721. I am moving soon and will sign up with a new account to get some freebies plus installation.
I NEED two tuner style drecording that I get with the 721, so what are my options? I don;t think I can get a 721 with dish anymore so how about dtv tivo? can you record two channels at once?

Thanks so much...

The TIVO feature that I really like is the name based recording feature. The TIVO will find and record the desired program whenever it is on. It is not just a digital VCR.

[dbronstein]

I'm considering switching from Dish to Direc. One of my concerns is recording time - do they have any DirecTivos with more than 30 or 40 hours? I know they are upgradeable but I don't want to have to deal with installing a new hard drive. Also, I've heard the guide on the Tivos is painfully slow. Is that true?

Dennis

[TerryC]

I'm considering switching from Dish to Direc. One of my concerns is recording time - do they have any DirecTivos with more than 30 or 40 hours? I know they are upgradeable but I don't want to have to deal with installing a new hard drive. Also, I've heard the guide on the Tivos is painfully slow. Is that true?

Dennis I know they have 70 hour units (80 gig HDs). Possibly larger, but I'm not sure.

There are two guides to choose from. The DirecTV grid is, as you said, painfully slow. But the Tivo style guide is a good bit faster. It's still not as fast as Dish's guide but I find it tolerable and well worth the the tradeoff of not having to stay with Dish's unexceptable (IMO) DVRs.

[nsafreak]

I know they have 70 hour units (80 gig HDs). Possibly larger, but I'm not sure.

There are two guides to choose from. The DirecTV grid is, as you said, painfully slow. But the Tivo style guide is a good bit faster. It's still not as fast as Dish's guide but I find it tolerable and well worth the the tradeoff of not having to stay with Dish's unexceptable (IMO) DVRs.

As with any service that provides a luxury I always advise to go with whatever makes you happy not what the masses happen to say about one or the other. Personally I have no problem with the Dish DVRs (have a pair of 510s) and they suit my needs quite well. Would I like name based recording? Sure and I do miss it as I had it previously with my ReplayTV unit with cable. Sure I could hook up the ReplayTV unit but that'd be silly in my eyes. Hopefully Dish will add this feature to their DVRs as it's been talked about several times before. Heck for all I know it might even be mentioned with a release date in the upcoming Tech Chat. But if you need name based recording and if for whatever reason the Dish DVRs just aren't working out for you then go for DirecTV and see how they work out.

[dbronstein]

I know they have 70 hour units (80 gig HDs). Possibly larger, but I'm not sure.

There are two guides to choose from. The DirecTV grid is, as you said, painfully slow. But the Tivo style guide is a good bit faster. It's still not as fast as Dish's guide but I find it tolerable and well worth the the tradeoff of not having to stay with Dish's unexceptable (IMO) DVRs.

I'm very satisfied with my 721 and my Dish service. The main reason we're thinking of switching is my wife works for Qwest and they are now doing packages with DirecTV, and they have an employee deal. We'd save a few bucks and it would set me up to get the Sunday Ticket at some point. But I don't want to switch and find out I hate the Tivo interface.

Dennis

[nsafreak]

I'm very satisfied with my 721 and my Dish service. The main reason we're thinking of switching is my wife works for Qwest and they are now doing packages with DirecTV, and they have an employee deal. We'd save a few bucks and it would set me up to get the Sunday Ticket at some point. But I don't want to switch and find out I hate the Tivo interface.

Dennis

Perhaps you could try out a DirecTivo at a friend's house that happens to have one or pay a visit and ask to try out their store demo model. I don't have any personal experience with Tivo's DVRs, my experience is with Dish DVRs and ReplayTV units. Both have their strong points and I love the fact that the Dish DVR is dead simple to operate.

[gglockner]

I'm considering switching from Dish to Direc. One of my concerns is recording time - do they have any DirecTivos with more than 30 or 40 hours? I know they are upgradeable but I don't want to have to deal with installing a new hard drive.

This can be done in 10 minutes with a screwdriver and a pre-formatted hard drive. Check out ptvupgrade.com or weaknees.com. There is a good chance that you can find someone in your area to help with this.

I personally have upgraded a number of TiVos for myself and family members and can say that it is very easy and you don't necessarily need a lot of computer experience if you use one of the pre-formatted drives. (If you do, then there are a number of do-it-yourself guides where you use a Linux CD on your PC to prep a drive -- this can save a bit of money by using a standard hard drive).

[naqbrules]

I thinK i'm confused about name based recording. You can search the 7-9 day guide with the dish DVR, and select it for recording via timer. or am I just completely not understanding name-based recording (never played with a Tivo unit)

[LarryS]

I thinK i'm confused about name based recording. You can search the 7-9 day guide with the dish DVR, and select it for recording via timer. or am I just completely not understanding name-based recording (never played with a Tivo unit)

When you said "recording via timer", that is the key issue. In name based recording the show is tracked by name not by channel and time, so if a show is moved to another day the Tivo will change the recording to follow the show. Also it recognizes that a show has already been recorded (reruns) and can be set to record "first runs only" avoiding ast years reruns while recording the new series.

[naqbrules]

understand now thanks