Newbie......please help

[deffman]

I have had the Directv RCA DVR80 reciever for a while now. I have a few questions. First, when I am in the guide and select a program to record, almost every program that is recorded starts recording 1 or 2 minutes after the show has started and stops recording 1 or 2 minutes after the show is over. Kind of annoying missing the first minute or 2. Does anyone know how to change this? I have noticed with season pass shows you can set programs to record 1 minute earlier. Is this possible with non season pass shows? Next question. I have read the various posts regarding the Directv R15 and wondering is it worth getting compared to the DVR80. Also if I switch to the R15 am I going to have to pay $5.99 a month? I currently only pay $4.99. Any help is appreciated.

[Wolffpack]

This is tyically a problem with the channel/network not starting/stopping the program on the scheduled time frame. Ie: Comedy Central. Others exist.

In Season Pass you can set the start and stop times to a few minutes before and after which helps. I also believe when scheduling a manual record you can go into OPTIONS and do the same.

If you're dealing with a network that doesn't run programs to schedule you will know them and should plan your scheduling accordingly.

Tivo vs R15, I've said enough on that in other posts and defer to others. $$, I don't know.

[deffman]

I did find the option for manual recording, that is very annoying doing that to pretty much everything recorded. Also, I noticed at Bestbuy today that the R15 is free after rebate. Will that be available at Bestbuy until 2-28-06?

[Wolffpack]

Yes, manually adjusting your schedule depending on how the network plays the shows is a Royal PITA. But, If your want to catch each "South Park" show in full, you need to manually pad each end of the recordings.

All I can add to that topic is on my DTivos they automatically add 2 minutes to the beginning and end of each scheduled recording if it doesn't conflict with another scheduled recording.

Regarding the rebate, I believe you're correct. Keep in mind through that a different DVR will not change the schedule of the networks.

[deffman]

What would be nice is a general recording option for any shows to be recorded to start 2 minutes early and stop 2 minutes after the end of the show. In other words, a show that is from 7-8 records from 6:58 to 8:02. But since that isn't available I guess I will to do set each show I record manually. The only reason I would like to get the R15 is because of the larger hard drive, being able to browse 14 days ahead and the 90 minute buffer compared to the current 30 minute buffer. I guess a 30 second skip means nothing for me since I don't even know if that is available on my reciever so I probably wouldn't notice. Another thing I don't get is I read some other posts that said there was a max limit of 100 shows that can be stored. That seems stupid if those 100 shows don't fill up the hard drive space. Also, what exaclty is the RF output for? And what is RF remote?