Direct TV R15 Review

[Baraccus]

This is my first post on this forum so I figured I'd make it worth while. I read through here and the TIVO Community forum quite a bit before deciding to buy. I was back and forth between the R10 and the R15. It seem that most of the negative feedback on the R15 had 2 underlining themes. 1. People didn't like the Direct TV DVR software and 2. Many people said it didn't record schedueled programs. I can understand not liking the software because it's different. It's not TIVO. I was prepared for that and am ready to miss certain features and hopefully like others. As far as not recording the programs, I found it a bit hard to believe. That is what it was designed to do. If it doesn't do what it's supposed to do, I'll take it back.

First off for the past 2 years I have been using a stand alone (140Hr) TIVO Series 2 with the RCA DRD435RH receiver.

I was ready to make the move because my old school receiver and the TIVO sometime had a hard time communicating. I had to run a IR remote cable from the TIVO to the front of the receiver in order to change channels. That was a pain because sometimes when changing to 3 digit channels it would change to a channel with the first 2 digits then another channel with the last digit. Example: I want to change to channel 212 (the best channel in the world :D ) and it would change to channel 21 then to channel 2. This was eaisly fixed by making sure the IR cables were in place and resetting the system. But is was a real pain if it happened while I was gone and it recorded the wrong channel. I moved this system to the bedroom.

I was a bit hesistant to go with the R15 because I have gotten used to toe TIVO and the way it works and have overall been very happy. But I figured what the heck lets try it. I just got it last night so I can only give it an initial opinion but I will update as needed.

Setup:
It was very wasy to set up. It probably only took te 30 minutes from start to finish. When I called Direct TV to avtivate they made sure everything was working including the DVR options. I had read reviews saying that people made multiple phone calls to get it running. I didn't make the call until everthing was hooked up and ready for activation.
****I did ask about the rebate and there is a 100.00 rebate and it does apply to current customers. I paid 99.00 plus tax so the unit will end up costing me 7 bucks****
I did not run 2 lines yet I need to run a new line from the Satellite. So I can't comment on the duel tuner as of yet.
The remote setup was very easy. After a few minutes I had it controlling all my components. But I don't intend on using it much because I use the Harmony 688 universal which by the way works perfectly with the R15.

Test run:
I ran through the gide which is pretty neat because it first seperates everything into catagories. All Channels, Sports, Movies Etc. I like this very much.
I flipped through some channels and it changed channels MUCH faster then my old system. I paused it and went outside for a smoke and then came back in and did some FF and RW and it too has 3 speeds that are a bit different than my old unit it'll just take some practice to skip commercials just right.
Recording shows is a breeze. You can pick channels right form the guide while your show is playing in the right hand corner. You just hit the Record button once to record and twice for a season pass. It seems way too easy. I got a season pass for Inside the NFL at I think 11pm and it did try to record a 8pm showing on another HBO channel. It may be a bug or just a setting that I need to adjust. But right on Q it recorded my show. I also set a Season pass for my wifes Soap and it recorded today just fine.
I went to the Find programs to record menu and it does seem limited. It has Title, Person,Keyword and Channel. My old TIVO seemed to have more options like movies,documentry,sports etc. I'll miss that unless I can find that somewhere on this DVR.
I checked out the VOD which was the now playing list on the TIVO and it's pretty cool because it shows you how much space you have left on the HD and you can organize it a few different ways. You can also delete more than one thing at a time. I really like this because I hade to go through 3 steps to delete one program on the TIVO. It got kinda old doing that.

So far that is all I've really done and I'm kinda hungary. I will try and update this thread in a week or so. I don't feel I can give it a educated review just yet. But so far it seems very easy to use. The features that I mentioned are pretty cool. Setup was simple. It recorded what I asked. So in summary I do like the R15 so far.

Well that's all I got...

[ansky]

Do you have your R15 connected to a phone line? I called D* and they said it must be connected to a phone line and that if it was not it would lose it's functionality. They also said if it does not dial in every night my DVR service would be automatically cancelled. Is all or any of this true? I don't have a land-based phone line so I'm looking into DVD recorders with a HD.

[lee1203]

Do you have your R15 connected to a phone line? I called D* and they said it must be connected to a phone line and that if it was not it would lose it's functionality. They also said if it does not dial in every night my DVR service would be automatically cancelled. Is all or any of this true? I don't have a land-based phone line so I'm looking into DVD recorders with a HD.
NO PHONE LINE IS NEEDED


I have had the R-15 for over a month and never need a phone line once

[fergiej]

NO PHONE LINE IS NEEDED


I have had the R-15 for over a month and never need a phone line once
Correct! Phone line is ONLY needed for PPV's with the R-15. The wonderful rep you talked to was referring to the TiVo R-10 (even if he/she didn't know it :sure: ).

I am amazed at how little comunication goes on at the DTV call centers. Apparently they just throw these people to the wolves.

[Baraccus]

Do you have your R15 connected to a phone line? I called D* and they said it must be connected to a phone line and that if it was not it would lose it's functionality. They also said if it does not dial in every night my DVR service would be automatically cancelled. Is all or any of this true? I don't have a land-based phone line so I'm looking into DVD recorders with a HD.


I do have my unit hooked up to a ph line but don't think it's necessary. My stand alone unit needed it because that is how it got its guide info and software updates. Thas was annoyig and took forever. The R15 gets it's guide info/updates from the satellite. The only reason you would need it hooked up the a ph line is to order PPV events and movies. But I think you can order those things online or by calling if you don't have it hooked up to a ph line.

It's funny though cause I asked the D TV guy on the phone and he said it needs to be hooked up to a ph line "because it dials up at night and d-frags the HD" that doesn't eve make sense.

Ok here is my conspiracy threoy....They want it hooked up cause I don't think the R15 can send info back to the satellite. I think it's only a one way information stream. So the want the ph line hooked up to receive info.
It needes to receive the PPV orders but It probably sends info on what you watch and what your recording .........THEY ARE WATCHING YOU :eek2:

[rkkeller]

They want ALL DirecTV receivers hooked to a phone line so they can monitor your "PPV charges" AND to verify that all the receivers on your account are hooked up at the "same address" thus same phone number.

Otherwise I could have one account and pay one monthly fee but have receivers at all my friends housees thus ripping DirecTV off.


Rich

[Earl Bonovich]

They are "watching you".... TiVo has been donig that knowling since the day they where released... Updating the viewing habits of it's users.... (*BTW you can opt out of that).

The common "phone" call on the TiVo units, was just that.... The other phone call (which you can't control), is for the PPV and phone number verification process.

And what the guy told you on the phone is not all that wrong. Just wrong for the R15.
That is exactly what the phone call does on the TiVo... part of it's preperation for teh phone call is "housecleaning", which it basically does an index rebuild (evenutaly), cleans-up, and kinda "d-frags"... (but the linux file system doesn't suffer the same type of fragmentation we are familiar with in the FAT/NTFS world.


There is no DirecTV reciever that can send information back over the SAT... The only ones out there are the DirectWay internet ones, and you would know if you have one as the dish is about 3 times the size of the ones that are most common amongst users.

[Baraccus]

Here is a bit of an update to my review:

The live buffer shuts down when you turn it off. I set my Harmony remote to leave the R15 on all the time. I sometimes turn on the TV and see something I like and want to go back. You can’t do that if the unit is off

The live buffer shuts off when you are watching a recorded showing. I don’t like that for the same reasons listed above.

Sometimes it reacts a bit slow to the remote, making me think it didn’t receive the command.

There is a cool activities feature that has local weather with a 5 day forecast and multiple weather maps. Not that I need a weather forecast here in Vegas….Its usually Hot with a slight chance of hot. It also has horoscopes (which I don’t really care about but it’s kinda cool). Lotto #’s from the state you specify and weather from 5 cities that you can choose. That way I call my buddy up in Seattle and go …..Man it’s raining again…again probably don’t need a forecast for that. BUT it loses the weather info if you reset the unit. That is a bit annoying. I guess it doesn’t store that info on the HD.

I also found that you can search many different categories like my TIVO unit. It’s just slightly different. You go to the Guide (hit guide twice) then hit Menu. You get a slightly different menu. Then Category sort and search from there.

This is a major flaw!!! I went to try the Manual record option which I thought would be a great option for games and stuff. You can set the DVR to record a channel for a specific amount of time. I went through the options and set it to record and as soon as it went to record, I got a message on the screen with a black back round saying I can’t watch it until it was done recording. I thought this was ridiculous so I checked out the owner’s manual and there is nothing in there about manual record. The writers of the manual were probably too embarrassed to include those details.

This is a major plus for Sunday Ticket subscribers.
If you push the red button on the remote, the screen shrinks just enough to give you all the scores, Quarter and time of all the other games. It also tells you who has the ball and if someone is in the red zone. From this screen you can also toggle around to a game and push the Green button and it gives you game stats, push it again and it give you individual stats, again and it gives you scoring plays. If you push select while a game is highlighted it goes right to that game. …..I’m in heaven this makes flipping through all the games much easier. It’s also great for fantasy stats!!!!!!!


Overall I do think it needs some bugs worked out but nothing major. Just little annoying things. I think Direct TV is on the right track and I can see some potential.

[ejohnson]

Do you have Super Fan or standard. My DVR won't be here until this week though, to bad for me regular season is over.

[Capmeister]

They are "watching you".... TiVo has been donig that knowling since the day they where released... Updating the viewing habits of it's users.... (*BTW you can opt out of that).

I've never seen anything wrong with that. Since I don't watch the al Qaeda channel, why do I care if they know what I like to watch. Maybe it will inspire them to have more channels along the same lines.

[Clint Lamor]

They don't actually know what YOU watch they only know know that someone in your areas watches these shows, how you watch and so forth. The stats are allsent anonymously.

[Earl Bonovich]

Oh I agree....

I actually WANT them to know what I watch (in "general" or specifically) because I seem to have a bad habit of liking shows that the "media" doesn't like, and thus bad mouth it so much to generate the non VCR/DVR update Neilsen ratings in a negative light.

[wohlfie]

I too have always thought it would be better if "they" knew what I watched.
The Neilsen sample always seems SO ridicoulously skewed..... I just know there had to be more people than me and a couple of my friends watching great shows (like "Sports Night") that died inglammorous deaths due to "low ratings".

And perhaps more importantly, I would like to be on record somewhere as having NEVER watched "Dancing with the Stars", etc. :)

Seriously, I suspect we are rapidly moving towards customized commercials, etc. based on knowledge of our habits, interests. Some websites already do this (I believe) and really it has been going on for years in one form or another.

Why else does Maytag care what magazines I subscribe to when registering a new appliance?

[Baraccus]

Do you have Super Fan or standard. My DVR won't be here until this week though, to bad for me regular season is over.


Yeah I just got mine too so I only got to enjoy it for 1 week. But I have just the regular Sunday Ticket. I can't see spending another 100 bucks for super fan... that is kinda BS that should all be included.

[Baraccus]

Ok Here are some updated thoughts
I will have to give the R15 a C- / 3 out of 5 stars or an OK rating

I think there is some great potential here. I like the way it's setup. I like the overall navigation through the menu.

BUT
The bottom line: You have to constantly monitor the To do list. You can never be very confidant that the R15 will record what you have setup to record.

My wife has a Series Link or "season pass" For General Hospital. I have it as Priority 1 and I never set anything to record at that time. Sometimes I look through the guide day by day and sometimes I have the R))) symbol and sometimes do not. When I check the to do list, it's not always there. It doesn't make sense. Both repeats and first run are set to record. If it's not on the to do list it doesn't record. But there is no reason it shouldn't record.

I have had many items set to record that just do not record. The General Hospital is just an example of something that I have to monitor daily. The main function of a DVR is to set something to record and know that it is going to record. I guess that I am just banking on the fact that this is some sort of software bug that should be eaisly fixed. If the R15 can do what it is designed to to than my raiting will jump leaps and bounds.

THe question I always ask myself after buying something like this is" Would I buy it again knowing what I know now" The answer is NO. It doesn't do what it is supposed to do ....BUT I do think its is fixable and I will be optimistic!!!

[zortapa]

Baraccas, Please clarify -- did your R15 in fact miss an episode of GH? If so, please document this on EBONOVIC's thread about this issue.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=49910

If, however, you are just assuming that your R15 might miss an episode because an episode of GH is not in your TODO list, then it may be because the R15 does not list all episodes in the TODO list in an attempt to keep in under the 100 item limit. More info about this can be found in the following thread:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=50062

[Bobman]

I think some of the issues with the R-15 are show dependent. I always have over 45 SL's and have never missed a recording that I am aware of. I feel very lucky this way compared to what a few others have said.

I do get duplicate recordings, occasional lockups in the to do list and/or history, small quirks in other ways but can live with that for a period if needed.

I would have a problem with the R-15 if its no better 3-4 months from now.

[zortapa]

The R15 must be better in 3-4 months because these issues need to be resolved before they can release the HR20.....

[Earl Bonovich]

The R15 must be better in 3-4 months because these issues need to be resolved before they can release the HR20.....


Ding Ding!!! 2 points

[Baraccus]

Baraccas, Please clarify -- did your R15 in fact miss an episode of GH? If so, please document this on EBONOVIC's thread about this issue.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=49910

If, however, you are just assuming that your R15 might miss an episode because an episode of GH is not in your TODO list, then it may be because the R15 does not list all episodes in the TODO list in an attempt to keep in under the 100 item limit. More info about this can be found in the following thread:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=50062


I am definately under the 100 items....Trust me there is absolutely no explination for this.
I did do a small test though.
I have it set to record as a series link. It was not on the todo listbut did have the symbol R))) I made sure I was on the channel that the show is on prior to the show starting. I gave it a few mninutes after the show started and I had no orange record light. I checked the VOD and it was not in the list like it was recording. I pushed the record button on the remote and it said "do you wish to stop recording" but it wasn't recording. But it thought it was. This may explain why when you miss showings it doesn't show up in history. So I stopped the rocording and hit the record button again and it started recording but it missed the the portion that it thought it recorded. It's like it dumped the first 10 minuted from it's memory....
I also ran another system test to make sure it new I had only 1 tuner.....It knows I only have one tuner. I thought maybe it thought it was recording on tuner that is not set up yet???

[zortapa]

Thanks for following up on this. I agree that your problem is very discouraging! In all my experience the TODO list and the R))) symbol in the guide have always been in agreement. Dare I suggest that you might have a bad unit???? I am guessing that we will get another software update in the coming week (since we got past updates on 11/15 and 12/22, another update should be right around the corner), so you might want to see if this problem continues after then next update. If so, then consider it to be defective and return it.