carl6
01-03-06, 11:15 PM
Moving from an R15 to an R10 – an evaluation.
There have been a great many posts from people who are used to the R10 and/or other TiVo based dvr’s who have tried the R15. Because of the differences, most have expressed varying degrees of dissatisfaction with the R15.
Well, I’m going the other direction. I have never owned or used a TiVo dvr before. I started with a pair of R15’s, and then decided to try an R10 just to see what it would be like going the opposite direction. I’ve been using my R15’s for about 5 weeks now, which is long enough to get used to them and how they work. I’ve been using the R10 for just a couple of hours at the time of this writing. Both R10 and R15 are stock, out of the box condition.
1. Installation and activation. Installation was easy and straightforward, except for the inconvenience of having to do the phone dialing setup. That was kind of screwy and is not something you have to do on the R15. Activation was a pain in the posterior, thanks to a group of clueless D* CSR’s. It took me 5 phone calls and 3 hours on the phone before the DVR functions were activated properly. When the R15 first came out, everyone had a problem getting those activated (as the process is different than the R10). Now that D* CSR’s are all used to activating R15’s, they seem to have instantly forgotten how to get an R10 going. Oh well. That’s not an issue with the R10 itself.
2. The remote. Well it certainly is different than the new standardized DTV remote, and because I am used to the DTV remote, I found the peanut to be cumbersome and unfamiliar. There has been a lot of discussion about “intuitive” operations. I don’t think either the R15 or the R10 (dvr’s or remotes) are “intuitive”. Both require learning, and what you are used to certainly influences your perception of how easy, hard, or “intuitive” the dvr or remote is. Because I have two R15’s and two D11’s that use the D* remote, I would much prefer that to the peanut. Standardization across all my equipment would be nice.
3. Mix channels. Don’t work properly on the R10. Can’t move highlight between them, select the one you want for audio, etc. They do work properly on the R15.
4. The Guide. In general, I don’t find much difference between the guide display. I rather like the small picture window where you retain live video on the R15, which isn’t present on the R10. Both offer a form of a list view which are comparable. As for the amount of information presented, the R10 has more in the basic guide view, but with the R15 if you press info you then get the same program description as is presented on the R10 (based on a quick sample of a dozen or so program listings in the guide). The R15 lets you skip forward or backward 12 hours using the red and green buttons. I have not found a way to do a large time jump like that on the R10. Overall, the R15 gets my nod for the guide.
5. Dual tuners. Both have dual tuners, and both are capable of recording two shows, or watching one and recording another. The R10 has dual live 30 minute buffers. The R15 has a single live 90 minute buffer. The R10 buffers keep going when you toggle tuners. The R15 loses its buffer the moment you go to any other display or function. The R10 gets the nod on this one. I’m not really sure how much I will use the dual buffers, but I agree it is nice to have them. And for the buffer to keep recording while you switch to the other tuner, or go to watch something that was recorded. As for 30 versus 90 minutes, I’ve never used more than about 10 minutes worth of buffer on the R15, so 30 would seem to be sufficient, at least for me.
6. Search / Find a program. I did a search for Star Trek Deep Space Nine on both dvr’s. The R15 found 16 episodes. The R10 found one episode. I thought maybe the guide had not populated yet on the R10, so I went to the applicable channel and scrolled forward in time to where the second episode was (which the R15 found but the R10 did not), and it was showing in the guide on the R10. Need to do a lot more comparing on this, but at the moment, and based on only one attempt, the R15 came out head. The process was comparable on the two machines, it was neither easier nor harder on one versus the other, but a little different. Oh yeah – the R15 kept the program going in the small window while the R10 blanked the program and audio. R15 wins on that feature.
7. Manual record. The R15 lets you specify the exact start and end time. The R10 goes in 5 minute increments. Otherwise, they both seem to allow this function. Minor edge to the R15.
8. Another comment on “intuitive”. I had to go to the index in the manual to find out where to look to find out how to get to the to-do list on the R10. I never would have stumbled onto it just using the remote. Certainly not intuitive, at least for me. Of course, the same is true for the R15, you need to RTFM to figure out how to do it. Toss up.
9. Active channel. The R15 has it. The R10 does not.
10. The real R15 faults. They are there. Primarily the first run versus repeat, and the limits on the to-do and prioritizer. So far, those have not impacted me, but I acknowledge they are real problems that need real solutions, real soon. Just for grins, I went back and read old threads on the R10 when it first came out. Guess what, it had problems too. No argument the R10 is more stable and works better on the basic tasks of recording shows, but it has had quite a while to get there. Compare the R15 in 3 or 6 months and see where we’re at. That does not excuse DirecTV for pushing it to market too soon, or forgive the problems that it has, but I think we need to look at things in the proper perspective.
11. Silly sounds. Is there a way to turn off the stupid little sounds the R10 makes when you use the remote? Very annoying.
In conclusion: I like both the R10 and the R15. Overall, I think I like the R15 a little better, as it has several features not present on the R10 that I have become used to, such as keeping the video and audio going in a window while you are in the guide or menus, etc., the mix channels, and the active channel. Now if I were going the other direction, then I would undoubtedly feel just the opposite, preferring the R10 for features it has that I was used to. At this point, I do not think the R15 deserves the very bad reputation and reviews that TiVo users are bestowing on it. I’ll update my opinion in a week or so after I’ve used the R10 further.
Carl
There have been a great many posts from people who are used to the R10 and/or other TiVo based dvr’s who have tried the R15. Because of the differences, most have expressed varying degrees of dissatisfaction with the R15.
Well, I’m going the other direction. I have never owned or used a TiVo dvr before. I started with a pair of R15’s, and then decided to try an R10 just to see what it would be like going the opposite direction. I’ve been using my R15’s for about 5 weeks now, which is long enough to get used to them and how they work. I’ve been using the R10 for just a couple of hours at the time of this writing. Both R10 and R15 are stock, out of the box condition.
1. Installation and activation. Installation was easy and straightforward, except for the inconvenience of having to do the phone dialing setup. That was kind of screwy and is not something you have to do on the R15. Activation was a pain in the posterior, thanks to a group of clueless D* CSR’s. It took me 5 phone calls and 3 hours on the phone before the DVR functions were activated properly. When the R15 first came out, everyone had a problem getting those activated (as the process is different than the R10). Now that D* CSR’s are all used to activating R15’s, they seem to have instantly forgotten how to get an R10 going. Oh well. That’s not an issue with the R10 itself.
2. The remote. Well it certainly is different than the new standardized DTV remote, and because I am used to the DTV remote, I found the peanut to be cumbersome and unfamiliar. There has been a lot of discussion about “intuitive” operations. I don’t think either the R15 or the R10 (dvr’s or remotes) are “intuitive”. Both require learning, and what you are used to certainly influences your perception of how easy, hard, or “intuitive” the dvr or remote is. Because I have two R15’s and two D11’s that use the D* remote, I would much prefer that to the peanut. Standardization across all my equipment would be nice.
3. Mix channels. Don’t work properly on the R10. Can’t move highlight between them, select the one you want for audio, etc. They do work properly on the R15.
4. The Guide. In general, I don’t find much difference between the guide display. I rather like the small picture window where you retain live video on the R15, which isn’t present on the R10. Both offer a form of a list view which are comparable. As for the amount of information presented, the R10 has more in the basic guide view, but with the R15 if you press info you then get the same program description as is presented on the R10 (based on a quick sample of a dozen or so program listings in the guide). The R15 lets you skip forward or backward 12 hours using the red and green buttons. I have not found a way to do a large time jump like that on the R10. Overall, the R15 gets my nod for the guide.
5. Dual tuners. Both have dual tuners, and both are capable of recording two shows, or watching one and recording another. The R10 has dual live 30 minute buffers. The R15 has a single live 90 minute buffer. The R10 buffers keep going when you toggle tuners. The R15 loses its buffer the moment you go to any other display or function. The R10 gets the nod on this one. I’m not really sure how much I will use the dual buffers, but I agree it is nice to have them. And for the buffer to keep recording while you switch to the other tuner, or go to watch something that was recorded. As for 30 versus 90 minutes, I’ve never used more than about 10 minutes worth of buffer on the R15, so 30 would seem to be sufficient, at least for me.
6. Search / Find a program. I did a search for Star Trek Deep Space Nine on both dvr’s. The R15 found 16 episodes. The R10 found one episode. I thought maybe the guide had not populated yet on the R10, so I went to the applicable channel and scrolled forward in time to where the second episode was (which the R15 found but the R10 did not), and it was showing in the guide on the R10. Need to do a lot more comparing on this, but at the moment, and based on only one attempt, the R15 came out head. The process was comparable on the two machines, it was neither easier nor harder on one versus the other, but a little different. Oh yeah – the R15 kept the program going in the small window while the R10 blanked the program and audio. R15 wins on that feature.
7. Manual record. The R15 lets you specify the exact start and end time. The R10 goes in 5 minute increments. Otherwise, they both seem to allow this function. Minor edge to the R15.
8. Another comment on “intuitive”. I had to go to the index in the manual to find out where to look to find out how to get to the to-do list on the R10. I never would have stumbled onto it just using the remote. Certainly not intuitive, at least for me. Of course, the same is true for the R15, you need to RTFM to figure out how to do it. Toss up.
9. Active channel. The R15 has it. The R10 does not.
10. The real R15 faults. They are there. Primarily the first run versus repeat, and the limits on the to-do and prioritizer. So far, those have not impacted me, but I acknowledge they are real problems that need real solutions, real soon. Just for grins, I went back and read old threads on the R10 when it first came out. Guess what, it had problems too. No argument the R10 is more stable and works better on the basic tasks of recording shows, but it has had quite a while to get there. Compare the R15 in 3 or 6 months and see where we’re at. That does not excuse DirecTV for pushing it to market too soon, or forgive the problems that it has, but I think we need to look at things in the proper perspective.
11. Silly sounds. Is there a way to turn off the stupid little sounds the R10 makes when you use the remote? Very annoying.
In conclusion: I like both the R10 and the R15. Overall, I think I like the R15 a little better, as it has several features not present on the R10 that I have become used to, such as keeping the video and audio going in a window while you are in the guide or menus, etc., the mix channels, and the active channel. Now if I were going the other direction, then I would undoubtedly feel just the opposite, preferring the R10 for features it has that I was used to. At this point, I do not think the R15 deserves the very bad reputation and reviews that TiVo users are bestowing on it. I’ll update my opinion in a week or so after I’ve used the R10 further.
Carl