would you do it again? [Archive]

soprano_777

09-27-06, 06:31 PM

Hi to all. I'm new here. Just wanted to say, I've been waitng for the HD20DVR for along time but after reading all the post from all you fine people, I'm thinking maybe I should just go back to stinken cable so please tel me should I stay with Directv ? Would you do it again with the HD20DVR? Is it worth IT!! Thanks you all for your time

Slyster

09-27-06, 06:38 PM

I Vote Worth It!

And I bet even with all us whiners.. most will agree.

stuart628

09-27-06, 06:38 PM

I have Directv for Football, that is it, if it werent for that I would be with cable....But I will say this, I am very happy with my Hr20, and think over time I will be happy with Directv as soon as new Hd comes along...but the one problem is the Mpeg4 locals, and thats where I do most of my viewing, if they cant nail those down ( and they better as they have spent millions and millions of dollars on them) then they will be hurting...so to answer your question :) yes I would do it all over again/ right now, but in the future if the mpeg4 locals are still like this (namely my ABC) then I will be gone, football, or no football! but if they get the Mpeg4 locals fixed I will be going nowhere!

by the way welcome to dbstalk!

wilbur_the_goose

09-27-06, 06:42 PM

I actually have another option coming January... Verizon FIOS.

I think DirecTV's benefit is NFL Sunday Ticket. I can't think of another advantage now that they've dumped TiVo.

My local cable is Comcast. They have lots more HD than DirecTV, plus they have the Philly RSN exclusively. Plus - they are working WITH TiVo.

FIOS is the wildcard. From what I understand, it's got the best PQ, good prices, and room to grow. Minuses - Poor DVR, no sports subscriptions (I need my NHL).

Competition is a very good thing.

Oh yeah - Dish is out there too. So is Bell Expressvu on the grey market (you pay for it, but you legally need to be in Canada to get it. I don't think it's a problem because you're paying for the service, but some folks would disagree)

hdtvfan0001

09-27-06, 07:04 PM

Would you do it again with the HD20DVR? Is it worth IT!!
ABSOLUTELY. LOVE MY HR20 DVR.
I actually have another option coming January... Verizon FIOS.
:nono:

FIOS = Forget It Operating (anytime) Soon

RedskinsForever

09-27-06, 07:35 PM

Love it and DTV. Got DTV in 2000 for nflst in one room. six years later, DTV is in my entire home with no regrets. I'm in philly market and everything about philly blows!

FireDog

09-27-06, 07:36 PM

Except for the problems with the MPEG4 locals, which I can live with until the fix is in, I'm happy I replaced my stand alone Tivo with the HR20.
I'm going to install the HDMI cable tomorow and I hope the picture is better than with the s-video cable I'm now using.

Strejcek

09-27-06, 07:39 PM

I would have to say it's worth it too. I switched out my HR10 for the HR20, and I'm very pleased with the HR20. Anxious for the OTA tuners to be activated!!

Jeremy W

09-27-06, 08:22 PM

I'm going to install the HDMI cable tomorow and I hope the picture is better than with the s-video cable I'm now using.
Does your TV not have a component input?

Sharkie_Fan

10-02-06, 09:12 PM

I'd also do it again... I LOVED my D*Tivo, but the new box is pretty nice too. A couple things here and there that I'd do different (dual live buffers, anyone!), but all in all, I'm happy with the product.

HD programming is a tad weak at this point, but they're saying that the new birds scheduled to go up next year will allow them to put in more national HD feeds. In my mind, given that they're shooting for an April launch of one new satellite, which would carry new HD programming, I'm guessing that they're pushing hard to get all the HD locals up and running by then. Perhaps not, but it would seem to make sense...

It's different than TIVO, but different isn't always bad.

brewer4

10-02-06, 09:15 PM

Do it again and again and again. Love the HR20 so far.

skierbri10

10-02-06, 09:35 PM

Cable sucks dude, I would do DTV and the HR20 again in a heartbeat. I don't miss my DTivo at all.

mjm76

10-02-06, 09:50 PM

dogface

10-02-06, 09:53 PM

I would definitely do it again. Remember you are going to always hear about the problems more often than you will the benefits of a new product from users (folks like me). Just the way the life cycle goes.

Dusty

10-02-06, 10:15 PM

I would do it again. I do have some minor promblems with my HR20, but so far nothing serious. I actually like HR20 a lot more than I thought I would. I am keeping one HR10 around to wait for OTA.

I will not go back to cable. There is no reason for me to, yet. They are leading in HD contents but not enough difference for me to tolerate Comcast. There are really only few companies that pissed me off enough for me to avoid them. Comcast ranked number two on that list.

I'd consider FIOS. The reason I hopped on HR20 now has a lot to do with FIOS. FIOS won't be operating in my area until end of 2007. I wanted to get my two year commitement started right away so when FIOS is available to me, I won't have much left. If FIOS starts carrying the Golf Channel by then, I will even consider paying DTV to get out my commitment.

Larry G

10-03-06, 05:25 AM

The HR20 is my first DVR and I love it. Maybe I'm lucky, but mine has not acted up at all. One reset in 3 weeks. I'm thinking about replacing my wifes old Hughes unit with one.

pappys

10-03-06, 07:02 AM

I would do it again. If the wife would let me, I would go buy another HDTV for the bedroom and put an HR20 in there as well.

paulman182

10-03-06, 09:19 AM

I've had one reset in the week I've had the HR20, otherwise flawless.

In this area DTV is so far above cable there is no comparison.

Jrdry

10-03-06, 10:05 AM

MercurialIN

10-03-06, 10:16 AM

My first experience with the HR 20 was when it was installed last month and an hour out of the box it was clear it was defective and another had to be ordered. Even so, I already like even the defective one better then I've ever cared about the dreadful, "mistake" aka the R 15. I recently had another HR 20 installed in place of the defective one and so far I am pleased. It is true it is an adjustment from TiVo, I had two stand alone TiVo's from the time they were first released and recently I had the HR 10-250 which I recently sent back when the HR 20 was installed. Do I miss TiVo, yes, because I loved TiVo. But D* is going away from TiVo, the HR 20 is apparently the future of D*, I like D* and want to keep them so it was necessary to let go of TiVo and make that leap into the future of DVR's with the HR 20. I'm a bit apprehensive still, but so far I'm admittedly a lot more pleased then I thought I'd be.

So if you have the chance for the HR 20 I'd go for it.

jdwatson

10-03-06, 10:23 AM

I'm trying to hang in there. There's so much potential for the H20. I wish I had been warned that this is an "early adopter" program. I might have waited a little longer. Our only TV is a Mitsubishi projection TV without HDMI or DVI. The H20 drives the DTV inputs (component connections) in such a way that the TV shuts itself off at 1040i. Mitsubishi's DTV interface doesn't have 720p so we "enjoy" 480p at best. I probably would have spent the money on a newer TV and waited until the H20 was ready for prime time.

However, if the H20 cannot reliably record the items we've schedule it will be off the set-top in a hurry. We've been with DirecTV nearly 11 years. I'm a bit disappointed with this roll-out. Up to now, they've been nearly flawless for us in the Raleigh, NC area.

Jrdry

10-03-06, 10:39 AM

Just a quick question- I'm waiting on my install, and I saw the whining going on and thought "Oh crap" but glad to hear it's still a thumbs up. Now about this Mpeg4 locals? What is the issue in a nutshell? I'm in Southern California so would I get a "National" feed and have no problem? I'm assuming the mpeg4 is for podunk locals?

I just read the answer to my question in another thread. Nice to be able to dodge the mpeg4 bullet (too bad I couldn't dodge this LA traffic)

Jeremy W

10-03-06, 02:01 PM

Nice to be able to dodge the mpeg4 bullet
What bullet would that be, exactly?

Jrdry

10-03-06, 03:02 PM

What bullet would that be, exactly?
I'm talking about the issues that people are having with the local HD. Is it not mpeg4 and is it not quite working yet? Whatever issue it is/was I am guessing I won't be affected by it with my L.A. HD feeds?

I'm back to D* after a 6 year hiatus so I'm pretty much a noob again to Sat TV.

davidord

10-03-06, 03:13 PM

I'm talking about the issues that people are having with the local HD. Is it not mpeg4 and is it not quite working yet? Whatever issue it is/was I am guessing I won't be affected by it with my L.A. HD feeds?

I'm back to D* after a 6 year hiatus so I'm pretty much a noob again to Sat TV.

I haven't had much trouble with the LA MPEG-4 feeds. The picture quality in my opinion is better than the MPEG-2 national feeds. I have had occassional pixelization, but not terrible with MPEG-4.

Jeremy W

10-03-06, 03:15 PM

I'm talking about the issues that people are having with the local HD. Is it not mpeg4 and is it not quite working yet? Whatever issue it is/was I am guessing I won't be affected by it with my L.A. HD feeds?
The MPEG4 locals are working just fine. Some markets (not LA) had encoding issues, but those have been corrected. You really want to watch and record the MPEG4 locals over the MPEG2 locals, because you'll get better PQ and smaller file size with MPEG4.

celticpride

10-03-06, 03:21 PM

JRDRY you would be o.k. with an hd-tivo and mpeg-2 in so.cal. thats what i have and can receive my network locals in HD plus the HD pack and HBO and SHOWTIME in HD plus whatever RSN HD games they televise on channel 95! p.s. cbs.nbc,abc.and fox HD are on channels 81, 83,87, and 89.

Jrdry

10-03-06, 03:26 PM

I'm getting the HR20.

I have a Harmony 676, Am I looking at a nightmare to set this remote up with the HR20?

Jeremy W

10-03-06, 03:30 PM

I have a Harmony 676, Am I looking at a nightmare to set this remote up with the HR20?
Setting it up for the HR20 will be no different than what you went through to set it up for your other devices. So if it was a nightmare before, then it'll be a nightmare now. I wouldn't consider it anything close to a nightmare, but that's just me.

EMoMoney

10-03-06, 03:34 PM

[QUOTE=stuart628;668396]but if they get the Mpeg4 locals fixed I will be going nowhere![QUOTE]
I'll be receiving my HR20 in 2 weeks, and I'm sorry if this has been answered, but I haven't seen a full explination of what the current problems with MP4 locals are. Could somebody give me a briefing?

Jeremy W

10-03-06, 03:38 PM

I haven't seen a full explination of what the current problems with MP4 locals are. Could somebody give me a briefing?
In certain markets, there were encoding issues with some channels. These have been resolved.