View Full Version : Do you Leave it on or turn it off????
HDfreddy
12-29-06, 12:33 PM
My question for the day is this
Do you turn your HR20 off @ night or leave it on?
I was under the impression, that even if the HR20 is off it is still operational as far as recording and such goes. This morning I discovered the yellow record light was on and the unit was off, so I thought I would turn it on and see if it screwed up the recording.
This recording is one my lovely wife has been trying to get and today was not a good day.
The first time she tried to record "Sierra" we got video but no audio. Today it was working correctly and both the audio and video worked up until the time which I turned the HR20 on. The video only with no audio.
Man this thing is buggy and will hopefully get fixed.
Does anyone else have to explain to their wife why this unit is worth keeping?
Have a Great and SAFE New Years......
HDfreddy
bwaldron
12-29-06, 12:33 PM
All my DVRs stay on at all times.
bwaldron
12-29-06, 12:35 PM
Does anyone else have to explain to their wife why this unit is worth keeping?
Nah, my wife got her own dedicated plasma to go along with the DVR...so she's willing to deal with its issues and growing pains (even though she does prefer the Tivo interface).
mtnagel
12-29-06, 12:40 PM
Off at night.
And my wife doesn't watch nearly as much tv as me. When I accidentally deleted a show she watches before she could watch it, I bittorreted it, burned it to a DVD and said, here's your show :)
HDfreddy
12-29-06, 12:41 PM
Thanks for the response. It makes sense to me to leave it on, we always leave our Tivo's on. I have 2 of them and they both are awesome and flawless.
The HR is getting their, just not quite their yet.
My wife has a 62" DLP Mits and if I am nice, I get to watch it......:hurah:
HDfreddy
bonscott87
12-29-06, 12:48 PM
Well, the only way to actually turn it "off" is to unplug it.
DVRs are made to be on 24x7. Even when you put it in standby it's still on, doing all it's stuff, it just cuts the video/audio outputs.
Stuart Sweet
12-29-06, 01:02 PM
I was putting it in standby because even the power light is too bright, never mind the light ring. Since the last round of BSB's I've changed to leaving it on all the time. We'll see if it makes any difference.
off, or standby, when not in use. decreases the wear and tear on the hard drives since they dont buffer in standby. 3x hdvr2, 1xhr20.
Well, the only way to actually turn it "off" is to unplug it.
DVRs are made to be on 24x7. Even when you put it in standby it's still on, doing all it's stuff, it just cuts the video/audio outputs.
I really wish that it would shut off the audio output over the optical connection. I have the optical output connected using a splitter/combiner with my HR10-250 tivo. When I put the tivo in standby it shuts down output to the optical audio. When ever I want to watch the tivo I have to get up and pull the connection from the HR20 out because it will not shut off.
kdragos
12-29-06, 01:13 PM
My question for the day is this
Do you turn your HR20 off @ night or leave it on?
I was under the impression, that even if the HR20 is off it is still operational as far as recording and such goes. This morning I discovered the yellow record light was on and the unit was off, so I thought I would turn it on and see if it screwed up the recording.
This recording is one my lovely wife has been trying to get and today was not a good day.
The first time she tried to record "Sierra" we got video but no audio. Today it was working correctly and both the audio and video worked up until the time which I turned the HR20 on. The video only with no audio.
Man this thing is buggy and will hopefully get fixed.
Does anyone else have to explain to their wife why this unit is worth keeping?
Have a Great and SAFE New Years......
HDfreddy
Leave it on 24 X 7.
I am almost 99.9% sure they buffer in standby.
off, or standby, when not in use. decreases the wear and tear on the hard drives since they dont buffer in standby. 3x hdvr2, 1xhr20.
I leave mine on 24x7. Always do with the T* units too.
DishDog
12-29-06, 01:41 PM
On standby over night and so far so good.
Tom Robertson
12-29-06, 01:53 PM
Never put tivos in standby, only put the HR20 in the bedroom to "off" at night. The HT DVRs feed into a channelmax modulator so they can be seen from anyroom and therefore need to be on all the time.
BTW, the HR20 does not buffer after being "off" for more than 10 minutes. (Rumor has it Tivo does the same, but I've never put it into standby...)
Cheers,
Tom
Mine is always in standby unless I am actually watching something.
Tom Robertson
12-29-06, 02:25 PM
Mine is always in standby unless I am actually watching something.
Welcome to the forums, mfrost! :welcome_s
cdallennc
12-29-06, 02:30 PM
Mine is always in standby unless I am actually watching something.
ditto
bwaldron
12-29-06, 03:07 PM
off, or standby, when not in use. decreases the wear and tear on the hard drives since they dont buffer in standby. 3x hdvr2, 1xhr20.
Actually I though they buffered in standby. Anyway, I prefer to keep the drives running...more wear on them from spinning down and then back up than just going 24x7 (at least that's my belief :) ).
bonscott87
12-29-06, 03:26 PM
Actually I though they buffered in standby. Anyway, I prefer to keep the drives running...more wear on them from spinning down and then back up than just going 24x7 (at least that's my belief :) ).
That's pretty much a proven fact. There is less wear and issues with leaving a hard drive always spinning vs. spinning up and down. One reason why I never shut down my computer either.
mattfro
12-29-06, 03:33 PM
I was putting it in standby because even the power light is too bright, never mind the light ring. Since the last round of BSB's I've changed to leaving it on all the time. We'll see if it makes any difference.
What's with adjusting the brightness of the lights? I cannot adjust mine at all. Another bug?
Off.
When I use the remote's TV off, it shuts off the HR20 as well.
For the record, i have not had the Black Screen Bug. Don't know if its related.
I put mine in standby everytime I'm done watching TV. I press the off button, the TV goes off, and the DVR goes into standby mode.
petergaryr
12-29-06, 04:25 PM
Actually I though they buffered in standby. Anyway, I prefer to keep the drives running...more wear on them from spinning down and then back up than just going 24x7 (at least that's my belief :) ).
It does buffer in standby. The other week when I turned it "on", it had been tuned to USA Network. It was around 11:40 PM. They were showing an episode of House I had missed. I hit record, and sure enough, it recorded from the very beginning of the show. We watched it the next day.
houskamp
12-29-06, 04:58 PM
mx700 set to turn of everything in one shot..
gashog301
12-30-06, 01:41 AM
on 24/7
Bedroom unit: Goes to standby with the RC32RF remote - powers of TV and HR20
The eye-ring light is too bright in the bedroom.
Livng Room Unit: Stays on. I set the Harmony 880 to leave it on all the time.
We prefer to have a little extra light there.
It's all about the light. :)
HDTVsportsfan
12-30-06, 07:57 AM
Off when not in use.
paul01463
12-30-06, 08:17 AM
That's pretty much a proven fact. There is less wear and issues with leaving a hard drive always spinning vs. spinning up and down. One reason why I never shut down my computer either.
Agreed - I never shut down any piece of hard drive-equipped gear if I don't have to. All my hardware runs 24/7.
HDTVsportsfan
12-30-06, 08:22 AM
Agreed - I never shut down any piece of hard drive-equipped gear if I don't have to. All my hardware runs 24/7.
The main reason I turn my HR20's off is to reduce the heat. These things are terrible from a heat stand point. My PC's stay on 24/7.
gonzlobo
12-30-06, 09:02 AM
I leave mine on. When wifey goes to the gym at 5:00, the blue ring lights helps her navigate to the front door. :)
paul01463
12-30-06, 09:47 AM
The main reason I turn my HR20's off is to reduce the heat. These things are terrible from a heat stand point. My PC's stay on 24/7.
Interesting - all my gear is mounted in a couple of forced air cooled cabinets in an unheated area of the basement. I haven't noticed any heat-related issues. What internal temperatures are you seeing?
Coffey77
12-30-06, 09:57 AM
The main reason I turn my HR20's off is to reduce the heat. These things are terrible from a heat stand point. My PC's stay on 24/7.
One of the many arguments of either keeping your computer/hardware on is for that reason. You won't have the drastic changes in temperature by shutting it down, letting it "cool" and then reheating and heating back up - over and over. It's the change in temps that'll hurt it the most - more so an overheat of course.:)
I put it in Standby if I had to do a red button reset that day so that the Program Guide populates faster. Other then that, I generally leave it on.
I really wish that it would shut off the audio output over the optical connection. I have the optical output connected using a splitter/combiner with my HR10-250 tivo. When I put the tivo in standby it shuts down output to the optical audio. When ever I want to watch the tivo I have to get up and pull the connection from the HR20 out because it will not shut off.
I turn off monitor and stand by HR20 with that button on remote.
My optical audio outputs do also turn oof. No splitter but it does turn off.
S. DiThomas
12-30-06, 12:42 PM
Standby - both. Blue lights are blinding...Even when dimmed to 96%
HDTVsportsfan
12-30-06, 02:37 PM
Interesting - all my gear is mounted in a couple of forced air cooled cabinets in an unheated area of the basement. I haven't noticed any heat-related issues. What internal temperatures are you seeing?
My mentality on this is multi faceted.
1. I'm probably a little anal
2. I'm old school- Heat Kills
3. I have an H20, they notoriously run hot
4. At one point I had my H20 in the same cabinet w/ an HR10, Sony HT, LG DVD player, so I went out of my way to keep it cool. With those boxes in an enclosed cabinet I put a 5" 110V muffin fan in the back end of the cabinet and a laptop cooling device on top of the H20. It would pull the hot air out of the H20 out the rear of the "cooler" and the muffin fan would pull out the hot air out of the rear of the cabinet.
So, with all of that said. I now only have the HR20 and Sony HT in said cabinet. I still use the muffin fan and the laptop cooler on top of the HR20.
To answer your original question. My HR20 (right now, anyway) is running at a comfy 100 degrees even.
say-what
01-01-07, 09:48 PM
It does buffer in standby. The other week when I turned it "on", it had been tuned to USA Network. It was around 11:40 PM. They were showing an episode of House I had missed. I hit record, and sure enough, it recorded from the very beginning of the show. We watched it the next day.I thought I was going crazy b/c I just experienced the full buffer after my HR20 had been "off" for several hours. So other than turning off the lights and the outputs, turning the unit "off" really doesn't do much.
I'd really like it to stop buffering if I turn it "off" - the DirecTIVO will quit buffering when put in standby - but it doesn't always dump what's in the buffer and will rewind into what was buffered before going into standby....
sjso395
01-01-07, 10:37 PM
I keep mine in standby whenever I'm not watching it. No problems here , no reboots
Pink Fairy
01-02-07, 06:03 PM
Only time my dvr is off is at night since it is in the bedroom. Drives the husband nuts at night with that bright LED.
Other D11's in the house - mostly just off - if it is left on, usually unitentionally.
Radiation Vibe
01-02-07, 08:29 PM
Always on
Reggie3
01-02-07, 08:56 PM
Like TiVos - on 24/7 (but at least we have choice with the HR-20)
I have a Harmony 680 and I have it set to always leave the HR20 on. I also have a HR10 on the same TV (to make sure that I what I want recorded really does get recorded). I switch back and forth between the two (gives me 3 live buffers!) and having the HR20 power up and power down each time was a PITA. I've never left my 3 DirecTV TiVos in standby mode.
I put my HR20 in standby mode at night. However, it's a little disconcerting to me not to see any lights (except when it's recording). Perhaps D* could activate one of those otherwise useless blue ring lights to come on steady when it's in standby mode?
Stuart Sweet
01-03-07, 10:14 AM
I was keeping mine in standby but after two BSB's in a row, I tried keeping it "on" all the time. No BSB's since then but I noticed slower system performance after five days, and on the sixth day I got two IKD's in a row. Posters here and in the R15 forum have said for some time that resetting every couple of days might be the key to stability.
Now that history reporting is fixed and the to do list is maintained after a reset I think I might start doing this, at least until the next firmware update.
BubblePuppy
01-04-07, 08:52 AM
It does buffer in standby. The other week when I turned it "on", it had been tuned to USA Network. It was around 11:40 PM. They were showing an episode of House I had missed. I hit record, and sure enough, it recorded from the very beginning of the show. We watched it the next day.
Until your post I didn't know that the hard drive continues to buffer when the unit is put into "standby/off" which means turning it off or leaving it on has no effect on the drive just the outputs and the lights.
I now consider this a hidden feature...before I go to bed I change the channel to my local news channel and turn everything off before I go to bed, my remote is programed to turn all off. When I get up in the morning I can rewind the news to see what I missed....very cool.
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