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mancow
10-26-02, 09:09 AM
I am considering an upgrade to a 50* or a stand alone TVIO, whish way should I go?
Mark Holtz
10-26-02, 10:35 AM
Which system are you on? Dish?
mancow
10-26-02, 10:45 AM
Yes am on the dish system and have two 301's wanting to get at least one 50*
scooper
10-26-02, 11:12 AM
That depends on what you want.

THe DishPVR's have the advantage of recording the bitstream as it comes off the satellite. They are also very much "just a VCR attached to a satellite receiver" - no real automation in selecting programs.

Using SA (StandAlone) Tivos with the 301 gives you the features that TiVo is known for - suggestions, etc. You can also take a SA Tivo with you if you decide to go to cable, or even to switch to D* if you want.

YOU have to decide what features you want.
Kagato
10-26-02, 12:58 PM
I used a SA Tivo with dish for some time. While I loved the Tivo interface and it's features, the artifacts you get are pretty bad. Unless I recorded in the very best mode things like the Simpsons looks bad.

I hate to tell people to move from Dish, but if you get a Tivo, get the DirecTivo, if you want to stay with Dish, their line of PVRs certainly have good PQ, but are lack luster for GUI.

I'm fairly happy with the 721 however. I wish it had the season pass feature, but the dual tuners is really really nice.
Mark Holtz
10-26-02, 05:56 PM
I would get a DishPVR 508. They have been selling them for $269 with no commitments at Costco. The only difference between the 501 and 508 is the size of the hard drive (501 has 40GB, 508 has 80GB). Basically, the 50x is a timer-based PVR (like your VCR), only with 50 timers and a lot of recording space. The 50xalso records the direct bitstream from Dish.

There is no DishTivo at this time, so what will happen is that the output of the receiver will be converted to analog, then redigitized to Digital with a corresponding generation loss. Not good.

If you really must have Tivo, then go over to DirecTV and get a DirecTivo. Like the DishPVR, the DirecTivo records the exact bitsteam from the satellite-no generation loss.
Guest
10-27-02, 11:04 AM
What's the dimension size of the PVR 508, in comparison to DirectiVo and a standalone TiVo