DTivo vs. Dish PVR

[etatar]

DirecTivo vs. DishPVR
I just discovered this site, and it's great! Many thanks - I've found it very helpful.

I'm a prisoner of Cable right now, and my vcr is on the fritz. I'm mulling over choosing between DirecTivo and DishPVR. Any comments?

Here are my initial thoughts:
I like DishPVR's - programming options, music channels, PIP on the 721, free EPG, hard drive size on the 721 and 508.
I like DirecTivo's - reputation for Tivo, "season pass", pricing of the receiver.

One thing that's important to me is local weather, and I'm bummed out about losing my locals on the 8s. I know that Dish has Instant Weather on its PVR508 (right?). Is it still true that the 721 doesn't have instant weather yet? Any idea on when that's coming? Is it possible to get a DTivo receiver with instant weather?

Thanks!

[spanishannouncetable]

Check this thread -

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9680

[raj2001]

Originally posted by etatar

Here are my initial thoughts:
I like DishPVR's - programming options, music channels, PIP on the 721, free EPG, hard drive size on the 721 and 508.


The free EPG is a moot point considering you're paying $400 ore more for the 721 versus $199 for a DirecTiVo. And while you're paying a fee for TiVo, it's only $5, and in fact its free for total choice premier (highest tier) customers. It would take you more than three and a half years with a DirecTiVo before you paid the same amount you shelled out for the 721.

TiVo's hard drive can also be upgraded quite easily, so the larger drive on the 721 is not really an issue for me.

PiP is a nice feature on the 721, and I really wish we had that on TiVo.

I personally don't see the point in recording music channels since I rely on my CD's and MP3's to provide musical entertainment. But, to each his own.

The 508 has asingle tuner, while DirecTiVo is dual tuner. This means that with the 721 and TiVo you can watch one show and record another or record two shows and watch a third previously recorded. You can't do that with the 508 or 501.


One thing that's important to me is local weather, and I'm bummed out about losing my locals on the 8s. I know that Dish has Instant Weather on its PVR508 (right?). Is it still true that the 721 doesn't have instant weather yet? Any idea on when that's coming? Is it possible to get a DTivo receiver with instant weather?

There are no stock TiVo's with instant weather. People may have hacked their TiVo's to provide the weather functionality but I can't say whether recent software upgrades have rendered their hacks useless. Regular DirecTV receivers though have Wink interactive which can give you local weather. UltimateTV has MSN web access so you can get weather there too. But UltimateTV hardware is discontinued, and the service is a whopping $10/month. No thanks.

[EricG]

Where can I get info on this hack?

Originally posted by raj2001
There are no stock TiVo's with instant weather. People may have hacked their TiVo's to provide the weather functionality but I can't say whether recent software upgrades have rendered their hacks useless.

[The Old Wizard]

There are no hacks to get weather on a D-TiVo. Interactive weather is not provided at this time. Possibly DirecTV will provide this for the D-TiVos in the future. :)