I have had an HR34-700 and a H25-100 since July 2012 and it has been pretty much one disappointment after the next. I came from Dish after 10 years of "beta testing" for them (DVRs: 721, 622, 722) and now it looks as though I am doing the same for DirecTV.
I have software 0x67e and here is a list of all the issues I am having with the latest and greatest setup from DirecTV (I even waited last year to cancel my Dish service until the HR34 was available -- be careful what you wish for, I guess).
Of course, just as with Dish, the DirecTV tech support reps tell me that this is the first time they are hearing of the issues I am having *yawn*.
All issues are with the HR34, unless otherwise noted:
* Periodically loses audio when I first turn it on and needs to be rebooted to get audio back.
* Recordings will sometimes freeze the video during playback, but the audio keeps playing. after a while normal playback of both audio/video resumes.
* Recordings will sometimes freeze audio and video for about a minute or so and then resume playback at some point after the freeze, but with a missing section of the show.
* Bedroom receiver (H25) will lose contact with the HR34 during playback of a recording and both units need to be rebooted. An error will popup saying that there is no active play list or that the connection has been lost, etc. This only happens randomly and only when the FF or Skip Ahead buttons are being used on a recorded show being played back in the bedroom from the HR34 in the living room. The picture will freeze for a few seconds, at that point either it will FF/Skip Ahead or I'll get the aforementioned error message.
* Sometimes when manually entering a channel number via the remote, the numbers will appear at the top of the screen but the receiver will ignore this and stay on the original channel. It can take up to 3 tries to get it to accept the channel change. Yes, I have a direct LOS to the receiver and my batteries are fine.
* Receiver can be very sluggish to respond to commands such as scrolling playback list, channel guide or other button presses. I'm guessing this is either the software programming or most likely the choice of a CPU for this unit that can just barely run the system and nothing more (sorta like running Windows with the minimum hardware requirements -- a joke to be sure).
* When playback of a show ends, sometimes the screen and progress bar will be frozen on the screen and it takes several presses of the FF and/or Play buttons to get it to popup the menu asking if I want to delete the episode.
* Setting timers to record only first run events regularly results in multiple episodes being recorded that are a mix of first run and reruns.
The Suze Orman Show, Saturdays 9 PM on CNBC is a perfect example of this. Unless I set a Manual timer, I regularly get 5 or 6 recordings of this show per week. This also happens on other shows like the F1 Extra show on NBCSports. I just want the ONE NEW episdode per week of these shows, but this wonderful Genie insists on recording everything no matter how I set the timers. I have tried deleting the timers and setting them up from scratch, rebooting the HR34, etc., but it makes no difference.
The only workaround I have found is either setting a manual timer (I hate this option as DirecTV thinks it's a good idea to name all manual timer shows: "Manual Timer: Show Ttile", instead of just the show's title). Or, I can spend the time each week going through the To Do list and deleting all duplicate shows that it shouldn't be recording anyways.
* The HR34 regularly skips recording a show that is clearly a new episode. Honestly, I really hate this entire recording setup. There is NO indication as to why a show is not going to be recorded. If you look in the guide at a show's entry that you know you have a timer set for, DirecTV will show nothing beside that show's title when it decides it doesn't need to record it. I have to manually check the original air date or set a manual one-off timer to record the new episode that the system decided it didn't want to record. How about the record symbol beside the show with a slash through it? Dish has this part down. They show a symbol beside the show in the guide to indicate it is not going to be recorded and I can go to their version of the To Do list and select "show skipped" and this will show me EVERY show on my record list that is and is not going to be recorded via my set timers. The skipped shows tell you why they are being skipped: exists in DVR, not a new episode, not correct program title, etc.
* Receiver will record the same episode over and over again even though that same exact episode exists in the DVR already. I think this stems from my last two bullet points above.
* Many times series timers will completely ignore an episode that it should be recording when checking the To Do list and the Series Manager (will show zero upcoming events). I have to manually set a timer to get it to record the show that should be covered by the existing series timer.
* Banner is stuck on the same channel info no matter what channel it is actually tuned to. I had this happen on a Friday afternoon. The banner was stuck on my local NBC affiliate and the show title was Days of Our Lives. No matter what channel I tuned to, the banner would stay the same. A reboot fixed this issue.
After dealing with all of these issues for MONTHS, I decided to call DirecTV for about the fifth time to demand some kind of solution. The tech support rep said I had to either pay for a tech to come out or sign up for their "extended warranty" since my whopping 90 days was long up. I begrudgingly signed up for the monthly fee for the warranty. They sent a tech out and he replaced the LNB, splitter (4-way to an 8-way -- I only have the two units in the house) and he replaced the HR34 with a brand new one.
Guess what...
I have 100% of the exact same issues that I mentioned above.
My best guess, DirecTV has a major flaw in their HR34 hardware and or software. Like Dish, they will keep adding all these "wonderful" new features and ignore the underlying ugliness that even a moderate or power user experiences with these units. Sorry for the sarcasm and negativity, but I've been on this ride for over 10 years now and I had C-band satellite TV for 15 years before the small dishes took over. I've seen it and I've heard it all before.
Someone, please give me the magic fix for all of these issues -- if not for the Sunday Ticket, I'd be gone back to Dish or somewhere else (and DirecTV knows this).
The only thing I disagree on above is the font size. Other than that I agree 110%. I could go on and on, but all i will say is its shame, just a pure shame DTV cant get there act together.