First Look: DIRECTV H44 Genie Server & External HDD

Yep, other than the DirecTV logo on the top, it looks like any other 2.5" drive. I'm assuming there's something in the drivers or software that requires a DirecTV flag in order to work properly. In fact, mine is identified as a Seagate Backup Plus Portable Drive on the bottom.

 

Plus unless the phone or internet is connected to it, or you have to call DirecTV and notify them about it before it's activated, there would be no way for DirecTV to know if you added the HDD to enable the DVR functions.

 

Nope. That's what's great about this. If you have an H44 without drive and clients it charges the same as the HD receiver. Only when you buy a hard drive and activate the $15 (or $25, or $10/$10/$3 depending on when your account was active) Advanced Receiver Services do you get the DVR features enabled. If you buy a hard drive and don't have Advanced Receiver Services active it will say something like "Call DIRECTV to Activate Your Genie Lite DVR Kit"

 

Saw no mention of the Wi-Fi or USB specs, is the Wi-Fi 802.11n or ac, 2.4 and/or 5 GHz? Is the USB 2.0 or 3.0? And with respects to no ethernet port, can the an external USB-to-ethernet adapter work...?

 

It's .11abgn (so 2.4 and 5GHz)

USB 2.0.

No idea on an external USB to Ethernet adapter but I would suspect no unless one is specifically marketed by D*. It does work with a broadband DECA.

 

Bummer, no ethernet port so no built in CCK/MoCA crossover bridge like on the HR34 and HR44 for the wired CCK option.

Back to using external CCK/BB DECAs for that type of internet connection.

Nice first look though. ..


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I have a feeling that there just aren't enough homes with ethernet cables near the main receiver, i.e. Genies so they dropped the port. Wireless or CCK seems to be easier to deal with.

 

You can plug an eSATA array into a eSATAp port. Any array beyond maybe a mirror of two lower power drives will require separate power, so making eSATAp arrays is mostly pointless.

 

An SSD is not a good choice for a media drive. Whenever there are large files regularly erased and replaced, or constant recording such as a buffer, an SSD is probably not the drive of choice. They are essentially never used for that purpose professionally. Great boot drive or scratch drive for a consumer PC, but not really what you want here.

Congrats to the first look team.

And congrats to DTV for expending a lot of energy making a product that benefits....themselves. Quite obviously the motivation here is to create a one-size-fits-all product, even though ironically it does not fit a large segment of users at all. All of the benefits seem to be directed towards keeping prices down and simplifying tech support and replacement, and really not in providing any advance in quality, features, or reliability for the end users. There does not seem to be much at all here that would benefit the user beyond what is already offered, unless you consider a step backwards into a 1 TB limit to be progress. Or preventing the use of common and well-tested off-the-shelf eSATA drives.

But this is the first time they have formally embraced X drives; until now it was an "undocumented and unsupported feature", that if they did not have would have sent a lot of us to their competitors.

One genie per? I think that is merely a security issue. Security for....DTV, of course. They don't want anyone building a mini-headend out of genies and distributing it to multiple users. Same thing regarding losing recordings because the drive is married to the DVR; it supports security for...you guessed it...DTV. Always first to serve their customers, right after they serve themseives.

 

Doesn't work.

 

1 TB is more than enough for us.
I may consider going without DVR though .
Another question, is there a commitment if you active the DVRs service?

 

Carl,
I think you're spot on this impression.


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Great job on the First Look. Thanks to all the testers, I know it's not an easy job to test new equipment, but your work helps all directv customers and is greatly appreciated.

 

I would expect simply ordering the drive and activating DVR service would not trigger any committment. The H44 itself would have a two year when first activated on the system.

 

For me, the writing style added back any attack potential that leaving benchmarks out might have avoided. Actually, I'm not convinced that technical details (benchmarks or otherwise) are assailable in and of themselves. Flowery superlatives and the DIRECTV-are-freakin'-geniuses tone are indicative of a bias and that's not really what this is about.

I assume that by "different" you mean independent.

It isn't that it wasn't helpful, but I think that leaving out pictures/details of the remote and the power supply and how/whether the unit fits and works with the AM21 is a fairly serious omission as compared to the first looks of the other "truly new products".

Speaking of details, does the DIRECTV eSATAp module have mounting options?

 

It's the same remote and power brick that other units use. No need to repost that info.

 

There is a picture of the remote. It is the same peanut one DTV is using now. Also, the AM21 works fine with the H44. It is much smaller than the AM21 so it can sit on top of it if so chosen.

Hope that helps.