davring said:
To my knowledge all DirecTV branded DVR's have a live buffer when in standby.
Yes, but MOVIES NOW can destroy that buffer and they also cause problems on the R15 series as it appears that they "encroach" on the HDD space that the user is supposed to have for their exclusive use.
Numerous reports indicate that customers with the R15 product have had shows deleted by MOVIES NOW even when the "disk space meter" shows space available and they haven't added any recordings. Others with R15's report messages indicating "disk full" when trying to add new recordings when there are lots of MOVIES NOW present even though the "disk space meter" shows space available. These problems have not shown up on the R22/HR21 series. This has been reported in the appropriate forums and hopefully DirecTV is making changes to the R15 software so MOVIES NOW are transparent to customers who do not wish to view them.
For now since I have 2 R15's and don't wish to encounter these problems, I "counter program" such that MOVIES NOW are blocked because my tuners are busy recording MY shows when the MOVIES NOW are sent out. Occasionally, they slip one in but I've been pretty successful so far!
MOVIES NOW are sent beginning on Tuesday night at 10PM CDT on channel 1013 which is a "hidden" channel. The next one begins at 4AM CDT and they run until shortly after Noon CDT. This schedule continues on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. They occasionally slip one in on Saturday at 10PM CDT but Sunday is usually MOVIES NOW free. If you want to block them, program recordings creatively such that there is never a 90 minute block of time during these intervals with any tuner available. You can always delete the shows you record to block MOVIES NOW without viewing them like I do.
Good luck!!