[perryville]

I just convereted from Dish Network to DirecTV. I'm paying about a $40/month premium to switch. So i expected that I would get something as good if not better than what I was getting from Dish. Let me also say I am converting from a 722k to a HR34 and two HD receivers. So some of the cost is the two extra boxes ($12) and the better service, HD, etc etc. so I realize that I'm getting more already.

Here are my gripes - and I'm hoping there are some people who know what I'm getting at and have solutions (maybe).

#1 - DVR recording, my HR34 is located in the basement - nobody really goes there except for 3 hours on Sunday during football games. When I go to record a series, I only want New Episodes. That was easy to set up on the 722k, but with my current setup I'm unable to do so from one of the HD STBs. Can this be accomplished on the HR34 directly? One of the other STB's?

#2 - HMC - Included on the HR34 but not accessible via the other STBs? This is a HUGE dissapointment!

#3 - Can't pause live TV etc with the STB's (I assume you can on the HR34). Somewhat of a dissapointment

#4 - Android Tablet App wont let me watch HBO/Starz/Cinemax etc. I can watch the trailers, but not the shows.

#5 - Relating back to #1. The 722k would tell you original air dates and if the upisode was airing for the first time. I don't really see that on the STB's.

I think some of these issues can be resolved by relocating the HR34 to my living room. But some of them are more systemic. I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts and comments.

 

[jimmie57]

I just convereted from Dish Network to DirecTV. I'm paying about a $40/month premium to switch. So i expected that I would get something as good if not better than what I was getting from Dish. Let me also say I am converting from a 722k to a HR34 and two HD receivers. So some of the cost is the two extra boxes ($12) and the better service, HD, etc etc. so I realize that I'm getting more already.

Here are my gripes - and I'm hoping there are some people who know what I'm getting at and have solutions (maybe).

#1 - DVR recording, my HR34 is located in the basement - nobody really goes there except for 3 hours on Sunday during football games. When I go to record a series, I only want New Episodes. That was easy to set up on the 722k, but with my current setup I'm unable to do so from one of the HD STBs. Can this be accomplished on the HR34 directly? One of the other STB's?

The Series Manager has the options you want. Several ways to get to it.
Menu, Recordings, Manage Recordings.
While on a program in the guide, click on Info, More Info. A menu will pop up on the left with Record Series as one of the options.

#2 - HMC - Included on the HR34 but not accessible via the other STBs? This is a HUGE dissapointment!
Not sure what you are asking here.

#3 - Can't pause live TV etc with the STB's (I assume you can on the HR34). Somewhat of a dissapointment
This is one of the little tricks that must be played to achieve this.
First, Start a recording of the live show you are going to watch. Then choose it from the playlist and play it. Now you can pause it. When it has been paused it can then be fast forwarded, etc.

#4 - Android Tablet App wont let me watch HBO/Starz/Cinemax etc. I can watch the trailers, but not the shows.
I do not know about this item.

#5 - Relating back to #1. The 722k would tell you original air dates and if the upisode was airing for the first time. I don't really see that on the STB's.
When on a show in most any menu or list, pressing the Info button on the remote and choose More Info will bring up the details. Most have the date of the first time this item was aired.

I think some of these issues can be resolved by relocating the HR34 to my living room. But some of them are more systemic. I'm interested to hear everyone's thoughts and comments.

It will take you several days or longer to discover all the things these units are capable of and the little "tricks" that it sometimes takes to make it happen.

 

[veryoldschool]

1. You can set recording defaults to first run only, repeats, both, and you can modify a series.
2. 
3. You would need to move to an RVU client to be able to pause live TV.
4. Can't help as I don't have one
5. As your guide data fills in, you'll see first airings shown. Might need to go to "more info"

 

[makaiguy]

#5 - Relating back to #1. The 722k would tell you original air dates and if the upisode was airing for the first time. I don't really see that on the STB's.
When on a show in most any menu or list, pressing the Info button on the remote and choose More Info will bring up the details. Most have the date of the first time this item was aired.

DirecTV subscribes to a service from Tribune for this and all the rest of the guide data. If the Tribune data includes this info, it will be displayed there. If the station does not supply the info to Tribune, or if Tribune omits it, it will be missing.

 

[lparsons21]

1. You can set recording defaults to first run only, repeats, both, and you can modify a series.
2. 
3. You would need to move to an RVU client to be able to pause live TV.
4. Can't help as I don't have one
5. As your guide data fills in, you'll see first airings shown. Might need to go to "more info"

I think he's talking about from the units other than the HMC. Can't do series management except on the box the recording is going to be made on.

Frankly I have to wonder why you would put the HMC in the least used room.

 

[veryoldschool]

I think he's talking about from the units other than the HMC. Can't do series management except on the box the recording is going to be made on.

Frankly I have to wonder why you would put the HMC in the least used room.

I removed my H25 last month, but "I seem to remember" being able to set the options of a recording or SL for a recording in my playlist.

 

[perryville]

I put the HMC in the least used room for asthetics. I think that was a mistake. #2 seems to cause a bit of confusion so please allow me to clarify. On the HR34 i get the home media center capabilities (on demand) but not on the other STBs. I was wondering if there was a way to allow this to occur.

Chances are I'll be moving the HR34 up to the living room and changing my A/V layout to accomodate.

 

[veryoldschool]

I put the HMC in the least used room for asthetics. I think that was a mistake. #2 seems to cause a bit of confusion so please allow me to clarify. On the HR34 i get the home media center capabilities (on demand) but not on the other STBs. I was wondering if there was a way to allow this to occur.

Chances are I'll be moving the HR34 up to the living room and changing my A/V layout to accomodate.

Video on Demand needs a hard drive for storage, so is only on DVRs.
Once a show is downloaded [or at least in the playlist] it can be played on non DVRs.

 

[inkahauts]

menu > Manage recordings > recording defaults, in case you don't know how to get there..

You want the c31s instead of the h25, but they won't be out for a while longer... I believe they'd fix all your questions.

 

[sdirv]

Here's the answer to #4...."Android Tablet App"...

There isn't one. The current Android apps only work on the phones, as stated on the D* website, the only tablet supported at this time is the iPad.

When you're using the Android "tablet app", do you notice the button that says "Watch on Phone". Should be hint #1.

 

[perryville]

Here's the answer to #4...."Android Tablet App"...

There isn't one. The current Android apps only work on the phones, as stated on the D* website, the only tablet supported at this time is the iPad.

When you're using the Android "tablet app", do you notice the button that says "Watch on Phone". Should be hint #1.

Seems odd to me that it would make a difference. The whole point of ICS (Android 4.0) is to unify the system. Why would the app care if it was wifi, cellular, phone or tablet? I understand your point about the hint, but at the same point in time, why does the software care?

 

[crkeehn]

Seems odd to me that it would make a difference. The whole point of ICS (Android 4.0) is to unify the system. Why would the app care if it was wifi, cellular, phone or tablet? I understand your point about the hint, but at the same point in time, why does the software care?

The previous poster was somewhat incorrect in his response in reference to tablets. Yes, the android app does state watch on your phone. That doesn't mean that the viewer won't work on a tablet. The kicker is the operating system that you are working with. The older operating systems will work fine, up through honeycomb. I have used the viewer with my LG phone and froyo and my Samsung Tablet under honeycomb. Unfortunately, it won't work with ICS or Jellybean. I was on the phone with their IT department yesterday, reporting the issue to them.

 

[sdirv]

The previous poster was somewhat incorrect in his response in reference to tablets. Yes, the android app does state watch on your phone. That doesn't mean that the viewer won't work on a tablet. The kicker is the operating system that you are working with. The older operating systems will work fine, up through honeycomb. I have used the viewer with my LG phone and froyo and my Samsung Tablet under honeycomb. Unfortunately, it won't work with ICS or Jellybean. I was on the phone with their IT department yesterday, reporting the issue to them.

Um...I didn't say the app wouldn't work on tablets, I said it was unsupported..... Also, I didn't say that "Watch on phone" meant anything in particular....I said it was a clue......

The current app works on some tablets, on others it doesn't. I've read that the hangup is the differing screen resolutions/sizes on the variety of tablets on the market.

You are somewhat incorrect ......the app works fine on my ICS Motorola phone, but not on my ICS Samsung tablet. I don't personally see the OS as the problem, or the platform....it's the app and the variety of "platforms" it's got to address.

Who's "IT Department" did you call?? Samsung???? Good luck :lol:. The people who need to fix this are DirecTV and whoever they've got writing their app. Netflix went through much the same crap.....they released their app in waves, it worked on some phone/tablets and not on others. They finally got it right though.

 

[sdirv]

Seems odd to me that it would make a difference. The whole point of ICS (Android 4.0) is to unify the system. Why would the app care if it was wifi, cellular, phone or tablet? I understand your point about the hint, but at the same point in time, why does the software care?

The software doesn't care what OS is used....doesn't care if you're on wifi, 3G, 4G. I've run the app fine on Android phones running GB and ICS, with a variety of screen sizes and resolutions, and connectivity....

The issue here is that whoever is writing the app has finished it for use on phones and not on tablets. Word I hear/read is the issue is that there's a LOT of different tablets out there and they don't all have the same screen size and/or resolution.

Until that gets ironed out, the app will continue to only be supported on phones AND the iPad. Notice I used the word "supported". Sometimes things work when they're not "supported", sometimes they don't. If they don't.....all any of us can do is either wait, or write our own code.

 

[crkeehn]

Um...I didn't say the app wouldn't work on tablets, I said it was unsupported..... Also, I didn't say that "Watch on phone" meant anything in particular....I said it was a clue......

The current app works on some tablets, on others it doesn't. I've read that the hangup is the differing screen resolutions/sizes on the variety of tablets on the market.

You are somewhat incorrect ......the app works fine on my ICS Motorola phone, but not on my ICS Samsung tablet. I don't personally see the OS as the problem, or the platform....it's the app and the variety of "platforms" it's got to address.

Who's "IT Department" did you call?? Samsung???? Good luck :lol:. The people who need to fix this are DirecTV and whoever they've got writing their app. Netflix went through much the same crap.....they released their app in waves, it worked on some phone/tablets and not on others. They finally got it right though.

DirecTV, it's their app

 

[sdirv]

DirecTV, it's their app

And what were you able to tell them about why the app fails for you???

Are DirecTV's in house programmers writing the code for the app or has it been contracted out???

I run the app every once in a while on my tablet, when it fails I select the "report" option which collects info from my tablet, then I add a message to tell them what I was doing and on which platform I was using.