[tazman01]

Brand new and found this forum searching yahoo. Read a bunch of posts and looks like a good forum.

I have DirectTV and wish to get a dvr. I have the option of getting a dvr (I assume it is the R15 but the service rep wouldn't tell me what model and said they are all good). So I could get a free R15 (assumption) and $5 off service for 1 year so dvr would cost me $1/month for first year - I would have to commit to 2 years.

1. I have a dish with one leg on it hooked up to a 4 way multiswitch hooked up to 3 TV's. If I install it myself do I just need to run a wire from multiswitch to dvr room and then hook up the new wire and the existing one both to the new dvr?

2. All the bad reviews about the R15 have me worried and I wish to maybe buy an R10 as many people seem to prefer - Is the R10 2 tuner - can I tape 2, tape 1 and watch live or taped, watch taped while recording 2 new ones.

3. My current receiver allows me to have caller id display on the bottom of the TV on an incoming call - does the R10 do this?

4. Pricing - if I buy an R10 is the service still 5.99 from DTV and would I not need to commit to any years of service?

5. Where to buy an R10 - weakknees? other options/suggestions

6. Also the deal I am being offered is nice so could I buy my r10 for the main room and get the r15 (assuming the free one is an r15) for a secondary room - would I need to pay two additional 5.99 fees for the r10 + the r15 or does the 5.99 cover all dvr's. Also since I would have to run a second wire for the r15 would Directv charge me for the additional wire $5 fee or do they just charge 5 per tv - example the first set is free and each extra tv is 5.

Thanks for the help and feel free to add anything I may not have thought of.

 

[jpl]

Here's my take:

I1. I have a dish with one leg on it hooked up to a 4 way multiswitch hooked up to 3 TV's. If I install it myself do I just need to run a wire from multiswitch to dvr room and then hook up the new wire and the existing one both to the new dvr?

Yes. If you have an open output on your multiswitch, all you really need to do is set up a new line to the room with the DVR, and hook both up to the unit. I'm assuming you're replacing an existing receiver with a DVR. It's actually pretty easy to do yourself, in that case... although if you get professional installation with it...

2. All the bad reviews about the R15 have me worried and I wish to maybe buy an R10 as many people seem to prefer - Is the R10 2 tuner - can I tape 2, tape 1 and watch live or taped, watch taped while recording 2 new ones.

It really comes down to personal preference. I had a DTivo for 2 1/2 years before it died on me. I really liked it. But to be honest, I like the R15 even better (I now have 2). Then again, I haven't had many of the problems that many on here have had. I have hit some quirks, but haven't hit any show-stoppers. As for the tuners - yes, the R10 has two tuners, and can do what you described. One advantage the R10 has over the R15 is that it has dual live buffers. Meaning you can watch two live shows, flipping between the two tuners, while maintaining a buffer of both. So, say there are two shows on at the same time that sound interesting. You watch show A on tuner 1, let it go to the commercial. Flip to tuner 2, and you can rewind show B to the point where you left off. Then when THAT show hits a commercial, flip back to tuner 1, and rewind to where you left off. Because it has dual live buffers, each tuner will hold up to 30 minutes of programming (assuming you don't change channels on that tuner).

The R15 has a single live buffer (of 90 minutes) but dual tuners. Which means that, while you can't flip live shows like that, you can record two shows concurrently, while watching a third that's already been recorded. Of course, the way you get around this single live buffer limitation - just record both shows! Then, because the R15 is more integrated than the R10, you can flip between recordings.

3. My current receiver allows me to have caller id display on the bottom of the TV on an incoming call - does the R10 do this?

Not sure about the R10, but the R15 does have caller ID. My old DTivo didn't have caller id, so I'm guessing the R10 won't either. However, some have issues with the caller id on the R15 - I did/do. I have a model 500 and a model 300. Both had issues with their caller ID... and they were different issues. You're supposed to have a 25-call call log (it'll hold up to 25 calls). My 500 only had a call log of 1 or 2. And to get it to receive a new call, I had to clear out my call log - when working correctly, you shouldn't have to clear out anything -- when you excede 25 calls, it just deletes the oldest when a new call comes in. And even if I DID clear out my call log it wouldn't always work. One day, after doing a reset, my caller ID started working just fine on my 500, and has ever since.

The 300 model tends to have a different problem - one of "phantom" calls. It'll receive calls normally, but it'll also receive calls that don't exist. I'll get a pop-up telling me I'm getting a call, but the phone doesn't ring, and the number shows up as unavailable, and the date/time is really odd - Christmas Eve at 1:24 AM -- for EVERY one of these phantom calls. The problem is that I get several of these calls an hour, and it gets REAL annoying. So I shut off the caller notification on my 300 R15.

4. Pricing - if I buy an R10 is the service still 5.99 from DTV and would I not need to commit to any years of service?

If you buy a DVR outright - whether an R10 or an R15 - I don't believe the commitment period applies. And yes, the DVR fee is the same, no matter which you have.

5. Where to buy an R10 - weakknees? other options/suggestions

No idea. Although I have a co-worker who bought an R15 on e-bay. I'm sure weaknees still has R10s for sale. And there are others on this site that have bought R10s on line.

6. Also the deal I am being offered is nice so could I buy my r10 for the main room and get the r15 (assuming the free one is an r15) for a secondary room - would I need to pay two additional 5.99 fees for the r10 + the r15 or does the 5.99 cover all dvr's. Also since I would have to run a second wire for the r15 would Directv charge me for the additional wire $5 fee or do they just charge 5 per tv - example the first set is free and each extra tv is 5.

The "additional receiver fee" only applies to the receiver. So, adding that second line to go to the DVR will NOT increase that fee. I have two DVRs at home, and no other standard receivers. You don't pay per line - you pay per box. In that respect a DVR won't cause you to pay more than a standard receiver.

The DVR fee is separate, however, and runs $6 a month. The good news is that it covers ALL DVRs in your house. So if you have 4 DVRs your still just paying $6 a month. I believe that includes mix-and-match DVRs (e.g. if you have an R15 and an R10). One note on this, though. From what I understand, in order to have both an R10 and an R15, you need to make the R15 your main receiver/DVR, and your R10 as a mirrored box. If you do it the other way around, from what I understand, it doesn't work. Not sure why, or if that's changed.

 

[carl6]

Brand new and found this forum searching yahoo. Read a bunch of posts and looks like a good forum.

I have DirectTV and wish to get a dvr. I have the option of getting a dvr (I assume it is the R15 but the service rep wouldn't tell me what model and said they are all good). So I could get a free R15 (assumption) and $5 off service for 1 year so dvr would cost me $1/month for first year - I would have to commit to 2 years.

It will almost certainly be an R15. Could be anyone of three manufacturer models (100, 300, 500).

1. I have a dish with one leg on it hooked up to a 4 way multiswitch hooked up to 3 TV's. If I install it myself do I just need to run a wire from multiswitch to dvr room and then hook up the new wire and the existing one both to the new dvr?

Not sure what you mean by "one leg on it " If you have a four output multiswitch and currently are using three of the four outputs, then you should be able to run a coax from the 4th output to the second tuner input on a DVR and have it work just fine.

2. All the bad reviews about the R15 have me worried and I wish to maybe buy an R10 as many people seem to prefer - Is the R10 2 tuner - can I tape 2, tape 1 and watch live or taped, watch taped while recording 2 new ones.

The R10 is a dual tuner, dual buffer, DVR. Yes, you can tape 2, tape 1 watch 1, etc.

3. My current receiver allows me to have caller id display on the bottom of the TV on an incoming call - does the R10 do this?

No, the R10 does not support caller ID.

4. Pricing - if I buy an R10 is the service still 5.99 from DTV and would I not need to commit to any years of service?

Correct. The DVR fee is per account, not per DVR. There is also a per-receiver fee, so if you replace one of your existing receivers, then that won't increase. If you keep them all active and add a DVR, then you will also pay an additional $4.99 per month.

5. Where to buy an R10 - weakknees? other options/suggestions

Be very careful if you buy a used one. Get the receiver ID (RID) and card number and call DirecTV and verify that the unit is not on an account that is in arrears or you won't be able to activate it.

6. Also the deal I am being offered is nice so could I buy my r10 for the main room and get the r15 (assuming the free one is an r15) for a secondary room - would I need to pay two additional 5.99 fees for the r10 + the r15 or does the 5.99 cover all dvr's. Also since I would have to run a second wire for the r15 would Directv charge me for the additional wire $5 fee or do they just charge 5 per tv - example the first set is free and each extra tv is 5.

One DVR fee per account. $4.99 receiver fee for each receiver after the first one.

Thanks for the help and feel free to add anything I may not have thought of.

Welcome to DBS Talk. Feel free to ask all the questions you want.

Carl

 

[jwd45244]

Not to dismiss the problems that anyone has had, but my R15 works fine. I have recommended it to other people if they can get it free (via the DVR4U2 promo code) or cheaply.

I have an RCA-39 DirecTivo box also and prefer the interface on the R15 to the Tivo interface.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[sheridan1952]

If you're saying that only one of the feeds from the dish is going to the multiswitch, that's wrong. ALL of the feeds from the dish should go into the multiswitch, and THEN to your receivers.

 

[tazman01]

If you're saying that only one of the feeds from the dish is going to the multiswitch, that's wrong. ALL of the feeds from the dish should go into the multiswitch, and THEN to your receivers.

I guess the correct term would be single LNB, not dual or triple and the wires go to a 4 way multiswitch which then uses 3 outputs to 3 seperate receivers. So I do have one open output. Technically I can only hook up 1 DVR without replacing the multiswitch (assuming I want to replace 2 existing recievers with dual tuner dvrs) - correct? Since it is a 4 way to 3 rooms, the 4th output will make room 1 dual tuner and then I would be out of outputs unless I get a larger multiswitch - what would a larger multiswitch cost - Best Buy showed one for 150, Radioshack 130, and another site showed one for 40. Suggested place / price please.

"The DVR fee is separate, however, and runs $6 a month. The good news is that it covers ALL DVRs in your house. So if you have 4 DVRs your still just paying $6 a month. I believe that includes mix-and-match DVRs (e.g. if you have an R15 and an R10). One note on this, though. From what I understand, in order to have both an R10 and an R15, you need to make the R15 your main receiver/DVR, and your R10 as a mirrored box. If you do it the other way around, from what I understand, it doesn't work. Not sure why, or if that's changed."

I would want the r15 in a secondary room and use that to tape secondary shows so to hook it up the way you suggest all I would have to do is move the wires at the multiswitch from set 1 to set 2 and set 2 to set 1 - without rerunning the wires the set 1 on the multiswitch would now be run to a bedroom R15 and set 2 would be run to the family room R10. This would work - correct?

Thanks for the help and if anyone has suggestions I saw the R10 on weaknees and it says they are new at 299 - any other places - I don't know if I trust ebay - never used them before.

Another question - as far as I read the R10 does not do an networking and cannot be programmed via computer - is that right.

Thanks

 

[carl6]

From your dish to your multiswitch inputs you must have either TWO or FOUR coax lines. For a round dish with a single LNB housing, you need TWO lines. You must already have that, or your system would not be working properly.

Yes, you can use the 4th output the way you describe. All four outputs are identical, you can connect any output to any receiver or tuner.

You can get a 4x8 or 5x8 multiswitch online for a lot less than at a B&M store. Most any 4x8 or 5x8 will serve your purpose. I would not expect to pay more than around $50 or $60 for one.

Personally, I would go for an R15 long before I would pay $299 for an R10. But that's just me. I rather like the R15.

The only way to enable networking or other such features on an R10 is to replace a soldered chip. Check www.tivocommunity.com for further info.

Carl