[inazsully]

Having just switched from Directv's HR20 HD DVR to Dish's 722 HD DVR I wanted to share a few thoughts and get some responses from the HD DVR owners and Dish subscribers here.

First a small comparison between "Guide Pages". Directv scrolls in a descending motion while Dish defaults to a Ascending motion. Of the seven Dish owners I know, all have had me switch theirs to a Descending motion, which is also what I prefer. The four most watched cable channels are USA,TNT,SciFi and TBS (according to TV Guide). Between them they have several highly rated original shows like, "Saving Grace", The Closer", "Burn Notice", "In Plain Sight", "Stargate Atlantis", "Dr. Who", "Monk", "Psych" plus a few others. IT seems logical that viewers would like them grouped together so you can scroll through them on the same screen for viewing and recording purposes. This is the case with Directv but Dish has them scattered from 105 to 122 to 138 and 139. Very inconvenient. Maybe Dish has no choice because of Federal regulations. Directv's guide also indicates the HD status of each individual program ( ie Stargate HD) on the guide page as opposed to being in the information section with Dish.

The 722 as a unit is way more versatile than the HR20 and faster. It seems that the 722 cannot jump (recall) back and forth between recorded and live shows. The HR20 offers as an option a lighted remote, a huge plus. I love the 722 and prefer Dish over Directv so I wanted to share a few of the differences with you.

 

[Jason Nipp]

Actually your wrong on the sort.

Default on Dish is Descending (Hit factory reset and you'll see it go to descending), but you can sort ascending in the preferences menu.

 

[jclewter79]

The last time I used a D* receiver it made me flip though all the channels that were not subscribed. I am sure that their are ways to fix this but I could not figure it out. I think more than anything it is what you get used to.

 

[DishSatUser]

Had an R16 on DirecTV before I upgraded to Dish and their ViP 722. The difference to me is night in day in stability and performance.

The ViP 722 also doesn't seem to have the limitations on recordings schedules that I found with the R16 and it's "prioritizer". Whenever I tried to have more than 17 prioritizer listings, the likelyhood of successful recordings dropped on the R16.

The search feature is much better too!

 

[phrelin]

The four most watched cable channels are USA,TNT,SciFi and TBS (according to TV Guide). Between them they have several highly rated original shows like, "Saving Grace", The Closer", "Burn Notice", "In Plain Sight", "Stargate Atlantis", "Dr. Who", "Monk", "Psych" plus a few others. IT seems logical that viewers would like them grouped together so you can scroll through them on the same screen for viewing and recording purposes.

Yes, it could be better but I create a favorites list which, by not having the PIP preview screen, allows me to see seven channels at a time. It gets me results like this:

Obviously the picture above is a partial list. I group the movie channels using their 9000 numbers. It gives me a pretty good scroll system. Some even create a number of favorites lists - one for channels their regular shows watched is on, one for movies, etc.

 

[mike1977]

I'm used to the channel numbers increasing in the on-screen listing as I press the down button (like USA is highlighted, I would press down until I hit Scifi).

 

[jimborst]

I know it's what we're used to, but my parents have DirecTv and I find the channels in such a random order, of course I'm used to Dish and just can't get used to the Direct TV order.

 

[Bobham]

To JCLEWTER79:

You pressed the GUIDE button to get the list of all programs. Press again to get only the list of subscribed programs. Press again to get a list of all HD programs. Pressing the same button changes the guide view.
Hope this helps.

 

[inazsully]

I also love the several custom channel set up options. I actually have all of them in use. Besides the "all channel", "all HD", and "all sub", I have set up, "custom" "all Sports", "all movies", and "hot list" the last of which include only the channels I watch a lot. I also use "expended partial view" which gives me a list of 7 channels on the screen. What I miss about Directv's channel numbering choice is that in ascending order when I punched 241 I had SpikeHD, USAHD,SciFiHD, TNTHD, TBSHD, and FXHD all on the same screen. Those channels include over 50% of my cable channel watching. I'll get used to the differences but you have to admit, especially you guys, those channels in HD on the same screen is a sweet set up. By the way, anybody living with the descending guide, jut try switching it to ascending and see what you think. Nobody has mentioned that the 722 will not switch back and forth (recall) between live and recorded viewing. I do miss that "D" feature.

 

[purtman]

To go back and forth between live and recorded, can't you just record the show and use the one on the "recorded list" to pause and rewind?

 

[Mokanic]

Nobody has mentioned that the 722 will not switch back and forth (recall) between live and recorded viewing. I do miss that "D" feature.

Assuming you are in single mode, the PIP feature is what should be used (I'm on a 622,same machine, smaller hard drive) to do this. I just "swap" back and forth and rewind/ff to my hearts content.

 

[inazsully]

Assuming you are in single mode, the PIP feature is what should be used (I'm on a 622,same machine, smaller hard drive) to do this. I just "swap" back and forth and rewind/ff to my hearts content.

When I'm watching a movie in HD on my 60" set I do not want to watch it via PIP. Seems like a simple soft ware re-design to me. If I'm watching a recording and switch to a live show it stands to reason that if I want to switch back to something it would be to the recording. Maybe Dish just wants to be different than "D". I can accept that but I don't like it.

 

[lee635]

JMHO but I agree that once you get accustomed to each unit, you tend to compare against your preferred

 

[inazsully]

Sure, that's only natural. We do that with pretty much everything new we buy. Cars, TV's, girlfriends Oops. But, if I were going to design a new Dish DVR there are some things I would do different. How about you all? What would you design differently about Dish Networks DVR's? If we don't tell them how will they know?

 

[phrelin]

You might be interested in the thread Poll: What is your top features? which is based on a compilation of answers from the If you had one wish for a feature to be added what would it be? thread, both started by Super Moderator Ron Barry.

 

[Mokanic]

When I'm watching a movie in HD on my 60" set I do not want to watch it via PIP. Seems like a simple soft ware re-design to me. If I'm watching a recording and switch to a live show it stands to reason that if I want to switch back to something it would be to the recording. Maybe Dish just wants to be different than "D". I can accept that but I don't like it.

I apologize. My memory was wrong. I could do that between two "live" programs w/o actually having "PIP" window visible. But, not with one live and one recorded. The "PIP" windows would have to stay on the screen for that. Yes, it is annoying to have an HD movie in PIP on my three inch TV also.

Sorry for the incorrect info.