[tnflyboy]

I have embraced the HD DVR devices since they came out. I have been patient with DirecTV through their many software releases. I got upgraded to an HR21 from an HR20 one time. It has been what, a couple of years since the first HD DVR came out? And I continue to see the box struggle with perfomrance issues.
It doenst matter with the releases, I have tried some of the CE's, the box always seems to struggle.
I am a techie guy and like to see new innovations, but I beleve we have lost sight on what we use the HD DVR for the majority of the time(99+% for me)......to watch TV (recorded, live, slipped, etc).

I continuously see jerky FF and RW. I press pause, the box doesnt stop immeadiately. I press play, another delay. I press page down in the guide, and have to wait for the screen to respond. I press list, it is slow to show my recordings. I press page down in my List, it is slow to move. It doesnt matter if I am watching a HD or SD program. Even the screen saver jerks and studders like some old outdated computer. I saw another post on here with video of their screen saver, it is exactly how mine acts. http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=136874

I have a fairly new HR21 on my main TV connected through HDMI. I see performance problems there. I have a HR20 connected through component to a plasma, it has performance problems.
I have an old RCA DirecTV/Tivo (DVR40) box that runs like a champ. Screen moves smooth, very predictable actions with FF/RW/Pause/Play.

I think the On Demand, Media Share and other extras are nice. But I think we have aquired the extras at a cost.

I guess I am looking at some validation here of my frustrations, maybe even some ideas.

 

[Redlinetire]

I guess I am looking at some validation here of my frustrations, maybe even some ideas.

My 'idea' was to give up and go to Dish. Very happy I did.

But assuming you don't want to go that route, you should probably start off by detailing your setup, listing the following:

1) Signal strengths
2) Wiring setup - including switches used, diplexers, etc.

The friendly experts here can then give some suggestions.

 

[jayerndl]

I guess I am looking at some validation here of my frustrations, maybe even some ideas.

I have been having pretty much the same experience. I have (2) HR20-700 units and the UI on both units are and have always been somewhat "sluggish". I used to try the CE every week but stopped about 6 weeks ago and both units are on the current NR. The latest issue seems to be that the units gradually become less responsive until they no longer respond to the remote or front panel. The only way out is a RB reset. After a fresh re-boot the responsiveness is acceptable but still not that great. I used to have a HR10-250 and still have (2) SD Directivos. Other than the wait time when creating a season pass the Tivo units are consistantly responsive. I have gotten used to the HR2x DVR interface/features and in some ways it better than Tivo's. Overall I'm fairly satisfied the the HR20s but I would rather see Directv expend development resources improving the responsiveness and robustness rather than adding more features at this time.

Jay

 

[Stuart Sweet]

tnflyboy,

I do think your issue is very serious and I take it very seriously. That being said, there are many others with similar setups who do not have the same issues. So, I'd like to ask for more information.

How new is your dish?
How new is your cabling?
Do you have your DVRs on surge protectors or UPS's?
What are your signal strengths like?
When you say "a long time" could you try to measure the time, like 1 second, 4 seconds, etc.?

I hope that we can work together to come up with something that sounds like it might be causing your issue. You've got two different DVRs with the same issues and it sounds like we need to look at the bigger picture.

Personally I had an R10 TiVo which is the same as your DVR40, and I understand that the trickplay was a lot better. There are some reasons for this, such as the much higher bandwidth and MPEG4 compression of the HD signal. I also understand that some TiVos had great guide performance (mine was so-so). So I am going to tell you something you don't want to hear... there are going to be some differences in performance. Why? Hard to say, but we could argue it until we're blue in the face and it will still be there.

I hope we can try to figure out whether you're having a normal level of performance for this DVR, or if you are having issues.

 

[tnflyboy]

I have gathered all the information about my setup and posted in the correct forum on here.
Here is the link:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1753714&postcount=190

HR21-700
What I noticed about the speeds are as follows:
Watching Live TV
Press guide min 3secs - max 10.3secs
Press page down in guide: min 2.3secs - max 8.4secs
Press Exit in guide: min instant - max 4.2secs

Press List: min 2.01secs - max 11.3secs
Page down: min 1.76secs - max 7secs
Press Exit: min instant - max 8secs

Press Menu: min instant - max 8secs

Watching Recorded Shows
Press Skip Forward - Start of Skip occurs: min instant - max 4 secs
Also, sometimes during Skip, may pause and doesnt skip smoothly.

I will try to gather more stats and add to this. But hope this provides some good info.