[SteelersXL]

I am scheduled to get one of these monstrosities this week. - are they really this bad as i am reading all these horrible posts.

should i not get it or go with dish network or tivo?

you have me real worried

Joe :nono2:

 

[The Phantom Ghost]

You're mostly hearing the negative. The HR20 has been pretty great overall and it's just going to get better. I would recommend it to anyone who has patience now. Otherwise I would suggest waiting a while.

Merry Christmas
Ray

 

[litzdog911]

Don't let the posts here scare you too much. Remember, folks mostly only come here if they're having problems, so you're not seeing a representative sample of all HR20 users. Dish Network and Tivo DVRs have their issues, too. My HR20 is been very well behaved, and regular software updates continue to improve the few remaining issues.

 

[SteelersXL]

good to here some positive feedback

 

[The Phantom Ghost]

It's pretty cool with the NFLST SF package because you can keep stats on players of any game. It's a big bonus for me.

 

[techlogik]

I am scheduled to get one of these monstrosities this week. - are they really this bad as i am reading all these horrible posts.

should i not get it or go with dish network or tivo?

you have me real worried

Joe :nono2:

The negatives are way overhyped. I just upgraded my Zenith DTV1080 unit that is 5 years old HD.

I just installed and got this working after hearing all the negative. In fact, I heard so much negative I almost bought a Tivo HR10-250...glad I didn't.

Since I never had Tivo, I wouldn't know what I am missing.

I hooked it up, went through the setup, installer did a crappy job, they have to come back yet again...but anyway, I have one tuner working, forced an firmware upgrade on the unit.

It has been working fine now, recording what I tell it to, replaying back fine so far.

Menus are as fast as my Zenith unit was, just getting used to the menus and such, but overall I am impressed with the unit. It picked up on my OTA stuff after the firware update, called DTV activated the unit...all is well and picture is great.

I read so much garbage on here that maybe to some that are really picky and just used to the way Tivo was that are upset and ranting about everything.

I think DTV did a pretty good job with this thing. Yes, a few things it needs, but DTV keeps updating the firware and fixing issues and putting newer features in..so that is more than Tivo is doing.

Anyway, go for it. I bought one from a retailer on Ebay, showed up and is working fine so far.

I am happy considering what I came from.

 

[Experated]

I guess it is easy to say the negatives are exaggerated unless you have experienced them. Everything about my experience with the HR-20 has been bad from the initial purchase to being on my 3rd HR-20 box (4th is supposed to be on the way).

Best Buy on line buying was a disaster. I finally ended up cancelling my order and disputing the credit card bill. Drove 25 miles to a store and bought one.

The user interface is not very good - but I could get used to it if the darn thing was not so unstable. More resets, reboots, and reformats than I can count. Even after latest software upgrade, it is unstable and required frequent resets.

The only thing I can say on the positive side is that I have had no issues with picture quality.

But it frequently misses recordings (or says "do you want to delete?" immediately when you try to play).

It is not a DVR - the way it is working for me.

So if you have other options - I would wait for D* to figure out how to make the HR-20 reliable before buying one.

 

[Herdfan]

Seriously, if you want to record D* HD, what choice do you have?

1) HR20
2) Weaknees HR10 upgraded and very $$$ & won't record -4
3) HR10 from ebay - won't record -4

So the only choice is the HR20. Overall most experiences are not as bad as it may seem from reading posts here.

 

[solo1026]

I am scheduled to get one of these monstrosities this week. - are they really this bad as i am reading all these horrible posts.

should i not get it or go with dish network or tivo?

you have me real worried

Joe :nono2:

I have NOT had any problems with my HR20
I know some people are having problems but I would like to know the % of people with problems and the ones without problems

 

[harsh]

The HR20 has been pretty great overall and it's just going to get better.

They said similar things about the Hyundai Excel. Hyundai now makes some truly great cars, but the Excel is not among them.

There's little benefit to putting up with an HR20 unless you need it for something that only it can do. At this time, that is HD LIL and HD RSNs where available. Other than those features, there are alternatives that will tide you over.

I can only recommend the HR20 to those who fit one or more of the following criteria:

1. Have a all-consuming desire to watch a decided subset of Windows Media on their TV and can't otherwise connect their computer to the TV directly
2. Want access to HD LIL or HD RSNs that are already available in their market
3. Must retain their bleeding edge status

Advantages of other options:

1. Availability
2. Reliability
3. Purchasable (with possible avoidance of a 24 month commitment).

 

[James Thomas]

You may as well go ahead and get it. I don't know that Dish is any better and D* needs more beta testers. The HR20 is very frustrating and it makes your wife yell at you. I have had two and both have the same problems. They have improved over the last three months and hopefully it will work better in the future.

 

[SteelersXL]

wow people really hate this thing
Must be real junk

too bad
really bums me out

I'm going to cancal my order

 

[techlogik]

wow people really hate this thing
Must be real junk

too bad
really bums me out

I'm going to cancal my order

A few people are scaring you away!?!? Have fun with the alternatives...they are on a short time period, and they mostly suck...

Best HD Directv unit I have ever had. First DVR I have had, working perfect.

Good luck..

 

[mluntz]

The HR20 is very frustrating and it makes your wife yell at you.

My wife yells at me anyway!:lol:

 

[hasan]

If you get a box with problems and are going to be very unhappy (familially or otherwise) don't get one now. It's that simple. You have a significant chance of having some problems with the HR20 at this time. They could be minor, they could be severe, there is no way to predict.

I'm VERY happy with mine. Yet, one in four of the people I asked (sample size:325), were either somewhat or very dissatisfied with their HR20 as of about 3 weeks ago.

How tolerant are you, and how lucky do you feel.

If you are prepared to work through problems, some of which could be quite annoying, go for it! If not, what harm is there in waiting? I advise my non-techie friends to wait, and if they need HD, get an H20 for now, upgrade later. For myself, I wanted the HR20, I got one, and I really like it.

 

[mrshermanoaks]

It's great most of the time. Every once in awhile it will lose a show and you will be angry and post here. But most of the time it's great.

As others have said: your other HD PVR options are pretty crummy. On balance this is a pretty good one. And there's a lot of development work going on with it right now to not only fix bugs but also add new features.