[almccm]

I'm a D* user that just bought an HDTV (Samsung 52A650) and I'm considering switching to E*. I'm wondering if there are any recent converts here from E* that might give me some reasons to go with E* or maybe reasons to stay with D*.

I have had D* for almost 5 years. I haven't had a D* technician out to my house since the installation. I have had a good, strong signal with no outages nor major degradations. We don't get snow here (No. Cal.) but even on the cloudiest and rainiest days I have had great reception. I've been a Tivo user this whole time and it has been almost flawless. I got the new TV when E* announced their HD upgrades. I started looking at some reviews of the two DVRs (D* and E*) and, quite frankly, the stories I'm reading about D*s DVR are pushing me towards E*.

Based on my experiences, reading and talking to other users, I believe that D* has better programming, a more reliable signal and a better signal. Also, I like the idea of having On Demand. However, it seems that for the past 3 or 4 months there is some problem with D* DVR not recording properly. Since the main purpose of a DVR is to record stuff to view later this problem makes this DVR fairly undesirable. I don't know how many people are having this problem but, from what I have read, it seems to have popped up a few months ago and it still isn't solved. 3 or 4 months seems like a long time to have the primary function of a DVD malfunctioning.

Regarding E* I like the fact that you can add additional disk storage to the DVR and that you can use it with 2 different TVs (although only one in HD) concurrently. I know you can also record 3 concurrent programs with one coming OTA but the analog signal in my area is awful and I believe the digital will be worse so I'm sure I would never install an OTA antenna. However, everyone I know that has E* had major installation problems, several calls by E* technicians to get the installation working correctly.

I'm sure I'll have to pay something to get the service I want from either D* or E* and, of course, both want a 24 month commitment. I'm reluctant to commit to D* dut to the 3 or 4 month long DVR problem. I'm reluctant to commit to E* due to reliability and quality concerns. I'm looking for opinions from people that have experience with both of these services. I want to get HD soon so I can start enjoying this new TV.

 

[spartanstew]

You'll get varying responses to this and while those with problems certainly don't like to hear this, they're in the minority. Yes, for some reason, some members are having problems with their DVR's, but there's many more that are virtually problem free.

I would think that the same goes for Dish.

Regarding E* I like the fact that you can add additional disk storage to the DVR and that you can use it with 2 different TVs (although only one in HD) concurrently. I know you can also record 3 concurrent programs with one coming OTA but the analog signal in my area is awful and I believe the digital will be worse so I'm sure I would never install an OTA antenna. However, everyone I know that has E* had major installation problems, several calls by E* technicians to get the installation working correctly.

1. You can add additional disk space to the D* DVR too.
2. You can use it with 2 different TV's too if you use both outputs of the DVR (and have long enough cable) - both in HD. If you can't hook lines up like that, D*is working on MRV (multi-room viewing) which will allow for viewing of shows across multiple DVR's. Additionally, there's other ways around it now (I use a modulator to send my DVR programming to every TV in the house, for example).
3. You can record 3 programs on D* as well if one is OTA. EDIT: APPARENTLY THIS IS INCORRECT.

 

[dnemec123]

Perhaps you should consider that the posts describing a recording problem are getting posted due to the problem, but those of us that have had a perfectly working DVR in the same timeframe have not been posting. Make sense?

In other words, only the problems are being posted. You rarely hear or read a post that says "Hey! My DVR has been recording every show at every time that it is supposed to be!!!".

This is not to say that a problem doesn't exists. It's just that it may be limited in scope, or due to other factors specific to the users install.

IMHO, base your decision on the criteria that matters the most to you: price, content, # of HD channels, etc.

Good luck!
Dale

 

[davring]

3. You can record 3 programs on D* as well if one is OTA.

I have never been able to record more than two channels ever, even with two different HR20's on an outdoor antenna.

To the OP: go for the upgrade, over all the HR series DVR's are good capable machines.

 

[spartanstew]

I have never been able to record more than two channels ever, even with two HR20's on an outdoor antenna.

I don't have OTA, but I thought for sure I read that.

Perhaps not though. My mistake.

 

[davring]

I don't have OTA, but I thought for sure I read that.

Perhaps not though. My mistake.

I think I read that also, sometime back

 

[cartrivision]

3. You can record 3 programs on D* as well if one is OTA.

Do the HR21s with an external tuner allow that? With an HR20, you are limited to recording from a maximum of two tuners at a time no matter what the combination.

 

[say-what]

If you're worried about the reliability of the HR2x series; it's not as bad as some make it out to be. I have 4 and they all record and playback what I ask. I'm not going to tell you that people don't have problems, just that the reported problems aren't all necessarily related to the HR2x or its software. I've had one bad recording and that was way back in January 2007 - not bad if you ask me.

3. You can record 3 programs on D* as well if one is OTA.

Whether you have an HR20 or HR21/AM21 combo, you can only record 2 programs at one time - 2 OTA, or 2 Sat, or 1 OTA & 1 SAT.

 

[Rakul]

I think I read that also, sometime back

I read it as well, even think I saw something in the manual, maybe not, but I have never been able to get it to work on any of my HR2*s.

 

[say-what]

I read it as well, even think I saw something in the manual, maybe not, but I have never been able to get it to work on any of my HR2*s.

I think it was in the original manuals shipped with the HR20, but that has since been changed. It was either a misprint, or a feature that they haven't been ready to implement - either way, recording 3 programs at once is not currently supported (well, you could record any combo of 2 tuners (OTA and/or SAT) and add 1 VOD for 3 at once, but that's not what we're talking about)

 

[spartanstew]

well, you could record any combo of 2 tuners (OTA and/or SAT) and add 1 VOD for 3 at once,

Umm, yes, that's what I was talking about.

 

[say-what]

Umm, yes, that's what I was talking about.

 

[inkahauts]

I'm a D* user that just bought an HDTV (Samsung 52A650) and I'm considering switching to E*. I'm wondering if there are any recent converts here from E* that might give me some reasons to go with E* or maybe reasons to stay with D*.

I have had D* for almost 5 years. I haven't had a D* technician out to my house since the installation. I have had a good, strong signal with no outages nor major degradations. We don't get snow here (No. Cal.) but even on the cloudiest and rainiest days I have had great reception. I've been a Tivo user this whole time and it has been almost flawless. I got the new TV when E* announced their HD upgrades. I started looking at some reviews of the two DVRs (D* and E*) and, quite frankly, the stories I'm reading about D*s DVR are pushing me towards E*.

Based on my experiences, reading and talking to other users, I believe that D* has better programming, a more reliable signal and a better signal. Also, I like the idea of having On Demand. However, it seems that for the past 3 or 4 months there is some problem with D* DVR not recording properly. Since the main purpose of a DVR is to record stuff to view later this problem makes this DVR fairly undesirable. I don't know how many people are having this problem but, from what I have read, it seems to have popped up a few months ago and it still isn't solved. 3 or 4 months seems like a long time to have the primary function of a DVD malfunctioning.

Regarding E* I like the fact that you can add additional disk storage to the DVR and that you can use it with 2 different TVs (although only one in HD) concurrently. I know you can also record 3 concurrent programs with one coming OTA but the analog signal in my area is awful and I believe the digital will be worse so I'm sure I would never install an OTA antenna. However, everyone I know that has E* had major installation problems, several calls by E* technicians to get the installation working correctly.

I'm sure I'll have to pay something to get the service I want from either D* or E* and, of course, both want a 24 month commitment. I'm reluctant to commit to D* dut to the 3 or 4 month long DVR problem. I'm reluctant to commit to E* due to reliability and quality concerns. I'm looking for opinions from people that have experience with both of these services. I want to get HD soon so I can start enjoying this new TV.

Neither service is perfect, and I've seen plenty of people complain about the Dish DVRS as well as the Directv DVRs... I have 5 of them and my parents have 4 of their own and none of them miss recordings....

I believe that Directv has more exciting things coming down the pipeline in the next 6 months to a year than Dish does, in both programing and DVR capabilities, like MRV.... However, the biggest thing for me is more and more HD... and Diretcv is IMHO the leader at this point, and will be for quite sometime... You have to be careful when you look at channel counts... Dish says they have 114 right now, but if they counted the channels Directv was broadcasting the same way they do over at dish, I think Directv would be claiming over 130 or something like that....

The only difference maker in channels for you maybe be in HD LILs...

 

[Ken S]

You'll get varying responses to this and while those with problems certainly don't like to hear this, they're in the minority. Yes, for some reason, some members are having problems with their DVR's, but there's many more that are virtually problem free.

I would think that the same goes for Dish.

1. You can add additional disk space to the D* DVR too.
2. You can use it with 2 different TV's too if you use both outputs of the DVR (and have long enough cable) - both in HD. If you can't hook lines up like that, D*is working on MRV (multi-room viewing) which will allow for viewing of shows across multiple DVR's. Additionally, there's other ways around it now (I use a modulator to send my DVR programming to every TV in the house, for example).
3. You can record 3 programs on D* as well if one is OTA. EDIT: APPARENTLY THIS IS INCORRECT.

While you can use the different outputs on the HR2x series to view programming on two different TVs...it's going to be the same show. As I understand it the Dish models can send different content to each output.

The modulated programming is all SD thought...right? I used to do the same, but I didn't think there were any way to do that with HD.

 

[inkahauts]

While you can use the different outputs on the HR2x series to view programming on two different TVs...it's going to be the same show. As I understand it the Dish models can send different content to each output.

The modulated programming is all SD thought...right? I used to do the same, but I didn't think there were any way to do that with HD.

Yeah, thats what I've read too, sd only on the second output for Dish... But once we get MRV, frankly, I think Dishes viewing of multiple programs will become undesirable in comparison.

 

[Newshawk]

I'm a D* user that just bought an HDTV (Samsung 52A650) and I'm considering switching to E*. I'm wondering if there are any recent converts here from E* that might give me some reasons to go with E* or maybe reasons to stay with D*.

I've never had Dish, so I hope you'll excuse that "shortcoming."

I have had D* for almost 5 years. I haven't had a D* technician out to my house since the installation. I have had a good, strong signal with no outages nor major degradations. We don't get snow here (No. Cal.) but even on the cloudiest and rainiest days I have had great reception. I've been a Tivo user this whole time and it has been almost flawless. I got the new TV when E* announced their HD upgrades. I started looking at some reviews of the two DVRs (D* and E*) and, quite frankly, the stories I'm reading about D*s DVR are pushing me towards E*.

You are probably referring to the C|Net review of the HR20-700. That was done just a few months after its release over two years ago. Admittedly, it was very buggy at first, and many people complained. However, those were the early adopters, so there were few DVRs out in the field and it took some work to find and stamp out the bugs. Since then, the in-house DirecTV software engineers and a dedicated group of field testers at both DBSTalk.com and SatelliteGuys.us hae not only made great strides in clearing out the bugs in the HR2X series of HD DVRs but have proofed many advancements, from the revamped UI to DirecTV On Demand and DVR Scheduler-with more exciting value-added features to come. Oh, and C|Net refuses to update that review-which means to me that it appears to be very out of date by now.

Based on my experiences, reading and talking to other users, I believe that D* has better programming, a more reliable signal and a better signal. Also, I like the idea of having On Demand. However, it seems that for the past 3 or 4 months there is some problem with D* DVR not recording properly. Since the main purpose of a DVR is to record stuff to view later this problem makes this DVR fairly undesirable. I don't know how many people are having this problem but, from what I have read, it seems to have popped up a few months ago and it still isn't solved. 3 or 4 months seems like a long time to have the primary function of a DVD malfunctioning.

Now, as others have said, it is virtually impossible to know if those experiencing problems with their HR2Xs have had those problems for all that time or if it has been popping up and getting resolved over and over again during that time frame. We also cannot know how many people have had no problems with their HR2Xs. I can tell you, however, that I have an HR20-100 and two HR21-700s and that I have had no major problems with any of them. I have had some minor issues that have been resolved with resetting the affected DVR.

Also, I do know that the Dish HD DVRs have their share of issues. Spend some time looking through their forums and you'll see that.

Regarding E* I like the fact that you can add additional disk storage to the DVR and that you can use it with 2 different TVs (although only one in HD) concurrently. I know you can also record 3 concurrent programs with one coming OTA but the analog signal in my area is awful and I believe the digital will be worse so I'm sure I would never install an OTA antenna. However, everyone I know that has E* had major installation problems, several calls by E* technicians to get the installation working correctly.

In regards to the ViP722 external HDD feature, are you aware it is only an external "storage locker" for shows already recorded on your internal drive? Here's a quote from a Dish fact sheet on the external HDD:

Programs can be transferred from the internal hard drive of the receiver to an external hard drive for storage or playback. If desired, the program can be transferred from the external hard drive back to the receiver. A one-time activation fee applies.

So you have to go in to the menus and set up every time you want to move a show from the internal drive to the external drive, and to access those recordings on the external drive you have to go to a second play list:

Content transferred to the external hard drive is only listed under the USB Storage option-it is moved from the My Recordings list.

Oh, and there's a one time $40 activation fee (for the account) for the External HDD feature.

DirecTV's external HDD replaces the internal one when it is installed, but you record directly to the drive and access programs from the drive through the main play list. Also, using an external drive on a DirecTV HD DVR costs you nothing-it's already enabled.

As for the recording three channels-while the Dish DVRs can record simultaneously from both satellite tuners and the single OTA tuner, the HR2Xs can record simultaneously from any two of the four tuners (2 satellite and two OTA) PLUS the DirecTV On Demand stream!

I'm sure I'll have to pay something to get the service I want from either D* or E* and, of course, both want a 24 month commitment. I'm reluctant to commit to D* dut to the 3 or 4 month long DVR problem. I'm reluctant to commit to E* due to reliability and quality concerns. I'm looking for opinions from people that have experience with both of these services. I want to get HD soon so I can start enjoying this new TV.

One more thing to consider: At this time, DirecTV has over 95 HD channels available (although with DirecTV counting the 8 DNS, you have a potential of 87 channels) depending on the programming on your account. Beginning next Thursday, 8/14, there will be another 30 channels of HD added to the lineup. Also, at this time, DirecTV provides 6 HD local channels in the San Francisco market compared to Dish's 4.

 

[danny84]

hey bro get Directv I have Dish and is a terrible services they don’t have good channels rigth now I m traying to switch to Directv so don’t get cable or Dish. Get Directv Better programming

 

[almccm]

DirecTV's external HDD replaces the internal one when it is installed, but you record directly to the drive and access programs from the drive through the main play list. Also, using an external drive on a DirecTV HD DVR costs you nothing-it's already enabled.

I agree with most of the points you have made. I am actually a fairly happy D* customer. I know it's hard to get a feeling for how bad a particular problem is just by reading a forum. It is certainly possible that most of the people never see the problem and it's also true that the ones that do can be fairly vocal about it (usually justifiably so, it's really inconvenient to them).

I knew how E*s external drive was implemented but I haven't seen anything that said the D* had an external drive capability. In fact, when I mentioned the external drive to a D* service line guy he said that if an external was attached it would void the warranty on the DVR.

I am leaning towards sticking with D* but I do want to make sure I understand both systems before making the commitment. The responses I'm getting to this post are helping. It's only between D* and E*, I don't consider cable as an option.

 

[JLucPicard]

almccm,

Welcome to DBSTalk!!! :welcome_s

I currently have three HR20-700s, one HR20-100 and an HR21-700 with an AM21 (plus I've deactivated one HR20-700 and one HR20-100 that I own) and I would say with all of them I have missed less than a handful of recordings (and I'm sure at least one of those was my own fault!).

As has been mentioned, you will certainly see a lot of posts about people having problems, and maybe a larger number here because this sight is GREAT for getting people to help troubleshoot and resolve them.

One other thing to keep in mind, if you are a sports fan, I think the consensus is that DirecTV is the sports leader in satellite.

Best of luck with your decision!

 

[JLucPicard]

The external hard drive with DirecTV is a plug-and-play type deal and not something you need to bust into the box to implement or anything like that. I guess I've never heard anything about it voiding the warranty - it's a feature designed into the DVR so why in the world would it void the warranty??? I'm hoping the CSR is mistaken.