[Stuart Sweet]

DIRECTV's HR34 is a great DVR with 5 HD tuners that allow it to record anything, anytime. Dish's Hopper has 3 fulltime tuners but one of them is used during primetime to record 4 shows at once.

Not only that, Hopper's clients give full DVR functionality, while using H-series receivers as clients doesn't allow you to pause live TV.

There are plusses and minuses to both, so I'd like to know --

What does DIRECTV need to do to be the unquestioned king of the hill in this fight? Or are they already?

 

[RunnerFL]

I think they already are. I'm not at all impressed with Hopper/Joey.

 

[RAD]

Not completly there since DIRECTV doesn't have an RVU client available yet. Without it you can't pause live TV on secondary sets unless they also have a HD DVR or you first start a recording on the HR34 and then play that back. You also don't have centralized ToDo list management with the current implementation. Plus from what reports I've seen the Hopper/Joey's UI performance is VERY quick while the HR34's is lacking in that regard.

What to do:

- Get RVU clients out there. Both dedicated DIRECTV STB's, like the rumored C30, and more CE manufactures to get the client implemented in their TV's.
- Implement ToDo/recording management on the HR34 from all STB's.
- Allow for the use of USB memory sticks on the HD STB's so they can do pausing of live programming. But even doing this means that these STB's wouldn't have all features available to them like Pandora and YouTube unless code is added to allow them to access these services via the HR34.
- Improve performance.
- Allow for archival of recordings to a USB (or SATA) drive that can be used on other HR 34's. With a 1TB drive folks will have a bunch of recordings on them and if a HR34 dies they loose them all. With Dish you can copy them to an external drive and then access the recordings on other STB's on the same account.

 

[Mike Bertelson]

I certainly think they should.

A DIRECTV commercial comparing the HR34’s capabilities to Hopper/Joey would be some very good press...maybe even steal some new subs who are considering moving for Hopper. I’m just sayin’ :grin:

Mike

 

[dpeters11]

To me, the HR34 beats Hopper in functionality. Personally, I don't think Dish's commercials are clear enough about recording 6 things. But then there are inaccuracies in DirecTVs MRV ads.

 

[sigma1914]

Sign deals for network On Demand in HD.

 

[MikeW]

I would be very interested to see the speed of the Hopper/Joey. I know this has become an increasingly frustrating piece of my DVR experience. I'd also like to see how well the boxes perform when viewing shows in multiple rooms. I haven't kept up with the comments from actual users, but I think "snapiness" is important.

PTAT is quite a compelling feature, as is the slingplayer aspect.

For me...

1) Speed
2) Re-do of Nomad (too time consuming to manage)
3) Finish up on DLNA...allow any video to stream, not just TS.
4) Allow streaming through game devices such as XBox, PS3
5) Allow users to scan for local channels not currently available with AM21

 

[paulman182]

I can't really suggest anything because, to me, recording all prime time network shows is akin to collecting all the garbage in the neighborhood and taking it home--who cares if you have it all, it's still garbage.

I think it is another case of Dish aiming for those with mundane tastes while DirecTV caters to those who are more selective.

 

[Laxguy]

I certainly think they should.

A DIRECTV commercial comparing the HR34's capabilities to Hopper/Joey would be some very good press...maybe even steal some new subs who are considering moving for Hopper. I'm just sayin' :grin:

Yes, along with a few improvements in speed.

Personally, I have no interest in recording massive quantities of network drivel just to be able to go back and pull out the gems I've "missed".

At CES, the joey was running very hot, and just didn't look like a substantial piece of equipment, but then, I could be biased.

 

[Indiana627]

Increase/remove the Series Link limit. If you were to record all of primetime, I'm sure that would be more than 50 links, or at least close to it leaving little room for non-primetime links. (I don't have an HR34 but I believe it has the 50 series link limit. If not, please disregard this post.)

 

[RAD]

Increase/remove the Series Link limit. If you were to record all of primetime, I'm sure that would be more than 50 links, or at least close to it leaving little room for non-primetime links. (I don't have an HR34 but I believe it has the 50 series link limit. If not, please disregard this post.)

HR34's limit is 100 SL's, not 50.

 

[Chuck W]

DIRECTV's HR34 is a great DVR with 5 HD tuners that allow it to record anything, anytime. Dish's Hopper has 3 fulltime tuners but one of them is used during primetime to record 4 shows at once.

Not only that, Hopper's clients give full DVR functionality, while using H-series receivers as clients doesn't allow you to pause live TV.

There are plusses and minuses to both, so I'd like to know --

What does DIRECTV need to do to be the unquestioned king of the hill in this fight? Or are they already?

I don't think there is much at this point Directv needs to do(minus cleaning up their software for speed and bugs).

About the only thing that would be nice if it the Hxx series receivers had a option as to how to communicate with the HR34.

1) Simply communicate with the HR34 and use it's own tuner as it does now, thus no DVR functionality but also not tyng up an HR34 tuner

OR

2) Having an option to attach itself to the HR34 and use up one of the HR34's tuner BUT allows for DVR functionality.

 

[denpri]

I don't think there is much at this point Directv needs to do(minus cleaning up their software for speed and bugs).

About the only thing that would be nice if it the Hxx series receivers had a option as to how to communicate with the HR34.

1) Simply communicate with the HR34 and use it's own tuner as it does now, thus no DVR functionality but also not tyng up an HR34 tuner

OR

2) Having an option to attach itself to the HR34 and use up one of the HR34's tuner BUT allows for DVR functionality.

+1 (especially speed!)

Idea 2 could be called DRV (DirecTV Remote Viewing) and would offer a DECA-based, ehanced and proprietary version of RVU that would "seamlessly" integrate with a more limited, ethernet-based remote home-viewing capability for iPads/Phones, Android devices, etc. OK - I'll stop dreaming ...

 

[lparsons21]

I can't really suggest anything because, to me, recording all prime time network shows is akin to collecting all the garbage in the neighborhood and taking it home--who cares if you have it all, it's still garbage.

I think it is another case of Dish aiming for those with mundane tastes while DirecTV caters to those who are more selective.

An of course, that is all your opinion and I have no problem with it.

My choices are some of the excellent broadcast scripted shows, 'cable' type channel scripted shows, movies, golf and boxing with a very slight nod to an occasional 'reality' show.

And I happen to think my selection of shows is every bit as good as your selection of things to watch and not dreck or mundane at all.

I can find no enjoyment watching a 1 hour sporting event that takes 2+ hours to complete 'cause multi-millionaire players and the sponsors need to pad the time to hell and gone.

And no, D* viewers are not at all 'better' than E* viewers in any way. Just different programming tastes. Well, that and they like hardware that isn't just a bit on the pig slow side...

 

[lparsons21]

I certainly think they should.

A DIRECTV commercial comparing the HR34's capabilities to Hopper/Joey would be some very good press...maybe even steal some new subs who are considering moving for Hopper. I'm just sayin' :grin:

Mike

A TV commercial that would do this without stretching the truth out of all recognition, can't be done in 15-30-60 second ads.

 

[Beerstalker]

Get RVU clients out there is the biggest one I see. I still don't understand what is taking so long on them.

 

[lparsons21]

Get RVU clients out there is the biggest one I see. I still don't understand what is taking so long on them.

I agree. The HR34 plus RVU clients is a very easy way to make a clear, concise and useful ad. And it would be the one I think more would be interested in.

 

[bobvick1983]

DirecTV needs to market the 5 tuner capability of the HR34 in commercials. Dish is saying that the Hopper can record up to 6 programs at one time, which is technically true for three hours in prime time, but they do not explain all of the caveats involved.
DirecTV should make the average consumer aware of the fact that the HR34 can record 5 things of your choosing at any time.
They need to get a RVU client out as soon as possible. Also, they need to have collaborative scheduling so that you can select which DVR on your network you want to record to.
As far as speed, the HR34 with the latest update has been very speedy for me, however it can continue to use improvement.

 

[bakers12]

Get RVU clients out there is the biggest one I see. I still don't understand what is taking so long on them.

DirecTV has an expensive HR34 and fairly expensive H2x receivers. If they had cheap RVU-type receivers, they might attract some new customers. If I was in the market for a provider, I wouldn't see the advantage of a powerful, expensive server (HR34) with clients that aren't cost-justified.

As an existing customer with three HD DVRs, replacing one with a HR34 is not going to happen at any price (except free).

 

[RAD]

DirecTV has an expensive HR34 and fairly expensive H2x receivers. If they had cheap RVU-type receivers, they might attract some new customers. If I was in the market for a provider, I wouldn't see the advantage of a powerful, expensive server (HR34) with clients that aren't cost-justified.

As an existing customer with three HD DVRs, replacing one with a HR34 is not going to happen at any price (except free).

Right new new customers can get three HD receivers for free, can't get much cheaper then that. So for attracting new customers don't see where from a cost point RVU would help gain them based on cost, since they still pay the $6/month fee, RVU or regular STB.