Digital Video Recorders

[d3bruts1d]

I've owned a TiVo for several years now, and it is one of the best purchases I've ever made.

 

I'm sure you've heard people (maybe even yourself) say that they couldn't go back to dial up after having broadband access... IMO, having a DVR is similar... I cannot imagine watching TV without a DVR of some kind.

 

I was curious, who else has a DVR and what kind do you have? What do you think of it? Have you tried any others?

[Andrewr05]

DirecTV DVR

[Onion]

AT&T U-VERSE dvr. Epic win.

[d3bruts1d]

How do you like DirectTV Andrew?

[Nemo]

I voted 'No' but I've been wanting to build a MythTV box. Hopefully I'll get around to it one day. I just don't watch enough TV to make it a priority.

[Andrewr05]

How do you like DirectTV Andrew?

Its quite good from a quality noob's standpoint, I also have never used any other DVRs to compare it to.

 

I've heard that true Tivo brand machines are better but as I said having not used any Tivo system I think this DirecTV works fine.

 

We've got the HR 22 HD reciever DVR:

 

It supports:

• 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i
  
• It has two tuners so you can record 2 programs and watch a pre-recorder program at the same time
  
• 500GB hard drive, supposedly 400 hours SD and 100 hours HD
  

 

You can also network it to your PC (MAC I'm not sure, I believe its a WIP).

It has a 2 RJ-45 ports, one can act as a pass through so if you've already got a wired/wireless connection near your home theater setup you can run that into your receiver and then pass another cable to what was previously connected (media PC, game console, etc.)

 

With a firmware upgrade you can even unlock the rear eSata port and use up to a 2TB external hard drive.

 

So far it has been good, it had its quirks when we first got it, (it auto updates its firmware) but since having been updated it has really smoothed out.

Originally it would lag quite a bit between menus, the guide would lag a bit and when switching between HDMI signals and composite signals it would have to be reset to properly switch back to HDMI.

Sometimes the sound would be there but the video wouldn't or vice versa; However restarting the receiver, unplugging and then replugging in the HDMI cable, and turning the TV off then back on solved the issue.

As of right now it works fine, I believe a firmware upgrade must have solved the issue because I don't do anything different and its been fine for almost a year now.

 

It takes some getting used to search wise, originally I thought it wasn't that great of a search system but after playing around with it it does work quite well.

 

Quality wise I can't compare it to much else other than SD DirecTV, it looks fine.

 

I'm not a good person to ask about quality though, originally I was like "WOW! that HD looks amazing!!" but now having gotten used to it (most things I watch are in HD, since I really only watch Discovery, TLC, Food network, the science channel, Spike, etc.) I cant really say that its that big of a deal.

 

I've only ever had the service go out once and that was in a severe thunderstorm that should probably have implied the powering off of all of my equipment anyways...

 

 

Overall its pretty good.

 

:thumbs-up:

[Kash]

My HTPC is not technically a DVR in that I don't have a tuner, but I have it set to automatically download TV shows as soon as they're available, so I still end up watching my shows as though I had a DVR since I watch them via Media Center and use a remote. Gotta love not having to fast forward through commercials

[xPETEZx]

I have Sky+ which I suppose is a form of DVR.

 

Just have the standard Def version, and it seems ok. Bit buggy at times, but on the whole it works pretty well.

[Double Density]

I have a Pioneer Elite TiVo with a built in DVD burner, an MCE computer and a Motorola DCT6416v3 from my cable company. That's four total tuners, so I don't miss much!