625 receiver

[nixie21]

Is this good or not, I know a lot of people have problems, but how many do not? I ordered it and i guess I can cancel and keep dtivo, but i am really mad a directtv and want them out, is that a mistake?

 

[phat_bastard]

I can't give you a valuable DVR comparison since I've never had a Tivo, but being a former DirecTV customer I can tell you I'm really disappointed about the sports channel blackouts that I'm forced to suffer with Dish. As an example - two weeks ago the Braves were hosting the Cardinals and none of the games were on my regional Fox Sports feed. They were telecast on TBS and one even on ESPN, but all of them were blacked out for me. :-\ So if you're a sports fan DirecTV is probably the way to go / stay. I still debate switching back every so often, but Dish is definitely more friendly to my multi-room needs with their dual receivers (I have a 522 and a 322 on a DHA plan). I'm also somewhat disappointed with DirecTV because they've called me about 100 times since I cancelled asking me to come back (telemarketing calls annoy me). Next time they call I might see what kind of hardware deals they can cut me on a dtivo.... =D

The only thing I can tell you about the DVR functionality of the 522 / 625 is that it gets old constantly hoping for bugfixes to eliminate this problem and that. From what I've read about Tivo in general is that it just works, but I'll let someone else make more qualified comments on that topic.

 

[jdfurn]

DirecTivo vs. Dish

I recently switched from DirecTivo to Dish and in sum, I think it was a mistake. The Sirius music on Dish is excellent, the 30 second FF is great, I now have local channels, and the price is less (I subscribe to "Everything"). On the other hand (with Dish), the hardware/software is unstable, the caller ID doesn't work (it appears I'm about the only person in the country with that problem), and Tivo is way superior for recording. Overall, I believe the higher cost is worth it.

Blackouts are apparently a problem with both. I was mad at DirecTV for that. They advertise "all NFL games" with their premium NFL package (on some web pages and on TV ads), however it isn't true. I live in Packer country, and most of the Packer games were blacked out. Another web page says they're blacked out only if the home game is not sold out 72 hours in advance - also not true. Packer home games are sold out 72 YEARS in advance. It was hit and miss each week; sometimes I could watch the whole game, sometimes part of it, and once in a while the entire game. This was particularly annoying because the broadcast channel for the Packer games is rather distant, and therefore I get poor over the air reception (and that's with an excellent antenna properly aimed). Additionally, if a game was on any broadcast channel in my area, it was usually blacked out.

Anyway, that's my two cents.