Advice from the experts out there...

[scottzee]

If someone could give some advice here I'd sure appreciate it....
I'm a DT subscriber but a little slow with the technical side of this. I have a DVR and three regular receivers. I just got an HD TV, and want to get an HD/DVR for it.
After trying to figure out what to do, these acronyms are making my head hurt (MPEG4, R10, MILF, etc.). I want the best HD/DVR I can get. Should I be waiting until next spring when the MPEG4 (I think) comes out? I'm not too worried about price, and not too worried about all the bells and whistles with a HD/DVR. I just want the best possible sound and picture for my Big Screen. Any advice?

 

[damaged]

Since you ask opinion, take back the HD tv and wait as long as you can before paying for HD, you'll be glad you did, HD is not ready, unless you don't mind or have the money to afford getting ripped off, you'll get a handful of HD stations, most of them play the same crap over and over again, and the HD that is transmitted is hardly ever done right, or consistant (just do searches on HD quality and D*, you'll see many more complaints than not), I myself refuse to pay to be a beta tester of their hardware/system, they should pay us.

If you have your heart set on HD, grab yourself a good antenna (go here for good advice: http://www.antennaweb.org ) and enjoy true HD OTA for free (sans the antenna/etc.) while waiting for MPEG4 and more HD channel selections.

 

[rad]

Since you ask opinion, take back the HD tv and wait as long as you can before paying for HD, you'll be glad you did, HD is not ready, unless you don't mind or have the money to afford getting ripped off, you'll get a handful of HD stations, most of them play the same crap over and over again, and the HD that is transmitted is hardly ever done right, or consistant (just do searches on HD quality and D*, you'll see many more complaints than not), I myself refuse to pay to be a beta tester of their hardware/system, they should pay us.

Do you have a HD setup at all or just echoing what some others have posted??? While D* HD offerings are 'best in class' their lot better then watching SD programming. Why get any digital programming since compared to a good analog channel they all look like dog poop. When you talk about HD stations playing the same crap over and over again, the majority of that comment goes to the HD specific channels such as Voom, InHD/HDNet and UHDT. As for beta testing their hardware, the HR10-250 that I've had for 17 months just last week needed to get a reset/clear to stop some rebooting, other then that no problem.

 

[Smthkd]

Since you ask opinion, take back the HD tv and wait as long as you can before paying for HD, you'll be glad you did, HD is not ready, unless you don't mind or have the money to afford getting ripped off, you'll get a handful of HD stations, most of them play the same crap over and over again, and the HD that is transmitted is hardly ever done right, or consistant (just do searches on HD quality and D*, you'll see many more complaints than not), I myself refuse to pay to be a beta tester of their hardware/system, they should pay us.

Obviously, you haven't been around long enough because theres tons of HD content right now! I was a early adopter and must say you are so wrong about current HD channels! Its people like you who complain about CD and MP3 players replacing 8 tracks!

Now, to answer the original question, you can get a current HDTivo cheap right now! But, depending whether or not you are in one of the first 12 markets being upgraded to Mpeg4 is really the answer. If you are in one of those markets, you may consider waiting! If not, the HDTivo isn't a bad investment! The choice is really how bad do you want an HD Dvr and HDtv!

 

[Tonedeaf]

Since you ask opinion, take back the HD tv and wait as long as you can before paying for HD, you'll be glad you did, HD is not ready

This attitude is exactly why HD is not more mainstream. HD is ready and is being rolled out to more and more shows all the time. Look at Late night shows, Sat Night Live. etc.......

What is worth it to one, is worth more to another and vice versa.

damaged is strictly talking about D*'s HD, but OTA has tons of content available. Just about every prime time show is in HD. You don't have to pay for HD to get some good content.

 

[damaged]

Do you have a HD setup???

I do not, but friends I know have HD through D* as well as E* and OTA and I have watched plenty of HD programming on their setups, and it's not ready enough for me to spend that much cash for overcompressed, repeating, overpriced HDTV.


Tonedeaf:
I fully expected those who have already made the leap into throwing money into HD to defend it since they would have to basically admit they wasted money if they didn't, then again perhaps one persons 'good deal' is another persons 'not good enough', but I am not diminishing your thoughts on HD, so why are you diminishing mine? Give your advise to the poster and be done with it, why attack people who differ in opinion and who reply?, attacking me only makes it look more like you are just defending your desicion to pay too much money for little gain, do you not think the poster can work out for themselves their own conclusions? I think we owe the poster more credit that that.

This was opinion, MINE, what harm did it do to those whom disagree with me? I think the defensivness reflects the dire need to make their purchase seem better to themselves so they won't feel like they've been ripped off, an effect of the human defense mechanism.

I see no need to dump on people who take the time to reply to a poster, it is infantile and a waste of space on an otherwise useful site.

Tonedeaf/Smthkd:

"People like me" attitude has very little affect on the HD market, to suggest otherwise is a straw-man argument, its BS, the real thing behind the slow HD adoption is the expense of upgrading still is higher than the advertising revenue it will generate (or not), it is basic economics, do some research and you won't have to rely on straw-man arguments to make yourself feel better about your investment, that, and as everyone knows, misery loves company.

Now if you got an issue with me personally, bring it into PM, and quit hijacking posters' threads to troll other posters you don't even know.

It is people like you who make offering differing opinions harder and harder to do, and the only victim is the poor poster who just wants an opinion/advice.

 

[rad]

I see no need to dump on people who take the time to reply to a poster, it is infintile and a waste of space on an otherwise useful site.

Since you quoted my response as the start of your response please tell me where I dumped on you? I asked if you had an HD setup (I know you didn't have D*/E* based on your comment). I wanted to know where you were coming from since if all you had was OTA for HD I was curious about your 'hand full of HD content that plays the same crap over and over again'. Then if you didn't have HD yet how you were basing your response, if you don't have it how can you provide an infomed response about PQ and content?

 

[damaged]

Since you quoted my response as the start of your response please tell me where I dumped on you? I asked if you had an HD setup (I know you didn't have D*/E* based on your comment). I wanted to know where you were coming from since if all you had was OTA for HD I was curious about your 'hand full of HD content that plays the same crap over and over again'. Then if you didn't have HD yet how you were basing your response, if you don't have it how can you provide an infomed response about PQ and content?

Sorry I was aiming that at the other poster, apologies, will edit it so it is more clear, my fault.

As you saw, I stated I have friends who have it, 2 of them have been in the high-end AV industry for 20+ years, and the others aren't idiots (mostly sysadmins, neteng and netops) there is not one of them that doesn't have some issue in the price/bang for the buck of what they thought they would get, everyone has a limit to what they are and are not willing to spend for a given amount of return, mine may be higher than others, I don't know, but I have seen what is offered, and most of it isn't even HD even when it says it's HD (by strict definition of HD), except that of the OTA.

If I had never experienced programming enough to form my own opinion on it, I would not have posted a reply to the poster.

 

[rad]

Sorry I was aiming that at the other poster, apologies, will edit it so it is more clear, my fault.

OK, thanks.

 

[Tonedeaf]

damaged, I think you are blowing this way out of proportion and taking this a little too personal. In no way was I implying that your reply was trolling. We can agree to disagree and leave it at that.

 

[damaged]

Reading through it all, you may be right, perhaps I took it wrong, but when you replied, you did not reply to the poster your opinion, you instead chose to make an effort to (seemingly) try and convert my opinion to yours, or to try and make mine mean less valid by quoting my reply in your reply, after all, I don't think my opinion is everyone elses, why would you think everyones would be yours (I assume you don't think that)? Anyways apologies if you meant it some other way.

 

[scottzee]

Now, to answer the original question, you can get a current HDTivo cheap right now! But, depending whether or not you are in one of the first 12 markets being upgraded to Mpeg4 is really the answer. If you are in one of those markets, you may consider waiting! If not, the HDTivo isn't a bad investment! The choice is really how bad do you want an HD Dvr and HDtv!

Thanks for your answer. I am in the Charleston, WV market for locals. But I live a couple of hours away from there, in the middle of nowhere in SE Ohio. Let me ask you this - if I buy one now (a regular HD/DVR from Direct TV), will it be an inferior product to this MPEG4 thingy? And knowing where I live, when would I need/use an MPEG4 DVR? Is there a timeline as to when I would benefit from having an MPEG4?
It boils down to this: I want an HD/DVR pretty badly. But I would rather wait until maybe next Spring if it would mean a significantly better HD/DVR. Does this make sense?

 

[FlyingJ]

Get it now while it is cheap...I love mine, and HD is great...period. From what I understand, I am in Columbus, when the m 4 changeover takes place, and it will be a while for us, the trade will be painless

 

[Mike McGann]

I can say pretty safely, I've had HD at home longer than anyone in this forum. I wrote the Jan. 99 cover story in Home Theater — and had an HDTV the day the signals went OTA, Nov. 1, 1998. I've been watching and writing about it for more than a decade as it moved from prototype to rollout.

I'm also an ISF certified tech.

Those dismissing HD as "Not ready" don't know what the heck they're talking about. Is it always full-resolution, 1920 by 1080I (or 720P)? No. Not on D* or OTA, as encoders crunch the signal to make room for extra channels, data streams.

Even compressed 1280 by 720 (or worse) it's vastly better than garden variety 480I, even if only for the widescreen format. Detail is better — even if not perfect. Besides, if you're watching on a CRT — it is virtually impossible to see the resolution difference because your display can't show it (unless you have the rare RPTV with 9-inch tubes).

It's good. Could it be better? Yes, but as presented, it's not bad.

Don't think HD is ready? Go read a book and leave evaluating TV pictures to the trained professionals before spouting off to others.

While others might not come out and say it, Damaged, your opinion is not valid because you evidently lack the professional training and video experience to have an intelligent opinion.

 

[damaged]

Anyone can come on here and spout off about being an "ISF certified tech", 4 posts and a few paragraphs proves nothing.

Some professional,if you showed up at my house with that better than thou attitude, I'd boot you out.

A professional or not, you cannot dictate how I hold my opinions, behave like a tech and maybe I might beleive your a tech.

For the costs associated with HD, IMO it is better to wait, I did not tell the poster he HAD to wait, nor do my words FORCE anyone to wait, do you pay me the compliment that my words are so powerful that it requires 3 strangers and a so-called 'tech' to disprove my words? I am indeed flattered. Besides, don't like my opinion? Too bad, I'm not changing it.

Happy with your HD, that's fanfreakintastic, but it doesn't take much to see all the others who don't think as highly of the present HD offeriengs as you seem to. I may not know the tech side, but looking at the costs and the quality/quantity I have seen, does not take a tech to see that it's not where it should be for what they ask in payment, IMO. (the "O" means opinion, look it up.)

 

[raymo721]

Get it now while it is cheap...I love mine, and HD is great...period. From what I understand, I am in Columbus, when the m 4 changeover takes place, and it will be a while for us, the trade will be painless

I agree. I got my upgraded Weekness HD10-250 ($1200) 2 weeks before I found this forum and learned of the "rumored" Mpeg4 change by D*. Think of how I felt! But, I'm very happy I got it and have enjoyed it and the OTA HD in my area.(DC, Balt) True the HD offerings by D* are somewhat weak but when you watch something of interest on HD Discovery Theater etc you'll be glad. Get it now, enjoy it now and the change over should be no hassle.--Ray