Converts from DISH -- surprises you will discover

[bookwalk]

I swtiched to Direct because I wanted more HD channels and a lower monthly bill, but I knew there would be some trade-offs and here are the ones I have discovered so far. I knew about some of them in advance, but not about others.

1. To watch TV in another room, but have the receivers both in the first room, you will need to buy the R15 DVR so that you can use the remote through walls. Unlike the 622--only needed the one receiver to accomplish this and it had 2 remotes--one being RF.

2. You will have to buy the RF remote, as it does not come standard with the HR 20 or the R15, another unexpected $25.

3. In the HD DVR, you can't see 3 hours of the guide--you are stuck with 1 1/2 hrs only and no way to customize.

4. Since I have to have 2 DVR's, I can't watch on TV 2 what I recorded on TV1.

5. On TV 2, with the R15, I cannot see the HD only channels--they will only be viewable on the HR 20 in Room 1 with the HD Tv. With Dish I could watch the HD channels on TV 2, if only in SD.

6. I can't program the DVR's to autotune to a specific channel only or a reminder--I have to program them to Record and that's it.

7. I do not have all the customizable favorites that the 622 had--I only have 2--Custom 1 and Custom 2.

8. On the R15 standard DVR, the "Channels I subscribe to" does not work--I cannot see only the channels I subscribe to. I have to customize one of my 2 custom favorites list to do that.

9. The DISH 622 RF coax output not only gave me the signal for the Tuner 2 (SD), it also had the Tuner 1 signal that went to my other TV's in other parts of the house. The HR20 has NO RF Coax output--it cannot be fed to anywhere else in the house that is a significant distance using coax.

10. The external Hard Drive you had with your 622 that used a USB port cannot be used with the HR 20 HD DVR--its USB port is inactive.

11. Descriptions for programs do not include the first date that the episode played.

12. I find no Video on Demand that can be accessed directly by downloading from the Direct TV satellite. I was told I could access via the internet, which is impossible for my Satellite (Wild Blue) internet--only allows me 7500-12000 Mb/month.

13. If you are unfortunate enough to get a HR 21, you will NOT be able to integrate OTA locals so that they blend with your guide and are recordable. Imagine that! You'd better have your HD locals coming from Direct to do this. OR you must insist on the HR 20 BEFORE you install or don't accept the install unless they trade out for the HR 20 which does have an OTA input.

Well, this is just a start. Maybe other DISH ditchers can add others. Or maybe Direct veterans can give me work-arounds for the above points.

I will learn to live with this over the next 2 years, but, if DISH gets all the HD Direct has, survives the AT&T take-over, I will probably return in 2 years, but I wanted the HD worse than I wanted a top-notch interface, but I had a few surprises and maybe will have more, as I have only been with Direct for 24 hours. But I hope to spend more time watching HD than fooling with the equipment.

Good luck, Dish Ditchers, but hey--I love the Smithsonian HD, CNN HD and the native pass-through.

 

[Salrod]

My HR 20 and H20 came with RF remotes. It was somewhat confusing setting it up, but I managed to do it on both my HR20 and H 20.

One thing that bugs me about the H/HR20 you didn"t mention. It is difficult to switch between custom guides. On my previous receiver, I used to push one button to scroll through the guides. Now, when in the guide, I press menu, the scroll down to favorites, enter favorites, scroll to the guide I want, then press exit. Is the 622 just as screwed up? Am I missing something?

I hope you get used to the changes and they don't bother you too much. You seem very adept at this stuff, so I think you'll adapt.

 

[Van]

Definitely sounds like you didnt do your homework.

Add to the list that there are reports that many of the new HD channels are less than stellar or what seems to be worse than hd lite.

 

[raoul5788]

Definitely sounds like you didnt do your homework.

Add to the list that there are reports that many of the new HD channels are less than stellar or what seems to be worse than hd lite.

Absolutely wrong, at least when the new channels are actually showing hd. Many of them have limited hd content for now, but when it is hd, the picture is excellent.

 

[JAG72]

Absolutely wrong, at least when the new channels are actually showing hd. Many of them have limited hd content for now, but when it is hd, the picture is excellent.

I will agree 100% and add that even when they are just showing SD it is 100% better watching these channels than the SD equivalent.

 

[davesrave]

My HR 20 and H20 came with RF remotes. It was somewhat confusing setting it up, but I managed to do it on both my HR20 and H 20.

Newer H20s (and HR20s?) come with an IR remote. The RF remote must be purchased.

 

[Stan Sherman]

I will agree 100% and add that even when they are just showing SD it is 100% better watching these channels than the SD equivalent.

I was a dish customer for 9 years. I have 3 HD TVs including a 70". Directs HD is absolutely amazing. Scfi, USA and FX are like watching a 1080P Blu-ray movie. The movie channels, especially Starz looks much better on Direct. I am extremly glad I made the switch!

 

[dishrich]

1. To watch TV in another room, but have the receivers both in the first room, you will need to buy the R15 DVR so that you can use the remote through walls. Unlike the 622--only needed the one receiver to accomplish this and it had 2 remotes--one being RF.

BUT, now that you have 2 DVR's, you now have DOUBLE the number of actual TUNERS than you did with the one 622.

Sorry, but I've had several run-in's with clients with the so called "dual-room" E* receivers - it's kind of a hoax, because many folks think that BOTH rooms can record AND watch 2 different LIVE shows at once, when we all know you can't do this with the one 622. Once I explain to them how going with 2 D* DVR's is better than the one E* dual-room DVR, they almost always go with the 2 D* DVR's with no qualms.

 

[haertig]

Wow. It sounds like you really got screwed based on your unfounded expectations. Either you didn't research anything out before blindly switching, or you're a Dish troll trying to stir up the DirectTV forums.

I've got Dish and have never had DirectTV. I stumbled into this DirectTV forum accidently off a link on the frontpage. But even as a Dish customer, I question the OPs motives on this one. You really shouldn't expect DirectTV to be Dish, nor Dish to be DirectTV. For someone who knows Dish DVR capabilities so well (and the OP does), I would have thought you might have done more research into what's different about DirectTVs DVR before jumping.

Since this was posted in a DirectTV forum, it would be nice if the OP posted some of the good things about switching to DirectTV. There's got to be at least a few positives in the deal. As a Dish customer, I'd like to hear about those so in the future I can make an informed switch-vs-stay decision.

 

[JAG72]

1. To watch TV in another room, but have the receivers both in the first room, you will need to buy the R15 DVR so that you can use the remote through walls. Unlike the 622--only needed the one receiver to accomplish this and it had 2 remotes--one being RF.

Why would you need to have multiple receivers hooked up to the same TV?

3. In the HD DVR, you can't see 3 hours of the guide--you are stuck with 1 1/2 hrs only and no way to customize.

Not much you can do about this. I did not miss the three hour guide when I switched from E*.

5. On TV 2, with the R15, I cannot see the HD only channels--they will only be viewable on the HR 20 in Room 1 with the HD Tv. With Dish I could watch the HD channels on TV 2, if only in SD.

Considering the R15 is not an HD receiver why did you expect them to get the HD channels. The standard Dish non HD DVR does not see them either.

7. I do not have all the customizable favorites that the 622 had--I only have 2--Custom 1 and Custom 2.

How many do you want? If you hit guide twice on the HR20 you can see some presetup favorites.

1) HD
2) Sports
and more

8. On the R15 standard DVR, the "Channels I subscribe to" does not work--I cannot see only the channels I subscribe to. I have to customize one of my 2 custom favorites list to do that.

What extra channels are you seeing?

10. The external Hard Drive you had with your 622 that used a USB port cannot be used with the HR 20 HD DVR--its USB port is inactive.

The HR20 supports external eSATA drives.

12. I find no Video on Demand that can be accessed directly by downloading from the Direct TV satellite. I was told I could access via the internet, which is impossible for my Satellite (Wild Blue) internet--only allows me 7500-12000 Mb/month.

Video on Demand via the satellite is the same as just using your DVR to record a program. They have no way to do a true VOD via the satellite.

 

[cebbigh]

I was a dish customer for 9 years. I have 3 HD TVs including a 70". Directs HD is absolutely amazing. Scfi, USA and FX are like watching a 1080P Blu-ray movie. The movie channels, especially Starz looks much better on Direct. I am extremly glad I made the switch!

I completely agree on the PQ. And even when the HD channels have SD content it is far better than watching SD on Dish. I also think the SD channels have an edge on DTV over Dish's SD channels (and that came as a complete surprise). I got my first HD set in 2005 and went through the growing pains that eventually led to the 622. Admittedly the 622 is a great DVR. There are things that I do miss, like being able to fully block channels (not only on favorite lists). But I DO NOT regret my switch. The main thing for me is getting dependable signal and recording shows. It might be a different route to set the recordings but so far everthing I've recorded has worked fine. And (here in the Pacific NW) it is great to not have to depend on the flaky 129 Satellite. It's also nice to have the FOX affiliate HD-LIL. No more watching OTA signal breakup from Gold Mountain.

I also have 2 HD-DVR's (HR20-100 and HR-21) connected to the same set (my wife doesn't want me erasing her stuff and vice versa) and although it took a while to figure it out the remotes do work independently just fine.

 

[IcEWoLF]

Starz-Edge on DirecTV looks absolutely superb, Infact the anime movies like Full Metal Alchemist and Ghost in a Shell looks fabulous! All the DTV HD channels are A+.
I watch tons of movies and my favorite channels of them all is Starz-Edge.

 

[311Man]

With the 622 when it dies you now lose television viewing in two rooms. With independent receivers you have a backup.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Maybe the grass isn't always greener on the other side like alot of people may think right now!

 

[charper1]

LOL! Said the DISH salesman; right?

The grass IS plenty green and still growing.

 

[JNEUBY]

Do some research here to answer your complaints.

All your remotes fromD* come thru set up for IR. Go into thr remote setup and change the remote to RF and follow the code inputs. Sometimes it will take twice to do. All five of my receivers are set up for RF. The remotes do not distinguish whether they are IR or RF models on them. Most of the receivers being sold for lease today have the RF capability even though it is not advertised anywhere.
Secondly, read through the past threads here, I don't remember which one of the guys has his receivers networked together and I'm not sure what his sharing capabilities are between units. I think it was Brewer.
As for the USB port, D* allows the use of E-Sata external hard drives to give you extra recording room. This hook up process is also mentioned on this site. Most of the differences you mentioned may have some work arounds listed. You will have to do some research here. D* over the last year has been making changes to make their products more user friendly except for the hiccup on no OTA tuner on the new 21 series receiver. The video on demand, hook the ethernet up and D* will see it is connected and usually in about 5 days or so will download the on demand stuff onto your receiver. Then pick one of the movies available and see how long it will take to download with your connection. I have both E* and D* I like the HD that is coming thru D* but I like the fact that with D* I can have 25 receivers on my account, do what I want, play with beta testing, try expansion stuff listed on this site and not have the Dish Police telling me I can't add anymore to my account or charge me $45 to activate an external port to add a hard drive per receiver. Both camps have the pro's and con's
If they were the same, I've doubt their would be 95000 members on this web site asking questions and giving help to other dish owners and of course bashing the other side.
Jim

 

[JNEUBY]

Bookwalk

Let me modify some of my past post. I re-read your post. I missed the satellite internet part. The only way to get Video on demand is through the internet. So I retrack the "just hook up the ethernet port statement." My bad.
I am also surprised that you are listed as a senior member with 486 posts listed which would lead me to believe that you would have had some inclination to the differences between the two Sat providers.
Jim

 

[bookwalk]

As I mentioned, I knew some of the trade-offs but not all. I was willing to accept those because of the increased HD qualuty AND quantity.

I decided to post these for other "potential" E* converts since they may not want to be so forgiving.

ADD to the list:

14. Can't output RF coax from the R15 as any other channel except 3 or 4 -- unlike the 622 which lets me choose a whole array of UHF channels to avoid interference that sometimes on VHF 3 or 4 from adjacent stations.

I AM a Direct sub as of Nov 20!

 

[gbfdcapt4b]

I miss the option of increasing the guide size like on the 622. You can tell their software people are young and don't have the aging eye problem like I do! I went through a half dozen 622's over 18 months. Every time I sent them back, all my recordings went with them. The 622 was an awesome machine that fit my needs perfectly. I just got sick of it's daily resets.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I perfer the 622/722 interface complete with external hard drive archiving support . I presently have a 722 and two 622s and the cost of switching to a similar setup with DIRECTV would be over $900.00 . I don't have that kind of money right now. Come February DISH will launch the first of 3 satellites that will give them the same if not more hd channels that Directv has today , give or take an ATT buyout. I'll wait for now.