Dish and DirecTV HD DVRs vs. TiVO?

[andrewperrin]

Greetings all - we are looking at taking the jump into HDTV and deciding among cable, dish, and directv. One problem: we're addicted to our TiVo and my wife, in particular, is worried about the move from TiVo to whatever DVR would come from the satellite companies. So much so that she's leaning toward spending the extra cash to use TiVo HD on cable instead of the satellite dish. So.... a few questions for y'all:

- How does the user interface on Dish and/or DirecTV DVR compare to that of TiVo?
- Any way to move stuff we've got stored on our current TiVo's to a new DVR?
- Any way to copy stuff between either Dish's or DirecTV's DVR and home computers, as I can with TiVo's home networking setup?
- Will either Dish or DirecTV let me "back out" of a new setup if we have it installed and decide we hate it?

Thanks for your sage advice.

-Andy in NC

 

[DodgerKing]

- How does the user interface on Dish and/or DirecTV DVR compare to that of TiVo?

All a matter of personal preference. I have both a TiVO and an HR20. When I first got the HR20, I did not care for it much....mainly because I was not used to it. Now I much prefer the HR20 over the TiVO. The HR20 requires fewer steps when changing things or navigating through folders or menus (those colored short cut keys are nice). It is easier to turn off and on (one button for both the TV and the reciever simultaneously). The only thing I still prefer on the TiVO is the fact that both tuners are active at the same time.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I'll let you all know what I think ,as soon as my TiVo DVR getts to my door step. But its an SD DVR so I'll only be able to compair it with R16. HD customers don't really have much of a choice between HR20-21 and a TiVo. Tivos get about 7 HD channels and HR20-21 models get 95. I' don't care how good Tivo is ,I'm not dropping over 80 HD channels to go with a Tivo.

 

[heisman27]

First off, I am one of the few who has owned all three at different times. Fairly easy to rate from where I sit:

1. VIP 722
2. Tivo HD
3. HR-20

There is nothing like a VIP 6/722 DVR. It's unmatched. I use my Tivo HD for OTA only, but I love it's Amazon Unbox feature. The HR-20 is clunky, slow, and featureless--a distant third place IMO. It is better than Comcast's Motorola HD DVR however.

 

[jayn_j]

I can only say that the Dish 622 was one of the most intuitive boxes I've ever owned. It just did what you needed it to do, whether it was season pass, NBR, adjusting and extending recording times, changing aspect ratio or whatever.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see the satellites where I am now living and was forced into Comcast and a terrible Motorola DVR which does NOTHING intuitively.

The TIVO is nice, but as was mentioned it is only supported by a few Comcast systems and no satellite providers for HD right now. However, I think you will quickly get used to either the Dish or DTV pvr.

 

[audioswami]

I have owned them all feature wise I much prefer the Dish DVRs over the others and with the ability to add a external usb to the VIP 622/722 you cant go wrong now if they will just add the slingbox features in it will be perfect.

I will say DirecTv has a HR-21 Pro you can do a lot with but has has a price tag to match
$600-1200 retail depending on the bells and whistels.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

If you do a lot of advanced searching, the TiVO beats the Dish DVR by a mile. There's no good way to search by actors, directors, etc. like you can on the TiVO for Wishlists.

Aside from that, the Dish DVRs are better than TiVO in my opinion.

 

[heisman27]

If you do a lot of advanced searching, the TiVO beats the Dish DVR by a mile. There's no good way to search by actors, directors, etc. like you can on the TiVO for Wishlists.

Aside from that, the Dish DVRs are better than TiVO in my opinion.

What if you search by the guide. Navigating the Tivo guide is just brutal.

 

[JEFFinINDY]

What if you search by the guide. Navigating the Tivo guide is just brutal.

Sorry, I meant automated searching via TiVO wishlists. Searches like, all action movies directed by Steven Spielberg starring Tom Cruise or Jude Law. I know some friends who really set up some intricate wishlists on their TiVOs.

Agreed that the Dish guide is way faster than the TiVO guide.

 

[DAS]

The first DVR I had was a Stand Alone TiVo 30 hour. Since then I have had a DISH 921, DISH 622 & now a DirecTV HR20.

None of the satellite boxes had the depth of searches of TiVO or the Auto recording of TiVO's guesses.

When DISH added name-based recording they came much closer than closer in searching to TiVO. The ability to view the 2nd tuner output on another TV was really nice. We only had to set up searches one time and could share the recorded content all over the house (we split the TV2 output to several TV's). Searching for programs by actor or director or themes was not as easy as on TiVO or the HR20, but was easy enough after a short learning curve.

The HR20 took a little getting used to after the 622, but searching by actor is easier for me on the H20 & TiVO because they are listed alphabetically and you don't have to type the name in if you are just browsing to see what is out there. Managing upcoming shows is a little easier on the 622 but is not too bad on the HR20. The recording fees are less expensive with satellite.

Take in mind I haven't used a TiVO for about 5 years & don't know what improvements have occured in that time.

 

[kb7oeb]

The TIVO is nice, but as was mentioned it is only supported by a few Comcast systems and no satellite providers for HD right now. However, I think you will quickly get used to either the Dish or DTV pvr.

I think you are thinking of the Tivo software Comcast will load on the motorola dvr for a fee. The regular Tivo HD should work on any cable system that supports cable cards.

 

[bidger`]

The first DVR I had was a Stand Alone TiVo 30 hour. Since then I have had a DISH 921, DISH 622 & now a DirecTV HR20.

None of the satellite boxes had the depth of searches of TiVO or the Auto recording of TiVO's guesses.

I'm guessing you're referring to TiVo Suggestions, which I shut off immediately on every TiVo I've owned. I have a hard time viewing all the recordings that I set up, I have no use for, as you say it, TiVo's guesses at what I might like.

Take in mind I haven't used a TiVO for about 5 years & don't know what improvements have occured in that time.

I think that statement speaks volumes. For some folks, TiVo sells them on the use of DVR, but not necessarily TiVo alone.

 

[DodgerKing]

I'm guessing you're referring to TiVo Suggestions, which I shut off immediately on every TiVo I've owned. I have a hard time viewing all the recordings that I set up, I have no use for, as you say it, TiVo's guesses at what I might like.

I hated that feature. I immediately disabled it.

I think that statement speaks volumes. For some folks, TiVo sells them on the use of DVR, but not necessarily TiVo alone.

It is the name that sells more than the product. Most people associate any DVR with the name TiVO and don't realize that not all DVR's are TiVOs. Same can be said with generic names like Coke for any cola, iPOD for any mp3 player, ex...

 

[heisman27]

I hated that feature. I immediately disabled it.

When I first got my Tivo HD, I couldn't understand why my HDD was filling up so quickly. Then I realized that Tivo Suggestions was just recording everything in sight. Turned off immediately and started deleting all that junk. Thank god you can disable it.

 

[texasbrit]

I'm guessing you're referring to TiVo Suggestions, which I shut off immediately on every TiVo I've owned. I have a hard time viewing all the recordings that I set up, I have no use for, as you say it, TiVo's guesses at what I might like.


I think that statement speaks volumes. For some folks, TiVo sells them on the use of DVR, but not necessarily TiVo alone.

I also hated "suggestions", I thought it was one of the most worthless features on the TiVo boxes. I shut it off on every TiVo I have ever had (two SD and one HD DirecTV boxes).