Does DirecTV have an "answer" to the Hopper?

[bobvick]

But with the HR series it's either or for the HDD, with Dish you have access to both at all times ... one reason I use EHDD's with Dish and not Directv.

That is very true, and I can not see why DirecTv will not allow archiving of recordings on an external drive. That is a very stupid mistake on their part, and an area in which Dish has an advantage.

 

[dfergie]

Imagine an HR34 hooked to several HR's each with an EHDD with both drives contents available to view via whole home...

 

[mdram]

or how about recording to a networked drive, like a nas..................

 

[Rey]

That is very true, and I can not see why DirecTv will not allow archiving of recordings on an external drive. That is a very stupid mistake on their part, and an area in which Dish has an advantage.

this is the only disadvantage i can see with the HR34 compared to the hopper. and a disadvantage that doesn't apply to me but understand those who do have an issue with this.

cost like you mentioned is $99. free in some cases even for current subs. my HR34 didn't cost me one cent. can't beat that. and it works with my current dvr giving me a 7 tuner system.

 

[dfergie]

or how about recording to a networked drive, like a nas..................

Or at least archiving like dvarchive allowed with Replay where your pc acted like another dvr...

 

[digiblur]

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, i skimmed a bunch of threads but didn't see anything.
Does DirecTV have any new hardware coming out or upgrades in the near future? Trying to avoid buyers remorse

It should be the other way around. What is Dish's answer for the HR34? For $100 up front with even the smallest channel package a new cust can get the HR34, and 3 H25's (and even couple of SD's too if they want). Grand total of 8 tuners and every bedroom can watch what they want to watch without having to worry if a tuner is available on the HR34.

I see the Hopper/Joey system as a day late and dollar short answer. The 3 tuner configuration is quite laughable in even a typical household setup with non-power users, I'm not going to consider it scalable either at this point because it is not working yet. Not offense to Scott, he did a great job at bringing us information on the system from CES, but once I saw the system and specs my mind was made up. I went with the system that was cheaper, offered my channels, and more tuners.

I would be divorced and homeless if I had a H/J setup in my home.

 

[lparsons21]

I'm assuming your watching/recording patterns would require more than 3 tuners full-time.

For me, replacing 3 HR24s with a Hopper and one Joey would be just fine and that's because the only time I need those 6 is during prime time and that because of broadcast channels. At every other time of day, no more than 3 tuners are ever needed by me and my son. We both watch almost zero live channels, everything is recorded and watched when it is convenient for us.

That said, an HR34 with a single Hxx would do fine also.

If the money was right, I would switch to either right now. But since I'm relatively a new customer to D*, they didn't offer any deal whatsoever for the HR34. And with the ETF as it is right now, switching to Dish would cost me something less than $100 overall to switch.

But come August, when my rebates expire, it is a whole new ballgame. I can switch to Dish at that time, and even with a $240 ETF, I would save another $240 over the first year. I'm very much leaning towards doing just that as the channels I watch in HD are almost all offered with both services.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

No offense to Scott, he did a great job at bringing us information on the system from CES, but once I saw the system and specs my mind was made up. I went with the system that was cheaper, offered my channels, and more tuners.

No offense taken. My big worry about Hopper is what if your hopper dies, then I am without TV all all 6 TV's in my house. (Which is another reason why I want 2 hoppers besides just for the extra tuners we need.)

 

[digiblur]

I'm assuming your watching/recording patterns would require more than 3 tuners full-time.

For me, replacing 3 HR24s with a Hopper and one Joey would be just fine and that's because the only time I need those 6 is during prime time and that because of broadcast channels. At every other time of day, no more than 3 tuners are ever needed by me and my son. We both watch almost zero live channels, everything is recorded and watched when it is convenient for us.

That said, an HR34 with a single Hxx would do fine also.

If the money was right, I would switch to either right now. But since I'm relatively a new customer to D*, they didn't offer any deal whatsoever for the HR34. And with the ETF as it is right now, switching to Dish would cost me something less than $100 overall to switch.

But come August, when my rebates expire, it is a whole new ballgame. I can switch to Dish at that time, and even with a $240 ETF, I would save another $240 over the first year. I'm very much leaning towards doing just that as the channels I watch in HD are almost all offered with both services.

Yes, I have kids and a wife in the house. The kids like to watch live TV a good bit at times. So there goes two tuners right there off the bat. I left Dish with a $120 ETF, but the costs I saved offset it big time.

No offense taken. My big worry about Hopper is what if your hopper dies, then I am without TV all all 6 TV's in my house. (Which is another reason why I want 2 hoppers besides just for the extra tuners we need.)

Yes, that was another deciding factor for me. As many times that I had to replace my 722k I couldn't have that single point of failure. (and yes it was on UPS power and open to the air on all sides for ventilation).

 

[Mike Russo]

thanks all for the input. now if i can just find a CSR for DTV that will take my "steal me away from Dish" bait and give me a super deal

i'm seeing the hardware is at least comparable on many levels. the thing that stings now is the lack of HBO Go support and the EPIX channels

 

[charper1]

That is very true, and I can not see why DirecTv will not allow archiving of recordings on an external drive. That is a very stupid mistake on their part, and an area in which Dish has an advantage.

it most likely due to the threatening atmosphere of lawsuits. and its a SMART move. there business is not concerned about how many items you can keep "forever; off the system" so to speak. the system's internal HDD however should be made to easily allow HDD swaps for new, larger INTERNAL HDDs, along with program transfers.

 

[dfergie]

thanks all for the input. now if i can just find a CSR for DTV that will take my "steal me away from Dish" bait and give me a super deal

i'm seeing the hardware is at least comparable on many levels. the thing that stings now is the lack of HBO Go support and the EPIX channels

Epix, Mavtv and SportsmanHD are a some of my frequent watch's ... I watch Dish unless I want to see network shows or it's close to CE time and catch Bill Maher while waiting...

 

[Bodo Fenrirsson]

it most likely due to the threatening atmosphere of lawsuits. and its a SMART move. there business is not concerned about how many items you can keep "forever; off the system" so to speak. the system's internal HDD however should be made to easily allow HDD swaps for new, larger INTERNAL HDDs, along with program transfers.

If you can afford it(because it is expensive),Weaknees offers internal hard drive replacements up to 2 terabytes HR20, HR21, HR21 Pro, HR22, HR23, HR24 and HR34 DirecTV HD DVR Upgrades & for about $60.00 extra,they'll transfere your settings & programing from your old hard drive to your new one. But like I said,it is expensive.

 

[digiblur]

The EHDD on my old 722 rarely got used. I forgot about stuff on there.

I have had my HR34 for a few weeks now and we record a LOT of stuff since we can with the 5 tuners. Still have about 40% left and we don't delete stuff. I am amazed at how much HD this thing can hold.

 

[charper1]

If you can afford it(because it is expensive),Weaknees offers internal hard drive replacements up to 2 terabytes HR20, HR21, HR21 Pro, HR22, HR23, HR24 and HR34 DirecTV HD DVR Upgrades & for about $60.00 extra,they'll transfere your settings & programing from your old hard drive to your new one. But like I said,it is expensive.

I know all that and know how to do it myself BUT I was saying they need to make easier for the end-user to do it; although isn't going to happen, at least anytime soon; as I said before it opens that pandora's box of possible lawsuits when it's company supported. Doing it yourself resolves them of the possible liabilities. Just wait till they wake up and move away from platter HDDs and go with any of the flash or solid state storage.

 

[DodgerKing]

Compare DirecTVs MRV to the Hopper
http://www.satelliteguys.us/hopper-...on-between-dish-mrv-direct-5.html#post2785507

 

[cave1376]

Two hoppers on the same account can't communicate with each other. If you are watching tv with Hopper A connected, you can't view what is on Hopper B. You will have to go to the tv that has Hopper B connected to watch Hopper B.

With Directv, a HR34 can view what is on other HDDVR(s) on the same account. And the other HDDVR(s) can view what is on the HR34.

With one Hopper, if the Hopper goes bad, then the joey(s) connected to that Hopper are useless because the joeys don't have tuners. And no service until a replacement Hopper arrives.

With Directv, if the dvr goes bad, only the dvr playback functions of the other non-dvr receivers will be affected. If a second dvr is on that account then it won't be affected, only the recorded programs on the failed dvr will be lost. Service will only be affected on the tv with the failed dvr.

 

[Mike Russo]

With Directv, a HR34 can view what is on other HDDVR(s) on the same account. And the other HDDVR(s) can view what is on the HR34.

Does this mean each unit has its own timers? Or do all the recordings and timers all the units show up in single lists?

thanks

 

[Mr Tony]

The timers you can set up on each DVR....

 

[harshness]

true, but, as has been mentioned before, they do not use one of the hr34 tuners, they have their own

Who watches stuff live?