Finally got D* yesterday, this HR34 is pretty cool.

[rapidturtle]

Switched from Dish to Direct, and got the HR34 and 3 HD receivers. I must say that I am pretty impressed so far. It is really nice setting up recordings, and not having to worry about any conflicts with the 5 tuners. The receivers seems seems very responsive so far. My 722 actually had more lag. I love the layout of the guide. Everything just looks cleaner.
As far as the picture quality, it does seem slightly better than what I had with Dish, but not by much. I had a great installer, which made me happy. He really seemed to know what he was doing, and did a very nice job at cleaning up my cables where everything hooks in. I have a lot more playing around to do, and I will post my opinions as I become more acclimated with the system. So far though, this could be love.

 

[dtro77]

Switched from Dish to Direct, and got the HR34 and 3 HD receivers. I must say that I am pretty impressed so far. It is really nice setting up recordings, and not having to worry about any conflicts with the 5 tuners. The receivers seems seems very responsive so far. My 722 actually had more lag. I love the layout of the guide. Everything just looks cleaner.
As far as the picture quality, it does seem slightly better than what I had with Dish, but not by much. I had a great installer, which made me happy. He really seemed to know what he was doing, and did a very nice job at cleaning up my cables where everything hooks in. I have a lot more playing around to do, and I will post my opinions as I become more acclimated with the system. So far though, this could be love.

I like mine too, but it still has its moments!

Moments that should have been addressed with the HR20.

 

[Mr Tony]

welcome to the club

Yeah the HR34 can have its moments but the 5 tuners really make recording easier

 

[Jimbo]

I like mine too, but it still has its moments!

Moments that should have been addressed with the HR20.

Except that the HR20 and HR34 are not related at all, but I know what you mean.

 

[dtro77]

Except that the HR20 and HR34 are not related at all, but I know what you mean.

Yes not to confuse, the HR34 is new and completely different.

The bugs when the Hr20 was released in 2006 are very similar to the bugs in the HR34 that is 6 years newer.
It does a lot more then a standard HD DVR so I will cut it some slack!
Now lets get the Pandora app on there please.

 

[rapidturtle]

The installer told me that it had Pandora. He said it would take a day or two for it to update and download the apps. Is this true, or have I been told a tall tale?

 

[gadgtfreek]

You should have owned it back in Jan, it was real fun lol

 

[directv newb]

I am completely in love with directv and the hr34. I tell everyone that I can about the hr34. There is actually nothing more they could do for me, I don't want more than 5 tuners, 1tb is plenty of storage for me, and I absolutely love
the UI. The picture quality is incredible. Hope you have good luck with your directv experience.

 

[texasbrit]

The installer told me that it had Pandora. He said it would take a day or two for it to update and download the apps. Is this true, or have I been told a tall tale?

No, it does not have Pandora - yet. The version currently in beta test does have Pandora.

 

[rapidturtle]

I have to agree with d*newb. This system is really the bomb. Having the 5 tuners really comes in handy, and the fact that my other 3 T.V.'s aren't taking up a tuner is the only way I would want it. If I want to pause T.V. in one of the bedrooms, we just hit record. I really don't find that to be an issue at all. I would rather have the free tuners at the DVR. I absolutely love the user interface. It is very easy, and most of it just makes sense. Love the arrow up for favorite channels, and the apps are pretty cool also. Very easy to clear the junk channels from my guide, (which I guess my only complaint would be, there are a lot of junk channels.)
Just a few complaints.
1. No optical out on the HR34. That is the only type of input my DVD surround system has.
2. I can't seem to get some movies to be loud enough through the T.V. Not sure if it is just a setting on my T.V. that I need to find. I tried it Dolby, and the other setting on the HR 34, but neither seemed to help.

 

[whitewolf8214]

Congrats on getting the HR34 and welcome to the club and enjoy it

 

[digiblur]

I have to agree with d*newb. This system is really the bomb. Having the 5 tuners really comes in handy, and the fact that my other 3 T.V.'s aren't taking up a tuner is the only way I would want it. If I want to pause T.V. in one of the bedrooms, we just hit record. I really don't find that to be an issue at all. I would rather have the free tuners at the DVR. I absolutely love the user interface. It is very easy, and most of it just makes sense. Love the arrow up for favorite channels, and the apps are pretty cool also. Very easy to clear the junk channels from my guide, (which I guess my only complaint would be, there are a lot of junk channels.)
Just a few complaints.
1. No optical out on the HR34. That is the only type of input my DVD surround system has.
2. I can't seem to get some movies to be loud enough through the T.V. Not sure if it is just a setting on my T.V. that I need to find. I tried it Dolby, and the other setting on the HR 34, but neither seemed to help.

It's not expensive at all to buy a coax to optical converter.

I use a 4 way hdmi switch that has optical out from monoprice and have no issues blasting the movie where you can hear it across the street.

We also really enjoy the 34 as well. The 5 tuners is awesome along with the other tvs having their own tuner. I also have a HR24 and love it all integrates together with ease. Its whole home DVR done right!

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

[tech_guru]

I just got dish' new hopper system in my opinion its alot better I love the 2tb harddrive and the hd gui is great the guide has super fast scrolling and picture quality is awesome if I had to say one bad thing about it it would be that it only has 3 tuners

 

[Rey]

It's not expensive at all to buy a coax to optical converter.

I use a 4 way hdmi switch that has optical out from monoprice and have no issues blasting the movie where you can hear it across the street.

We also really enjoy the 34 as well. The 5 tuners is awesome along with the other tvs having their own tuner. I also have a HR24 and love it all integrates together with ease. Its whole home DVR done right!

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

here's a cheap coax to optical converter
For only $9.77 each when QTY 50+ purchased - Coaxial (RCA) to Optical Toslink Digital Audio Converter | Toslink Switch / Converter

 

[digiblur]

I just got dish' new hopper system in my opinion its alot better I love the 2tb harddrive and the hd gui is great the guide has super fast scrolling and picture quality is awesome if I had to say one bad thing about it it would be that it only has 3 tuners

The 3 tuner limitation is a major factor. The 34 has plenty of enough hard drive, way more than the 722k had. Holds more programming than I need and we record a ton of stuff with 5 tuners. Even some nights I pull up the list and I can see 5 recording on the 34 and 2 recording on the 24. Still amazes me everytime I see it.

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

[shaun-ohio]

but doesn't the hopper record 6 programs at once? and record 2000 hours? that's what the csr from dish told me, but anyhow you will love your HR34 it is the best by far, welcome aboard

 

[Mr Tony]

I just got dish' new hopper system in my opinion its alot better I love the 2tb harddrive and the hd gui is great the guide has super fast scrolling and picture quality is awesome if I had to say one bad thing about it it would be that it only has 3 tuners

and this has to do with the topic how?????

 

[Mr Tony]

but doesn't the hopper record 6 programs at once?

during primetime only and
only the big 4 nets
and they have to be in HD

otherwise its just 3 tuners

 

[digiblur]

Yep, try recording ESPN, Discovery, Spike, TLC, and NatGeo at one time on a hopper and see how far it gets. Now granted, during prime time, one hopper could record the 4 nets and 2 national channels at the same time. That's only 2 hours a day though and there's not really a lot of compelling content on all 4 nets at the same time.

 

[gadgtfreek]

My only current complaint is the software version. A few weeks ago they had a RC CE version that everyone was real happy with, I do not understand why we havent had a national release update yet. The guide bugs piss me off sometimes.