Getting an HR-20

[tim1970]

Hopefully, I will be getting my HR-20 tomorrow. Right now I have the HD Tivo based DVR (HR10 I believe). Is there a review of the HR-20 that compares features of the two DVR's? I would like to know what the non-tivo based unit can do that the TIVO can't, and vice-versa. Or is someone can just list some of the major differences here, that would be great. Also, is there different versions of the HR-20, or are they all the same? I want to make sure I get the best DVR available tomorrow.


Thanks

Tim

 

[Jimbo]

The biggest difference between the two is , the new HR20-700 is NOT TIVO based and the new one also processes MPEG4 signals that the HR10-250 does not.

The HR20-700 is the only version currently being made, the -700 being the designation

Jimbo

 

[adawg]

Another major difference (to me at least) is the H20 does not have dual live tuners. What this means is in your current Tivo, you can switch between the two tuners. Say for example you are watching 2 football games. You pause tuner 1, watch tuner 2 live for 20 mintues, pause it, then go back and catch up tuner one...

You cannot do this as easily on the H20. Hope that made sense.

 

[adawg]

I also wanted to add that I am surpsrised that you are getting an H20. I was told by a retention specialist that they have stopped shipping all H20s until they can get a number of the software bugs worked out. Guess that is not entirely true.

 

[Jimbo]

I also wanted to add that I am surpsrised that you are getting an H20. I was told by a retention specialist that they have stopped shipping all H20s until they can get a number of the software bugs worked out. Guess that is not entirely true.

I agree with you about not being able to swap between tuners, I have never had a TIVO, but that would be a valuable improvement, maybe they can address that when the get the minor bugs and the OTA tuner issues out of the way.
I hope that is something that can be address with a software update, but I am unsure if that is something that can be done that way or not.

Also, it's the HR-20-700 that is being backordered, probably to address some of these issues.
Not the H20, they are available
The OP did mention the HR-20 btw.

Jimbo

 

[adawg]

Sorry, typo on my part, meant to say HR20 in that post...

 

[tim1970]

Well, I did get my new HR20 this past Saturday. I had been on a waiting list for about 2 months.

The install went great. No problems. I was concerned because the installer was only able to get a signal strenght of around 75 on his meter. However he said that is very good. I guess he is right because when I check satellite strength inside, I am getting mostly mid 90 readings.

DVR was freezing quite a bit during FF and Rewinding, causing me to re-boot. Luckily last night I received a software update 0XE3, and it seems to have corrected a lot of problemns. (The software version it was shipped with was 0XBE).

I haven't been able to set up all my season passes yet, because due to the freezing problems, I kept having to re-boot, and that causes the guide to be lost. I haven't had to re-boot since the software upgrade last night, so hopefully when I get home from work today, I will have the full 2 weeks worth of the guide.

Also, I got the slimline dish, and it was still larger than my old dish. I can't imagine the size of the original 5 lnb dish.

The installers had to swap out my 5X8 multiswitch, but the good news is the new switch does not have to be plugged in, so I gain back the use of one of my outdoor plugs.


Overall, I am happy with the picture quality, and since the latest update, no freezing either.


Tim

 

[O2BRich]

Check this thread over at DBSTalk... It lists most of the advantages.

The biggest dis-advantage is the lack of dual live buffers.


http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=70065

 

[minorthr]

I got a call today from Directv telling me I could order one I called and they wanted $300 for it. I passed and if I really want one I'll call retention and get one.

 

[tim1970]

I called retention to get my deal. The deal they offered me was $100.00 up front, but an immediate credit of $100 on my bill, which made it a net of $0. But when the installer did not show up when scheduled, they gave me another $100 credit to my bill. Then a week later when the installer called and said it was on backorder, they gave me showtime for free for 6 months, and $10 a month off my bill for 1 year. So basically for getting the HR-20, D* gave me $220 worth of credits, and 6 months free showtime.

The only problem, I had to wait a while because it was backordered.

Tim

 

[wneilson82]

I ordered DirecTV for the first time a few weeks back and still waiting on my DVR

 

[Hauser]

Another major difference (to me at least) is the H20 does not have dual live tuners. What this means is in your current Tivo, you can switch between the two tuners. Say for example you are watching 2 football games. You pause tuner 1, watch tuner 2 live for 20 mintues, pause it, then go back and catch up tuner one...

You cannot do this as easily on the H20. Hope that made sense.

So, you're saying on my HR10-250 TIVO you can pause one tuner and witch to the other? How do you do that? Just by hitting pause and sitching to a different channel?
I thought I tried that and when I switched to a new channel, it negated the pause. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Jimbo]

Well, I did get my new HR20 this past Saturday. I had been on a waiting list for about 2 months.

The install went great. No problems. I was concerned because the installer was only able to get a signal strenght of around 75 on his meter. However he said that is very good. I guess he is right because when I check satellite strength inside, I am getting mostly mid 90 readings.

DVR was freezing quite a bit during FF and Rewinding, causing me to re-boot. Luckily last night I received a software update 0XE3, and it seems to have corrected a lot of problemns. (The software version it was shipped with was 0XBE).

I haven't been able to set up all my season passes yet, because due to the freezing problems, I kept having to re-boot, and that causes the guide to be lost. I haven't had to re-boot since the software upgrade last night, so hopefully when I get home from work today, I will have the full 2 weeks worth of the guide.

Also, I got the slimline dish, and it was still larger than my old dish. I can't imagine the size of the original 5 lnb dish.

The installers had to swap out my 5X8 multiswitch, but the good news is the new switch does not have to be plugged in, so I gain back the use of one of my outdoor plugs.


Overall, I am happy with the picture quality, and since the latest update, no freezing either.


Tim

Tim,
You will continue to get updates as they roll out, each time adressing different issues that have been brought up to them. they seem to be making improvements on a regular basis.

Jimbo

 

[scottie_h]

So, you're saying on my HR10-250 TIVO you can pause one tuner and witch to the other? How do you do that? Just by hitting pause and sitching to a different channel?
I thought I tried that and when I switched to a new channel, it negated the pause. What am I doing wrong?

Press pause, then push the 'live tv' button. I do it over and over and over and Sundays.

However, if I remember right, if you are watching a channel and do not pause it, but you are watching from the buffer and switch to the other tuner, the original tuner returns to "live" TV (no longer in the delayed buffer).