How stable is the HR34? Would you recomend it?

[Paradox-SJ]

I am debating with adding a new Directv account OR a Hopper/Joey setup. I am leaning towards D* as this will allow me to get ST. My only concern is the stability of both company's hardware as they are both new.

How stable is the HR34 and would you recommend it? (as well as over a Hopper/joey setup?)

Thanks in adv.

PS if you have any recommendation on how to get the best deal from D* you can share that too.

 

[digiblur]

I had DishNetwork for almost 4 yrs. Back in Feb of this year I switched. The main reason was the HR34 and how each receiver in the house also had their own tuner.

I do not regret it one bit. Love the HR34 and its 5 tuners!!

 

[HIFI]

I had DishNetwork for almost 4 yrs. Back in Feb of this year I switched. The main reason was the HR34 and how each receiver in the house also had their own tuner.

I do not regret it one bit. Love the HR34 and its 5 tuners!!

and can record anything at anytime not just prime time.

 

[Mr Tony]

Love the HR34 and its 5 tuners!!

and can record anything at anytime not just prime time.

so true.
And also if you have receivers in other rooms they do not tie up one of the tuners off the HR34. They have their own in them

 

[Paradox-SJ]

Thank you for the feedback...The costco deal looks to be the best out there would you all agree?

Will they give me an AM21 or will I have to buy that separately?

Do they charge later to add additional STB if I don't get them at sign up?

 

[Mr Tony]

are there bugs in both systems? yes
are they minor? On the HR34 yes....dont know about the kangaroo

If you're going with JUST the HR34 alot of the minor bugs dont show up....if you use the MRV (whole home) then a few minor ones do pop up. Might want to read some threads. I know in the CW forum (cutting edge) there are more info about the beta software and bugs. But for me the HR34 only works great

 

[digiblur]

are there bugs in both systems? yes
are they minor? On the HR34 yes....dont know about the kangaroo

If you're going with JUST the HR34 alot of the minor bugs dont show up....if you use the MRV (whole home) then a few minor ones do pop up. Might want to read some threads. I know in the CW forum (cutting edge) there are more info about the beta software and bugs. But for me the HR34 only works great

MRV has worked flawless for me, only issue I had so far was the older software skipped a few of my shows the first day or two I had the unit. But it seems that has been fixed...knock on wood. Only negative I can really say is it is a bit slow sometimes in button presses. Not bad, but I'm just an impatient person. They wife hasn't complained about it so it must not be bad. The latest CE has fixed the speed of the guide for us.

We are stress testing the thing tonight though. 5 things recording on the HR34. 2 recording on the HR24. The HR34 is watching a program from earlier in the day from it's own hard drive. The H25 in one bedroom is watching a show from the HR34 recorded yesterday. The HR24 is watching another from the weekend from the HR34. Another H25 is also watching a program from the HR34. Stress testing it to the max... HR34 recording 5 things and dishing out 4 video streams from previous recordings. Not missing a beat.... nice! How else can I top this? Maybe fire up Pandora on the HR24 on top of all the previous since the HR34 also acts as the BB DECA (bridge between CAT5 and Coax network between receivers). I haven't tried that, but I'm sure it will be fine.

 

[Mr Tony]

MRV has worked flawless for me, only issue I had so far was the older software skipped a few of my shows the first day or two I had the unit. But it seems that has been fixed...knock on wood.

I know someone said the one time recordings sometimes get skipped after a CE upgrade but if you remove them and readd them it works fine

 

[digiblur]

I know someone said the one time recordings sometimes get skipped after a CE upgrade but if you remove them and readd them it works fine

Only use series here so I never ran into it, but thanks for the heads up.

 

[Paradox-SJ]

So if I add the HR34 dvr and the HR24 DVR they will be able to share content (see each other recording) If I add the directivo it will work but will not be able to share content with the other two DVR's.

Is this correct?

 

[WillMain]

So if I add the HR34 dvr and the HR24 DVR they will be able to share content (see each other recording) If I add the directivo it will work but will not be able to share content with the other two DVR's.

Is this correct?

Yes, this is correct. I have a HR34 and 3 HR24 and all can see one another and work well together.

 

[Mr Tony]

So if I add the HR34 dvr and the HR24 DVR they will be able to share content (see each other recording)

yes

If I add the directivo it will work but will not be able to share content with the other two DVR's.

correct

 

[gadgtfreek]

Im on the latest CE, 0548, and it works real well.

 

[zim2dive]

I find the HR34 still in "beta" mode with regard to software quality. I have no need for 5 full tuners.. Hopper would have been more than enough for us... I only went Direct b/c of the new customer discounts (vs. what Dish would give me on retention) and I only got the HR34 b/c I figured one should always get the latest when you can get it at the new customer discount vs. trying to upgrade later. I have not used an HR24, so I cannot compare... and I have not used a Hopper/Joey, so I cannot compare that either.. only that there are days when I think the Dish 622 wasn't all that bad and I've found no feature edge (so far) which will "keep" me on Direct once my 2-year expires (I'm only an average sports fan)... frankly for all of the Direct fanboy interruption in to the Dish forums, I was expecting to be living the life as shown in beer commercials.. but in reality, I think they are all rather similar with very small pros and cons.

 

[bondoo0]

I switched from E* with a a 722/SD DVR 3 weeks ago. I got a HR34, HR24 and H25. Here are the things I've found:

Good:
Record 7 Things at once (5 on 34, 2 on 24)
MRV - has worked fine for me, absolutely no issues
One time events don't count against the limit, like they do with Dish (i.e. Dish can only handle 96 Events, while HR-34 can handle 100 series, plus the one time events)

Bad:
Anything that clears the guide cache (CE update, or reset) will cause one time timers to have to be entered again, and they can only be enetered once they show up in the guide.
Some "glitches" in the software, that impacted searches, and left me with partially blank screen (cleared up by hitting back, no reset required)

Overall I'm happy with the switch, but there is definitely a learning curve after having been with E* for 7 years.

 

[scoop8]

I find the HR34 still in "beta" mode with regard to software quality. I have no need for 5 full tuners.. Hopper would have been more than enough for us... I only went Direct b/c of the new customer discounts (vs. what Dish would give me on retention) and I only got the HR34 b/c I figured one should always get the latest when you can get it at the new customer discount vs. trying to upgrade later. I have not used an HR24, so I cannot compare... and I have not used a Hopper/Joey, so I cannot compare that either.. only that there are days when I think the Dish 622 wasn't all that bad and I've found no feature edge (so far) which will "keep" me on Direct once my 2-year expires (I'm only an average sports fan)... frankly for all of the Direct fanboy interruption in to the Dish forums, I was expecting to be living the life as shown in beer commercials.. but in reality, I think they are all rather similar with very small pros and cons.

I get what you're saying but it's a two-way street. All one needs to do is to read a few pages of the recent "Tribune Dispute" threads to see the results of Dish sub's stirring the pot in this forum.

As one that's never visited the Dish forums, let alone never posted there, I can only speak for myself but it would be a refreshing change to see the handful of "naysayers" and hall monitors move on. They are laughable since the agenda is transparent but it would be nice to see them get the message that, I think, most here think they're comical. They disappeared when the Trubune dispute was settled. Funny and predictable.

I assume that we're seeing "tit for tat" and "payback" since as you indicated (I take your word for it as I don't read Dish forums), this happens in the Dish forums. I wish D* posters wouldn't stir the pot over there.

 

[zim2dive]

I get what you're saying but it's a two-way street. All one needs to do is to read a few pages of the recent "Tribune Dispute" threads to see the results of Dish sub's stirring the pot in this forum.

As one that's never visited the Dish forums, let alone never posted there, I can only speak for myself but it would be a refreshing change to see the handful of "naysayers" and hall monitors move on. They are laughable since the agenda is transparent but it would be nice to see them get the message that, I think, most here think they're comical. They disappeared when the Trubune dispute was settled. Funny and predictable.

I assume that we're seeing "tit for tat" and "payback" since as you indicated (I take your word for it as I don't read Dish forums), this happens in the Dish forums. I wish D* posters wouldn't stir the pot over there.

I guess to put it differently, being new to satellite several years ago, I went with Dish b/c of the pricing, and had the impression I was sacrificing _something_ (was never sure what) to get that lower price... having now switched to Direct.. I don't think that's the case, at least not for *my* household viewing habits (mileage will vary for EVERY customer)... I'm with Direct now b/c I could get the new customer promo pricing for the next 2 years, vs. the costs I would have seen on Dish to upgrade to their newest H/J system... and heck, it may or may not be bug-ridden right now.. don't know, don't care.. I haven't been checking the Dish forums b/c that's not relevant to me for at least 2 years (gives them a long time to iron out any bugs if they exist)

I will say that when I was on the Dish side, every dispute thread was littered with Direct folks proclaiming how Charlie was cheap and didn't care about his customers... so if there is any payback going on.. it was rather well earned But I agree, in a better world, all of that trash talking wouldn't exist... does nothing to help the end-users impacted by the disputes.

At the end of the day all of these systems and each of these providers have their pluses and minuses. The important thing is that we can all admit the faults and praise the good things so that everyone else can make informed decisions about switching, etc and find whatever mix best suits them.

Cheers,
Mike