If you are a DirecTV customer and don't have a DTivo, you're crazy!

[jake14mw]

OK, yes the title is a little dramatic, I don't think your really mentally ill

I do believe however that if care enough about TV to be reading this forum, you should not be without a DTivo. They are available at Circuit City for $49.99 after a $50 rebate. The Tivo service is $5 per month. If you don't think it's worth $5 per month, you can cancel the service and still have a receiver that can pause live TV. If you really didn't like it, you could then sell it and at least get your $50 back. Almost no risk, and the reward is incredible! Just your time savings alone in not watching commercials has to make it worth a try!

It's not just a tapeless VCR. It's TV on your time. Watch the shows you like when YOU want. Not ready at 8:00? Start watching at 8:12. If you're a fan of Survivor, did you know that it's showing on Wednesday instead of Thursday this week? I don't need to know, my Tivo knows. I'll watch it when I'm ready. Big Brother was moved to 3:00 in the morning about 5 times this season on our local CBS station because they broadcast a Yankees game in it's place. Did I know about it ahead of time? Never. Did I miss any of the episodes? Not one. My Tivo knew when they were going to be on and recorded them for me.

I won't list every great feature here. Most of you have heard it before. I was in the same position as many of you before I got one. I only bought one years ago with the intention of selling it for a profit. I didn't need one and I sure as hell wasn't going to fork out $10 (back then) more per month just to record TV that I didn't mind if I missed anyway. Well, it never got sold and now I have two more!

If you give it a try for a month, you will not go back to a normal receiver, and you'll be very glad you tried it. You're crazy if you don't.

 

[Barney]

Doesn't do HD...........$1000 is too much for me & alot of issues/problems with it also.

 

[slacker9876]

Try to stay focused on the thread topic Barney, he didn't say it did HD. Given that 97% of all programming is still SD the DirecTiVo is a huge value at even $100.

I have owned one (or more) for 2 years now and it has saved me at least 100 hours in TV watching just by skipping commercials. It it nice to know that the show NBC shows live at 58 minutes is 21 minutes of commercials that I don't have to watch. This unit will only get better if and when D* add the HMO function to it. There are quite a few of us who have these as our "standard" receivers now. That is the nice thing, even if you have 4 of them at one location it is still only 4.95/mo, vs. the 13.95 Tivo charges per unit.

 

[mini1]

I fail to see or agree that there are "alot of issues/problems" with the the HD DirecTivo. It is currently the most reliable and workable HD DVR on the U.S market. I know some may have had problems, but what peice of new technology doesn't?

 

[jake14mw]

Doesn't do HD...........$1000 is too much for me & alot of issues/problems with it also.

That's exactly why I don't watch more HD than I do. $1000 is too much for me. I'd rather watch it on my schedule with no commercials than watch it in HD. Actually having to sit down in front of the TV at a certain time to watch a show is a totally foreign concept in my house.

 

[okaydave]

I am becoming a proud Directv HD owner on Friday. I am also getting two standard receivers installed. Is it posssbile down the road to switch out my standard receivers with Tivo receivers?

 

[jake14mw]

HDTivo owner, or just regular HD? You can certainly replace the standard receivers with DTivos at any time. The one thing to keep in mind is that in order to utilize the dual tuner feature, you need two coax cables coming from your dish or multiswitch.

 

[CWS_kahuna]

The one thing to keep in mind is that in order to utilize the dual tuner feature, you need two coax cables coming from your dish or multiswitch.

About the Multiswitch, so can I buy a multiswitch and put it in my living room and then run two cables to a Tivo and record one show while watching another? I thought if you did that your channel lineup would get messed up. I just always thought you had to run direct cables into the house.

If what I am thinking is correct what a good multiswitch to go from one input to two or more outputs?

 

[slacker9876]

I am becoming a proud Directv HD owner on Friday. I am also getting two standard receivers installed. Is it posssbile down the road to switch out my standard receivers with Tivo receivers?

Yes, you can add TiVo's and deactivate any receiver at anytime. Your commitment is to a programming package.

 

[Barney]

Sorry Slacker
I can't sit down at a certain time to watch a program either jake. I have lost alot of interest in most regular programing. But it would be nice to have a DVR (I'd love a HD TiVo though). But who knows, if I had one, no telling what I'd watch (without commercials).

Barney

 

[steverobertson]

Tivo and HD Tivo ROCKS it is the only way to watch TV

 

[mcsj]

BUT for current customer, it's not $100 per TiVo box, and not to mention 1-year contract -- you can't just sell it if you don't like it.

 

[dcbag]

So what should a current customer do to get the best deal?

 

[jake14mw]

BUT for current customer, it's not $100 per TiVo box, and not to mention 1-year contract -- you can't just sell it if you don't like it.

Not sure what you mean by this comment. The price I mentioned above of $49 after rebate is for a current customer. The one year commitment is annoying. If you are an existing customer and you complain about adding the one year commitment, they will generally let it go. Don't know what selling it and not liking it is about.

 

[jake14mw]

So what should a current customer do to get the best deal?

Depends on your situation. Most on-line and B&M electronics stores sell the DTivo for $99. So you could buy it from them, bring it home and hook it up. Also, the last time I checked, Best Buy was selling one of the 80 GB models for $99. That's a recent reduction and a good deal. As I said above, Circuit City is selling them for $49 after $50 rebate, again a good deal.

Remember, for the dual tuner, you do need another coax line to it. If you can do that yourself, then do one of the deals above. If you can't, order one through DirecTV. It will cost you $99 for a 40GB model, plus around $25 shipping, but they will have someone install it for you for this price. That means they will run another line, and if you have used up all of your lines already, they will install a multiswitch for you too! If you need the multiswitch, it works out to be a killer deal, as the switch, and install and lines are done for you.

 

[Barney]

I fail to see or agree that there are "alot of issues/problems" with the the HD DirecTivo. It is currently the most reliable and workable HD DVR on the U.S market. I know some may have had problems, but what peice of new technology doesn't?

The problem with this unit is using the HDMI output. Another member is on his 4th unit. Not only does it stop outputting video but also goes out of stand-by. Having to re-boot. Then no output by the HDMI. There was a firmware update Sunday? so his HDMI is working for now & he loves it. But he stated it took a few days (he also has a direct line to the engineer.due to this HDMI problem, that is working on this problem). No other issues with the unit, just HDMI. HDMI switching is already appearing on receivers.
Sorry, just wanted to inform.

Barney

Edit: When using the HDMI connection the unit wouldn't come out of "Stand-By". He PM'em me last night, since the "update" his HDTiVo is working fine now, but he has his fingers crossed!

 

[jake14mw]

No, moderator, don't move this thread to the DVR forum! People in the DVR forum already have DVRs. This thread is for people in the general DTV forum who don't have DVRs, like the title says!

 

[Neutron]

WTF are you talking about jake14mw?? Which moderator is threatening to move this to the DVR forum?

 

[silversurfer]

Sorry but if people are interested in a DVR I am quite certain they know which forum to go to...This post is discussing DVRs and it belongs in the DVR forum. There are also redirects left in the main forum that will point them to this forum. So the effect you wanted is being achieved while we maintain the format of each forum...

 

[rkr0923]

Survivor, did you know that it's showing on Wednesday instead of Thursday this week? I don't need to know, my Tivo knows.
Then your Tivo is crazy.....cause it's still on Thursday night @ 7:00pm