MRV - Dish or Direct?

[ts7]

First, let me be clear this is not intended as a Dish vs DirecTV debate - thus why I didn't post it in the War Zone. I am only trying to investigate options, verify the facts and seek opinions from those that have previous experience or knowledge from both solutions.

I've been wanting multi-room viewing capability to watch any recorded show from any TV in the house. With Dish's Sling solution and Direct's whole-home DVR it looks like my wish may finally be reality. I am currently a Dish Top 200 w/HD and locals subscriber. I do not subscribe to any premium, sports or international packages. I have a 722 and 322 with 4 sets total connected. I have two dishes (110/119 and a 61.5 wing - can't get LOS on 129). I have been a Dish subscriber for about 8 years and am currently not under any contract.

Despite all the hype with Dish's 922, I am really a little disappointed that it doesn't support TV2. It also doesn't seem that Dish's whole house solution (other than what can be done via dual tuner receivers) won't really exist for a while and the new pricing structure for Dish receivers would seem to discourage such a solution.

I have priced a DirecTV solution consisting of 2 HD DVRs, 2 HD receivers (4 receivers total) with the Choice Xtra and Whole-Home DVR service. From what I understand, this will allow me to record up to four shows at the same time and watch them from any TV in the house. For the first year, this solution will be slightly less than what I am paying now for my Dish subscription. After the first year, it will be slightly more (~$8/mo) than I am paying now for Dish.

For the most part I have been satisfied with Dish and I really like the DVRs and program guide. The few times I have used DirecTV I have been less than impressed with their equipment. I have also had pretty good luck with Dish support and have been unimpressed with DirecTV's pre-sales support (I doubt their customer support is any better).

I would be very interested in hearing other's experiences and opinions, but again - please no flames!

Thanks!

 

[JAG72]

I am only trying to investigate options, verify the facts and seek opinions from those that have previous experience or knowledge from both solutions.

I doubt you will get many that have experience with both by just posting this in the Dish forum. The Directv MRV is to new for many of the Dish subscribers to have experience with. You would have better luck posting in the Directv forum for people that have switch to Directv over the past month.

I have priced a DirecTV solution consisting of 2 HD DVRs, 2 HD receivers (4 receivers total) with the Choice Xtra and Whole-Home DVR service. From what I understand, this will allow me to record up to four shows at the same time and watch them from any TV in the house. For the first year, this solution will be slightly less than what I am paying now for my Dish subscription. After the first year, it will be slightly more (~$8/mo) than I am paying now for Dish.

You are correct. You can record 4 programs at the same time with this solution. You will also be able to watch a recorded program from any of the receivers or a live program from you standard HD receivers.

For the most part I have been satisfied with Dish and I really like the DVRs and program guide. The few times I have used DirecTV I have been less than impressed with their equipment. I have also had pretty good luck with Dish support and have been unimpressed with DirecTV's pre-sales support (I doubt their customer support is any better).

I will agree that the older Directv receivers did not really compare to the Dish 622 or 722 models. The new HR24 is one that is right on par with those boxes. The guide is the only peice that some people still do not like (but some do like the guide over the Dish receivers). The speed of the boxes are great. I will also state that Directv has a great VOD offering if you have broadband access.

On the support side will will disagree with your comment. When I had Dish, the support was the worst I have ever seen from a TV provider. I will not say I have not had any issue with Directv but they have been fine IMO. I will also say that they have been more than willing to work with me on the pricing of my packages. I call once a year to get the best value for my TV viewing and I have never been disappointed with what they have offered.

Right now if you want a top notch MRV solution then I think Directv is the way to go. The MRV solution on the Dish receivers is just to limited IMO.

Good luck with which ever one you choose.

 

[scottbakertemp]

I can tell you that MRV with the 922 doesn't work half of the time. You can reliably connect with the windows app and stream everything in SD. But if you want to stream HD, you have to use the website which doesn't work at least half of the time.

I don't know why they won't just update the windows app. I take that back. They did update the app and the latest version won't connect to the 922 at all.

It almost seems like there is a political thing between sling and dish.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

First off E* doesn't have MRV.

E* has a Single DVR that works a Max of 2 rooms that share 2 satellite tuners.
1 room SD 1 room HD.

If room one is recording , room 2 has to watch it.
If room 2 is recording room 1 has to watch it.
Or you both have to watch what your recording to not interupt the other room.

You can watch a pre recorded movie without interupting the other room.


Now Directv MRV is simple this.
You take one central HD DVR, like say your living room.
Then you have HD receivers in all of your tv locations.

You use the HD DVR harddrive to access recordings and record, without disrupting your ablity to watch live TV.
Plus the person watching TV in the Living room still has a free tuner, and can continue to watch live tv.

E* system is nothing like D* MRV

 

[JAG72]

Now Directv MRV is simple this.
You take one central HD DVR, like say your living room.
Then you have HD receivers in all of your tv locations.

I also like that if you need more than 2 tuners to record on you just have to add an additional DVR. The additional DVR would just replace one of your HD receivers as you can access the recordings from the HD or HD DVR systems.

Another nice feature is that you can block people from remotely deleting progams.