new user - help with Tivo vs. their DVR

[kenrippy]

Here's the delima;

We have 2 series II tivo's, a 160hr w/ lifetime service, and an 80hr @ $5.99/mo. These are both networked via wireless USB so we can share recordings from the two. (we love this feature)

I ordered DirecTV a few days ago, and they said I would need to pay a $5.99 fee just to be able to use OUR OWN tivo's. Or, they would provide 1 standard DVR for the same price. I went ahead and ordered their DVR to give it a try. The only features I like about the Dtv DVR is that it has a dual tuner, so we can record and watch different channels.

Questions:

1) Will the Dtv DVR be able to network with our tivo? (I doubt it)

2) Is it possible to connect the tivo & Dtv DVR with a splitter so we can still record stuff and share recordings between our 2 tivo's?

3) If I cancel the Dtv DVR, and tell them I have no tivo's, what's stopping me from just connecting the tivo's up myself? I don't understand having to pay them $5.99 for a service that I'm already paying for through tivo.


Any other advice on this setup would be very much appreciated. And if I forgot to mention something that you can shed some light on, please do..

Thanks in advance!

 

[chazcbh]

Someone can correct me if I am wrong but I don't think you will be able to use the series II tivos with DTV.

 

[bonscott87]

Sounds like you have stand alone Tivos.
No, you cannot connect them up to DirecTV's DVRs (or anyone elses for that matter).

You could connect them to a regular non-DVR receiver and hope the IR blasters required to control them work properly.

Basically your stand alone Tivo's are made more for cable usage. Like I said above, you can connect them to non DVR DirecTV or Dish receivers, it's certainly not an optimal solution.

DirecTV charges a $5.99 a month DVR free that covers *all* the DVRs on your account. Dish charges a very similar fee for the same thing. You also see the same thing with cable for their DVRs.
Your Stand Alone Tivo's are another beast all together and is between you and Tivo, doesn't matter how you get your channels.

 

[kenrippy]

DirecTV charges a $5.99 a month DVR free that covers *all* the DVRs on your account. Dish charges a very similar fee for the same thing. You also see the same thing with cable for their DVRs.

You're right, these are stand alone Tivo units.

Are you saying that I can order a second DVR for the bedroom and only be charged the same flat $5.99/mo? or would it be 2x $5.99?

The salesperson said that I would be getting a 100hr DVR unit. Do you know off hand if that means 100hrs of high quality recordings, or is it like Tivo where you can choose quality settings? That would mean 100hrs is more like 40hrs in high quality in tivo language.

Thanks

edit:
I just called and they want another $99 for the 2nd DVR plus $4.99/mo for the programming. What's the best (read: least expensive) way to go about getting another DVR for the bedroom?

 

[bonscott87]

You're right, these are stand alone Tivo units.

Are you saying that I can order a second DVR for the bedroom and only be charged the same flat $5.99/mo? or would it be 2x $5.99?

The salesperson said that I would be getting a 100hr DVR unit. Do you know off hand if that means 100hrs of high quality recordings, or is it like Tivo where you can choose quality settings? That would mean 100hrs is more like 40hrs in high quality in tivo language.

Thanks

edit:
I just called and they want another $99 for the 2nd DVR plus $4.99/mo for the programming. What's the best (read: least expensive) way to go about getting another DVR for the bedroom?

1) It would be $5.99 for both. I have 3 DVRs in my house...2 DirecTivo's and the new HR20. Still just one monthly fee of $5.99 for DVR service.

2) There is no quality setting on a satellite DVR. It's all a direct record of the satellite stream. So a 100 hour DVR is....100 hours give or take a few depending on compression.

3) Any additional receiver (DVR or not) is a $4.99 mirroring fee. This is standard for both DirecTV and Dish. Same thing with cable in that you pay a fee for each digital cable box you have.
So example: I have 4 total receivers in my house. The 3 beyond the primary incur a $4.99 mirror fee each.

 

[kenrippy]

Alright, thanks bonscott. That cleared everything up.

 

[kenrippy]

Here's another question;

Can the 100hr R15 connect to the pc to transfer recordings yet? I know it has a USB port, and I've heard about DirecTV2Go, but is it available yet? If so, how, where etc? thanks

 

[bonscott87]

Here's another question;

Can the 100hr R15 connect to the pc to transfer recordings yet? I know it has a USB port, and I've heard about DirecTV2Go, but is it available yet? If so, how, where etc? thanks

No. Even the old DirecTV receivers with Tivo can't do this.

Basically all the "extra" things that don't have to do with recording programs you are used to on a stand alone Tivo isn't available on non-Tivo DVRs.

There isn't much known about DirecTV2Go but you can bet the copy protection will be crazy due to the movie studios. I really don't know anything about it.

 

[kenrippy]

I just called and cancelled the whole order. There's too many things we like about our stand alone tivo's, and DTV seems like they nickle & dime you to death with charges & contracts. I just got a very bad taste in my mouth. It will be another year of so before we decide to make the change to another service. Maybe when FIOS TV comes into our area.....

thanks for the help everyone.

 

[bonscott87]

Cable nickels and dimes you too for pretty much the same fees. At least around here. You want HD? Oh that'll be $11 a month for that receiver. DVR too? Another $5 a month. You wanted a remote with that didn't you? $2 a month. I could go on.

Sounds like maybe you have a good cable company. That is always a luxury.

Good luck!

 

[kenrippy]

We don't have HD yet, but we have our broadband, phone w/ free long distance, & TV with the cable co. all on one bill. After it's all said and done, it's about $125/mo and that's with a couple pay channels. I was adding the cost of dropping the cable co. & seperating it all, and it would be just as much, if not more.

With that mentioned above, and the fact that we love being able to have the 2 tivo boxes networked with our wireless network, which means we can share recordings between both boxes, & transfer recordings to the pc (edit out commercials & burn). Oh and also share music & photos from the pc to the tv's.

I just wish the cable co. was a bit more reliable!

(the remote control is only $.15/mo here)