Ordered today, questions about install and R22

[kinghill]

Great forum, glad I registered. Found out about the AAA discount and placed order for D* today. Couple questions I have been able to get answered or understand, any help appreciated.

Notes: I'm located in Palm Beach County, Florida. I do not have HDTV.

1) I ordered D* Choice Xtra+DVR package so I will be getting a standard DVR box. From what I read of the standard DVR boxes, the R22 is the best option because it has the Ethernet port built-in, is this correct? What are my odds of getting two R22's?

2) I currently have Comcast CATV and two Tivos. I can record a program using Tivo then transfer the program to my PC and edit it/burn it/whatever. Can I do this with D* DVR?

3) Also with my current two Tivo's, I can view and transfer recordings between the two units. Is this possible with two D* DVR's?

4) For those of you who have used both Tivo and D* DVR, which interface and features did you like better? (I've used Tivo for 4 years and it has been stable, features are great, but interface is a bit slow)

5) Were you charged a fee for your D* installation? Everywhere I read says standard installation included for free. Installer wants to charge $65 for my installation, does this sound like what would fall under a standard install? Condo, 2nd story, dish to be installed on roof with non-permanent sled mount. New wiring to be run down the back, drill through wall and run inside to 2 TV's in 2 rooms that are back to back.

6) One of my Tivo boxes (Toshiba RS-TX20 Series2) has lifetime subscription and a DVD burner built in, so I may still want to use it with the D* service. Any of you have this type of setup and does it work well?

7) The D* work order I got a copy of had these 3 lines, what do they mean?
SWM Flag = N
Protection = N
Repeat = N

8) Any other tips I should be aware of when the installer comes here on Friday?

 

[Big Dawg 23]

Welcome to the Forum. I moved to Directv Nov. 1st. I can only answer some of the questions.

1) I ordered D* Choice Xtra+DVR package so I will be getting a standard DVR box. From what I read of the standard DVR boxes, the R22 is the best option because it has the Ethernet port built-in, is this correct? What are my odds of getting two R22's?- Yes there are ethernet ports on R22 it is basically a HR22 minus the HD tuner. You said you dont have a HDTV. IF you think in the next six months it will happen I suggest you change to a HD Package now. You can watch HD channels on your STD TV. When watching them it was just like a DVD with the Letterbox. That of course doesnt happen 99% of the tim on a HDTV with 16 X 9.

2) I currently have Comcast CATV and two Tivos. I can record a program using Tivo then transfer the program to my PC and edit it/burn it/whatever. Can I do this with D* DVR?-At this point you can not do a direct transfer from any Directv recievers like the Tivo.

3) Also with my current two Tivo's, I can view and transfer recordings between the two units. Is this possible with two D* DVR's?-Currently you can not transfer to the different units. In Beta test they are testing the ability to view one recievers programing on another reciever. At this point you need to have on non-dvr tuner to test this.

4) For those of you who have used both Tivo and D* DVR, which interface and features did you like better? (I've used Tivo for 4 years and it has been stable, features are great, but interface is a bit slow)-Most seem to like TIVO. I had TIVO many years ago but got rid of it because that was when you had to degrade the picture to get more storage.

5) Were you charged a fee for your D* installation? Everywhere I read says standard installation included for free. Installer wants to charge $65 for my installation, does this sound like what would fall under a standard install? Condo, 2nd story, dish to be installed on roof with non-permanent sled mount. New wiring to be run down the back, drill through wall and run inside to 2 TV's in 2 rooms that are back to back.-I was not charge. I have a two story Townhome with Dish mounted to the roof. I had wiring for him to cut into so it was not a hard job for him to do.

6) One of my Tivo boxes (Toshiba RS-TX20 Series2) has lifetime subscription and a DVD burner built in, so I may still want to use it with the D* service. Any of you have this type of setup and does it work well?-Cant help you on this.

7) The D* work order I got a copy of had these 3 lines, what do they mean?
SWM Flag = N
Protection = N-Waived $5.99 monthly fee that covers free service and DVR replacement if they fail.
Repeat = N

8) Any other tips I should be aware of when the installer comes here on Friday?If you have an entertainment center make sure the installer can access the back of the TV easily. Assit just enough and being nice might get the install for free.

 

[kinghill]

Thanks BigDawg. I considered the HDTV option but I don't plan on buying a new TV for 2 years and I assumed it would cost more to get the HDTV equipment & plan now when I won't be using it for a "long" time.

Not being able to transfer from the DVR to PC is a huge issue for me as it is a great feature with the Tivo. I can't believe it's not possible! I have to research this further as that could be a deal breaker for me.

Thanks for the other tips, I'll have everything setup for the installer tomorrow, maybe he'll give me a break on the install fee (then I'll give it to him anyway as a tip, especially if he brings the two R22 boxes)

 

[HDinCincy]

Thanks BigDawg. I considered the HDTV option but I don't plan on buying a new TV for 2 years and I assumed it would cost more to get the HDTV equipment & plan now when I won't be using it for a "long" time.

Not being able to transfer from the DVR to PC is a huge issue for me as it is a great feature with the Tivo. I can't believe it's not possible! I have to research this further as that could be a deal breaker for me.

Thanks for the other tips, I'll have everything setup for the installer tomorrow, maybe he'll give me a break on the install fee (then I'll give it to him anyway as a tip, especially if he brings the two R22 boxes)

With everything you want to do, you may want to reconsider. TIVO will be dead without cable. I don't believe there is any way to make what you have now work on D*.

 

[kinghill]

With everything you want to do, you may want to reconsider. TIVO will be dead without cable. I don't believe there is any way to make what you have now work on D*.

What do you mean by "Tivo will be dead without cable"?

Here is what I'm thinking now after researching a bit. I want to try using the D* receiver along with my Series2 Tivo (Toshiba RS-TX20). I believe I would need to use the IR control to allow the Tivo to control the D* receiver to change channels, unless there is a serial port option. Then I could use the Tivo interface to record programs as I do now with the Tivo hooked up to the Comcast cable box.

So... as of now I'm thinking:

Option 1)
Get 1 R22 D* DVR for the living room
Get 1 standard D* receiver (D10? not sure of the models) for the bedroom to use along with my standalone Series2 Tivo.
That will work right?

Option 2)
Get 2 R22 D* DVRs
Put one R22 in the living room to use by itself.
Put the second R22 in the bedroom to use along with the standalone Series2 Tivo. I assume this would be possible if the R22 could be used *only* as a receiver not a DVR, is that possible?

Option 3)
Get 2 R22 D* DVRs and trash the Tivo.

 

[kinghill]

From what I read in this thread it doesn't appear Option 2 will work. To use the standalone Tivo with D* I can't have a D* DVR (R22), it has to be a standard receiver.

Is the current standard D* receiver a D12?

 

[marcschibig]

Direct rocks---I want a gold toilet seat too---make up your mind and then go---the PC thing wont work

 

[Liquidforce88]

The reason for the install charge is the non-pen sled mount. They are not included in the standard install. Thus you have to pay for it.

 

[kinghill]

The reason for the install charge is the non-pen sled mount. They are not included in the standard install. Thus you have to pay for it.

ok that's what I figured.

Installer (not the same guy that came out earlier this week to survey) just got here and they now say they don't have to use a non-pen sled mount! Sweet. No install fee. That means they get a nice tip too.

And they brought me a R22-200 and a D12-100, perfect so far, if I can indeed get my Tivo to work with the D12.


So far so good. Only problem is the installers got tar all over my carpet. Sucks but what can I do.

 

[kinghill]

UPDATE:
marcschibig, HDinCincy, you guys were wrong I'm happy to say.

I now have my new D12 D* receiver hooked up to my standalone Tivo and I'm using the Tivo Desktop program to transfer new recordings to my PC. Then I can burn them or whatever I want.

Next task is to get the Tivo and D12 communicating via the D12's USB port to the Tivo's serial port, I hear that is possible. The IR blaster method of channel changing is slow.

 

[BlueEos]

Hey kinghill

Guess you figured out the Tivo with DTV. Yes, it does work. The only problem and it was the same with cable, is that you have to leave your receiver on 24/7 if you want to do unattended recordings. Do you have the IR cables taped in front of the IR input on the DTV unit? I do on my second TV (and 2nd DTV receiver).

Wish there was a way for the Tivo IR cable to turn the DTV receiver on. However, the channel changer works fine. I just switched from cable to DTV about 6 weeks ago and haven't used the Tivo much yet (I also have the DTV DVR which I mainly use for recording).

My Tivo is a series II with the lifetime contract. With cable, it would record HD shows (not in HD of course, but to my eye, a better recording than the standard SD recording). Since cable assigns different numbers to the same channels in HD, I was able to setup my Tivo to record the HD signal. For example, channel 5 (NBC) in HD was on channel 105. With DirectTV, these channels both get the same number , 5, with one in HD. With this in mind, IF I setup my Tivo to record channel 5, I suspect I will ALWAYS get the SD version (which is no big deal).

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Hey kinghill

Guess you figured out the Tivo with DTV. Yes, it does work. The only problem and it was the same with cable, is that you have to leave your receiver on 24/7 if you want to do unattended recordings. Do you have the IR cables taped in front of the IR input on the DTV unit? I do on my second TV (and 2nd DTV receiver).

Wish there was a way for the Tivo IR cable to turn the DTV receiver on. However, the channel changer works fine. I just switched from cable to DTV about 6 weeks ago and haven't used the Tivo much yet (I also have the DTV DVR which I mainly use for recording).

My Tivo is a series II with the lifetime contract. With cable, it would record HD shows (not in HD of course, but to my eye, a better recording than the standard SD recording). Since cable assigns different numbers to the same channels in HD, I was able to setup my Tivo to record the HD signal. For example, channel 5 (NBC) in HD was on channel 105. With DirectTV, these channels both get the same number , 5, with one in HD. With this in mind, IF I setup my Tivo to record channel 5, I suspect I will ALWAYS get the SD version (which is no big deal).

No, you can set the receiver to ignore the SD version when HD is available. Also, when you enter a channel number on your remote, it will go to the HD version (you can reach the SD one by using "channel up" if you have not disabled the SD versions).

 

[kinghill]

Hey kinghill

Guess you figured out the Tivo with DTV. Yes, it does work. The only problem and it was the same with cable, is that you have to leave your receiver on 24/7 if you want to do unattended recordings. Do you have the IR cables taped in front of the IR input on the DTV unit? I do on my second TV (and 2nd DTV receiver).

Wish there was a way for the Tivo IR cable to turn the DTV receiver on. However, the channel changer works fine. I just switched from cable to DTV about 6 weeks ago and haven't used the Tivo much yet (I also have the DTV DVR which I mainly use for recording).

My Tivo is a series II with the lifetime contract. With cable, it would record HD shows (not in HD of course, but to my eye, a better recording than the standard SD recording). Since cable assigns different numbers to the same channels in HD, I was able to setup my Tivo to record the HD signal. For example, channel 5 (NBC) in HD was on channel 105. With DirectTV, these channels both get the same number , 5, with one in HD. With this in mind, IF I setup my Tivo to record channel 5, I suspect I will ALWAYS get the SD version (which is no big deal).

Yes you have to leave the receiver on. I wasn't considering that a problem because as you said you had to do the same thing with the cable box.

Yes I'm using the IR cable. It works just fine but I've heard using the USB->Serial connection is faster, so I'm going to try that. Right now with the IR it seems to move just a little slower than it did with the cable box.

I too have the Tivo lifetime subscription which is the second reason I'm keeping it, the first reason being I can transfer recordings to my PC.