The "Just switched to D*" bandwagon

[rmims404]

I switched to DirecTV from Dish on Sat 4/5. Main reason was HD, 2nd reason was to see Braves games on Peachtree TV on channel 617 (I live in Central Alabama), 3rd reason Friday Night Lights coming to DirecTV in October (New Episodes). Install went flawlessly and only took a couple of hours. First impressions, DirecTV HD in my opinion is slightly better than Dish. Customer service is great so far. I have called 3 times with some questions and each time I actually got an American that could speak clear English. With Dish Network I always got foreigners who were very hard to understand. Nothing against non Americans but it's so hard to understand them most of the time. So far it's "thumbs up" for DirecTV.

 

[txfeinbergs]

Just got installed last night. Install went smooth. I got a great deal which will have me paying less for the first year, and about the same for the second year for more content. The HR21-700 DVR is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be in the Dish forum. It is very close to the TIVO SW. The only advantage the 622 had over it was speed of the guide. The HR21-700 is smaller and sleeker and the GUI is easier to use. Also, the buffer keeps running on a tuned channel even when you are watching a recorded program. This is awesome for things like starting a recorded show 15 minutes in to avoid commercials, only to find out that the last minute or two was cut off because the network ran over. In this case, all you have to do is switch to live and back up. With the 622, I could not do this.

I will say that programming the remote to control my stereo receiver volume was a MAJOR pain in the ass, but I finally got it to work. The on-screen instructions are not accurate on how to do this i.e. you must program in the TV first even if you only really want to control the stereo.

 

[mattopia]

The HR21-700 DVR is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be in the Dish forum. It is very close to the TIVO SW. The only advantage the 622 had over it was speed of the guide. The HR21-700 is smaller and sleeker and the GUI is easier to use.

I want to second this! I think a lot of people are wary of switching due to their love for the 622/722. I was certainly happy with my 722, but the HR-21 is in most cases as good and in some better.

Example - I went to schedule something that would conflict with two already scheduled recordings. The 722 used to say "there's a conflict" and I could say "resolve by priority" or some other options. I'd always have to go into the to-do list and manually figure it all out.

On the HR-21, it told me which two programs would conflict, and on the same screen I could cancel the first recording, cancel the second recording, or cancel neither and let the two record as planned. This seems much more intuitive to me! I'm not sure if the HR-21 would have tried to find a later time of the showing if I canceled one of the recordings, but I'll find out eventually.

Other than a "somewhat more sluggish" responsiveness that others have reported, I haven't yet missed anything about the Dish DVR.

I still say neither of them compare to my TiVo Series 3, but that's to be somewhat expected. It's "less of a shock" going from the S3 to the HR-21 than it was from the S3 to the 722.

 

[jacmyoung]

I want to give plug to a poll I posted in the WAR ZONE asking why you switched from E* to D*, I'd appreciate if you guys can vote there so we can get some data.

 

[george 2]

changed to D*

Just switched about an hour ago. The units will be installed on this sat morning. Total up front price for a dvr and reg hd receiver was about 129 dollars with a rebate form being sent to me to get back the 29 dollars.I had been with dish for about 10 years. I guess I will see what it is like on the other side. Thanks to everyone for telling me about the discounts.