Thinking about switching from DISH to Directv

[question4you2]

Directv says they will pay the cancellation fee up to $200 if I cancel my DISH since i'm in a contract with them still. They said they will send a visa debit card after i mail them a copy of the ETF fee from Dish. Anyone with past experience on this if directv honors this without problems?

I wanted to ask how good directv's genie DVR is compared to what I have with DISH's ViP722k DVR? Apparently they will give me genie in one room (living room) and another reciever for the 2nd room but i would be able to record 5 shows at once, is this true? Right now whenever I record something it HAS to tie up one TV, which is utterly stupid with DISH.

So for example, could I record 2 shows in the living room where the genie is and watch live tv while also recording 2 shows in the 2nd room and watch live TV in there as well? Both TV's will have HD according to the sales rep. and of course the rewind/forward feature is standard in all DVR's.

 

[Liquidforce88]

Directv says they will pay the cancellation fee up to $200 if I cancel my DISH since i'm in a contract with them still. They said they will send a visa debit card after i mail them a copy of the ETF fee from Dish. Anyone with past experience on this if directv honors this without problems?

I wanted to ask how good directv's genie DVR is compared to what I have with DISH's ViP722k DVR? Apparently they will give me genie in one room (living room) and another reciever for the 2nd room but i would be able to record 5 shows at once, is this true? Right now whenever I record something it HAS to tie up one TV, which is utterly stupid with DISH.

So for example, could I record 2 shows in the living room where the genie is and watch live tv while also recording 2 shows in the 2nd room and watch live TV in there as well? Both TV's will have HD according to the sales rep. and of course the rewind/forward feature is standard in all DVR's.

As far as the 722 vs the Genie.

Genie has 5 satelite tuners 722 only has 2.
722 has an edge in speed.
Genie + Client = All HD - 722 = 1 HD 1 SD
722 has advantage that it can hook up extra tv's much easier.

I made the switch several months ago. Have been very happy with the HR34, it's different but you get used to it.

What you will get as a new customer is the HR34 i.e. Genie and C-31 clients for up to 3 other TV's free. So if all you are doing is 2 TV's you get an HR34 and a C31. The HR34 has 5 tuners you can record up to 5 events. The C31 is not a receiver, it is a client that works off of the HR34. So it uses one of the tuners in HR34.

So all recording is done at the one location. But you do have full HD DVR at all locations.

 

[KoolBreeze]

So for example, could I record 2 shows in the living room where the genie is and watch live tv while also recording 2 shows in the 2nd room and watch live TV in there as well? Both TV's will have HD according to the sales rep. and of course the rewind/forward feature is standard in all DVR's.

You could record 4 shows at once and watch live TV on either TV. The recording can be initiated from either C31 client or the Genie. The actual storage takes place on the Genie but can be accessed from either the Genie or client.

You could not record 2 shows on the client, record 2 on the Genie, and watch live TV on both, as that would take 6 tuners. You could do your 4 recordings, watch live on Genie, and watch one of the programs being recorded on the client. You could also get an H25 instead of the client, which has it's own tuner. If you did that, then you could do your 4 records and watch live in both places. The only downside to the H25 is that it can not pause live TV, where the client can. But then the client's downside is it uses one of the Genie's tuners, while the H25 does not. The H25 is also much much more responsive.

 

[JonBlack]

We have a 722 (non-K model) and we're moving to a Genie with four C31 clients tomorrow. I've read a lot of posts that the E* boxes are snappy fast but I disagree. I've had three 722's and the RF remotes for tuner 2 TVs are dog slow IMHO. If D*'s boxes are slower, OMG somebody is going to get hurt in our household and I'm afraid it'll be me!

The 722k is only a 2 tuner unless you got an OTA signal, which you get a quasi-third-tuner. The Genie is a 5 tuner beast! Of course, one tuner is reserved for recording and only three clients can access it at once. Still, it's sounds like a pretty awesome setup. Also, the 722 tying up a tuner isn't really stupid but rather antiquated technology. I'm sure D* has similar older DVR boxes. The Hopper provides a more modern tuner experience but it only has three tuners, unless you get two Hoppers.

Another great thing about the Genie and Hopper is that you get HD feeds to all TVs connected to it! This is a big reason for our upgrade.

I'm excited yet very nervous about switching to D* tomorrow afternoon. I'll be sure to post my experiences tomorrow night.

 

[KoolBreeze]

If they would bump the Genie up to 8 tuners (the max for the SWM LNB) and speed the Genie and it's clients up to as fast as the H25, it would be perfect.

 

[KoolBreeze]

We have a 722 (non-K model) and we're moving to a Genie with four C31 clients tomorrow. I've read a lot of posts that the E* boxes are snappy fast but I disagree. I've had three 722's and the RF remotes for tuner 2 TVs are dog slow IMHO. If D*'s boxes are slower, OMG somebody is going to get hurt in our household and I'm afraid it'll be me!

Keep in mind that I'm coming from Comcast, but to me the Genie and it's clients are sloooooow. It takes an average of 4.5 - 5 seconds (from the time the button is pressed until you get video) to bump up 1 channel. It's about 3.5 seconds to load the guide.

In comparison, the H25 switches channels in 2.0 - 2.5 seconds and loads the guide in less than a second.

The sluggish performance on the Genie is not a show stopper for me, but it is very irritating. With technology where it is today, you'd think it wouldn't be an issue. It reminds me of the old Dish receivers from 1 1/2 decades ago, performance wise.

 

[rapidturtle]

I also just switched a few months back, and love the HR34. I have the H25's for HD boxes, not the client boxes. I don't see myself ever going back to E*

 

[supermod38]

i just came back to D* also after a year absence. i have the Genie and one client. don't know what others have for a set-up but mine is NOT SLOW................with E* i had the 722K and the 211K and the set-up i have now is JUST AS FAST as the E* set-up............i like the Genie much better than the E* deal.:happyd2::happyd2::happyd2:

 

[JonBlack]

Keep in mind that I'm coming from Comcast, but to me the Genie and it's clients are sloooooow. It takes an average of 4.5 - 5 seconds (from the time the button is pressed until you get video) to bump up 1 channel. It's about 3.5 seconds to load the guide.

In comparison, the H25 switches channels in 2.0 - 2.5 seconds and loads the guide in less than a second.

The sluggish performance on the Genie is not a show stopper for me, but it is very irritating. With technology where it is today, you'd think it wouldn't be an issue. It reminds me of the old Dish receivers from 1 1/2 decades ago, performance wise.

I've never had Comcast but I can see what you are saying now that I have the Genie and the clients. I would consider it a tad sluggish more than I'd like but not it's not a deal breaker for me either. My family thinks it's great! Our 722's had definitely gotten to the point where they were a lot slower than this. I'm talking 8-10 seconds for a RF remote response. My family was constantly complaining for me to reboot the box or relocate the RF antennae to try and alleviate the issue. It never helped in our situation.

 

[question4you2]

You could record 4 shows at once and watch live TV on either TV. The recording can be initiated from either C31 client or the Genie. The actual storage takes place on the Genie but can be accessed from either the Genie or client.

You could not record 2 shows on the client, record 2 on the Genie, and watch live TV on both, as that would take 6 tuners. You could do your 4 recordings, watch live on Genie, and watch one of the programs being recorded on the client. You could also get an H25 instead of the client, which has it's own tuner. If you did that, then you could do your 4 records and watch live in both places. The only downside to the H25 is that it can not pause live TV, where the client can. But then the client's downside is it uses one of the Genie's tuners, while the H25 does not. The H25 is also much much more responsive.

Oh so I can only watch live TV on one of the TV's (not both) if I'm recording 4 shows at once?

So if I want to record 2 shows, I can watch live TV on any TV without interruptions correct? And all recordings can be accessed on the secondary receiver not named Genie? And I get the same features such as pause live tv, rewind, fwd, etc?

Right now my dish 722 is slow. I remember when we had directv it was actually a little faster i think.

 

[skysurfer]

the Genie and it's clients are sloooooow. It takes an average of 4.5 - 5 seconds (from the time the button is pressed until you get video) to bump up 1 channel. It's about 3.5 seconds to load the guide.

totally agree that navigating the on-screen program guide with the genie is excruciatingly slow. It would help a lot if the original air date was shown in the very brief show info blurb at the top of the page (instead of having to select the item to see).

I have found the directv smartphone app to be awesome - fast navigation and recording setup so I use the on-screen guide to page up and down through the channels for an overview and the app in my lap for seeing the date of the show episode (to determine first run or not) and to tap a place or two that finalizes the recording of the show.

 

[JonBlack]

Oh so I can only watch live TV on one of the TV's (not both) if I'm recording 4 shows at once?

Yes

So if I want to record 2 shows, I can watch live TV on any TV without interruptions correct? And all recordings can be accessed on the secondary receiver not named Genie? And I get the same features such as pause live tv, rewind, fwd, etc?

Yes, Yes with the WHDVR, and maybe (Yes, if you are using a C31 client. Sort of, if you are using a H25, etc.).

Right now my dish 722 is slow. I remember when we had directv it was actually a little faster i think.

I thought our 722 was slow too.

Answers above in bold red.