Thinking Of Switching To E*, Need Advice

[stonecold]

Sorry

HR2x records shows and handles conflicts fine. But is a far cry from a 722.

Things I cant do with my HR22+AM21 that I could do with my 722

1. Dual live buffers

2. PIP

3. Record 3 HD programs while watching a 4 recorded show (2 via sat + 1 on OTA all at the same time )

4. Watch OTA when there is no sat signal ( though they only time I have no signal is when I working on rewring. Though I only had 2 real bad storms. Though on theother hand in all the years with dish I could count rain fade one hand. (psst I live in the land of hurricanes and bad storms and the lighting capital of the world )

5. When I press the menu button on the remote OMG the menu instantly comes up and everytime I press the various buttons the reciever instantly responds. Unlike the HR2x that I have which it hit menu and it take a sec and half for the menu screen to come up and the when I go to nagivate the menu the the receiver is slow to respond to remote command taking upward ot 3/4 of a second .

And I could go on. Is the 722 and the new 722k perfect hell no but no where the amount of BS that I put up with the HR2x series is just a joke.
I love the Direct TV service really hate the dvrs hence why I went out of my way to get my hands on tivo and utv units. I love my UTV. while only only dealing the the HD-dvr on tvs that are well HDTVs

The HD-DVR from DTV was the biggest disappoint in my switch to DTV, my only regret.

Though owning a vase collection on E* hardware and seeing them at CES first and seeing what happens when said innovations dont come along with the shipping models

Key models come to mind

921/721
7100/7200
722
JVC DVHS model 5000
6000
ATT media gateway / satellite reciever ( never owned but saw it once amazing features that never showed up )

So there blame on both side but dont try comparing the two recievers as equals and it would like comparing bald tires to new tires and saying that since they are both round and both roll that they are both safe to put on your vechicle. Just because it can record a show with out screwing up does not make it equal to the 722.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Dude, looking at your post and the fact you posted it twice, they do make medicine for your condition. And the HR series is far from a joke, it does a lot more than you cared to mention with your obviously biased rant.

I like how you pointed out the fact the 722 can record 3 things at once, but failed to mention the HR series will record 2 OTA programs at once, which is much more important to me.

 

[HDRoberts]

Dude, looking at your post and the fact you posted it twice, they do make medicine for your condition. And the HR series is far from a joke, it does a lot more than you cared to mention with your obviously biased rant.

I like how you pointed out the fact the 722 can record 3 things at once, but failed to mention the HR series will record 2 OTA programs at once, which is much more important to me.

You fail to mention that if you record 2 OTA programs on the HR series, you can't record any satellite feeds. The soon to come 722k will record to OTA programs at once, not to mention 2 satellite feeds. It appears the 922 will also have this capability.

Actually, only the HR20 can record OTA. For the others, you need the AM21 to record ANY OTA.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Didnt think I needed to point out the 2 vs 3, it was quite obvious after his post and mine. Ah, then there is that word "soon" again, gotta love it. Its a good thing Dish gives you guys such "superior" equipment, that way you dont notice the channels you lose or the over compression of hd you have. Its funny that everyone here was on D* for HDlite, now that D* gives you a better bitrate for its HD, all the Dish fanboys "cant see a difference"

This site is the doppleganger of DBSTalk, but instead of blind Directv fanatics, we have blind DIsh fanatics. Couple of more things to say before I unsub, and all you that have had both know it, if you claim the HR series stinks and the 722 is the next best thing to sliced bread, you are seriously full of it. Then, the guys that have never had a HR20 like to claim the same thing, because they believe what they read.

See the difference, I never once said the 722 sucks, because it does not, but both have their strengths and weaknesses. Tourettes up there needs to realize that.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

4. Watch OTA when there is no sat signal ( though they only time I have no signal is when I working on rewring. Though I only had 2 real bad storms. Though on theother hand in all the years with dish I could count rain fade one hand. (psst I live in the land of hurricanes and bad storms and the lighting capital of the world )

I've only had a few blackouts with either, but had some pretty wet snow last week and lost the satellite signal. I was still able to watch OTA, but there was a short power outage and my HR21+AM21 rebooted but couldn't get far enough into the reset to allow OTA viewing. My HR20 is on a UPS, so there was no problem with OTA. I could watch recorded content on both.

I bought another UPS for the HR20.

 

[MikeD-C05]

No contest between DISH and DIRECTV dvrs; DISH wins . The new 922 will be light years ahead of anything either company has right now. SLing built in, two ota tuners and two sat tuners can ALL be recorded at the same time for a total of 4 hd shows at the same time. Also you can record or download internet shows at the same time as the sat and ota recordings for a total of 5 things at the same time . Not counting you can watch two different programs at the same time as all 5 events being recorded at the same time. Added external hard drives upto 750gb and I have about 4 external hard drives full of movies in HD . I have hundreds of movies now that I can watch anytime. My internal hard drive is never full because I send the movies straight to my external hd . You can't do that with DIRECTV.

I had both sat providers last year at this time for about 6 months and decided that equipment was more important than more hd channels. More hd will come and most if not all that I watch is already in hd with DISH so I am good there. AS for pq I think that Directv had a SLIGHT edge in comparison to DISH in relation to the hd channels. Not enough to stay with them. Recently I switched to the eastern arc for ALL MPEG 4 channels and now my pq is much better for sd channels than before. A bonus to this switch is my shows recorded in sd take up less room on my internal hard drive . DIRECTV has a better website and you can add and subtract programming without having to talk to a csr. DISH has learned to add online web csrs so you don't have to talk to the Indians from the 7-11 store. As for the online internet shows and websites - I liked the DIRECTV version better. Not enough to stay though. Had hell trying to figure out how to keep my internet connection going with DIRECTV but easy with DISH . I never lose my connection with them and I am using a netgear plug in version.

Still in the end it comes down to one thing; If you like Sports - DIRECTV / If you like Movies - DISH. Most people decide which provider to go with based on this one thing. I could care less about sports, but for high tech DISH all the way. In the end it's still your choice.

 

[stonecold]

elwaylite,

1. I would hope that you were not another dumb FSU fan or I hate to say it student.

2. I said and I will continue to say that the 722 is better but far the greatest thing since sliced bread. If the HR2x is a old 80's buick bellowing smoke out it tail pipe sounding like it on death door. Then the 722 is a old 90s beat corolla that put puts down the road that back fires. While better then the old dieing buick it is not a brand new BMW Z4 either. I railed against dish for flaws in the 722. I own my old dish equipment even my 722, I am currently a realitively happy dtv customer now after minor things have been corrected. HR2x being the only thing I am dishappy about .

 

[stonecold]

I've only had a few blackouts with either, but had some pretty wet snow last week and lost the satellite signal. I was still able to watch OTA, but there was a short power outage and my HR21+AM21 rebooted but couldn't get far enough into the reset to allow OTA viewing. My HR20 is on a UPS, so there was no problem with OTA. I could watch recorded content on both.

I bought another UPS for the HR20.

Hmm I have to wait for a storm to come by and mess with the dish. I just know that when I was doing some rewiring and I was on a ota channel as soon as I disconnected the sat feeds Igo searching for satellite.

But since you had first hand expericence I will admend my statement

According to other you can watch OTA via the AM21 when your satellite signal is down.

 

[JayPSU]

Thanks for all of the input, guys. I think I'm going to wait until the Hockey season is over and see where we're at by then (April). I was going to be keeping Directv with a basic package until then anyway since I subscribe to NHL Center Ice regardless of whether I picked up Dish. I think by April we'll at least have information as to what Directv plans to do.

BTW, a poster on another board mentioned using Netflix and PlayON to stream Netflix movies to our HR2X's, how does that work? Are there HD options? Can someone point me to a link detailing this? Thanks again guys.

 

[jtwex]

Here's the link to the Netflix thread. I don't think they have this off of beta yet, but it's decent read. http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/158166-netflix-dvr.html

 

[Ronnie-]

No contest between DISH and DIRECTV dvrs; DISH wins . The new 922 will be light years ahead of anything either company has right now. SLing built in, two ota tuners and two sat tuners can ALL be recorded at the same time for a total of 4 hd shows at the same time. Also you can record or download internet shows at the same time as the sat and ota recordings for a total of 5 things at the same time . Not counting you can watch two different programs at the same time as all 5 events being recorded at the same time. Added external hard drives upto 750gb and I have about 4 external hard drives full of movies in HD . I have hundreds of movies now that I can watch anytime. My internal hard drive is never full because I send the movies straight to my external hd . You can't do that with DIRECTV.

.

Just so the OP knows, the 922 IS NOT available at this time, not sure on the time frame. It is being shown at CES, and if it makes it to market as it appears now, that WILL BE one impressive unit.

 

[stonecold]

I happen to of bought Playon, and have a netflix sub.

Your going to need say a 3.2 ghz p4 or greater and 1 but 2 is better gigs of ram to transcode netfilix to your hr2x.

You dont have to run beta software on the box, as Media share is part of the national release and the HR2x will pick up on the dlna server (playon) as soon as you turn it on.

Only gothca on this is sometimes you have to be patient with it as the hr2x doesnt always build up a bigg enough buffer, also things that rewind and fastward dont work so it play and pause. are you only two options but other then that it is one of the few nice things about the hr2x.

 

[gunn55]

Maybe this link will help with who has what and when in hd.

Official AVS National HD Channel Lineups - Cable/DBS/Fiber/IPTV - Updated 12/21/08! - AVS Forum

 

[MikeD-C05]

Just so the OP knows, the 922 IS NOT available at this time, not sure on the time frame. It is being shown at CES, and if it makes it to market as it appears now, that WILL BE one impressive unit.

They are saying by Spring of this year and at a lease price of $199.99. But the way they release new dvrs add about 3 - 6 months to that release date. I 'm still waiting on the 722k that was supposed to be released last month. It has the 2 ota tuner module that I want to be able to record 4 things at a time. But since the new 922 will blow that one away I might just wait.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

I happen to of bought Playon, and have a netflix sub.

Your going to need say a 3.2 ghz p4 or greater and 1 but 2 is better gigs of ram to transcode netfilix to your hr2x.

You dont have to run beta software on the box, as Media share is part of the national release and the HR2x will pick up on the dlna server (playon) as soon as you turn it on.

Only gothca on this is sometimes you have to be patient with it as the hr2x doesnt always build up a bigg enough buffer, also things that rewind and fastward dont work so it play and pause. are you only two options but other then that it is one of the few nice things about the hr2x.

I agree with everything this man has said this entire thread.

 

[Ronnie-]

They are saying by Spring of this year and at a lease price of $199.99. But the way they release new dvrs add about 3 - 6 months to that release date. I 'm still waiting on the 722k that was supposed to be released last month. It has the 2 ota tuner module that I want to be able to record 4 things at a time. But since the new 922 will blow that one away I might just wait.

If I were getting a new E* box, I would wait on the 922 also. No question based on the info we have now:up

 

[stonecold]

If I were getting a new E* box, I would wait on the 922 also. No question based on the info we have now:up

Only problem is how many of the features shown at CES will turn up in the final product. Just look at the 721 moth ball thread where I posted the 721 orginal CES press release when it was shown at ces in 2002. Most of the features shown were then striped away when the 721 started shipping.

 

[vampz26]

If I were getting a new E* box, I would wait on the 922 also. No question based on the info we have now:up

I agree totally with this statement. E* likes to give new customers all the deals when it comes to new hardware. They could woo you by giving you the ViP722 for free, and then when the 922 comes out, you may not only wind up waiting two monthes longer than if you were a new sub, but wind up paying twice as much for it as well. As history and experience as my judge here, this scenario is not unheard of...

Besides, I can't think of any compelling reason to switch providers just yet UNTIL the 922 is available in stable form, and even lets hope E* improves their broadcasting standards enough to be worthy of such a magnificient piece of hardware...

 

[Rey]

I agree totally with this statement. E* likes to give new customers all the deals when it comes to new hardware. They could woo you by giving you the ViP722 for free, and then when the 922 comes out, you may not only wind up waiting two monthes longer than if you were a new sub, but wind up paying twice as much for it as well. As history and experience as my judge here, this scenario is not unheard of...

Besides, I can't think of any compelling reason to switch providers just yet UNTIL the 922 is available in stable form, and even lets hope E* improves their broadcasting standards enough to be worthy of such a magnificient piece of hardware...

I agree with you vampz 100% on everything you said here.