Upgrade to DVR questions

[VMI90]

Hello! I currently have two H20's set up in my home. I have wanted to upgrade to an HR20 (or HR21) for awhile, but have dragged my feet.

Is it required to have two coaxial cables connected to the HD DVR receiver? I know it's not, but how diminished are my viewing/recording options if I only have the one cable?

I was going to call DirecTV and have them ship me the receiver, but I really don't want the hassle of setting up another install appointment.

Thanks!

 

[scottie_h]

Having a single coax cable simply means you can only utilize one tuner. That means you can only watch (or record) one live program at a time. So if you're taping something, you can only watch that program or a pre-recorded program. If you have 2 lines running to a DVR, you can record one program while watching another [live] program.

That is unless SWM is available in your area - it is slowly being rolled out, and allows for dual tuner functionality through a single line of coax.

 

[talos4]

Scottie, beat me by 4 minutes!

Is it required? No.

Realize that with just one cable you will only be able to use one tuner. In other words, what you're recoding is the only thing you'll be able to watch. Unless you're watching a previously recorded program while recording another.

With two cables you would be able to record on channel and still watch another. OR record two channels and watch a previously recorded program at the same time.

IMO, I think you'll really want to have the full capabilities of the DVR. After a bit of watching and recording just one channel, you'll really want the ability to watch/recrod two programs at the same time.

I'm actually thinking of getting a second DVR, because lately I'm running into recording/viewing conflicts. I record alot of programs so I can fill in the dead zones of nothing on and not really wanting to get into a movie.

 

[VMI90]

That's what I thought.

I know that everyone says that having a DVR changes the way you watch TV. We don't currently record a lot of shows, but with the DVR and 2 cables I can see that we would probably record more since we wouldn't be required to also watch the same channel.

Of well...

I'm currently not up to speed on the SWM. Would it require an install as well, or could it use the existing cable?

 

[talos4]

I would go with an install.

It does use the existing cable from the dish but, I would have it installed just to make sure everything is hooked up right and working as it should.

 

[dcowboy7]

totally get the dvr....it will be the same feeling u had going from sd to hd....u wont know how u did without it.

 

[scottie_h]

That's what I thought.

I know that everyone says that having a DVR changes the way you watch TV. We don't currently record a lot of shows, but with the DVR and 2 cables I can see that we would probably record more since we wouldn't be required to also watch the same channel.

Having dual tuners also allows you to watch shows that you didn't used to due to conflicts. For example, I always used to hear good things about The Unit, but it was on at the same time as House. Once we got the dual-tuner DVR, we could watch either whenever we wanted!