What is the latest DVR?

[riffjim4069]

Navy, checkout the Official AVS National HD Channel Lineups thread: Official AVS National HD Channel Lineups - Cable/DBS/Fiber/IPTV - Updated 3/25/12! - AVS Forum

Also, another benefit (besides the facts our Internet/Television/Phone have been available 24/7/365 since Mar 8, 2008) is that Cablecards are tied to the account and not a device. For example, whenever TV Guide On Screen craps out on our Sony DHG-HDD500, my daughter can simply remove the Cablecard and slide it into the Sony HDTV and viola...she can watch her shows. Likewise, she could slide slide it into our Mitsubishi DLP (if it weren't already connected to FiOS DVR) and be up-and-running in minutes. I love feature since I use it whenever visitors stay in our infrequently used guest bedroom...just borrow a Cablecard from the Sony HD DVR and slide it into the Sony HDTV! It saves $3.95 (or is it $3.99) from having to rent another CC.

 

[navychop]

-THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP-
VICTORY!​

The site came back to life, mostly, and the bill estimator was (almost fully) working. Long story short, it looks like I'd save about $35 per month, after the initial goodies go away. $55/month for the first year. And if I accepted a 2 yr contract, I'd get to choose from a bunch of other, one time goodies, such as a $100 VISA card. Only in another spot, it's a $250 VISA card. For a multi-room and a single STB.

And I learned a lot about the equipment. But I must ask:

Do I understand it correctly, that if I use a cablecard I won't get the listings guide or any EPG, and certain services (like VOD/PPV) will not be available thru the cablecard? And if my TV and Sony DHG-500 work without a cablecard, they won't get any EPG or certain services? But with the cablecard I can still access the multi-room DVR remotely?


$35 is getting into the area where I would continue considering it. Frankly, I was hoping to save at least $40. Not sure it's enough. I'll have to look more at what I'd be gaining (including slightly faster Internet), and less at what I'd be losing.

And thanks for that AVS link. Made the HD part easy to see. For us, it would be back to SD H2 & Cooking Channel. But gaining those FFX County channels.

 

[navychop]

Just had a little discussion.

SWMBO: "$55 a month for 2 years."
Me: "But that drops to $35 after that."
SWMBO: "$55 a month for 2 years. That's a lot of money."
Me: "And it's unclear if FiOS rates will go up faster than Dish. There's some complaints at AVS about some decrease in FiOS PQ and rapid rate rises.....[cut off]"
SWMBO: "$55 ........."

 

[riffjim4069]

Do I understand it correctly, that if I use a cablecard I won't get the listings guide or any EPG, and certain services (like VOD/PPV) will not be available thru the cablecard? And if my TV and Sony DHG-500 work without a cablecard, they won't get any EPG or certain services? But with the cablecard I can still access the multi-room DVR remotely?

We get Guide data for all the Dallas area FiOS channels but, as you know, this is TVGOS pulled-down from, in my case, our local CBS using an OTA antenna. I'm pretty sure the TVGOS data stream would get corrupted when Verizon converts the signal to QAM...however, to be honest, I have never looked into that option since it was far easier just to plug in the OTA antenna. You'll need to run setup after you install the Cablecard (the DHG-HDD500 will detect the CC) and wait for the Guide. Of course, I would check the Washington/Baltimore HDTV and TVGOS threads over at AVSForum since my Sony HD DVR has been in Dallas since 2008. As you know, TVGOS can be a pain-in-the-arse.

 

[navychop]

Oh, I know.

But I'm mostly concerned that the site implies that with a cablecard, I won't get ANY guide, not even for the FiOS channels.

 

[navychop]

Well, it seems I overestimated our savings a bit. We'd need two DVRs, not one and an STB, due to tuner limitations. And learned that the EHDs are tied to the DVRs, not the account. A failure of the EHD or DVR means loss of all recorded programming on both. AND thru CHAT I learned that when you use a cablecard you get NO GUIDE INFORMATION WHATSOEVER. Kinda makes the use of the Sony DHG-HDD500 useful for OTA (as long as TVGOS lasts) only.

In any event, as the first flush of excitement died down, we were watching the Cooking Channel on Dish. In HD. And we both agreed, that we would not want to get used to seeing that channel in SD. The food looks WAY BETTER in HD than in SD.

So unless something changes, we won't be moving to FiOS after all. Thanks to all for helping out.

 

[navychop]

JUST TO BEAT THIS TO DEATH

The FiOS bill estimator had switched back to the Prime Package rather than the Extreme package when I originally calculated our savings, and I missed it. Rerunning the calculations with the correct package, and with two DVRs instead of one DVR and one non-DVR STB, further reduces the savings. We’d need two DVRs so that we would have 4 tuners for recording, not just two (which would certainly not be enough for us).

Today, roughly, we pay Verizon for a Double Play $102 per month. For Dish, about $107 per month, total about $209.

FiOS, with the Extreme package and a whole home DVR and a regular DVR, would cost about $175 per month today, $195 per month after certain credits expire. All calculations include taxes/fees.

We’d only be saving about $14 per month, or about $34 per month for the first couple of years. We could increase the savings by $5 per month, by not upgrading our Internet package to 25/25. Not worth it, to gain those Fairfax County Channels, considering we’d also lose a few things, too.

Fin.

 

[riffjim4069]

Well, it seems I overestimated our savings a bit. We'd need two DVRs, not one and an STB, due to tuner limitations. And learned that the EHDs are tied to the DVRs, not the account. A failure of the EHD or DVR means loss of all recorded programming on both. AND thru CHAT I learned that when you use a cablecard you get NO GUIDE INFORMATION WHATSOEVER. Kinda makes the use of the Sony DHG-HDD500 useful for OTA (as long as TVGOS lasts) only.

Interesting....we have a Cablecard in our HDD500 and get FiOS listing through TVGOS.

 

[navychop]

Interesting....we have a Cablecard in our HDD500 and get FiOS listing through TVGOS.

:rant: "Darned" CHAT droid! :rant:

Mislead AGAIN! And this chat I didn't bother to save!

Thank you for the info. It was so quick, I was able to catch an email to my wife about it before it went out.

So let me get this straight- I can use my Sony, and record thru the EPG selection process, most of the FiOS programming (we wouldn't get premiums or expect PPV to work with the Sony)? Of course, the Sony and the 7232 wouldn't see each other, but that's OK. And for only the $3.99 cable card fee? That adds about $12/month savings, to use the card in place of the (non-discounted) DVR (7216 I presume).

But since it's TVGOS, it's sent out OTA (no problem for me!) and subject to all the vagaries we suffer today with OTA TVGOS? Still, might get a several year run out of this. I never conceived that TVGOS would send out anything but OTA info.

Still, not enough to change the game, but I REALLY want to know my options correctly. Or do I still have it wrong?

 

[Jonhern]

The FiOS bill estimator had switched back to the Prime Package rather than the Extreme package when I originally calculated our savings, and I missed it. Rerunning the calculations with the correct package, and with two DVRs instead of one DVR and one non-DVR STB, further reduces the savings. We’d need two DVRs so that we would have 4 tuners for recording, not just two (which would certainly not be enough for us).

Today, roughly, we pay Verizon for a Double Play $102 per month. For Dish, about $107 per month, total about $209.

FiOS, with the Extreme package and a whole home DVR and a regular DVR, would cost about $175 per month today, $195 per month after certain credits expire. All calculations include taxes/fees.

We’d only be saving about $14 per month, or about $34 per month for the first couple of years. We could increase the savings by $5 per month, by not upgrading our Internet package to 25/25. Not worth it, to gain those Fairfax County Channels, considering we’d also lose a few things, too.

Fin.

That seems like a lot, we have 3 dvrs, 2 stbs, and extreme with 15/5, hbo, and spanish pack, both are half off first year, and its going to be $170 plus $5 tax, and $185 the second year. or are you doing triple play?

 

[Jonhern]

Also, there is not a lot of differance between 15/5 and 25/25 unless you upload a lot. They let the 15Mbps go up to 20-25 anyway, only the upload is strickly capped. I usssally get around 2.5-3MBps, sometimes more, when downloading something, which translates to 20-24Mbps. That's why i never noticed a difference when they put us on 25/25 after being on 15/5 last year, i only found out when i went to signup. Now back on 15/5 and once again not any noticeable difference. Down speeds are the same. The 25/25 they let go up to 30 i think, which is 3.75MBps. Now if you upload a lot of videos or large pictures to the web you will see a big difference because they do cap the upload speeds.

Also, was just watching spice goddess on cooking channel, while not hd it still looks good, fios sd is much better than dish. But for us, we actually gained cooking channel, so hd is better than no channel at all for us. But if that is the only channel, I would still switch, is that channel worth $34 a month? I would also look into dropping the phone, there are better options out there, for instance we only have double play as we moved our phone to magic jack, works great since fios is so stable and never gets bogged down during peak times like cable, voip is great on it.

And if you want to get the two dvrs as the new ones, just tell the tech that you only want it if you get two, I did that and got all 3 new dvrs, 7232. But I also was not bluffing, I would have canceled and stayed with dish if they tried to give me the 7216, those are crap, not worth what they charge for them.

 

[navychop]

Thank you, this is great info. Yes we are looking to move from double play to triple play.

I cannot drop the "land line" and move to some VOIP due to requirements of wife unit's job.

But your other comments are something I will pursue. Surely there is a way of cutting this projected FiOS bill further.

As to upload speed, that may matter for watching DVRd content over wifi. Might not really matter.

Good to know about the 7232, but that's another 4 or 5 dollars a month here.

 

[Jonhern]

no it is not more, they are the same price. there is no difference between a home dvr and a dvr, just software that is activated. so you only need one on the account to share. so the first would be 19.99, the second 16.99 weather you got two 7232s or 7216s or one of each.

 

[navychop]

From my "Estimated Monthly Charges," for this zip code:
Multi-Room DVR - High Definition.......$19.99
High Definition DVR Rental.................$15.99

I guess you can take that two ways. I'd call and ask, but experience is holding me back.

I noted that when I selected the Multi-room and the plain STB, there was a multi box discount. But that doesn't seem to apply with two DVRs.

 

[Jonhern]

and what so you mean dvr over wifi? the shareing is through moca, a wired connection, the box does not have wifi or need it. plus upload speed is not effected in your home network, ie between between devices. for instance i stream stuff from my computer to ps3, that can go as fast as it can upto what the router or switch can do which is 100MB or 1000MB, depening on your equipment.

and yes its $15.99, not 16.99

 

[navychop]

For Internet speed, I'm referring to using a Sling Adapter or Player to remotely view programming from the home DVR. Perhaps thru wifi at the other end, where I'd actually be viewing.

 

[Jonhern]

there is only a disount for multi room dvr and 1 or more stb, so any other dvr in it wont count or if you have only dvrs. thats why i say make sure you get the new one if you are going to be paying that much. idk what your current setup is but an extra dvr on dish is $17 and they cant share.

 

[Jonhern]

For Internet speed, I'm referring to using a Sling Adapter or Player to remotely view programming from the home DVR. Perhaps thru wifi at the other end, where I'd actually be viewing.

yes, just see what sling recomends. when i looked into it last year it was 3Mbps. but more will be better.

 

[navychop]

Yep, I'd insist on the 7232 or equivalent Cisco, which I hear they're now distributing to new customers around here. Can't mix brands, so everything in house is Motorola, or everything is Cisco.

I currently have 2 ViP722s so that's 4 tuners available for recording, plus 2 OTA. And yes, we do use all 4 at times so a single 2 tuner FiOS DVR wouldn't cut it. I could save on the Dish bill by moving to ViP612s, but everything is working fine so let's not rock the boat. Might move to Hopper later, which could involve some savings. With Dish, I can (& do) move EHDs between receivers

I think I'll go spend some time at those AVS FiOS threads.

 

[navychop]

yes, just see what sling recomends. when i looked into it last year it was 3Mbps. but more will be better.

I think I currently have 15/5. Can't tell for sure, Verizon web site is down again for checking current status or upgrading. Next step up around here is 25/25 for $5 more.