Watching content outside the US

[Goattee]

I live most of the year outside the US but I want to watch content where I am living in Asia. I am currently part of a DirecTV subscriber home in California. My friends are switching to Dish Network.

Here are the things I already have in place (or know about):

• I have a Slingbox in California currently operating with a DirecTiVO. But the bandwidth for international sites is poor over here during peak use periods-- I get a lot of droput and/or poor resolution.
• Dish Network offers a service allowing transfer of content into an external hard drive (EHD).

I am wondering whether I can shuttle back and forth between California and Asia by merely carrying external hard drives back and forth and docking them with the DVR in California (to download content) and Asia (to view content).

Questions:

• Can I activate two 622 or 722 DVR's with the EHD service in California. Put one online in the Dish Network home. Take the other with me to Asia?
• Will the DVR in Asia continue to function longterm if it is not in contact with the Dish Network system?

[Goattee]

One more point:

I am aware of the Archos 605 and 705 portable devices. I know these would allow me to download SD content from SD or HD DVR's. This might be the most flexible approach. (And would allow me to watch content while flying back from the US.)

BUT as far as I can tell, I would be limited to 160G capacity on these Archos devices.

I'd like a solution that has more capacity because I typically collect content for 2-6 months before taking it back home with me.

[mij1525]

Sounds like a lot of hassle. I'd look at going VSAT in Asia. Should be enough bandwidth for Slingbox. Cost ya about $150- per month.
Otherwise depending on where in Asia, you could make friends with a US serviceman and get the military sat hookup. ;-)

[Goattee]

Sounds like a lot of hassle. I'd look at going VSAT in Asia. Should be enough bandwidth for Slingbox. Cost ya about $150- per month.
Otherwise depending on where in Asia, you could make friends with a US serviceman and get the military sat hookup. ;-)

Thanks for the suggestions. I've already looked into what satellite programming is available to Thailand. The variety is underwhelming. (Although I must admit that I'm unfamiliar with the acronym VSAT. )

Having looked at a variety of satellite boxes and satellites, I didn't see anything that made it worth doing an install. No channels like BBC America, Sundance, IFC, MSNBC... I could go on. Mostly dull stuff. Very little from the US. A bit of Australian Broadcasting (ABC) and financial channels.

Military channels
Your idea about the military channels is intriguing-- especially if it goes way beyond channels owned by Rupert Murdoch . I guess I would have to find the lineup. Then see whether it is worth making friends. I wonder whether there are satellites with the military-aimed content covering Thailand?

Is there a good source to see the channel lineup and coverage area?

[kb7oeb]

A regular tivo might work, if you have remote access to a computer in the house you can transfer the recordings to the computer and then to yourself over the internet. You can also configure the desktop client to automatically transfer shows from the tivo to the desktop.

A downside is a tivo connected to a dish box can only record one thing at a time, if you need dual tuner solution it would have to be connected to cable or an antenna.

[Goattee]

A regular tivo might work...

Thanks for thinking creatively.

This is a solution that would work-- but with the limitation of one show at a time. I used to have a ReplayTV DVR hooked up by IR blaster to a standard DirecTV receiver. But later on with the DirecTiVo, I really got spoiled by the dual tuner capabilities-- it's rare that I have had to deal with conflicting programming now that there are two tuners.

On the upside, a brand new TiVO would allow me to control programming over the Internet and to check up on what's recorded.

I may have to consider the TiVO option or the Archos "Pocket Dish" if I find out that a remote Dish DVR in Asia will automatically deauthorize itself once it's off the Dish Network for a given period of time.

These companies don't make it easy for customers, do they? DirecTV was great when they offered the DirecTiVo. Dish seems paranoid about giving customers too much access. I don't want to steal anything-- I just want to watch a show once and delete it. If Echostar had a subscription service in Asia I would gladly pay for it and save myself this hassle!