My thoughts after 2 weeks on DirecTv vs. last 10 years on Dish

Status
Please reply by conversation.

treiher

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Oct 13, 2003
112
0
Phoenix, AZ
I hope some find this useful. I was a Dish Network subscriber for more than 10 years. I was always happy with the service and loved the equipment. But over the last 2 years or so, I have become increasingly frustrated with the fees and rate increases, and I was always fighting every 3 months or so over some charge that appeared on my bill that did not belong or that I had no idea what it was. The dual DVR fees pushed me over the edge, and their counter to that was to suggest I dumb down my equipment or lower my programming tier. And “oh by the way, did you know our receivers are way better than Direct TV’s? You won’t be happy with those.” But enough with that. My biggest concern was could I be happy with the switch. If you are struggling with that like I was, this might help. For the most part, I am quite happy with the switch and even pleasantly surprised.

Thoughts on DirecTv services vs. Dish Network

Cons

When one DVR is in use, you cannot playback a recorded program from that DVR on any of the other receivers. The installer told me that a future software upgrade may make it possible, but for now, it is a bit of a limitation. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen where you cannot watch something because that DVR is in use. To be fair, Dish doesn’t even have whole home DVR sharing, but two TV’s connected to the same receiver could playback any recorded event without limitation.

What is the difference between First run and Repeat? Same episode will record multiple times, even with First Run selected. I can work around this by setting up manual recordings, but not the best solution. Dish’s scheduling has a few more options, is a little more intuitive and just works better.

No auto tune for DVR versions. I thought this was a handy feature with Dish. You can auto tune with the H24 receivers, but that option does not appear to be available in the HR24.

Guide is only 1.5 hr. window vs. Dish 3 hr. window. Dish has a bit better channel organization I think. For example, all the news channels are grouped together in the low 200’s on Dish, but you will find them more spread out on Direct. CNN is off my itself in the 200’s. Then you have FOXNews and MSNBC and their related stations in the mid 300’s. This may seem minor, but it this is one example of several which does make for easier browsing through the guide Dish. Probably most don’t care about this, but it is something I have noticed.

More favorites list and I like the way dish changes the color of your selection in the guide as an obvious indicator which list you are looking at. Direct has it tagged, at the bottom, but not quite as obvious.

Sirius music seems a little better than sonic.

No PIP. I didn't use this much and haven't missed it yet, but it is not there. Worth noting.

Pros

Picture quality! This is not my imagination. It is better. Even my wife noticed it enough to comment on it and trust me, that is saying something. I wonder if it has something to do with the native resolution pass through? I know this was a feature that was requested a lot over the years with the Dish receivers, but was never added. I am particularly struck by how good programming looks on channels like TBS-HD. I always thought that HD programs on some of those channels on Dish looked worse than by standard def. DVD’s. This is such a hard category to rate, because it is so subjective. But I am seeing an improvement, for what it’s worth.

Double play – I really like this feature! It allows you to quickly switch between two channels, holding the program in the DVR buffer so you can rewind and view what you missed. On Dish, if you tried this, you would lose your place. You could sort of do that with PIP, but always had to have the PIP window open.

Quick Tune – Another nifty little shortcut which is very nice. For channels you frequently flip to without checking the guide (i.e. Weather Channel, a news channel, local station), this is very handy.

Remote Control programming is WAY better with the new receivers. I was pleasantly surprised with the on screen selection of additional A/V devices by name and model number, and then programming the remote. Even the setting of an A/V receiver as primary volume control was easy. I never did memorize the programming sequence on dish’s remote, always had to look that up when I needed to reprogram one.

Really like the TV and Receiver simultaneously on feature. Wish I had the option to add an a/v device to the sequence and turn on three things, but who can complain.

Apps are cool and don’t interrupt viewing. I always found the Dish interactive stuff sluggish and not useful, and oh if you accidently activated one, you painfully had to wait for the app to launch with no TV and then the same thing when shutting it down. I like Direct’s approach to this much better.

Multi Room Viewing is great, but sure wish I could transfer recording from one DVR to another. Regardless, having this capability is very nice. It works well and has already proven to be handy.
Smart Search is significantly better than Dish search feature.
Bookmarking a specific time in DVR recordings. Had no idea it could do this until I read about it in the manual (yes, I actually read the manual!). I tried it and it works.

I like the fact that when you turn the receiver off, it turns off the display. My TV will turn itself off if it is getting no signal after awhile. But when Dish started their standby only mode with the little tips and advertising I had to pay more attention that I got the TV turned off, otherwise it would stay on forever.

VOD definitely better. I’ve always read this about DirecTv, but it is true.

I like how it asks you whether you want to keep or delete the event after you stop recording.

Final thoughts

During the last 10 years, I always firmly believed Dish has the edge in hardware. Whenever visiting a neighbor or relative who had DirecTv, I was always underwhelmed with the sluggishness of the receivers and how the whole interface just seemed less intuitive. But much of that has been addressed with the new HR24 and H24 receivers, and there are some clever features and capabilities that Dish simply doesn’t have. If you are holding back making a switch because of the technology, in my opinion that is no longer a barrier. I also think the whole dual dvr concept that Dish has deployed across all of it’s HD VIP series receivers is dated. It is sold as two TV’s from one receiver . . . and it is, but only one and always only one TV can be an HDTV. So if you are like me, and had one 722 receiver and two 622 receivers, you are getting slammed hard in new monthly dual HD DVR fees for a set up which can manage up to 6ea. TV’s, but of course only 3ea. of them can be HDTV’s. Stardard def. TV’s are going away, rapidly. You can’t buy them anymore and the day is quickly approaching when very few homes will have even one (less the old tube TV stuck out in the garage because it just doesn’t make sense to throw it away yet). So it is amazing at this stage, Dish double downs on this dated concept by slamming its customers with the extra fees for those extra standard def. feeds. And I can’t help but wonder if the extra fees being using to cover the added cost of receivers which fail a lot? I went though three 722 receivers before the final one seems to be stable and may actually last awhile. (yes, it is in a very cool place with good power) Am I now paying for this? I wonder. By contrast, I was able to get 4ea. HDTV receivers from DirecTv at one low monthly fee per box. Yes, two of them are not DVR’s so I can’t pause live TV. But any of them can play any recording on either of the DVR’s. It’s a reasonable trade off.
 
Interesting observations. I was with Dish for almost 10 years before switched to D* a couple of years ago.

I have only a HR21, so it is sluggish as compared to my old 622, which I liked very much. I don't find the menus as intuitive on the HR21. I still struggle to find things whereas on the 622 everything was where I expected it to be. I do miss the Auto Tune option, even to today. I sometimes miss shows because it doesn't auto tune and I got distracted for a few minutes.

I have not had any problems with the First Run recording option. It never records an episode multiple times. It never records an older showing.

I don't use MRV so I have no experience with it.

The picture quality on HD is significantly better from D*. I sometimes read posts from people who say they can't tell the difference and am shocked by that. On my 5 year old, 47" set, the difference is very noticeable. It should be even more noticeable on a new, large HDTV.
 
The HR24 has been a big game changer for DIRECTV which is a great thing! DIRECTV's technology was a sleeping dog for many years but finally they got their act in gear.

Thanks for the updates. :)
 
Thoughts on DirecTv services vs. Dish Network

Cons

When one DVR is in use, you cannot playback a recorded program from that DVR on any of the other receivers. The installer told me that a future software upgrade may make it possible, but for now, it is a bit of a limitation. It doesn’t happen a lot, but it does happen where you cannot watch something because that DVR is in use. To be fair, Dish doesn’t even have whole home DVR sharing, but two TV’s connected to the same receiver could playback any recorded event without limitation.

What is the difference between First run and Repeat? Same episode will record multiple times, even with First Run selected. I can work around this by setting up manual recordings, but not the best solution. Dish’s scheduling has a few more options, is a little more intuitive and just works better.

No auto tune for DVR versions. I thought this was a handy feature with Dish. You can auto tune with the H24 receivers, but that option does not appear to be available in the HR24.

Guide is only 1.5 hr. window vs. Dish 3 hr. window. Dish has a bit better channel organization I think. For example, all the news channels are grouped together in the low 200’s on Dish, but you will find them more spread out on Direct. CNN is off my itself in the 200’s. Then you have FOXNews and MSNBC and their related stations in the mid 300’s. This may seem minor, but it this is one example of several which does make for easier browsing through the guide Dish. Probably most don’t care about this, but it is something I have noticed.

More favorites list and I like the way dish changes the color of your selection in the guide as an obvious indicator which list you are looking at. Direct has it tagged, at the bottom, but not quite as obvious.

Sirius music seems a little better than sonic.

No PIP. I didn't use this much and haven't missed it yet, but it is not there. Worth noting.

Changed over 6/23. Two HR24's and one H24.

1. Could you explain? I watch stuff all the time while it is recording on my other receivers.

2. Haven't had that problem. Timer default is set to first run.

3. Do miss autotune.

4. Do miss the 3 hour guide view.

5. Haven't set up a favorites yet. Just use the HD guide.

S~
 
Changed over 6/23. Two HR24's and one H24.

1. Could you explain? I watch stuff all the time while it is recording on my other receivers.


S~

Say you have two HR24's . . . HR24-A and HR24-B

If someone is watching a recorded program on HR24-A, all other recordings in the list that are stored on HR24-A now have an unavailable icon next to them if you try and access them from HR24-B or any other H24 receiver. HR24-B programs are still available to watch, until someone starts watching any one recorded event on that unit. Make sense?

I'm okay with it though, because the benefit of being able to watch any recorded event on any receiver in your home is very nice, and you can pick up were you left off, the resume works no matter what receiver you started watching it on. It would be nice though if the reciever could multi-task, or allow two different receivers to access it's hard drive at the same time.
 
Last edited:
Nice thing with the HR24 you can watch live programing on your TV while it's recording something on any TV as well. The only time you have to watch a recording is when your doing 2 at the same time. It will make you watch one of the recording on the TV you have your HDDVR hooked up to but your other TV's you should be able to watch whatever. Oh welcome Aboard and to the Empire.. :)
 
Thanks I really feel like I have joined the Empire. I have a number of friends who have Dish Network based on my recommendation, and even a few who switched from Direct to Dish several years ago, again because I convinced them to do so. Now I have to inform them what I have done. I haven't told any of them yet. :) And none of them spend enough time on this forum to read what I have posted. Should be interesting.
 
treiher I like your observations and agree with most. Also being from phoenix area you picked up additional 4 HD channels in locals. I actually watch PBS now.
 
This is not to start a war, but just a correction:
Double play – I really like this feature! It allows you to quickly switch between two channels, holding the program in the DVR buffer so you can rewind and view what you missed. On Dish, if you tried this, you would lose your place. You could sort of do that with PIP, but always had to have the PIP window open.

I use this constantly on my Dish 622. The receiver must be in the single mode. Use the "swap" button to switch between tuners. This allows you to switch between two satellite channels OR a satellite channel and an OTA channel while keeping them both in the buffer so you can rewind either of them at any time up to an hour back in time. I do this all the time. When I hit a commercial break- pause- "SWAP" and watch the other channel until that commercial break and "swap" back, skip commercial to program. wash, rinse, repeat.
 
Native resolution pass through on the HR2x is an option to have the DVR change the screen setting when you change a channel to match the resolution of the source (480i, 480p, 720p, 1081i or 1080p) automatically. In my opinion, it is the source of most complaints about sluggishness on the HR20/21/23. The HR24 solves the problem for most people because it is faster. I can't remember if the dish dvr's have the option.

I switched 3 years ago after 10+ years with dish. Do miss the 622 but there have been improvements to the HR2x's. I don't have the HR24 but the speed issue has never bothered me that much.

The Boolean search option was a big improvement. I also like that they fade the channels that I don't subscribe to on search results but would prefer the option of just removing them like you can do with the vip or tivo.

I like the idea of the built in favorites filters but not so much the implementation. There are at least 8 channels that I select as favorites that just don't show up in the filters:

HGTVHD
COMHD
HDN
WGNHD
ABC FAMILY
HALLHD
HDNM
UHD

I get around that oversight by just putting any missing channels in the second favorites list and selecting all. Adding more favorites lists like Dish does would be better though. I'd prefer to manipulate things on my own.
 
Last edited:
This is not to start a war, but just a correction:


I use this constantly on my Dish 622. The receiver must be in the single mode. Use the "swap" button to switch between tuners. This allows you to switch between two satellite channels OR a satellite channel and an OTA channel while keeping them both in the buffer so you can rewind either of them at any time up to an hour back in time. I do this all the time. When I hit a commercial break- pause- "SWAP" and watch the other channel until that commercial break and "swap" back, skip commercial to program. wash, rinse, repeat.

Yes, that gets heavy use by me during College Football season (722K).
 
This is not to start a war, but just a correction:


I use this constantly on my Dish 622. The receiver must be in the single mode. Use the "swap" button to switch between tuners. This allows you to switch between two satellite channels OR a satellite channel and an OTA channel while keeping them both in the buffer so you can rewind either of them at any time up to an hour back in time. I do this all the time. When I hit a commercial break- pause- "SWAP" and watch the other channel until that commercial break and "swap" back, skip commercial to program. wash, rinse, repeat.

My bad! I did not know it would work this way!! I always thought the swap button was only for swapping between PIP channels, but I did not realize you could swap without PIP being active. So I guess double play is not a big pro vs. Dish. I stand corrected and thanks for letting me know.
 
Last edited:
Alas I cannot speed up my HR21 by switching to native because my HDTV set does not support 720p. I have to convert all HD to 1080i in the HR21.

I guess I could switch it to native just to see if it did get faster. But then I couldn't watch any 720p channel.
 
I am looking to do the switch from Dish to Direct. Especially since we moved and cannot get our NFL team locally here in Alabama.

How many TV's can you hook up with the HR24. I am looking to obviously hook it to my HDTV and to 2 standard tv's. Is that possible with this model?
 
I am looking to do the switch from Dish to Direct. Especially since we moved and cannot get our NFL team locally here in Alabama.

How many TV's can you hook up with the HR24. I am looking to obviously hook it to my HDTV and to 2 standard tv's. Is that possible with this model?

You'll probably need a modulator for a second TV, no RF output on the HR24. You can get a HR24 and a H24 for free when you sign up as a new customer. If you add MRV, you can play the recordings on the HR24 from the H24. Another H24 is $99 and a regular SD receiver is free.
 
You'll probably need a modulator for a second TV, no RF output on the HR24. You can get a HR24 and a H24 for free when you sign up as a new customer. If you add MRV, you can play the recordings on the HR24 from the H24. Another H24 is $99 and a regular SD receiver is free.

Just want to clarify. I have to recievers with dish right now that run 4 TV's. I want to get HR24 for the main living room. I have another smaller HD TV in the Bedroom and 2 standard TV's. Your thoughts and recomendations. Sounds like that I am going to pay just about the same amount that I am with Dish with the extra recievers.
 
So 4 TVs? You would pay $15 for the receivers, $7 for DVR service and $3 for Whole Home DVR if you want to share the recordings on the HR24. I'm sure others have more ideas. :)
 
Status
Please reply by conversation.

Tech Quest about HR21-700

went from std def to hd, do I have to redo DVR?

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 0, Members: 0, Guests: 0)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)

Latest posts