Thinking of Switching to D*

[jcart]

We currently have Dish and are seriously thinking of switching to Directv. There is one last detail I need cleared up. I want to know if you can feed 2 TV's with the HR21. It has 2 tuners so I'm assuming you can but I saw some pics of the back panel and it's not labeled for a second TV out. Believe it or not this might be a deal breaker because my wife is already not happy that I'm insisting on paying for the HD package. The extra $5/month for a second receiver would push her over the edge I think. Just to clarify, 2 TV's with different channels at the same time.

 

[pdxsam]

You cannot feed a second tv like you can with the 622.

 

[jcart]

Wow, that seems like huge oversight. The second tuner is already there, why not wire it to feed a second TV. Unless they're just looking for the extra receiver fees.

 

[jcart]

Wow, that seems like a huge oversight to me. The second tuner is already built in, why not wire it for a second tv? Unless they're just looking for the extra receiver fees.

What a shame, I was really hoping to get out from under Dish.

 

[darrencp22]

Well this is not necessarily an oversight as the feature is quite rare. E is the only provider who does this. I would give E credit for innovation rather than viewing this as a D oversight. Would be nice to have on D.

 

[Ronnie-]

Well this is not necessarily an oversight as the feature is quite rare. E is the only provider who does this. I would give E credit for innovation rather than viewing this as a D oversight. Would be nice to have on D.

It would be nice to have the option, but I doubt I would ever use it. I would much rather have my other feed in HD instead of SD

 

[JAG72]

I am personally glad that Directv does not have that option. I hated using the TV2 feature on the 622, but I guess everybody is different.

 

[charper1]

Another Ditto!

 

[icelite]

Never used this feature on my previous 622 either.

 

[scottie_h]

If D* had this feature, I wouldn't use it.

 

[Indiana627]

If D* had this feature, I wouldn't use it.

Me neither. The pain of having to run a cable from my downstairs DVR to my upstairs bedroom seems like just as much of a pain as running a coax line from the dish/multi-switch to the upstairs bedroom.

 

[DodgerKing]

Not only that, is it true that the second line is SD only? Which means if you want to watch an HD program, you can only do so in SD on you second TV.

 

[Indiana627]

Yes, TV2 is SD only on the E* DVRs.

 

[darrencp22]

I loved this feature with E. One of the things I will miss. It was great that I could access programming stored on my DVR from my bedroom TV.

 

[DodgerKing]

Rumor is that Direct will be developing networking hardware (probably a USB adapter) and software for their DVR's so subs can transfer recordings between DVR's.

I cannot confirm if this is actually true or not.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Me neither. The pain of having to run a cable from my downstairs DVR to my upstairs bedroom seems like just as much of a pain as running a coax line from the dish/multi-switch to the upstairs bedroom.

Just a FYI...

You can use the diplexers to backfeed to a common location (basement). You really only need the one line to do this.

 

[rad]

Rumor is that Direct will be developing networking hardware (probably a USB adapter) and software for their DVR's so subs can transfer recordings between DVR's.

I cannot confirm if this is actually true or not.

The HD DVR's (HR20/21) have built in ethernet adapters, no need for a USB adapter. All things that I've seen say the SD DVR's will not have any network capabiities, D*'s plans according to their last quarters PR is they hope to have just HD DVR's in a few years and it's doubful that we'll be seeing many, if any, enhancements to the SD boxes.

As for the software to do this, who knows. At CES they demo'ed PC client software that allowed for viewing of recorded programs from a HR20/21 so hopefully adding a client into the DVR's is something they're also working on.

 

[lern4483]

Thats what I love about the 622. Only thing wrong is the SD feed. Oiherwise gotta give dish their due on this one.

 

[charper1]

The HD DVR's (HR20/21) have built in ethernet adapters, no need for a USB adapter. All things that I've seen say the SD DVR's will not have any network capabiities, D*'s plans according to their last quarters PR is they hope to have just HD DVR's in a few years and it's doubful that we'll be seeing many, if any, enhancements to the SD boxes.

As for the software to do this, who knows. At CES they demo'ed PC client software that allowed for viewing of recorded programs from a HR20/21 so hopefully adding a client into the DVR's is something they're also working on.

ReplayTV would do it and since they bought them up; you would think it should be real easy to do / incorporate.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

It will be interesting to see how Directv plans to use their ReplayTV asset.