From Dish to Direct?

[budda]

Looking for a quick look. Have Dish using VIP722K's nice DVR. Thinking about going to Direct Gene with 4 TV's hooked up. They have some nice deals. Questions I have are what would I gain or lose with this move. looking at 225 on Direct. Have 200 on Dish. Are DVR's about the same is there a 30 sec skip. How's are the funntions of the DVR on Direct? How big is HD? Thanks.

 

[jcrandall]

DVRs pretty similar, obvious advantage is 5 tuners vs. 2, so you can record more on one box. Both have 30 second skip, DirecTV you have to enter a code to do it, otherwise it "slips" which is a very fast fast-forward.

Hard drive is 1TB in the Genie.

The extra TVs will get client boxes that use a tuner from the Genie when watching live tv. If you have a box that is used frequently, you may want to pay a bit extra for a HD receiver (or even HD-DVR) in that location to avoid using the tuner from the Genie.

 

[budda]

Couple of folllow up questions. I read a newer Smart TV , either Samsung or Sony is a plus? And Can you hook up on receiver to other tv's and watch same programming? I have that now witch is nice cuz it saves on equipment. One is in a sunroom other is in garge. 2 main are two kids ,living room amd my bedroom. And if I go with this, will be glad to add ref. Thanks

 

[mdram]

with 4 tvs I would advise against the clients
they take tuners away from the genie
get either h25 or hr24. the hr is another dvr, the h25 is just a receiver
but they can all see each others recordings
oh and they cost the same monthly as a client

the dvr is similar, it does take a bit to get used to the slight differences, cant remember what they are atm
overall I was happy with the switch

 

[zim2dive]

Make sure you get an HR44.. the UI on an HR34 will seem annoyingly slow in comparison to the 722. I don't have an HR44.. but folks here claim it catches up to the Dish DVRs in terms of UI speed.

 

[mdram]

Make sure you get an HR44.. the UI on an HR34 will seem annoyingly slow in comparison to the 722. I don't have an HR44.. but folks here claim it catches up to the Dish DVRs in terms of UI speed.

my 34 didn't seem much slower then the 722 I changed from

 

[budda]

Won"t more DVR's be more $. Also I checked the rear view on the Gene, I can run composite to tv's 5 and 6 with my rf modulator.

 

[Jimbo]

Won"t more DVR's be more $. Also I checked the rear view on the Gene, I can run composite to tv's 5 and 6 with my rf modulator.

You'll pay the same monthly for a Client as you would for a recvr (h25 or a DVR HR24), it's a programming fee is all, it doesn't matter what recvr.

Keep in mind though, if you have the money, I would get a HR24 as the DVR is 1 fee for the entire account, not by the DVR recvr.

These fees are pretty much built into the overall price.

 

[mdram]

Won"t more DVR's be more $. Also I checked the rear view on the Gene, I can run composite to tv's 5 and 6 with my rf modulator.

more up front
but unlike dish, directv charges the same fee no matter what the unit is, a client, a dvr or a receiver

 

[zim2dive]

my 34 didn't seem much slower then the 722 I changed from

I'm far from the only former Dish sub to report that the HR34 UI seemed sluggish in comparison. (I had a 622 tho)

 

[ejb1980]

I'm far from the only former Dish sub to report that the HR34 UI seemed sluggish in comparison. (I had a 622 tho)

My parents have Dish. The first thing I notice about their receiver is how fast it is compared to the HR34 I have. The guide is customizeable to some extent with Dish, too. The PQ is noticeably better with Directv, however. There will be people who post (and have already) that the HR34 is not slower. Some specific units are fine. But many HR34 units are very glitchy and slow. Get the HR44. When the installer calls to verify, ask if he/she has the HR44 on the truck and can install it for you. If they do not, cancel the order until you get the HR44. That is my only regret with Directv is not following that advice.

 

[Jimbo]

Lot of people have reported Great luck and speed with the 34's as well as the 44, however, there are also those that have the 34 that are sluggish, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme of reason to it, so you could have one that works great, or not.

Everytime a new D* recvr comes out, it gets compared to a Dish recvr and the dish recvr is ALWAYS claimed to be better ....

I find it hard to believe that EVERY DISH recvr works perfectly and is super fast all the time.

 

[Hutch1814]

Lot of people have reported Great luck and speed with the 34's as well as the 44, however, there are also those that have the 34 that are sluggish, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme of reason to it, so you could have one that works great, or not. Everytime a new D* recvr comes out, it gets compared to a Dish recvr and the dish recvr is ALWAYS claimed to be better .... I find it hard to believe that EVERY DISH recvr works perfectly and is super fast all the time.

I don't know Jimbo, dish receiver are pretty fast! As for working flawless, that's a completely different story. They all have their weird quarks but when it comes down to, I can count in 1 hand how many 34's I've seen in the wild that I wouldn't throw a brick at for making me so mad at how slow it was

 

[mdram]

you will however be impressed with the guide on directv, the view upcoming, search, cast info, ect is much better then my 722 had

 

[dalyew]

Picture quality & the tablet app for my D* HR44 is the most outstanding features over my Hopper experience with Dish. Oh, can't forget Direct's sports coverage. Thought it was overrated when I was with Dish but now that I'm experiencing it I now get it. For example, EPL soccer games all carried & NBA LP games all carried in HD & choice of home or away channels. Don't even mention Sunday Ticket, Golf & Tennis Mix Channels. Only wish I didn't have to pay extra for Cricket (the game, not the channel lol)

 

[lparsons21]

you will however be impressed with the guide on directv, the view upcoming, search, cast info, ect is much better then my 722 had

That's practically the only thing I really miss from when I had D*.

Otherwise the two services seem close enough to me that which one I'm with is most often determined by which is in my financial best interest.

 

[zim2dive]

you will however be impressed with the guide on directv, the view upcoming, search, cast info, ect is much better then my 722 had

I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder... call me a pragmatist.... from the Dish guide I miss

- being able to customize how many rows of channels I can see
- being able to customize seeing a mini-preview window vs. more channel data
- being able to see 3 hours (ie. all of primetime) at the same time (vs. 1.5 hours on DTV)
- in summary... I could see more than 2x the info at once with the Dish guide... personally I found that a very valuable difference... others will not.

sad thing is, NONE of this would be hard for DTV to add.. not sure why they don't

It's not about having a fight over which is better.. it's about each person being aware of the pros/cons of each so that they can make the choice best suited to their taste.

 

[lparsons21]

You realize that only the 3 hour guide window is still there on the Hopper/Joey, don't you?

 

[budda]

Thanks for the info. I am still researching. Called up as if I was going to order,got more info. I would get a Gene for free, 2 clients. some kind of entertainment pack for on demand. And if I wanted another DVR HR44 $199.00 out of pocket. 24 months. Ultimate pack. Whats left of NFL ticket. All Premium channels for 3 months. 72.00 a month for 12 months then 110.00 after that. Tried to get something else besides the NFL ticket because it is almost half over. He said he had no control. Not sure if the $72 dollars is with the auto billing, if not it would be $62. Going to checkout the HR34 and 44. I guess it depends what is on the truck. I told them still thinking about it. I know I am asking a lot but would like to get the HR44 with the deal. Decisions decisions.

 

[budda]

Well I went to Direct's web site asked if the HR44 was available in my area, and it is not. Only the HR34. So I will be waiting for the HR44. Sucks because I was going to make it happen and get the two Gene's.