A bit disappointed and confused!

[drfugawe]

Hey Guys,
Complete newbie here, and preparing to order new DirecTV service. We were very disappointed to learn that Direct did not have the two room single DVRs - are they called "dual mode DVRs? - as does Dish (our old provider). Ques 1 - if we use equip that we buy, can we use a single two room DVR with DirecTV?

And Ques 2 - will DirecTV give us any choices, when we order, of specific equip for our setup? And if yes, what receivers/DVRs should we try to get, and which should we try to avoid?

We are not interested in HD currently, but we need two DVRs (or the equivilent) and we do a lot of recording, and would love lots of hard drive capibitity.

Thanks much for your responses.
john

 

[scoop8]

John,

Welcome to the forum from another newbie. This forum is packed with great info. I've already received answers to several DTV questions here.

Question 2: I'll give you my experience in Dallas: When I upgraded to HD svc this past August, I was told that I'd get "whichever DVR/Receiver that DTV happened to have in the local warehouse at the present time". I wasn't given any choice of equipment. I have the HR22NC-100 Receiver in my main viewing room with the 100 Gig Hard Drive. The 2nd Receiver is the H23NC-600 unit w/out the DVR. I asked the DTV Installer during the installation about multi-room installations but I wasn't interested in looking into that at the time. His answer was "You must have a DTV Receiver for each room install." I don't know if that's factual but someone else here will be able to give you more info on multi-room installs with DVR.

 

[JosephB]

There is no such thing as a multi-room DVR with DirecTV. You will need a receiver or DVR in each room.

If you already have a line run from the main TV where your old Dish DVR was, you can likely use a splitter to split the satellite signal there and go back to your second TV without having to run a new cable. As a new DirecTV subscriber you should be getting a single wire install.

There's no way to guarantee what boxes you will get, and in reality no way to guarantee you'll get a single wire install either. When DirecTV sends the order to your local installer they just say "HD DVR" or HD Receiver. No model numbers are listed. It's completely up to what the installer has on the truck in terms of LNBs and receivers.

 

[Albie2]

Hey Guys,
Complete newbie here, and preparing to order new DirecTV service. We were very disappointed to learn that Direct did not have the two room single DVRs - are they called "dual mode DVRs? - as does Dish (our old provider). Ques 1 - if we use equip that we buy, can we use a single two room DVR with DirecTV?

And Ques 2 - will DirecTV give us any choices, when we order, of specific equip for our setup? And if yes, what receivers/DVRs should we try to get, and which should we try to avoid?

We are not interested in HD currently, but we need two DVRs (or the equivilent) and we do a lot of recording, and would love lots of hard drive capibitity.

Thanks much for your responses.
john

Most likely you will get two R-22 DVR's. That is the current Standard Definition DVR shippping right now. I believe it comes with a 320 gig hard drive which should get you 250-300 hours of recording capacity per box. There is also speculation that it will be software upgradeable to High Def at some point in the future as it seems to be vitrually identical to the HR-22 High Def DVR.

 

[Jhon69]

Most likely you will get two R-22 DVR's. That is the current Standard Definition DVR shippping right now. I believe it comes with a 320 gig hard drive which should get you 250-300 hours of recording capacity per box. There is also speculation that it will be software upgradeable to High Def at some point in the future as it seems to be vitrually identical to the HR-22 High Def DVR.

The R22 does have a 320GBHDD recording time is 200 hours,it is an HR21 without the HD ability.The HR22 has a 500GBHDD.

 

[paulman182]

The way I look at it is, DirecTV does not try to force you to use one receiver for two rooms.

That type of usage really cripples a DVR.

 

[drfugawe]

Hummmm? Need clarification!

The way I look at it is, DirecTV does not try to force you to use one receiver for two rooms.

That type of usage really cripples a DVR.

First, many thanks for your responses - much appreciated.

Second - paulman, I'm not sure I understand - are you referring to the type of DVR that Dish uses? If you are, what's the crippling effect? The limited hard drive? I don't notice any other "crippling" effects as we are using it. And frankly, I'm annoyed that the second DVR in the DirecTV system simply pushes the fees up by $10 a month. To me, that's a crippling effect! But if I'm missing something else here, please share - that's the type of info I need to know now.
john

 

[JosephB]

First, many thanks for your responses - much appreciated.

Second - paulman, I'm not sure I understand - are you referring to the type of DVR that Dish uses? If you are, what's the crippling effect? The limited hard drive? I don't notice any other "crippling" effects as we are using it. And frankly, I'm annoyed that the second DVR in the DirecTV system simply pushes the fees up by $10 a month. To me, that's a crippling effect! But if I'm missing something else here, please share - that's the type of info I need to know now.
john

Adding an additional DVR only pushes the fees up by $5.

I'm not 100% familiar with the dish two-tv DVR, but having two discrete DVRs allows each to record two things at once, and allows each TV to watch two different live programs even if something is recording. DirecTV is testing multi-room viewing, so eventually you'll be able to watch things recorded on one DVR in other rooms.

 

[HDinCincy]

Adding an additional DVR only pushes the fees up by $5.

I'm not 100% familiar with the dish two-tv DVR, but having two discrete DVRs allows each to record two things at once, and allows each TV to watch two different live programs even if something is recording. DirecTV is testing multi-room viewing, so eventually you'll be able to watch things recorded on one DVR in other rooms.

I understand what Fugawe (cute) is saying. Say he records something on his DVR but wants to watch it in another room. Whereas with our D* DVR, you MUST watch in the room that has the rec'vr you recorded it on. Fugawe, what I do is to use my HD DVR on my 50" plasma and then with a small, cheap modulator, send that signal to the TV in my exercise room. That way we can watch whatev in either room. You're not interested in HD now, but that will change. (do you still watch B&W TV?) When it does you will only get HD on the main receiver. Your modulator (at this time anyway) will not modulate an HD RF signal. Geee, maybe there now IS a digital modulator that will send HD around the house. Mucho dinero, no doubt.