Current Dish customer looking at options

[spudmancbr954rr]

Hi guys -

I've been with DISH for years, but the pissing match with AMC is making me look at all the competitor's promo offers.
I really like the way my DISH receivers have built-in OTA tuners. With my HD DVR receivers, I can easily record OTA channels right to the hard drive and the channels all show up in the program guide. Can anyone tell me if the current crop of DirecTV HD DVR receivers have OTA tuners so I'll be able to do the same if I switch?
Also, I'm concerned about tearing apart the whole house to re-wire everything if I switch from DISH to DirecTV. Does DirecTV use standard coax to connect all their receivers or do they possibly use something easier to string from one room to another?
Thanks much!

 

[mwalker939]

The DTV receivers do not have built in OTA tuners but most markets will have local chanels in the progrogramming package or a stand alone option available at no additional charge if there are currently no locals. Directv uses RG6 line on their installations. I think they do a line test and if yours meets the capacity and quility standard it could be used if not you want the upgrade for quality purposes. Research standard professional installation at direrectv.com for more information.

 

[KasumiX]

Isn't there a component you can get to receive OTA channels - AM21 or something?
If you're concerned about recording locals and not taking up a tuner, you should check out the HR34 which has 5 tuners instead of the typical 2 (3 with OTA).

 

[Rey]

yes you have the am21 but with an hr34 you would not be able to record more than 5 things at once. the same goes for the two tuner dvr's. i wish the am21 added tuners like dish's ota tuner does.

 

[zim2dive]

yes you have the am21 but with an hr34 you would not be able to record more than 5 things at once. the same goes for the two tuner dvr's. i wish the am21 added tuners like dish's ota tuner does.

I'm still amazed at the folks who don't find 5 tuners enough Worst case, many shows can be recorded 3 hours after the initial viewing, if you are really in a pinch (altho I felt like Dish did a much better job of showing show skips, and the reason for why, etc).

Keep in mind the HR34 SW is still a work in progress.. I still get lots of lag when scrolling in the guide... button press.. wait... ok there it goes.. button press again... etc. I personally find it very frustrating. Other folks either don't have it, or don't use the guide the same way, or must be slow button pushers

also if you were on a 622/722, the whole-home TVs which are NOT directly connected to the HR34 cannot manage the recordings... its whole home "viewing"... whole home "deleting", and whole "home" make-the-initial-recording-request.. but the rest of the home cannot change nor cancel a recording, and I don't think it can even see a list of the upcoming recordings.. you actually are forced to get your fat American arse up out of the chair and waddle over to the HR34 (and interrupt whomever is watching it)... since we have stairs, I find it an annoying, but effective, exercise program.

EDIT: In school, we would have graded this mixed set of features as "partial credit".... B-.

 

[RollingCode3]

I'm a new Direct subscriber after being with Dish for over 12 years. I had the 622 receiver. I prefere the ease of recording options /menu of Dish vs. Direct. In addition I like having the external HD storage capability with the Dish receiver. After reading reviews and comments about the HR 34, I'm unsure I want one now. When I called Direct this morning to see if I could get one, they told me to Google to look for a release date, since Direct's website indicates the HR 34 is "coming soon". The other thing I was not aware of is the recording capacity of the HD receiver I have now. Since I have that HD channel package, my recordings are in HD if the channel is HD. with Dish, they offered both the SD and HD channel. This allowed me more program hours to store. That's why I'm interested in the HR 34.

 

[mdram]

I'm a new Direct subscriber after being with Dish for over 12 years. I had the 622 receiver. I prefere the ease of recording options /menu of Dish vs. Direct. In addition I like having the external HD storage capability with the Dish receiver. After reading reviews and comments about the HR 34, I'm unsure I want one now. When I called Direct this morning to see if I could get one, they told me to Google to look for a release date, since Direct's website indicates the HR 34 is "coming soon". The other thing I was not aware of is the recording capacity of the HD receiver I have now. Since I have that HD channel package, my recordings are in HD if the channel is HD. with Dish, they offered both the SD and HD channel. This allowed me more program hours to store. That's why I'm interested in the HR 34.

you have both hd and sd, but your guide is set to hide sd duplicates. its a setting dish did not have that i recall.

i prefer the guide and data that directv gives you.
upcoming episodes, cast and crew - with film/tv data for them and then on to ucoming for those .

an hr34 and 1 hm21 would give you 24/7 recording of 5 tuners

going back to dish you would need 2 hoppers to do tha same
my preference is for a tuner at each node such as direct does vs the sharing of the joey

 

[KasumiX]

also if you were on a 622/722, the whole-home TVs which are NOT directly connected to the HR34 cannot manage the recordings... its whole home "viewing"... whole home "deleting", and whole "home" make-the-initial-recording-request.. but the rest of the home cannot change nor cancel a recording, and I don't think it can even see a list of the upcoming recordings.. you actually are forced to get your fat American arse up out of the chair and waddle over to the HR34 (and interrupt whomever is watching it)... since we have stairs, I find it an annoying, but effective, exercise program.

EDIT: In school, we would have graded this mixed set of features as "partial credit".... B-.

With 5 tuners and 1TB of space, I cannot forsee any situation where I would need to suddenly cancel a recording that badly.

 

[Rey]

I agree. Maybe once I've seen my hr34 use all 5 tuners. As you said the unit is still a work in progress. I can say its way better than when I first installed it. It will only get better as the software matures.

I'm still amazed at the folks who don't find 5 tuners enough Worst case, many shows can be recorded 3 hours after the initial viewing, if you are really in a pinch (altho I felt like Dish did a much better job of showing show skips, and the reason for why, etc).

Keep in mind the HR34 SW is still a work in progress.. I still get lots of lag when scrolling in the guide... button press.. wait... ok there it goes.. button press again... etc. I personally find it very frustrating. Other folks either don't have it, or don't use the guide the same way, or must be slow button pushers

also if you were on a 622/722, the whole-home TVs which are NOT directly connected to the HR34 cannot manage the recordings... its whole home "viewing"... whole home "deleting", and whole "home" make-the-initial-recording-request.. but the rest of the home cannot change nor cancel a recording, and I don't think it can even see a list of the upcoming recordings.. you actually are forced to get your fat American arse up out of the chair and waddle over to the HR34 (and interrupt whomever is watching it)... since we have stairs, I find it an annoying, but effective, exercise program.

EDIT: In school, we would have graded this mixed set of features as "partial credit".... B-.

 

[Jimbo]

With 5 tuners and 1TB of space, I cannot forsee any situation where I would need to suddenly cancel a recording that badly.

Some people (not me) Record everything and never watch anything "Live", in these instances, 1TB isn't much.

 

[jpw711]

Referencing that in bold below, since I can't seem to find which model is which when playing with the order screen on the direct website, which units are these? Obviously, the HR34 is the Home Media center HD DVR, but is the hm21 a HD DVR or just a HD receiver?

I'm in the same boat as the OP, called for the roku, got it approved along with credits, and dish never followed through. After 12 years at Dish, I'm not in the mood to argue.

Thanks

you have both hd and sd, but your guide is set to hide sd duplicates. its a setting dish did not have that i recall.

i prefer the guide and data that directv gives you.
upcoming episodes, cast and crew - with film/tv data for them and then on to ucoming for those .

an hr34 and 1 hm21 would give you 24/7 recording of 5 tuners

going back to dish you would need 2 hoppers to do tha same
my preference is for a tuner at each node such as direct does vs the sharing of the joey

 

[Hutch1814]

Referencing that in bold below, since I can't seem to find which model is which when playing with the order screen on the direct website, which units are these? Obviously, the HR34 is the Home Media center HD DVR, but is the hm21 a HD DVR or just a HD receiver?

I'm in the same boat as the OP, called for the roku, got it approved along with credits, and dish never followed through. After 12 years at Dish, I'm not in the mood to argue.

Thanks

HR34 (HMC HDDVR)
HM21 I'm assuming you're asking for an AM21

 

[digiblur]

Some people (not me) Record everything and never watch anything "Live", in these instances, 1TB isn't much.

That's how we are. We even record some shows we never get around to recording. The HR34 seems to hold almost a month of recordings for us. Much more than my 722k did and I had to split my recordings between two 722ks.

Sent from my C64 w/Epyx FastLoad cartridge

 

[RollingCode3]

Thanks for explaining this to me, since its hard to find on Direct's website! So do I have the ability to set my guide to display the SD duplicate channels and record programs off them? I do agree that the program guide Direct uses is ore helpful by offering upcoming show dates. I think what frustrates me is what the options mean by "first" and the other options they give you when choosing how to record the program. Also, why when there is a conflict with start times, I ( have set a default to one minute before) if I manually change the start time to begin as the show starts, I still see the conflict and it will not record? Why doesn't Direct offer a start time of 1 minute after? Thanks for any tutorial you or any other can provide!

 

[KasumiX]

So do I have the ability to set my guide to display the SD duplicate channels and record programs off them?

Yes, I believe your options are to hide SD duplicates, hide HD duplicates, or show all.

I think what frustrates me is what the options mean by "first" and the other options they give you when choosing how to record the program. Also, why when there is a conflict with start times, I ( have set a default to one minute before) if I manually change the start time to begin as the show starts, I still see the conflict and it will not record? Why doesn't Direct offer a start time of 1 minute after? Thanks for any tutorial you or any other can provide!

First Run just means it will record new episodes only and not reruns. This is especially helpful for shows on HBO and such where an episode is repeated ad nauseum throughout the week.
Unlike Dish, DirecTV actually does record a small buffer before and after the "official" start/end time of a program, so you may not need that extra minute. I would set the recordings to end and begin on time and see how it goes.