Good luck, I don't think you will ever be sorry. The HR21 has many more features than the VIP622 or 722. Also you should never have signal strenght issues.
Really. Then why is Dish Network Dvr's constantly ratted the best?
What I've read and seen about D* is it's a great service if you stay away from the DVR.
Dish Network ViP722 HD DVR
The Dish Network ViP622 and 722 are among the most fully featured and versatile high-def DVRs you can buy today.
Price: Sorry, pricing not available
Review date: Feb 19, 2008
- 4 stars
- Overall score: 8.7 (4.0 stars)
Excellent
Read full review
To be fair:
CNET did not review the DirecTV HR21 but we did review the HR20, which is very similar.
Specifications: Product Type:Type: HD DVR; Dimensions (WxDxH): 15.0 in x 11.8 in x 3.0 in; Max Recording Capacity: 200 hour(s); ;
See full specs
Average user rating: 1 1/2 stars out of 4
CNET editors' take
Although CNET did not review the DirecTV HR21, we did review the HR20. The two DirecTV satellite DVRs are basically identical aside from coloration (the HR21 is black while the HR20 is silver) and the fact that the HR21 lacks a built-in
ATSC tuner, so it cannot receive or record over-the-air HDTV channels. The HR21 lacks such a tuner, although many local HD channels--typically ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC--are available via satellite in most areas of the country (
more info).
User reviews on the HR21
"Busted POS."
by
ctuckercva on September 18, 2008
Pros: Picture is good, when it works
Cons: Doesn't work reliably
Summary: Delivered unreliable box: misses recordings, has skip / freeze issues on playback. It's going back.
"Much worse than previous HD TIVO (HR 250)"
by
sierracamper on September 2, 2008
Pros: Supports all 5 Satellites
Cons: Slow, Illogical Menus, Slow and Jerky FF, worthless 30 second skip. Unreliable recording.
Summary: Like many others, I was forced to deploy the HR21 in order to "retain all of my HD programming". I was somewhat pleased that DirecTV did not force me to turn in my HR250's, so I reluctantly agreed to let the installer come in and install 2 HR21's at no charge. I kept the HR250's activated, but for the last 6 months, I had tried to get acclimated to the HR21's and left the HR250's offl line. I had many problems with resets, shutdowns, and lost recordings on the HR21's, but over time (and numerous automatic firmware upgrades) the HR21's both seem to be stable. However, last week I hooked up one of the HR250's and what a huge difference! It really illustrates how bad the HR21 is. My biggest beef with the HR21 is that when watching NFL games, the 30 second skip search skips ahead 40 seconds, flashes the image, then rewinds back to the 30 second spot.. This is unacceptable, especially when you see a snapshot of the outcome of the play, then it goes back to where it should have stopped in the first place. All DVR functions are dog slow and jerky. The HR 250 playback and skip functions are fast and smooth. I hope DirecTV addresses these issues or offers a different unit that uses the same architecture as the HR250 with support of all 5 satellites.
read more
"WOW, What a peice of Junk"
by
damondlt on September 2, 2008
Pros: ZERO ZERO ZERO
Cons: THE entire thing. Slow, NO OTA,still reboots, Slow,and more slow
Summary: This is worse then the HR-20 at least the HR 20 had the OTA option. Directv need help building a receiver.
"I am all for automation, but ..."
by
apoind1 on September 1, 2008
Pros: Live TV - works great. Beautiful picture on my Samsung 63" Plasma. One touch record, two touch series record is great. Hit the blue button, and you can continue to watch your program while scrolling through the guide at the bottom of the screen.
Cons: Try to watch a recorded show, or dare to press pause on your DVR, and you may get a picture, you may not. This is my 6th box....different prob each time. Sometimes no recording, sometimes audio/video out of sync. Problems, problems, problems!
Summary: I am all for automation, but ...I would prefer to be the one to decide when and for how long my show/movid is on pause. The picture just FREEZES whenever it wants. It starts back whenever it wants...and then will pause, again,..... whenever it wants. I'm all for automation, but this is rediculous. This is one product that I'm sure the Quality Assurance team is saying "I told you so" to the management team that pushed this through. This Directv customer of many, many, many years is not willing to put up with any more of it......this box is makiing me switch! .
And no I didn't write any of them. So much for working out the bugs.
