Fios HD DVR comparison

[navychop]

OK, Fios guys: Can you describe (or link to) the differences between the Fios HD DVR, the Fios Home Media HD DVR, and the Dish ViP722 HD DVR?

I am actually considering switching to Fios. I already have them for phone and internet, and it appears there may be a considerable savings, plus some extra channels I would like.

 

[dlma1]

The main differences between the FIOS home media DVR and the HD DVR is that the home media DVR recordings are distributable to all devices in the home except for the digital adapter. Both devices offer up to about 80 hours of SD or 20 hours of HD recording. I would highly recommend getting the Home media DVR since it is only 4 dollars more a month vs. the regular HD DVR. The cool thing about the scheduling from the web is that you instantly schedule a program as opposed to waiting for a message to be delivered to device. So you can decide virtually at the last minute to schedule a program at least an hour in advance. As far as channel choices, FIOS is excellent! They have ALL the premium channels in HD - unlike E* or D*. They also offer EPIX HD which allows you to watch movies on the web with up to 4 friends if you want. I am a very satisfied ex D* customer and encourage you to consider FIOS.

 

[navychop]

I'm going to get a valid cost to compare with, and consider how I can rescue my EHD recordings. But I'm fresh in to a new 2 year commitment. Which I never thought of until now.

Maybe there won't be so much difference in my monthly bill.

 

[riffjim4069]

Navy, if you make the switch to FiOS TV then I highly recommend a TivoHD, Tivo Premiere or Moxi HD. Cost wise, it's basically a wash whether you purchase a Tivo/Moxi or rent a FiOS DVR. To be fair, the FiOS DVR is much better (UI, guide, functions, widgets) than similar Motrola boxes I've used with Adelphia/Comcast...however, they are pale in comparison to premium boxes like the Tivo and Moxi. Although the following post is a bit dated, not much has changed over the years: Comments on the Verizon FiOS DVR user interface - TiVo Community

In a nutshell, you'll lose VOD and PPV with Tivo and Moxi since they are one-way Cablecard devices. Although FiOS VOD is quite nice, you won't miss it with your Tivo Season Pass Manager. And I could care less about PPV. Also, bfdvt did an outstand job listing the differences between consumer owned DVRs, like Moxi and Tivo, over at AVSForum.com - just wish he would expand the list to include cable and satellite comparisons. We loved out 622s and it was the first electronic device that had wife acceptance factor. Although it was a bit of an adjustment, we now love our Tivos just as much...they're just as good as the 622/722 and support a variety of functions such as Tivo to the Desktop, sharing recordings between Tivos, streaming video from Netflix, Blockbuster, etc. My biggest complaint with the Tivo Premiere is it only has two (2) tuners. Ugh!

HDTV DVR Comparison - Consumer Owned Units - AVS Forum

We still keep a single FiOS DVR around mostly for VOD, but we get it for free-of-charge as long our FIOS TV account is active (long story, don't ask). However, I read somewhere that Verizon is supposed to be offering newer/updated DVR models in the future.

 

[navychop]

I'd have a hard time with Tivo. Besides hating their guts, I hated their UI and I remember them as being rather slow. But that was many years ago, perhaps things have changed.

In any event, we have decided to do nothing about changing in 2010 (I'm barely into a 24 month commitment), unless something very unfortunate happens to/with Dish. It seems that there is some risk, also, in going with Tivo. Should they go under, I'd have a HDD VCR, set by time, with no more EPG.

But thank you for the info, folks. I'll have to review it again in a few months.

 

[tnsprin]

I'd have a hard time with Tivo. Besides hating their guts, I hated their UI and I remember them as being rather slow. But that was many years ago, perhaps things have changed.

In any event, we have decided to do nothing about changing in 2010 (I'm barely into a 24 month commitment), unless something very unfortunate happens to/with Dish. It seems that there is some risk, also, in going with Tivo. Should they go under, I'd have a HDD VCR, set by time, with no more EPG.

But thank you for the info, folks. I'll have to review it again in a few months.

I switched to Fios form dish a couple of months ago. The main differences between it and dish are
PRO
1) Better picture quality
2) Much faster channel changing
3) Some additional HD channels. ex full time RSN (in my area YES, and SNY), and premium east and west movie channels.
4) If bundled a cheaper price than Dish
5) access to a large on Demand library. Includes free access to many HD programs for those channels you subscribe to.
6) not sure how long they are but the buffers for both tuners are always working so you can switch to the other channel and go back and see material
7) Guide info is granual to a minute. Less need to add a pad to capture a show, assuming the guide info is accurate.
8) 3d is apparently supported, as two 3d broadcasts of MLB are announced for the NY area in July.
Con
1) Small storage for the DVR's
2) epg only shows 1 1/2 hours at a time. But is faster to navigate in. Can skip a day at a time but you cannot enter a number of hours and skip by that.
3) no external storage, at least with FIOS supplied DVR's. Thats one reason why some recommend Tivo or Moxi receivers. But if you use non-fios receivers you cannot access on-demand. Reports say they will start testing a new model that supports MPEG4 and rumors say it may support an external hard drive. Note that the current version could theoretically support an external drive but there are no rumors that it will ever be enabled.
4) No OTA tuner, so you only have 2 programs you can record or watch at a time.
5) No PIP
6) Dish has recently added some HD channels that Fios still hasn't added but some of which it already had.

 

[navychop]

I assume there is no 30 second "skip ahead" button or "skip back" button on Fios DVRs. Correct?

 

[vurbano]

I use 2 tivoHD units (the refurbs are only 99 dollars on tivo website) upgraded with 1TB drives. I see the refurb XL units are only 199, thats a hell of a price IMO. There is no rescuing your E* recordings. Kiss them goodbye. Also Ive been considering getting the new 4 tuner Ceton cable tuner card for my HTPC though.

 

[tnsprin]

I assume there is no 30 second "skip ahead" button or "skip back" button on Fios DVRs. Correct?

There are skip ahead and skip back with some choice of how much ahead or back . You can choice 10 sec, 30 sec, 1 min or 5 min ahead or behind. Having gotten use to how my Dish DVR worked, i have mine set to 30 sec ahead and 10 sec back.

 

[navychop]

This is good news, thank you.

 

[riffjim4069]

I use 2 tivoHD units (the refurbs are only 99 dollars on tivo website) upgraded with 1TB drives. I see the refurb XL units are only 199, thats a hell of a price IMO. There is no rescuing your E* recordings. Kiss them goodbye. Also Ive been considering getting the new 4 tuner Ceton cable tuner card for my HTPC though.

Thanks for the info! I'm tempted to pickup a $99 refurb just to keep around as a spare....hard to pass on a $99 TivoHD!