How bad is the DVR

[HDRoberts]

UVerse is beating down my door to get service from me, and when my latest Dish contract was up, I was mildly considering it. However, my biggest worry is the quality of their DVR. I hate slow boxes, love the Dish 30 second skip, and don't care to monkey with too many menus to do simple tasks. I've been a 622 user of 6+ years, and a 625 user 2 years before that.

I really wish there was a place that you could try it. A 3 area cable outlets (though only one serves me, and they use Cisco boxes) have showrooms, but Uverse doesn't? A salesman literally came by and I actually got into an argument with him over the simple desire to try it, even if just for a few minutes, without going to the trouble of having it installed at my house. He acted like it was a personal insult that I didn't take his word that it was a great DVR. That has done little to give me confidence.

So what is your experience with their DVRs? I'm one guy, so I don't care about only 3/4 HD streams. I care most about DVR performance.

 

[madmadworld]

good to see them coming to your area. now my mom might have a choice over twc

 

[raoul5788]

UVerse is beating down my door to get service from me, and when my latest Dish contract was up, I was mildly considering it. However, my biggest worry is the quality of their DVR. I hate slow boxes, love the Dish 30 second skip, and don't care to monkey with too many menus to do simple tasks. I've been a 622 user of 6+ years, and a 625 user 2 years before that.

I really wish there was a place that you could try it. A 3 area cable outlets (though only one serves me, and they use Cisco boxes) have showrooms, but Uverse doesn't? A salesman literally came by and I actually got into an argument with him over the simple desire to try it, even if just for a few minutes, without going to the trouble of having it installed at my house. He acted like it was a personal insult that I didn't take his word that it was a great DVR. That has done little to give me confidence.

So what is your experience with their DVRs? I'm one guy, so I don't care about only 3/4 HD streams. I care most about DVR performance.

If there is an AT&T store in your area, they may have Uverse set up there for you to try.

 

[HDRoberts]

If there is an AT&T store in your area, they may have Uverse set up there for you to try.

He said they were not live. I want a real box that is connected to the system.

 

[HDRoberts]

good to see them coming to your area. now my mom might have a choice over twc

Don't worry, she'll get ads galore. I get at least 1 a week.

 

[raoul5788]

He said they were not live. I want a real box that is connected to the system.

That's stupid. What's the point of having it set up if it's not usable. Maybe there is another AT&T store not too far that has one working?

 

[aaronc]

It's not bad, but It took a little getting use to after coming from Dish 622. For sure Dish has the better DVR.

 

[lern4483]

Don't worry, she'll get ads galore. I get at least 1 a week.

I've got both hopper and Uverse.
You will like speed off skipping channels
On Uverse box.
However, that's it.
It does not compare to a dish VIP unit.
30 second skip is a fast forward on Uverse box.
You will be disappointed with Uverse machine
Ultimately

 

[dishfan82]

I gave up on u-verse. They kept making excuses as to why they weren't in my area . I was going to get their internet and phone but they wanted 200 bucks for the install and equipment and refused to waive it. My parents had them and after 6 months they jacked their bill up really high.

 

[lern4483]

I gave up on u-verse. They kept making excuses as to why they weren't in my area . I was going to get their internet and phone but they wanted 200 bucks for the install and equipment and refused to waive it. My parents had them and after 6 months they jacked their bill up really high.

They must be different in different regions.
They have bent over backwards to keep me happy.
200 install fee? That's crazy? Not sure why they would add that?

Dishfan, where do you live?

 

[dishfan82]

They must be different in different regions. They have bent over backwards to keep me happy. 200 install fee? That's crazy? Not sure why they would add that? Dishfan, where do you live?

In michigan.

 

[lern4483]

In michigan.

Just strange
Maybe because I'm in a brand new market
I'm not experiencing this??

 

[JEFFinINDY]

I had Uverse for awhile. The DVR didn't bother me too much - it had problems grouping some programs into folders correctly, however, which was very annoying. For example, I had it set to record all episodes of First 48 - some would end up grouped in a folder, and some would be scattered about the top level.

Aside from that, I never had any real issues or annoyances with the DVR.

 

[Ronnie-]

Just strange
Maybe because I'm in a brand new market
I'm not experiencing this??

Brand new market myself, and there were also the same fees that popped up on my order.

Also, this is before you put in any personal information other than the service address that you want it installed at, so it must be across the board.

 

[Foxbat]

I don't have any experience with the HD DVR, just the SD version, so it may not apply, but our one friend with U-verse TV likes it a lot better than the SD DVR she had with Dish. However, the box felt sluggish compared to the ViP 722k I am used to, so like I said, the HD DVR may be faster. She liked that she has yet to lose her TV during rain or snow, which seemed to be a constant problem when they had Dish.

The big thing that soured me on U-verse is the limit to the number of HD channels that can be sent into the house over the 2-wire cable. If you're watching something in HD on the DVR and your spouse is in another room watching HGTV in HD, that's it. If you have an HD timer set to record, it will either fail to record or it switch to record in SD instead. Depending on how many people are wanting to watch and record, U-verse states that four TV streams is the limit. I can see exceeding that limit any night of the week with timers.

 

[mdavej]

Last time I was in my local AT&T store they had a live setup of U-verse and DirecTV side by side. I went in there once a while back and went through everything with a fine tooth comb. I personally liked the U-verse DVR better than Dish or DirecTV. The stream limit could be a problem for some, but not in my house. We would never go over 4.

I would have pulled the trigger then and there. Problem was by the time U-verse finally got to my neighborhood, a year later, it was too late. I'm loving cable on my HTPC, and U-verse can't touch the price or the functionality (neither can satellite).

 

[dishfan82]

Last time I was in my local AT&T store they had a live setup of U-verse and DirecTV side by side. I went in there once a while back and went through everything with a fine tooth comb. I personally liked the U-verse DVR better than Dish or DirecTV. The stream limit could be a problem for some, but not in my house. We would never go over 4. I would have pulled the trigger then and there. Problem was by the time U-verse finally got to my neighborhood, a year later, it was too late. I'm loving cable on my HTPC, and U-verse can't touch the price or the functionality (neither can satellite).

The stream limit would be an issue for us. Their dvr is ok but I much prefer the hopper. If they did come to my area someday I would have to be amazed by it to switch from dish.

 

[lern4483]

Last time I was in my local AT&T store they had a live setup of U-verse and DirecTV side by side. I went in there once a while back and went through everything with a fine tooth comb. I personally liked the U-verse DVR better than Dish or DirecTV. The stream limit could be a problem for some, but not in my house. We would never go over 4.

I would have pulled the trigger then and there. Problem was by the time U-verse finally got to my neighborhood, a year later, it was too late. I'm loving cable on my HTPC, and U-verse can't touch the price or the functionality (neither can satellite).

Curios, what cable system is it that you have?

 

[mdavej]

Charter. Programming cost is about the same, but I have no DVR fees with an HTPC, saving me about $40/month in my 4 TV system. Most cable companies would be the same I think. Problem with satellite and Uverse is there's no way to avoid DVR fees.

 

[madmadworld]

Charter. Programming cost is about the same, but I have no DVR fees with an HTPC, saving me about $40/month in my 4 TV system.think. Problem with satellite and Uverse is there's no way to avoid DVR fees.

really ?
you have no premium services ? just SD ?
no cable boxes ?

have 4 DTV dvrs cost $28= $ 10 dvr services + 3x $6 for the extra dvrs no cost for the 1