Might buy satellite, Need Input Please.

[Kimberly]

We are considering buying a satellite dish TV for the first time. My first big problem is I want to be able to tape on my VCR and be able to flip station just like I do now with my basic cable. I run my cable into my VCR then into my TV so I can watch one station and tape another station at the same time on the same TV. I've called satellite companies and they are to worried about telling me what they do offer and no one will give me a straight honest answer which brings me to my next question. Which service do you all recommend? Price and package deals are about the same on both direct TV and dish network and I don't know of any other companies.

Can I tape and watch on the same TV?
Who do you all like best?
Do they go out alot or is that just the cable company trying to keep my business?

Thank you very much for your time
Kimberly

 

[PSB]

The satellite system will only "go out" in extreme weather conditions (HEAVY thunder storm, or HEAVY wet snow) if installed correctly, some people swear there are more outages from cable than satellite, and where do you think the cable companies get a lot of their programing from? A big dish, and even they can go out in adverse weather conditions.
To be able to watch one channel and tape another at the same time you would be well served by a Tivo system through DirecTV, as for a dealer you need look no further than the top of the page, I am sure a Dish fan can give you their side of the story, I am sure you will not regret getting a satellite system.

 

[Kimberly]

I thank you very much for your input but I really need to understand if I can tape on my VCR while I watch something else. My family hates summer TV and reality shows. We tape the whole new fall season on ever station because no one is home at the same time 90% of the time and mark the VCR tapes then watch all the fall shows all summer till the next fall season. It is important to me to be able to tape on my VCR while saying I watching the news stations. I just want to be able to stick a VCR tape in and tape like I do now. I call and call but the companies keep telling me about this pausing live TV and I could care less about that. As a Mom I want to tape so when I do get my whole or even part of my family in the house at once I can get something everyone wants to watch something together without having to teach everyone another device to run. Trust Me - I still can't get my husband to rent a DVD movie and he will only watch VCR taped because he can't understand how to run the DVD player.. I need to be able to tape so I don't have to stand there and show him what to do.

Thanks
Kimberly

 

[PSB]

A Tivo system would be a dream come true for you but it is a digital recorder and requires no tapes but I understand you want to use VCR, with a two room satellite system you could tape shows in one location and watch TV in another, or as some people have you could have two receivers side by side to be able to watch one show and tape another. I am sure if you call the DirecTV dealer at the top of the page they will give you a few other work arounds.

 

[Kimberly]

A Tivo system would be a dream come true for you but it is a digital recorder and requires no tapes but I understand you want to use VCR, with a two room satellite system you could tape shows in one location and watch TV in another, or as some people have you could have two receivers side by side to be able to watch one show and tape another. I am sure if you call the DirecTV dealer at the top of the page they will give you a few other work arounds.

On the Tivo how do I move the show that was taped on one tv to another tv to watch? Can that be done? We normally tape less on the large screen but watch the stuff I tape on the small tv on the large screen.

I need to be able to tape on three different tv at once and be able to watch on all three. I work at home and have to be able to more rooms or I will go nuts.

So... Unless I get two recievers on all tv which put me at least six recievers I have to watch what I am taping. I just don't get why I can't run it into my vcr then TV and use the tv/vcr button like I do my basic cable.

All this because comcast is moving HBO and I can't get it with getting their boxes.

Thanks
Kimberly

 

[DobyMax]

Hi Kimberly. Let me take a stab at this if I may. I'll tell you what I have and then we can go from there. I agree with the other poster that a Tivo is the way to go. My VCR died a few months ago and I finally bought a DTV DVR unit with Tivo. Let me say that its the best purchase that I ever made. The unit has the capabilty to record 35 hours of TV, without tape, and you have the option as to how long to save the shows that you record. You can keep it 1 day, 2 days, up to a week. Or you can select the option to save it until you delete it. You also have an option to save the show to tape. In other words, if your hard drive is getting full (up near 35 hours), you can record what you want to from the Tivo to tape (VCR). Then you can delete it from the Tivo. Another option is that you can buy a bigger hard drive for the Tivo that will give you more hours of storage. An option that I think you will like is the "season pass" option. This allows you to select a show to watch, then select the "season pass" option. This will enable Tivo to record every episode of your show when it comes on. If the station for some reason changes the day and time of the show, Tivo will know this and will record the show still, at the new date and time. Just select the "season pass" and let it ride. You may want to move some of your shows periodically to tape so the hard drive doesn't fill up. The unit that I have can record two shows at once. I can also watch a show that I have recorded while it records two other shows at the same time. The part of pausing live TV is that as you watch TV, the Tivo will record what you are watching, not to keep, but so if you want to, you can go back for like 30 minutes to catch something or catch up on something. very helpful if the phone rings or the doorbell rings. Some find it useful, some don't. I like it a lot.
Hopefully I have been of some help and not confused you more. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I think you will enjoy satellite TV and Tivo. And I'm, confident that the hubby will like it and be able to play and record with it.

 

[Chris Freeland]

If you go with Dish Network (E*) you could go with a 322 receiver which has 2 satellite tuners for the price of 1 as long as it is connected to a phone line. With a 322 you can connect Tuner 1 to your TV and Tuner 2 to your VCR.

After having said the above, weather you choose E* or Direct TV (D*), go with a DVR, a Tivo with D* or a DVR522 with E*, this will allow for recording and watching at the same time without tape and with more flexibility and you can still tape shows with a VCR that you want to keep, but a DVR is much better for time shifting. D*Tivo and E*522 allow you to record one show on satellite wile watching another, watch a show recorded earlier while recording another 2 shows (your vcr can't do this) . With E*522 if you have 2 TV's connected, you can watch 2 live shows at once or record 2 live shows and watch 2 recorded shows or a combination. With D*Tivo you can set the Season Pass feature to record a favorite show automatically even if it changes time's or length without even thinking about it.

 

[Kimberly]

In other words, if your hard drive is getting full (up near 35 hours), you can record what you want to from the Tivo to tape (VCR).

Thank you, that helps a ton. I can just dump the tivo onto tape as it gets full. Understand, I drag my laptop for room to room running my own web page business but No one else in my house will learn to run any thing new but me. Since I am still rewatching season 2 of Farscape I taped several years ago and my husband just now finish the end of last season scrubs yesterday knowing I can put tivo on tape helps very much.

Thanks a ton
Kimberly

 

[Kimberly]

If you go with Dish Network (E*) you could go with a 322 receiver which has 2 satellite tuners for the price of 1 as long as it is connected to a phone line. With a 322 you can connect Tuner 1 to your TV and Tuner 2 to your VCR.

I going to for sure ask about the tuner. See how much more that is.

Thanks
Kimberly

 

[Kimberly]

Another Question, on the Tivo can you tape on Tivo and watch another station?

Thank you very much to all of you for all your help
Kimberly

Update: Never mind. I got a sales guy the explained it to me in English. I understand how this all works now.

 

[DobyMax]

Good luck, and I am sure you will like it. Let us know how it works out for you. Take care.