Moved from TIVO to Dish Network 625

[nifty-stuff.com]

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post so please excuse me if I'm duplicating what many have probably already been said. I thought I'd throw together my first week's experience with the Dish Network 625 after moving over from Tivo.

Background: We've had the Series 2 Tivo made by Toshiba, the SDH-400 (the one with free basic service) for the past year. We've been very happy with it. Tivo has converted us to the world of DVR and we realize now we'll never go back to non-recorded TV. The only problems were: (1) We needed a second DVR unit for my parents and (2) We didn't want to shell out the extra $13 a month for the rest of the features like "Season Pass" or "Wishlist".

We opted to upgrade our 2 Dish Network receivers for a dual tuner DVR receiver, the 625 model. We were already paying an extra $5 a month for the second receiver, so upgrading to the 625 meant simply adding an extra $5 a month for what turned out to be two DVR units with full functionality (not the watered down "Basic" service we were getting with our Tivo).

A few instant things we've noticed over our first week:

Pros to Dish Network's DVR over the Tivo:

• Overall, cheaper for more features.
• Better / seamless integration since the receiver and DVR are made to go together.
• Better quality recordings (we were getting about 80 hours of low quality on the Tivo and about 100 hours of good quality on our Dish Network DVR).

Cons to Dish Network's DVR compared to Tivo:
(Disclaimer: A lot of these are nit picky items that we probably just need to adapt to)

• It seems to take way more button presses to get the same tasks done.
• After watching / deleting a recorded show on Dish you are brought back to the top of the list of recorded shows. With Tivo you were put back in the same position on the list as you were before.
• When you leave a recorded show for live TV and then go back to the recorded show it doesn't seem to remember your position (where you left off) and you have to FF to find your spot.
• Speaking of FF, one of Tivo's coolest functions we miss the most is this: During FF when you hit play it automatically skips back about 5 seconds since 99.99% of the population (and technology) won't react fast enough once you reach the spot you want.
• Tivo was always recording 30 mins worth of any show no matter what (until you changed the channel). So far it seems that no matter what we do, when we are watching something live on Dish, then go to recorded shows, and then go back to "live tv" there isn't any history of the live show that was playing during the time we were watching recorded shows. With Tivo we could go back to live TV and watch the last 30 mins of whatever channel was on.
• We haven't found a way to search for a show (and all episodes) without going through the process of setting up a recording.
• When pushing record on an item in the guide the default is to record all instead of just the single occurrence.

As I mentioned, it has only been a week, so we're still learning all the ins and outs. I'm especially interested in learning all the secrets and shortcuts (tips and tricks) of using this unit.

I look forward to your thoughts and comments!

 

[mrschwarz]

Welcome to the forum!
I also have a Tivo (series 1 that I still use with TV1 of a 322 receiver). I paid for lifetime service years ago so the only cost is the extra receiver, which came a dual unit, so I was paying for it anyway.
While I think that the user interface with the Tivo is better than the Dish DVR, I think the Dish unit is better in some respects. The program guide, for example is better in the Dish DVR. I am not sure I could change services to one that did not have a dual tuner, dual output DVR like my 522. It's one of the things that kept me from Verizon FIOS TV (that and the price).
Once you get used to it, you'll like the Dish unit better than you do now (or at least you won't be as annoyed).

• It seems to take way more button presses to get the same tasks done.

This is true. You need to press the button more times than with the Tivo. It's annoying, but you'll get used to it.

• After watching / deleting a recorded show on Dish you are brought back to the top of the list of recorded shows. With Tivo you were put back in the same position on the list as you were before.

Again, true. You'll get used to it.

• When you leave a recorded show for live TV and then go back to the recorded show it doesn't seem to remember your position (where you left off) and you have to FF to find your spot.

I am guessing that when you select the show in the listing of recorded shows, you are pressing 'play' instead of 'select'. With Dish, you have 2 choices: Restart from beginning and resume. The default behavior is restart. If you want to resume, press 'Select' at the listing and choose 'Resume'.

• Speaking of FF, one of Tivo's coolest functions we miss the most is this: During FF when you hit play it automatically skips back about 5 seconds since 99.99% of the population (and technology) won't react fast enough once you reach the spot you want.

If you are using FF to zip through commercials, you may want to look at the 30-second skip (the button to the right of the 'DVR' button on the remote. Using that and the button to the left of the DBR button will get you thorugh the commercials faster than FF. If you are using it for other purposes, you're right. This is a nice feature in the Tivo. One advantage that the Dish DVR has is that it has a much faster FF and RW. Tivo's max is 60x. Dish DVR's max is 300x.

• Tivo was always recording 30 mins worth of any show no matter what (until you changed the channel). So far it seems that no matter what we do, when we are watching something live on Dish, then go to recorded shows, and then go back to "live tv" there isn't any history of the live show that was playing during the time we were watching recorded shows. With Tivo we could go back to live TV and watch the last 30 mins of whatever channel was on.

Dish has a show buffer, but it gets erased more easily than the Tivo. Sometimes, if, after a show has already started and the DVR was tuned to it from the beginning, you have to RW to the beginning if you want to record the entire show.

• We haven't found a way to search for a show (and all episodes) without going through the process of setting up a recording.

Use the 'Search' button (the # key at the bottom of the number pad).

• When pushing record on an item in the guide the default is to record all instead of just the single occurrence.

The Dish user interface could use some work, in my opinion. This is one of the defaults that my wife and I would like to see changed, too.

 

[KAB]

All of the above I agree with but mine does not go back to the top of the list after deleting a show further down. Go figure!

 

[mrschwarz]

If you delete a program without viewing it, it will move to the next program up the list from the one deleted. If you view the program, stop playing and then delete it, it will go to the top of the list.

To echo the comment above, you'll get used to it.

 

[dishrich]

• Overall, cheaper for more features.

If you had checked out a D* Tivo, you would have gotten even MORE features for LESS $$$ - D* charges a $6 DVR fee for as many dual tuner D-Tivo's on your account that you want, while E* charges $6 for EVERY DVR on your account. Granted, if you only have 1, it doesn't matter much, but if/when you get another, you WILL.

Since I have 3 D-Tivo's, it definately matters to me - but have fun when all the bugs start hitting your 625. (& it WILL...)

 

[Juan]

If you had checked out a D* Tivo, you would have gotten even MORE features for LESS $$$ - D* charges a $6 DVR fee for as many dual tuner D-Tivo's on your account that you want, while E* charges $6 for EVERY DVR on your account. Granted, if you only have 1, it doesn't matter much, but if/when you get another, you WILL.

Since I have 3 D-Tivo's, it definately matters to me - but have fun when all the bugs start hitting your 625. (& it WILL...)

Incase you missed the memo.. The dtivo was discontinued..only thing you can get now is the crappy r15

 

[dishrich]

Incase you missed the memo.. The dtivo was discontinued..only thing you can get now is the crappy r15

Well, in case you didn't try - you can STILL get them from several internet sites, including a sponsor on THIS board.
And BTW, I just received 1/2 dozen to install for customers last week...

 

[maximum]

I didn't know you could start a recording by highlighting it in the list and pressing the Play button on the remote. I've always selected it then selected Start/Start Over or Resume. Learn something new every day.