Switched from Dish Hopper to DTV Genie - First Impressions

[ejb1980]

If someone can't see the difference between Dish and Directv HD, they are blind. It is obvious. Chip posted the numerical fact that it's inferior. There is no discussion about it... Dish is inferior with HD. Dish's SD is a bit better than Directv and their equipment works faster. The logos in the guide, as pointed out in the first post, make it seem much more professional and modern. The HD PQ and Sunday Ticket are the main reason things keeping me as a D* customer.

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[ejb1980]

If someone can't see the difference between Dish and Directv HD, they are blind. It is obvious. Chip posted the numerical fact that it's inferior. There is no discussion about it... Dish is inferior with HD. Dish's SD is a bit better than Directv and their equipment works faster. The logos in the guide, as pointed out in the first post, make it seem much more professional and modern. The HD PQ and Sunday Ticket are the main reason things keeping me as a D* customer.

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I also see that this is an old thread, but still relevant and accurate.

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[priester68]

I left Direct for Dish years ago and always thought the PQ was not as good. Glad to be back with Directv and its PQ.

 

[dalyew]

I posted last year on this & since then I've noticed on this forum that it seems now to be widely accepted that D* HD picture quality is the best. Not only over Dish but all other Digital Subscription Services. D* probably has the worst SD picture I've ever seen on an HD screen but I didn't upgrade all my tvs to watch SD channels.

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[raoul5788]

I haven't compared them, but I have heard FIOS is better than Directv for hd quality.

 

[dalyew]

I haven't compared them, but I have heard FIOS is better than Directv for hd quality.

Would love to see that picture but not & probably will never be available here in S. Florida. Hear the Internet speeds are awesome too. Crossing my fingers for Google Fibre but since we lost LeBron James we're not optimistic of getting any great imports in the near future .

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[Rolling Joe]

As I have said ad naseum, pq is important to me, in fact, the second most important. First is programming. What good is pq if the channels I want to watch aren't there? Being a Yankees fan, I have to have the YES network. Directv has it, Dish doesn't. End of discussion for me.

Bingo. I stay with Dish because of programming. Primarily The Blaze TV and to a lesser extent the Epix channels and XM music. Even if DTV added The blaze, I wouldn't switch unless they added it in HD. For me, the SD is unwatchable on DTV.

And yes, the HD is noticeably better on DTV. I also have a subscription to Bell TV Canada. I end up watching a number of shows on Bell because the PQ is better there as well.

 

[billsmax]

I'm surprised I see no one talking about the bugs in the Genie system. I switched over my directv Dvr's and other recievers at home about 8 months ago to the Genie HR44-500 and one mini. I was very happy with the ability to record so many channels at one time and all was wonderful until I would begin to have intermittent freezing when playing my recorded shows on the HR44 (I never watch recorded on the Mini so I don't know if it happens there). On the mini, it would intermittently not connect to the HR44 when turned on. The only way to correct both these problems was to reset or power off the HR44. This always corrects the problem for several days to weeks but it always comes back. It is very inconvenient to do this reset and wait 15 to 30 minutes for the receiver to reload itself. I pay for maintance and have talked to customer service about replacing my HR44 but finally they admitted there is a software problem that the programmers have been unable to fix as yet but she assured me it would be corrected eventually. It's been about 5 month since I was told this but still no improvement.
My recommendation is to not go with the Genie until this bug is fixed. It's very irritating to sit down in the evening to watch a recorded show and have to wasth so much time resetting the HR44.

 

[Aliens]

I'm surprised I see no one talking about the bugs in the Genie system. I switched over my directv Dvr's and other recievers at home about 8 months ago to the Genie HR44-500 and one mini. I was very happy with the ability to record so many channels at one time and all was wonderful until I would begin to have intermittent freezing when playing my recorded shows on the HR44 (I never watch recorded on the Mini so I don't know if it happens there). On the mini, it would intermittently not connect to the HR44 when turned on. The only way to correct both these problems was to reset or power off the HR44. This always corrects the problem for several days to weeks but it always comes back. It is very inconvenient to do this reset and wait 15 to 30 minutes for the receiver to reload itself. I pay for maintance and have talked to customer service about replacing my HR44 but finally they admitted there is a software problem that the programmers have been unable to fix as yet but she assured me it would be corrected eventually. It's been about 5 month since I was told this but still no improvement.
My recommendation is to not go with the Genie until this bug is fixed. It's very irritating to sit down in the evening to watch a recorded show and have to wasth so much time resetting the HR44.

Not to sound cynical (obviously I am), but this post reads like a commercial from Dish. It doesn't take 15 to 30 minutes to reset the DVR. I've never had a receiver from any provider that takes that long to reset. I know some have experienced freezing problems, but to hold off getting a HR44 because of freezing problems that happen weeks apart is ridiculous. I'm not a fan of the D* engineers, but this post sounds contrived. Sorry, JMO.

 

[ejb1980]

It takes at least 15 to reset. Everything in there is or has been recently true. Download the CE and use clearmybox.

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[lern4483]

I have both. Been with both since
Late 90s.

Not night and day difference in PQ.
I do slightly give nod to direct.

Dish dvrs hopper with sling to me is smoother. Also has more neat features.
Prime time auto skip. Plus my favorite
Blu tooth for your wireless headphones. Comes in handy when
Wife is sleeping.

Direct hr 44 faster guide scrolling
More recording space without dish prime time.
Whole home works very well.
Dvrs are great but a little clunky compared to dish hooper.

That said my personal go to system
Is direct. I love my sports programming.

 

[Aliens]

It takes at least 15 to reset. Everything in there is or has been recently true. Download the CE and use clearmybox.

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Mine resets in about 5 minutes. Isn't the HR34 the one with the freeze issues? Never had a freeze on my HR44, and that has been over a year.

 

[ejb1980]

Until the recent CE and me disconnecting the client, my HR34 was buggy and froze often. She's like a brand new baby now, except for some grayed out channels discussed in the CE section.

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[dalyew]

I've had the hr44 for a year now coming from the Hopper & have had no such issues, not to say it cannot happen. I used to love the Hopper also but Genie have helped me to move on. Only little quirks I've experienced are with the C41 clients slowness & IR remote signal loss but Dish's Joey is no Hopper either, if you catch my drift.

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[tigerfan33]

Not night and day difference in PQ.

I do respect your opinion....... But couldn't disagree more


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[Jimbo]

Until the recent CE and me disconnecting the client, my HR34 was buggy and froze often. She's like a brand new baby now, except for some grayed out channels discussed in the CE section.

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So, heres wondering if the issue all along was the Clients and not the actual HR34, even though they are linked together, you Can run the HR34 without clients.
I wonder how it would respond if you had a HR24 instead of the clients in the system...

 

[qcjoe]

Bingo. I stay with Dish because of programming. Primarily The Blaze TV and to a lesser extent the Epix channels and XM music. Even if DTV added The blaze, I wouldn't switch unless they added it in HD. For me, the SD is unwatchable on DTV.

And yes, the HD is noticeably better on DTV. I also have a subscription to Bell TV Canada. I end up watching a number of shows on Bell because the PQ is better there as well.

Is the Blaze not in HD?

 

[Pigmy712]

I have had equipment problems with DTV but their service has been excellent. They even rewired all the coax cables in the house. Read below and you will see why I am thinking switching back to DISH after a number of years but this forum is making me wonder if it is worth it. Another forum is full stories of DISH bad installers and telephone promises not fulfilled on installation. I may give DTV one more chance on another DVR - tech is due out tomorrow.

We are now on our 3rd (maybe 4th) Genie DVR and told DTV if they cannot get this one working (HR44-500) we are going to change to another company. Each DVR has had a different problem. Right now, the recordings freeze at some point in the playback usually after you have watched over half the program for max frustration but freezing has also happened right up front. We found posts on a retailer's website with this problem dating to June 2013 for people using the HR34.

The freezing has happened on local network channels and all cable channels we use. The program usually ends with the choice of "keep or delete" but can fiddle with it by starting over and fast forwarding past the glitch. Most often we just keep hitting another glitch until we just give up or the freeze is total and we have to hit the red reset button. We have had this DVR several months with excellent results until Sept 1, 2014, We reported the problem and were told it was a known issue and engineers were working on it. Directv is like the little girl that had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very very good but when she was bad she was horrid! My wife called again Sept 12 was told the problem was solved and she assured them it was NOT. She was then kept on the phone an hour going though all the checks because, even though we pay $8 per month for service insurance they will not send out a technician for free unless the customer has been driven to distraction with the checks. The tech is due out Sept 16, 2014. No problem with live TV – great picture. Personally I think someone has figured out how to hack a TV satellite signal as this seems to be occurring on different models. I promise to post the resolution to this problem.

 

[Bronxiniowa]

One reason I have declined all equipment upgrade offers. I have two HR-21s and an HR-22, and all three are functioning just fine, thank you. And I am out of my contract.

 

[Satftafan]

I haven't compared them, but I have heard FIOS is better than Directv for hd quality.

I install DTV every day. Fios does have better PQ but not by much