Switching to D. Am I making a mistake.

[darrencp22]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm fealing more confident on my choice right now. It will be great to see the Yankees.. and in HD!

I didnt realize "The Shield" has started on FX. Just saw 2 new episodes on my 622. Cant wait to see the show in HD. Is FX one of the stations with onDemand?

 

[jdspencer]

Currently, FX is not available with On Demand.

 

[jokeworm]

I'd swear blind that i answered this post earlier .. but my reply seems to have disappeared.
The new shield does not start until fall '08 .. 13 episodes ... last season of this show.

 

[darrencp22]

Strange.. It says new in my guide. I havent played it yet. oh well.

 

[pdxsam]

Does the media share work as good as the xbox 360?

Not yet.. With video right now you can only play and pause not ff/rew.

You'll need something like Tversity to transcode on the fly. The DVR doesn't support xvid or divx. Just plain avi and mpeg.



I miss having 3 tuners to record. The 622 is a better DVR but the HR-21 is not awful... it's just different.

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I switched back and love it. I think you will be happy. gl

i agree on the 3 tuner thing...it is the only negative i can think of but the 21 is a good box imo

 

[mattopia]

Hi Darren,

You've been sweating for a few days now. As I've said in your other threads -- don't worry, you'll be fine. I had zero buyers remorse afterwords. Everything with D* just seems a bit more "professional" to me... From the installer, to the customer service, to the operation of their DVR.

I would have probably stuck with E* if they added USA/SciFi prior to my installation. However, now that I'm on the other side, there are a number of channels I watch that I would be missing out on if I was still with E*. Most of the Starz channels are in HD, for example. The only thing that might pull me back is the HD only pack, but I think it's too good to last personally. They'll stop adding new channels to it at some point.

 

[darrencp22]

The install is complete. My DVR fears were foolish. I dont think it's quite as good as the 622 put it works very well. It is much improved from what is used to be. PQ is odd. Some channels are the same as E*, some far superior than E. No regrets right now.

 

[Indiana627]

Too bad no Yankees tonight. You'll have to wait one more night to see the awesome PQ of YESHD. Oh well, at least you have a night to enjoy and get used to your new DVR. I assume it is an HR21?

 

[celticben]

I made the switch last Wednesday. I was a little worried at first, but once I programmed my Logitech remote to use with my HR21 the learning curve got considerably smaller. I think the picture quality on some of the channels is better than Dish. I watched Ultimate Fighter on SpikeHD and it was crystal clear. The biggest negative was calling to cancel my Dish service. Today was the last day of my 18-month contract. I read posts on the Dish board about what will happen when I canceled, but I did not believe it. Boy, was I wrong. The CSR was a total jerk. I told him I was switching to D* for increased HD and the AAA deal was going to save me a bunch. He called me a liar over the price and told me that Spike & FX were both in HD on E* and he watched them this morning. Now, I don't know what type of moron he thought I was, but the use of such lies and scare tactics is uncalled for. He tried to bully me into staying. Terrible.

 

[darrencp22]

Too bad no Yankees tonight. You'll have to wait one more night to see the awesome PQ of YESHD. Oh well, at least you have a night to enjoy and get used to your new DVR. I assume it is an HR21?

Yup, HR21.

Question for everyone... is there a way to quickly switch between fav. The one gripe so far is that if I switch to HD channels in the guide, it doesnt remember that I selected that, so each tiem I have to choose HD channels again.

 

[Indiana627]

No unfortunately there isn't. Personally once I have my favorites list setup (custom 1) I just leave it at that. I've never been one to go to the HD only channel guide as I will watch some none HD stuff. But that's just me.

Did the installer download the latest software for you? You should be on version 0x0221. To tell, press and hold the Info button for about 3 seconds until the Setup screen appears. The software version should then be on the first page. You can use this page to see what the current software is for your model. DirecTV Receiver Firmware

 

[lern4483]

Hey Darren,

Im another transplant from Long Island living in South Florida.
I have both Dish and Direc tv.

I brought in Direc for one reason. MSGHD! and Center ice. Boy was it worth the money.
I get to see my Ny Rangers in glorious hd!

Is it worth it? YES!

I still keep dish. Why??? The 622 is so damn good. I have been through 4 HR20s due to audio drop outs.
They have updated the software and still the units are glitchy. Wish they would have better DVRs.

That aside, its great to have direc- programming is AMAZING!

I love being able to set my recordings from my computer-THATS TOO COOL!

 

[Madtown HD Junkie]

I made the switch last Wednesday. I was a little worried at first, but once I programmed my Logitech remote to use with my HR21 the learning curve got considerably smaller. I think the picture quality on some of the channels is better than Dish. I watched Ultimate Fighter on SpikeHD and it was crystal clear. The biggest negative was calling to cancel my Dish service. Today was the last day of my 18-month contract. I read posts on the Dish board about what will happen when I canceled, but I did not believe it. Boy, was I wrong. The CSR was a total jerk. I told him I was switching to D* for increased HD and the AAA deal was going to save me a bunch. He called me a liar over the price and told me that Spike & FX were both in HD on E* and he watched them this morning. Now, I don't know what type of moron he thought I was, but the use of such lies and scare tactics is uncalled for. He tried to bully me into staying. Terrible.

yah that happened to me too!! I was shocked. They tried to tell tell me they were the HD leader and they were cheaper and I did not know what i was talking about and i must be mistaken. I let it go the first couple times then I got pissed and let the guy have it in a nice way

 

[darrencp22]

No unfortunately there isn't. Personally once I have my favorites list setup (custom 1) I just leave it at that. I've never been one to go to the HD only channel guide as I will watch some none HD stuff. But that's just me.

Did the installer download the latest software for you? You should be on version 0x0221. To tell, press and hold the Info button for about 3 seconds until the Setup screen appears. The software version should then be on the first page. You can use this page to see what the current software is for your model. DirecTV Receiver Firmware

I discovered a couple of things. If I tune to a channel from the guide I can press BACK and it will bring me back to the guide with the last filter. This does exactly what I was look for and should work for me 99% of the time.

Secondly, I love the feature where I can press yellow and go to "previous viewed channels". This is a nice feature.

 

[stuckingoo]

Hey Darren,

Im another transplant from Long Island living in South Florida.
I have both Dish and Direc tv.

I brought in Direc for one reason. MSGHD! and Center ice. Boy was it worth the money.
I get to see my Ny Rangers in glorious hd!

Is it worth it? YES!

I still keep dish. Why??? The 622 is so damn good. I have been through 4 HR20s due to audio drop outs.
They have updated the software and still the units are glitchy. Wish they would have better DVRs.

That aside, its great to have direc- programming is AMAZING!

I love being able to set my recordings from my computer-THATS TOO COOL!

Here's the one problem I have with audio.....and I have a HR20-700 and an HR20-100. When I review something that I'm watching live and then hit FF or advance ahead to catch up with the live programming, the audio begins to drop out every several seconds. If I hit 'pause' and then release, everything is fine again. But I shouldn't have to be doing this....and it is occuring on both receivers. They really do need a 'live' button because this whole business of FF to the live broadcast and the dropouts is bothersome.

 

[lern4483]

Here's the one problem I have with audio.....and I have a HR20-700 and an HR20-100. When I review something that I'm watching live and then hit FF or advance ahead to catch up with the live programming, the audio begins to drop out every several seconds. If I hit 'pause' and then release, everything is fine again. But I shouldn't have to be doing this....and it is occuring on both receivers. They really do need a 'live' button because this whole business of FF to the live broadcast and the dropouts is bothersome.

I have the audio drop outs on live and recorded programs.

I have changed out my 2 hr20s recievers 4 times. I might have said three but after checking my acct, it is four.

They keep on replacing them with refurbished HR20s. They have a new recievers out there but they want to deplete their hr20s first. Not sure but their is a newer model than the hr21.

This is exactly the reason why I hold on to dish (622) its more stable. I cant understand why direc cant fix this issue its very aggravating.

Dont get me wrong-I love direcs HD programming but their equipment is not up to par. Lots of Bugs.

 

[Indiana627]

Here's the one problem I have with audio.....and I have a HR20-700 and an HR20-100. When I review something that I'm watching live and then hit FF or advance ahead to catch up with the live programming, the audio begins to drop out every several seconds. If I hit 'pause' and then release, everything is fine again. But I shouldn't have to be doing this....and it is occuring on both receivers. They really do need a 'live' button because this whole business of FF to the live broadcast and the dropouts is bothersome.

What software level are you on for each DVR? I have an HR20-100 too and am on the current CE software release (0x022B) and do not have the problem you describe with audio drops when catching up to live via FF. I did have the problem on previous software. So if you're on the current national release software (0x01FE), hang in there as a fix is coming. Or if you can't wait, download this weekend's CE software (assuming there will be one).

 

[stuckingoo]

What software level are you on for each DVR? I have an HR20-100 too and am on the current CE software release (0x022B) and do not have the problem you describe with audio drops when catching up to live via FF. I did have the problem on previous software. So if you're on the current national release software (0x01FE), hang in there as a fix is coming. Or if you can't wait, download this weekend's CE software (assuming there will be one).

Is there a way to force an update? I thought D* always automatically beamed to your receiver whatever the latest software happened to be. I'll check to see what I'm running.

 

[Indiana627]

Is there a way to force an update? I thought D* always automatically beamed to your receiver whatever the latest software happened to be. I'll check to see what I'm running.

D* forces the national release software to your box, but they also have a Cutting Edge (CE) program where at predetermined times (usually Friday & Saturday nights from 11PM-2:30AM EST) you can manually download new beta testing software.

See http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-cutting-edge-ce-discussion-forum/