tivo vs dish/generic PVR's

[ArTT Vandelay]

So, I've been a Tivo user for some time, and also happen to be a Mac user. I kind of think the two are very similar experiences. My Tivo is a plain old series two SD 40hour unit, no upgrades, no hacks. I love it. My wife loves it. Part of what we love so much is the operating system itself, including the great sounds and remote. Which brings me to my point: How many of you dish users ignored the option of getting a Dish branded pvr with your system to stick with your Tivo, even if it means some inconvenience once in a while. The biggest thing i notice is that besides the obvious fact that it doesn't record in HD, if I am watching an standard program on an OTA channel, which we do a lot of, the image is shrunk to the point where I have to use the Zoom function on my TV. which is fine, until i change to a standard Satellite signal channel, which displays at the normal 4:3, so i have to unzoom, until I switch to an HD channel, where I have to re-zoom. You get the picture. So, how many of you are prior Tivo users? Did you fight going to the Dish PVR? Is the Dish system any good? What do you miss? (besides not paying $12 a month )

 

[R-U-Q-R-U]

We have a ReplayTV hooked up to an 811. Works fine for SD and it provides the same user experience as when we used it with cable. It is always on so like Tivo you are always buffering live TV and can pause and replay it.

I also have a Panasonic hard drive DVR/DVD recorder that I rarely use because it works more like a VCR than a Tivo/ReplayTV PVR. I cannot find any codes that will allow the 811 to control the Panasonic. So if I want to record something I need to set a timer on the 811 and also set a timer on the Panasonic.

So, I think the Tivo/ReplayTV experience is as good or better than an E* PVR because Tivo and ReplayTV systems rarely crash or freak out like the 921.

But if you have recorder like the Panasonic I would rather get rid of it and get a Dish 942.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Well, the E* DVRs have one indisputable advantage. NO loss of quality while recording.

Then of course, the total integration with the reception system goes far, too.

 

[larrystotler]

If you like TiVo, then that may be the way to go. However, there are many of us who just don't think TiVo is the greatest thing ever made. It's slow and cumbersome, and D*'s integrated unit is horribly slow when it comes to the guide displays. Personally, I don't care for a component to try to figure out what I like to watch.

 

[gutter]

The 942 is outragiously fantastic.

 

[Jared Twomey]

i have used a variety of dish dvrs, and tivo's, and i prefer the dish receivers....
i hate how slow the tivo units respond in the guide and such...

 

[rickaren]

If you like Tivo (I have two 243 hour modified units plus a 40 hour unit and past owner of UTV and old Dishplayers) you will not be happy with anything but the new 942 and it will do HD! I was really surprised that DISH had any DVR this good! Call the DISHSTORE and get a great price as a new customer.

 

[madisondish]

i had a tivo series 2 (directv) for over a year. liked it, but the guide and menus were slow. It would take 10+ seconds to fill the guide- paging through the guide was a pain, waiting 10 seconds for every page to fill in. The menu system is also real slow-also I had problem with the tivo optical audio out, it never worked right with my system- made weird clicking noises. also tivo will not record directv's music channels-
Don't get me wrong here- I liked my tivo and i will never go back to standard(non-dvr) service, but I have switched to DISH NETWORK. I have a 625 (dual tuner 100hr dvr) and have found several things I like better. The guide is way faster (fast as any dbs receiver). Menus are faster loading. optical audio works with now problems. When I am watching something from the hard drive, i can switch to live tv much faster (tivo has a 10 secod or so delay) and best of all I now have drv in my bedroom as the 625 runs two tv's. Also the dish lets you record their music channels. Also, I have not had any of the bugs/glitches reported with the 522(or dish dvr's in general)-

 

[seandudley]

I used a TiVo back in the ol' SD days, but since I have been big into HD I had to do without a DVR for a long time. (Especially since I was with Voom until recently and they didn't have any HD DVR). Now that I'm with Dish I got the 942. I'm somewhat happy with the 942, and it is quite similar to a TiVo. (The only thing that I am not happy with is that most of my local channels are not getting their program guide data, and simply say "Digital Channel" so I can't easily use the DVR on my OTA channels. I have called Dish many times about this, and am trying to harp on them until they get it fixed. Last time I ended up being on the phone for about an hour and a half, though most of the time just sitting on hold which was quite annoying. (About half of my local channels program data was missing, and now all but one channels program guide data is missing. So, due to this new development, I called them again and ended up on the phone for an hour and a half.)

 

[reddice]

Had a Tivo when I had DirecTV and it was the worst reciever that I have ever used. It was very slow and has a major bug. I am glad I am using a faster pvr again.

 

[Jahntassa]

If you're going from a series 1 to say..a 522.. you won't like the 522.

Tivo:
When you say, do not delete until I say, it doesn't delete

522:
Protected stuff gets deleted anyway

Tivo:
Season pass works

522:
Dish Pass is sorta there, but in a broken, crippled sort of way

Tivo:
Hack, hack, hack

522:
...

And so on and so forth. The 522 is less lossy due to the way it stores the programming, so the recorded picture does look a lot better, but the recording features more or less stink. It's not 'always on' so it won't keep a continuous 30 min buffer while it's off. Not so much a problem on the Tivo because who put it in standby anyway?

The Tivo's (especially the series 1 when you've hacked it a bit) are still the best DVR's around (IMO). You'll find people that swing every which way, though, because everyone wants something different. If you're die-hard Tivo, you'll probably be dissatisfied with recievers like the 522 and 510. I can't speak for the 942, however...

 

[larrystotler]

Protected means that it will delete the oldest Non-protected shows first. However, I believe that if all your shows are protected, it will delete the oldest protected show. And the 522 is still an excellent receiver. While some people who have switched from a TiVo have been disappointed, some have been happy. Depends on the person.