This started with a post I made in another thread. Since it was off topic I decided to create another thread.
TiVO's vs HR2x's
- Thread starter DodgerKing
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That is fine if you thinking something that requires more steps is easier to use.
It doesn't matter if the DVR is off or not. I was using one example of something that should be easy is made more complicated by TiVo. Besides I don't like that bright blue light on.
Anyway, bogus? Name one thing I said that is wrong. I gave an entire list of why the HR2x's are better without a single challenge to anything specific. I also challenged anyone to name one thing that TiVo does simpler than HR2x. Just one thing that requires fewer steps or navigations.
I'd still use TiVo if it worked with satellite service, it doesn't, so we have 2x HR2x.
I prefer the interface, and with MRV enabled now the TiVo was faster than our HR2x's too.
I prefer the interface, and with MRV enabled now the TiVo was faster than our HR2x's too.
I am not. But those that are in love with the things are basing it on the old Direct UI. What else can they possibly base it on?
Faster, yes. Ease of use? No
The speed of the performance is exasperated by the fact that it requires more steps to do many of the functions.
New box said to have Netflix, Blockbuster and Amazon.
Music library from PC (DirecTV never got this right)
Slow Motion - DirecTV Box sucks at this. Overall Speed is better on Tivo- which goes to ease of use.
In some instances, Tivo may have more steps, but like I said, its intuitive and faster making it easier to use.
Music library from PC (DirecTV never got this right)
Slow Motion - DirecTV Box sucks at this. Overall Speed is better on Tivo- which goes to ease of use.
In some instances, Tivo may have more steps, but like I said, its intuitive and faster making it easier to use.
This is where I have to disagree. You keep saying it is easier to use, but have yet to give an example of ease (which is somewhat subjective anyway). I listed two examples of how the TiVo requires more steps and thus more complex.
Actually, I wish I had to choice to eliminate this item. It is just another folder in added within a folder in which one has to navigate.
Besides, this is not something that TiVo can do "better" (although I can see how someone would consider something that one can do that the other cannot, better)
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Honestly, I've owned:
Tivo HD
ViP622, 722 and 722k
HR10-250, HR20, HR22
Various Moto and SA cable boxes. The cable co boxes suck, but when I go from a Dish box to a Directv box and vice versa, I really dont miss the other. The TivoHD was cool, but nothing special
Tivo HD
ViP622, 722 and 722k
HR10-250, HR20, HR22
Various Moto and SA cable boxes. The cable co boxes suck, but when I go from a Dish box to a Directv box and vice versa, I really dont miss the other. The TivoHD was cool, but nothing special
There are many shortcuts using the tivo remotes to do a lot of stuff quite easily.
Honestly, when I switched from the tivo to the HR20's I found them extremely slow, erratic in response, and it was quite difficult to do some things.
Many of the features and shortcuts simply infuriate me and I wish I could turn them off. With the remote control having too many tiny buttons too close to each other, I frequently hit the record button and create a recording when I dont want one. I hit the 'stop' button and has it bop out of my show and then I have to go back into the playlist and restart the show. The 'previous' button seems to work sometimes and not others. Many of the buttons have inconsistent operations. I've had this dvr miss more shows in 2 years than the tivo dropped in 8. The picture-in-guide and picture-in-list are useless features to me and have frequently ruined sports and shows by revealing a score or an ending before I could stop it. Took years to get MRV and now they want to charge us for it AND have us pay an installation fee, and their implementation wont work on many existing home networks, requiring an LNB change and extra hardware to create a separate directv subnet. Took a long time to get pc viewing done and the implementation prohibits many perfectly good computers from running the app. Limit of 50 series links. Using keyword autorecords slows the boxes down dramatically and makes some recordings unpredictable.
As far as ease of use, my parents and my inlaws figured out the tivo on their own in about 15 minutes and were expert users. When handed a directv remote and a very detailed "tivo to directv HR translation guide" they couldnt make heads or tails out of it and handed it back after half an hour saying "I'm lost with this and cant make any sense of it, I'll just keep the tivo".
My 3.5 year old learned to operate the tivo, start shows, pause/rewind/fast forward. He's 5 now and all he can manage is pause and play on the directv remote.
Anecdotal and small sample sizes, but my experience is that the tivo was and still is a lot more mature and customer friendly than the directv boxes. They're easier to learn and master. The tivo product has far more features and better in-box implementation of stuff like pc to dvr transfers, netflix, amazon, etc. Directv seems totally possessed by protecting content that can be had anywhere with ease, while tivo seems more inclined to help a customer watch what they want, when and where they want it, without having to upgrade their computers and networks.
I could go on for another 5 pages or so. I guess if you used both products extensively and didnt have a particularly weird problem with them, it'd be a fairer comparison. Most of the people I've run across that didnt like the tivo had a lot of prior experience with other dvr's or had a problem tivo box.
The one huge superiority that directv has is that the box has a gnome in it that repairs the hardware over time. This is the only explanation I can come up for why directv has told me that dozens of problems I encountered were due to bad hardware. But rather than let them blindly swap the receivers and lose all my recordings, I stuck with them. And miraculously the problems have gone away a little at a time. It obviously cant be that it was bugs in the software.
I guess I also somewhat resent Directv's (and their dbstalk flunkies) implications that the few problems I did have with the tivo platform were "because of tivo doing stuff with the software, directv has no control of this, and all of your problems will be solved by moving to the directv dvr". Turns out that I had FAR more problems with the directv box, but I was stuck with them due to the 2 year commitment.
Ok here is my comparison, now I am not good with model numbers so bear with me.
I have a TIVO SD 40 gig DVR that is hooked up and a Directv SD DVR (I think this was Direct's first reciever in the DVR "ERA") that was sitting in my electronics closet
As far as what reciever is louder when plugged in, I plugged the Directv DVR in, I was surprsed at how much quieter it was then the TIVO I have. I was a bit surprised by this.
UI....I know this is not said alot about Directv recievers, but I think the screen was less "busy" then the TIVO. I called Direct and decided to swap out my recivers and activate the Directv SD DVR.
I have a TIVO SD 40 gig DVR that is hooked up and a Directv SD DVR (I think this was Direct's first reciever in the DVR "ERA") that was sitting in my electronics closet
As far as what reciever is louder when plugged in, I plugged the Directv DVR in, I was surprsed at how much quieter it was then the TIVO I have. I was a bit surprised by this.
UI....I know this is not said alot about Directv recievers, but I think the screen was less "busy" then the TIVO. I called Direct and decided to swap out my recivers and activate the Directv SD DVR.
I guess in many ways the UI argument is something like Windows vs MAC vs Linux, ex. Some may find one easier to use more more intuitive than the other.
When I first got my HR2x, I too did not like the way everything was laid out as I was used to the TiVo. I had to learn a whole new system and it did annoy me at first. Once I learned it, which was pretty quick, I realized that most of the things that I like to do required fewer steps than on the TiVo.
I still use my TiVo on occasion and it is the one that now frustrates me. That is probably because I got used to the HR2x.
When I first got my HR2x, I too did not like the way everything was laid out as I was used to the TiVo. I had to learn a whole new system and it did annoy me at first. Once I learned it, which was pretty quick, I realized that most of the things that I like to do required fewer steps than on the TiVo.
I still use my TiVo on occasion and it is the one that now frustrates me. That is probably because I got used to the HR2x.
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