Very quiet HD DVR option for bedrooms in 4-room installation.

[damormino]

I currently have DirecTV in 4 rooms: family room + 3 bedrooms. The bedrooms are very, very quiet at night--except for the old HR20-700 HD DVR's. Even when off (standby) the hard drive makes an audible flutter. So I am considering changing to a Genie (in the family room) and Mini Clients in the 3 bedrooms.

Are the Mini Client's essentially silent when not in use (standby/off)?

Do the Mini Client's "get noisy" at night like the D*sh N*twork Joey's that are used with their Hopper system. (The Joey's reboot or something to update their program guide around 1:00 am which causes the normally silent fan to spin at high speed for several seconds.)

Is it correct the the Mini Client would not get noisier when a show is being recorded in the middle of the night because the recording would be happening on the main Genie in the family room?

Am I correct in assuming the the Genie plus 3 Mini Clients would be the most quiet solution for the 3 bedrooms?

 

[raoul5788]

I don't have a client, but they should be as quiet as a receiver since there is no hard drive in them.

 

[mdram]

make sure your recording wnot be affected.
if you have 4 dvrs you have 8 tuners
genie plus 3 clients is only 5, less when a client is on as they use a tuner from the genie

 

[Claude Greiner]

I got (2)HR24's in my bedroom and they are super quiet.

I used to have 722's but they where very loud.

Mini clients would definitely solve the issue 100%

 

[damormino]

Thank you raoul, mdram and Claude. 5 tuners could be a limitation for 4 TV's - good point - I will reconsider. Also, I am correct in guessing that DoublePlay (double buffering) does not work on the Mini clients as they only pull one tuner from the main Genie?

 

[DWS44]

Do the Mini Client's "get noisy" at night like the D*sh N*twork Joey's that are used with their Hopper system. (The Joey's reboot or something to update their program guide around 1:00 am which causes the normally silent fan to spin at high speed for several seconds.)

One point of correction here...the Joey clients have no internal fans at all and are completely silent even when in use. I have one on my bedroom. You are correct that the Hopper does reboot itself night on schedule, but only the Hopper itself has any internal fans or makes any noise during a reboot.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Yea the 3am reboot was a pain with dish.

Set mine in the bedroom for 3pm

 

[dishcomm]

I got (2)HR24's in my bedroom and they are super quiet.

I used to have 722's but they where very loud.

Mini clients would definitely solve the issue 100%

Some people are just very light sleepers or hypersensitive to any sounds..

 

[dishcomm]

Yea the 3am reboot was a pain with dish.

Set mine in the bedroom for 3pm

I actually got hit with a Trouble Call due to the 3 am reboot.
Then another TC because the customer was a 3rd shifter. He watched tv at night.
One both occasions I simply set the reboot to a more convenient time.

 

[wildbill129]

Thank you raoul, mdram and Claude. 5 tuners could be a limitation for 4 TV's - good point - I will reconsider. Also, I am correct in guessing that DoublePlay (double buffering) does not work on the Mini clients as they only pull one tuner from the main Genie?

The clients will do Doubleplay. i just tried it on my client to be sure. It works the same as my hr34. The Genie clients are silent.

 

[damormino]

One point of correction here...the Joey clients have no internal fans at all and are completely silent even when in use. I have one on my bedroom. You are correct that the Hopper does reboot itself night on schedule, but only the Hopper itself has any internal fans or makes any noise during a reboot.

Wow! This is great news for D*sh owners who are light sleepers. I was certain the D*sh installer guy told me the Joeys have a fan that spins up during the scheduled reboot. Of cource the person at D*recTV customer service was the one who said no DoublePlay on Genie minis. I really appreciate the accurate and up-to-date information you all provide on these forums.

I think I am going to go Genie/mini client. 5 tuners should be enough for my family. Thank you all for the great information.