DirecTV HR20 Review, Compare, Prices, Discounts
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Product: DirecTV HR20 Amazon Price: Too low to display Availability: In Stock |
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[Updated on 11/14/06. I would like to slash my rating to three stars, [...].)
I've wanted an HD DVR box for DirecTV for the past two years. I understanding about the Tivo box, but it was unbiased too expensive when it was first released (over [...] I judge), but by the time the stamp dropped, it was technically worn. DirecTV has been launching original satellites and changing to MPEG4 encoding, and from my idea the HD Tivo DVR didn't abet those.
I've had the HR20-700 for the past month, and am happy with the seize. If you must have DirecTV (for example, if you need NFL Sunday Effect, can't gain local cable, or live someplace with lousy cable), this is probably your best option. Before I got this box, I had the DirecTV Tivo for the past couple years. I've had other HD DVR boxes in the past, including the Time Warner box in Manhattan and the Comcast box in the Bay Residence. This is my accepted box, but it's far from perfect.
Positives:
- Grand capacity. My wife and I represent a lot of TV (we probably have 15 shows regularly recording, including maybe 5 that are daily), and have not gotten anywhere end to filling up this box.
- Quick performance. The Tivo box user interface was really idle. This box is really zippy.
- You can change settings, space up programs to picture, and do other things while watching TV (live or recorded) . This is a really mammoth step up from the Tivo boxes.
- Video quality is what you expect: HD quality. Honestly, I haven't tested this box side by side with other DirecTV HD boxes, nor have I compared it to cable HD boxes. I haven't noticed any outlandish video artifacts or noise (I'm using the component outputs) . Other reviewers may be more indispensable.
Negatives:
- The recent satellite dish is spacious. If you want local channels in HD, you need to install the unique satellite dish, which is twice as spacious as the used one and weighs about 30 pounds. And your neighbors will disapprove you.
- The assist for over the air antennas isn't done yet (aloof not available in mid November) .
- The box is buggy and crashes sometimes. Sometimes, the box doesn't acknowledge when you press buttons on the remote. (This is a particularly stout program with interactive programming, such as NFL games.) Sometimes, programs will net recorded that you can't play wait on. I purchase that these issues will be fixed at some point in the future. (If you're reading this some time after, say, December 2006, this probably doesn't apply any more.)
- Rapid forward and reverse are painfully dumb. The fastest fast-forward is slower than the slowest snappily forward on Tivo.
- You can't jump to the demolish of a program like you can with Tivo.
- The Tivo guys did a titanic job with UI form in some ways. For example, when you're rapid forwarding through a program and click play to return to normal hasten, Tivo boxes will assist up a few seconds so that you don't overshoot where you want to go. Tivo engineers realized that people need a second to react, and compensated. The DirecTV box doesn't do this, so it's easy to overshoot.
- The modern advanced features from DirecTV, like fantasy stats with DirecTV Sunday Designate Superfan, are very, very monotonous. Unusably expressionless. (Honestly, if you're a stout enough geek to bewitch this package, you probably have a laptop and an 802.11 network and monitor games on [...] anyway.)
I had this installed and kept the installer around until I could try out the machine and as many functions as possible. There were several glitches, but after a software upgrade (via sat.) the machine is working perfectly...so far (I've had it less than a week) . It's my guess that most of the people writing the dreadful reviews (on Amazon, CNet, and elsewhere) received unpleasant machines (manufacturing defects as opposed to engineering/design problems) AND/OR they didn't upgrade the software. The audio and video quality are noble (I won't go into detail as there are tons of reviews about the specs elsewhere - including the TiVo killing MPeg-4 capability) . Instead I'll unprejudiced mention a few of the more subjective attributes. The menus are extremely intuitive and advance w/out the annoying TiVo 'PPLLTTT'. Once again, with the upgrade in software, The accelerate matches or betters the TiVo menus. I've recorded several HD movies and HD programs and eye no contrast between the recorded expose and the recent broadcast. In addition to upgrading the software, be positive to adjust the audio and video settings. They were factory location to outlandish settings (example: audio was region to PLII-C instead of Dolby digital and cover was defaulted to 4:3 instead of 16:9) . The remote can be station (although through a series of about 20 button pushes) to RF which is really nice, as you can control it from another room. The LEDs on the front are kind of frosty, but I haven't been able to unlit them as the manual says you can - they're a diminutive annoying in a black room. The HR20 requires a current 5-LNB dish, but the upgrade is nice as
[this dish and the HR20 can pull in off air (ATSC) digital signals (LOCAL HiDef!) **updated below**] --I'm in Minneapolis, so you'll want to check your space for definite. Now I can rob the extra off-air antenna from my roof. About the only negative I've found besides the LEDs is the 30 second skip which takes about 3 seconds to cycle through as opposed to the TiVo (hacker modified) 30 second skip, which is instantaneous.
[update 4/23/07 - I've had it for 5 months now. No problems. If the naysayers want to spent $800 on the HD TiVo --be my guest. No this machine does not pull in local HD (off air) without an antenna. However, Directv does send local HD channels from the satellite in my market - Minneapolis. The only local HD I don't come by through Directv is the local PBS channel]
I've been through 4 DirecTV hi def recorders in 16 months. Every one of them has started out OK, only to then have some principal component(s) originate to die after a few months.
Most recently, the digital (surround) sound that honest stopped working one day. Customer service, after puting me through 30 minutes of "do this; do that", agreed it didn't work, but then said, "truthfully, this is a dilemma on so many of them, we don't want to replace it, because the next one will have the same quandary. How about we unprejudiced lower your bill by $10/month and you honest support it with that function not working until some day in the future when we figure this out".
I was speechless.
I demanded to go to "level 2" the next day and that person woulnd't agree to replace the box until they sent out a tech to do the same things I'd done. This genius reach and - proceded to wipe out all the saved shows on the disc and render the unit fully dreary. BAM.
Oops, he said. Happens a lot. REALLY sorry.
We'll send you another unit in a 3-5 days.
Enough. These units are junk and their people admit it if pressed. And there are no alternate sources, as DirecTV won't let anyone else effect for their signal.
And, they admitted to me today (when I got to the highest level (3), the substantial majority of the boxes they sell (and send out as replacements) are refurbished. In fact the tremendous "concession" they offered me today was to send me (drumroll) a unusual one.
I give up. I'm going to Time Warner cable and rob a TIVO 3.
Good riddance.
Save yourselves some difficulty folks. Go elsewhere. I'm technically savvy and I've wasted a lot of time on this. Don't occupy one of these. They're junk.
