New DirecTivo receivers questionable

[robertbug]

I am inquiring of others' views on the DirecTivo recivers. I have the older Samsung and bought my dad a newer version marketed directly by Directv. Their version sucks to be blunt. It is less user friendly. Has type size one needs to get very close to follow.
The Samsung is much better but has less space and has an audible fan.
What are others' views and can one get a DVR to do the same thing with Directv without using the DirecTivo unit? I have had my Samsung for a few years and have no problems but there is the noise. And what is with the glaring blue light on the DirecTivo. Are their designers from Mars?
Your thoughts would be appreciated.

[willardcpa]

Kinda like going into the "Corvette" forum and asking everyone's opinion of the new Mustang GT isn't it? ;)
Btw the new R15, that I got six months ago has been in the box in a closet for five and a half months. But it isn't lonesome, I bought two DTivos off of ebay to have as backups for the ones currently in service.

[goony]

I am inquiring of others' views on the DirecTivo recivers. ...
What are others' views and can one get a DVR to do the same thing with Directv without using the DirecTivo unit? Umm, I have to ask for clarification: Do you LIKE the unit that has Tivo software (I am assuming your old unit is like that) and you DISLIKE the new DirecTV DVR that does not have Tivo software?... or is it the other way around?

The new (as of about 10 months ago), non-Tivo software DirecTV standard def DVRs are called the R15. The correct forum for discussions of the non-Tivo R15 is http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=106

Please don't refer to the R15 as a 'DirecTivo' - that is a misnomer (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/misnomer).

[Dkerr24]

ditto goony's last statement... you can call the new DirecTV unit a "DVR" but it sure ain't a "Tivo".

[Rkkeller]

I am inquiring of others' views on the DirecTivo recivers


What your talking about is not a DirecTiVo, it is a DirecTV Plus DVR model R-15.
While many of the features are similar it does not use the TiVo software.

I have both and like them. Each has its own features the other doesn't and the user interfaces are completely different like you noticed.

I would say the DirecTiVos are more mature and stable than the DirecTV PLus DVR R-15 which was released only 10 months ago. Both have their problems but the DirecTiVos have many less of them.

[bearymore]

I am inquiring of others' views on the DirecTivo recivers. .

I've had two R15's for about ten days. At first, I absolutely hated them. After getting used to the new interface, I decided that it actually had some merit and could be worth living with if it worked properly. That is the problem. The software is just not ready for prime time. My primary gripes:

FF and RW don't work correctly. When you press play, where it stops is purely random. 30 seconds ahead of where you hit play, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 5 minutes behind, at the beginning of the show -- I've had all of them happen to me.

Search, the analogue to Wishlists, includes channels that you don't receive in the results. Doing an autorecord will more often than not get you an hour of blank screen because you live in L.A. and it decided to record from CBSE rather than local channel 2.

You are limited to only 50 SLs, the equivalent to season passes, and only 100 items on the todo list. So if you have a season pass for the Sopranos and it goes off the air, you'd better erase it to free up the slot. On Tivo you can leave it and when the Sopranos comes back on the air, new episodes magically start to appear.

You cannot get two season passes for a show with the same name on two different channels. So, if you get a season pass for Law and Order on an NBC channel you can't get another season pass for Law and Order reruns on A&E. Too bad if you like Law and Order reruns.

It hasn't happened to me yet, but after using the machine for a while it will lock up and require a reset. Many on the DBStalk forum report the need to reformat the drive periodically. In the 4 years with my sadly departed Tivo, I never had to reformat the drive. Unfortunately, after 4 years of hard use the drive failed, hence the R15's.

Of course, YMMV. :)