Advice needed

[jonmhend]

I have what is probably a common problem/question, but there are so many issues surrounding it, searching for a previous post on it is tough. I apologize if this is a repeat.

The Background: I currently am a DirecTV series 2 subscriber since 2003 or 04. I initially put the Tivo unit in the family room with just regular DTV receivers in other rooms in the house. About a year ago, I decided I wanted a DVR in the master BR and DTV leased me their own DVR. Long story short, the DTV DVR is, uhh, how to put it nicely, "not as good as Tivo". It has even caused my wife to start swearing (I don't think that had anything to do with the Soprano's). No current TVs in my house are High Def. I have in the past always purchased the Sunday Ticket from DirecTV.

Current situation: I'm designing a new home theater that will definitely be High Def and I want it to include an HD DVR.

My basic question is this, I love Tivo, I like DirectTv (Sunday Ticket), I really enjoy the 2 tuner setup of the Tivo (not the DTV DVR in the MB) AND I want HD with a DVR. Is there a solution for me?

My understanding is that if I go with a DTV HD DVR I get more HD channels and a better signal (the projector will take 1080p). If I go with Tivo, I have to go with my local digital cable (Cox in AZ) with fewer HD channels, and a lower resolution signal. Thanks for the help.

[JimSpence]

You can still find HR10-250s on eBay and elsewhere on the web. If you want/need the new MPEG4 HD from DirecTV then you'll have to go with their non-TiVo DVR (HR20),

For more info about the HR20 go here.
http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=112

[JJ]

You may
have been misinformed regarding output quality. Your projector may accept 1080p but that is meaningless for current satellite DVR products. Why? TiVo HR10-250 and DirecTV HR20-700 both have a maximum 1080i output.

Side by side and OTA channel for OTA channel I found the TiVo to be marginally sharper overall but the extra channels now and in the future tend to overcome that slight advantage. The beauty of the TiVo interface, that is whole 'nother thing...

[davecramer74]

My basic question is this, I love Tivo, I like DirectTv (Sunday Ticket), I really enjoy the 2 tuner setup of the Tivo (not the DTV DVR in the MB) AND I want HD with a DVR. Is there a solution for me?

My understanding is that if I go with a DTV HD DVR I get more HD channels and a better signal (the projector will take 1080p). If I go with Tivo, I have to go with my local digital cable (Cox in AZ) with fewer HD channels, and a lower resolution signal. Thanks for the help.

Go with both. Get directv in august, keep it for 6 months, pay the lowest tier you can get and then "suspend" your account for 6 months, rinse and repeat

then go tivo and cable.

But in my opinion, i liked my buddies new HD DVR from directv. So if it was me, id just go with that. Tivo is great, but not enough for me to sacrifice programming. Which is what your doing by going with it for either cable or satelite. You wont get the football package and you lose on demand.

as the above guy stated, 1080p is only for hddvd and blueray. No networks broadcast higher than 1080i and most do 720p.

[BruceShultes]

I have both the HR10 and the HR20.

The HR20's software is certainly different than Tivo, but it is not that hard to get used to.

D* is working hard to work out any problems found in the HR20's software and add new features.

Close to once a week a new software version is released for beta testing on the Cutting Edge forum at DBStalk.