tivo/cable/satellite questions

I've heard the same complaint about cable many times (cost & poor service), but there's no guarantee that the service you get from the satellite companies will be much better as some on here will tell you whether you want to hear it or not.

First, a standalone (SA) TiVo will work with either system, but you are limited to recording what you are watching or watching a previously recorded show while it's recording. This is very limiting. Unfortunately you have two years of contract to contend with, so it's your choice, but a DVR from the sat co will allow you to record two shows at once, watch one, record another, etc. The cost on D* for this is $5.95/Mo (for ALL DVRs, not each).

Yes, the equipment is leased, but it's really no big deal. What are you going to do with comapny specific equipment if you leave anyway?

I don't know where you read that one device can feed FOUR rooms. This is just not true. The best you can do is E*'s (Dish's) DVR, which can feed two rooms, so you would need at least two boxes for your four TVs.

Both dishnetwork.com and directv.com allow you to select your package BEFORE you get to the personal info, so I'm not sure why you talk of a signup process just to get totals,

Hope this answers your questions. Seems to me that you've been fed a lot of misinformation (probably from Charter!).

 

DirecTv (I will presume Dish is similar) uses a custom signal (MPEG2 for the old style of Tivo powered receiver discussed here, MPEG4 for their own style discussed at the http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=82 forum) so to use your existing Tivo you must have a DTV receiver to connect to the satellite input, and then your Tivo connected to that receiver's output

If you want to be able to watch one and record another, and absolutely must have the Tivo interface, you will have to check eBay for a used model (they have not been made for 2+ years) or some other seller who still has an old or refurbished model in stock

What DTV provides now is, as I mentioned, discussed at the link above

You pay DTV one DVR fee per account, plus a mirror fee for each receiver after the 1st (I have 5 receivers and pay the one dvr fee and 4 mirror fees)

You need to PLAN your service before you start with satellite, since the technology is different and you may NOT use a simple signal splitter as with cable... if you want more signals than come off the dish of your choice, you must have a multi-switch box installed to accept all of the dish outputs and then create as many coax lines as you want

Wife and I built our house about a year ago, and since I knew I wanted dual lines to each of 6 places (one is not currently used) and since I have the standard round dish with a dual LNB and 2 output lines, I bought a 2x12 multi-switch and did all the wiring myself

You say you may go HD later... so be sure you are going to have your dish mounted in a place where you can easily run more coax from the dish to where you place your multi-switch... since my wiring is all in the wall during construction, I have 4 coax from the dish location to my control panel, even though I am only using 2 at this time

Where do I buy a DirecTv Tivo? BEFORE you buy a used DTivo,
get the ID Number from the seller and call DirecTv to ensure
there is not an outstanding balance on the seller's account,
since DirecTV will NOT activate such a receiver!
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=316297

 

Yes, you can continue to use your Series 2 with satellite.

About feeds:

Dishnetwork uses DishPro, and DirecTV uses SWM. both, I think, allow more than one receiver (two anyways), from one room feed, each feed coming from a home-run point with the appropriate switch.

 

Depending on which satellite dish you have installed, you will have from 2 to 4 coax lines coming off of the dish to your house (I have the old style round dish with dual LNB for 2 lines)

If you want more receivers than you have coax coming from the dish, you need a multi-switch

As I said earlier, I has a 2x12 multi-switch to make 12 lines (6 pairs) of coax going into the house from the control panel I have in an upstairs closet

I don't know what kind of dish DirecTv will even offer these days, so don't really know how many coax lines you will have coming from the dish to your house

You might go to directv.com and take a look at what they say they are offering, so you will have a better of what kind of plans to make

 

4 standard receivers would run on the 4 coax lines that is what I think comes from their current dish

If you want more than 4 lines in any combination of 1 line per regular receiver and/or 2 lines per DVR, you will most likely have to pay extra for the install to cover the multi-switch and extra coax

BUT since I have been a customer for about 15 years and wired my current house myself, I really am not 100% sure what kind of equipment is offered today

I bought my DTivo boxes either several years ago or AFTER DirecTv stopped offering tivo powered as an option, so you will need to go to the other forum to find out about the SD (I think R15) or HD (I think HR20 or HR21) boxes they now have

 

6520 (or likely 652) is not a Series 2, but the TiVo HD, technically a Series 3, which doesn't work for satellite. You need a Series 2 for satellite (649 or lower).