directv woes

Cool stuff in the new DirecTV HD TiVo

2011-12-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

In my recent Hands on with the new THR22 DirecTV TiVo HD DVR post, I noted that the interface of the brand new TiVo for DirecTV is similar to the old HR10-250 HD TiVo. Of course it's not identical to that interface and there are some cool new features in this new TiVo. Below I describe some of the best ones that I've found so far:

Multiple search terms in WishLists

The new THR22 TiVo lets you create WishLists using multiple search terms, like two actors, several keywords, etc., and putting conditions on them (this and that, this or that, this but never that). This is pretty slick and the TiVo makes it pretty easy to do. This TiVo page tells you how:
http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/howto/getthemostoutoftv/howto_create_wishlist_search.html

The example on the TiVo website shows how to set the TiVo up to record all programs with George Clooney but never the series ER:

Title Keyword: -ER
Actor: George Clooney

A minus sign means that this term is excluded. Press the thumbs button twice to make a term optional (shows in parentheses). Press it again to make the term required (default).

Wildcard matches in wishlists

Use asterisks when you're looking for a range of similar words, or are uncertain how to spell a word. For example, the keyword MUPPET* catches the "Muppet Movie", the "Muppet Show" and "Muppets Take Manhattan".

Suggestions in their own folder

Suggestions appear in their own folder now so they don't clutter your own recordings. I don't remember this being an option on the HR10-250 TiVo.

Swivel search

This is TiVo's version of a "unified search" - more like the HR-series search but providing deeper results. Swivel search requires an Internet connection and looks across all accessible video, including upcoming programming, on-demand, and available downloads. TiVo calls it Swivel search because you can "swivel" off the results. For example, drill down into the cast, then pivot on the actor, and see other TV shows and movies they're in.

Swivel Search finds programs that match the text entered. Like a WishList, the results include more than just title matches. Even better, it's a live search, narrowing results as you type.

At first I thought this was something that DirecTV had TiVo make just for them because the interface seems a little different, and less TiVo-like, but it turns out this is a standard TiVo feature: http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/198

I'm sure there's more in this new TiVo that I haven't found yet, but these are a few of the cool new features making it more than just a direct copy of the previous DirecTV TiVo.

Hands on with the new THR22 DirecTV TiVo HD DVR

2011-12-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

Basically, I want this to read like a Top Gear segment, where they spend the first 90% explaining how awful the car is, then they break into how utterly majestic it is in some key aspect.

That's how I feel about the new THR22 DirecTV TiVo HD DVR. There are so many things to dislike about it. It's based on the, now very outdated, HR22 hardware platform. It's only got a SD UI instead of the TiVo Premier HD UI. The "peanut" remote that ships with it isn't as high-quality or as comfortable as the old DirecTV TiVo or a real TiVo remote. It's lacking many features of the normal TiVo Premier and even lacks some features of the HR-series DirecTV DVR. DirecTV is charging too much for it. It's not worth the extra $5 per month "TiVo tax".

But then, you use it for a while, and you forget about all that. It is utterly majestic, especially if you've suffered with the HR-series boxes, as we have in my household.

So here are the nitty gritty details:

It's basically an HR22 running a port of the TiVo software with DirecTV-specific mods (such as VoD).

In terms of the user-interface, this new TiVo is actually quite similar to the first DirecTV High-def TiVo, the HR10-250 from 2004 (the box they made me stop using in 2008, which was the original inspiration for this blog). In some ways, that's not a bad thing. The old HR10-250 TiVo interface was simple, fast, and easy to use. One could argue that you're getting an old outdated UI with this new TiVo, but for me, getting that old HR10-250 TiVo interface back via the new THR22 makes me realize how much I missed it. In other words, that eight-year-old TiVo experience is still vastly superior to the DirecTV HR-series DVR experience, at least for everyone in my household.

So that's strike one. You could argue that the interface is old and outdated.

A second strike could be that this new "peanut" remote is not as nice as the old one nor is it as high-quality and comfortable as the current stand-alone TiVo remotes. There is no "List" button on this new remote. Instead, you have to press the TiVo button twice. The arrangement of the navigation arrows and the select button is not as natural as the old HR10-250 peanut remote. The overall build quality and feel is cheap. But it's still better than the normal white DirecTV remote in all respects except that the white remote has nicer power on/off features to turn the DVR and TV on/off all in one press. Whereas with the TiVo remote, you have to turn on/off the TV separately from putting the TiVo in standby.

Those that hate the TiVo (or perhaps they really just hate TiVo zealots) argue that this new TiVo doesn't have a bunch of features that the normal HR-series DVRs have. This supposedly long list of missing features mostly boils down to no support for the Whole Home DVR service nor the DirecTV iPad app. These are legitimate gripes. But for me the trade-off in terms of the benefits of the TiVo TV experience far outweigh the loss of these features. I never wanted to pay the extra $3 per month for Whole Home DVR anyway and the iPad app is kinda cool and fun to play with, but not something that's really all that practical, at least for me. Some people say the DirecTV TiVo may support these features someday. Frankly, I doubt it, so if they're important to you, it's something to think about before getting the new TiVo.

In terms of the cost, I don't love the fact that DirecTV won't sell us any of their DVRs anymore. They only "lease" them to us, so they always come with a monthly fee. But that's not unique to the TiVo DVR. However, there is an extra $5 per month fee for the TiVo box, in addition to the normal $7 per month DVR lease fee. This is the so-called "TiVo Tax" that TiVo haters like to talk about. However, in my case, as a lifetime TiVo subscriber, I don't have to pay this extra $5 per month, so it's not creating me any pain. But this shouldn't matter anyway. Think about it. I'm paying DirecTV over $150 per month and the TiVo is what actually makes that TV experience enjoyable, so shouldn't they get paid for that? If I'm willing to shell out $150 to DirecTV every month, doesn't it make sense for TiVo to get some of the money since TiVo is so important to the experience?

Another strike you hear from TiVo-haters is that this TiVo is using the HR22 hardware. Sure it would be nicer to be on newer hardware, but for me, the experience is what matters, not the CPU or MHZ, and so far the THR22 experience has been so much better than any HR-series box, regardless of the supposed hardware performance, that I can live with the fact that the hardware is "outdated". The one thing I do fear on this front is that there will be no updates to this thing, ever. For that reason, I hope it is so successful that neither DirecTV nor TiVo can ignore it and it gets lots of upgrades and support prospectively. Let's hope there is a THR54 some day!

I have also seen complaints about the TiVo and 30-second skip, but I don't get it because the old TiVo had it as a "secret" feature that could be enabled with remote-codes and this new one has it built-in. In my case, although I've had this feature on the TiVo and on the HR-series, I seldom use it. It seems like I spend more time repositioning after using 30-second skip than just using fast-forward - and, as I'll discuss below, the TiVo fast-forward is so much more responsive and more precise that it's my preferred way to skip commercials anyway. I suppose if you are in love with the 30-second skip on the HR-series then, apparently, you may not like the TiVo 30-second skip as much, but frankly I can't explain why.

What's worse than all that is how DirecTV intentionally cripples the box, forcing TiVo to remove many features that stand-alone TiVos support. Here's a short list of features that a real TiVo supports that DirecTV forbids:

Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu Plus, BLOCKBUSTER On Demand
TiVo App for iPad and the TiVo App for iPhone
Transfer recordings to your laptop, iPod, iPhone, PSP, or other mobile device
Transfer recordings to your computer and burn them onto a DVD disc
YouTube
Audio podcasts on your TV or home entertainment system with Podcaster
View photos from Picasa or Photobucket
Stream music from Pandora, Rhapsody, Music Choice, or Live 365

On the DirecTV site, there is a comparison table, but the features presented are clearly hand picked to favor the HR-series. Even though I don't think it's all that helpful for really appreciating the benefits of this new TiVo, below is my version of the obligatory comparison table:

Feature	HR-Series	- THR22 TiVo -	TiVo Premier
Compatible w/DirecTV	Yes	Yes	-
Share recordings with other rooms	Yes	-	Yes
Youtube	Yes	-	Yes
iPhone/ipad apps	Yes	-	Yes
Maximum Season Passes	50	unlimited	unlimited
Two-tuner switching	-	Yes	Yes
Netflix	-	-	Yes
Pandora	-	-	Yes
Peanut remote	-	Yes	Yes
Responsive FF/pause	-	Yes	Yes
Wishlists	partial	Yes	Yes
Suggestions	-	Yes	Yes
PC or Mac photo libraries on your TV	-	Yes	Yes
Recover Recently Deleted Items	-	Yes	Yes
Cost	$199 †	$199 ††	$79 †††

† lease only, $7 per month, not available for purchase

†† lease only as HR-series, plus $5 per month, unless already paid for DirecTV TiVo lifetime subscription

††† plus $19.99 per month or one-time $499.99 for Lifetime service

So there you go. This thing must suck, right? WRONG.

As I said above, after a few days of having TiVo again with the THR22, my TV experience is simply transformed. The stress of "press... wait... press... wait..." is gone. So what is it that makes this so much better for me? Here's the short list:

The "Live TV" button and switching between tuners - oh that is so sweet
The "fast-forward" button. Okay what? Yes, having a working fast-forward button again changes things perhaps more than any other single feature for me. Smooth fast-forward (oh how I hate that jerky HR fast forward). Responsiveness and precision that lets me start fast-forwarding when I want and stop exactly where I want. How well this works on the TiVo just reminds me of how terrible this fundamental, and most common, function is on the HR-series boxes - even with the same hardware!
Not running out of "series links" - my wife has over 150 season passes (the HR-series has a limit of 50). Enough said.

There are a lot of other things in the interface that make it better for me too, most notably the responsiveness when navigating the Guide, Now Playing list, entering text, and generally all the menus. I like the TiVo style two-column guide so much better for exploring what's on too (not searching for a particular show but just checking what's coming up on some of my favorite channels, looking for interesting shows that I may want to check out).

Overall, the much better response of the TiVo means much less frustration and a much more enjoyable experience. And while searching on the HR-series boxes has improved a lot from how it was at first, the TiVo searching is still better, faster, and more powerful with wishlists and season passes.

For my wife, the most important aspects of TiVo would be the intuitive interface that she can master without needing help from any computer nerds, including advanced features like being able to easily setup multi-keyword, multi-criteria wishlists and unlimited season passes - she brutalizes the TiVo; the HR-series boxes don't stand a chance with her. That would be followed closely by the two-tuner buffering/switching and the TiVo peanut remote.

For me, I could live with the searching and series-link limits of the HR-series. What is so much worse for me is simply the poor responsiveness across the board, especially the pause, fast-forward, and navigating the Playlist. That "press... wait... press... wait..." element of the HR-series DVRs is simply painful and frustrating - I almost forgot how bad it was, until I got this new TiVo again. Supposedly this gets better with the new HD interface that DirecTV is rolling out - I'll let you know because I still have one HR23 to compare with.

So I would say that if you're starting from scratch (i.e. not a DirecTV customer), I might look into Cable TV with a real TiVo Premier or TiVo Premiere XL. In my case that would have meant three new TiVo boxes ($300 each for the XL) plus three lifetime subscriptions at $500 each - total $2400. Whereas the two DirecTV TiVo boxes were $199 each, $398 total - a $2,000 difference! Plus, there's all the hassle of switching to Comcast. For that reason, I'm so happy DirecTV and TiVo finally got this new TiVo out the door. And there are things about DirecTV I actually like over Comcast. In my case, there are college sports that I cannot get on Comcast and my wife refuses to give up the east coast feeds of the cable channels and movie channels (because it means she is more likely to find a time to record all her shows without conflicts). Plus there's the HD quality. I think DirecTV still rules on that (Comcast around here seems to vary quite a bit in terms of quality of the HD).

In summary, with all the things you could legitimately complain about with this new THR22 TiVo, for my household, it's a godsend. It's been so long, I thought this new TiVo might land with a thud, and in some ways, you could say it should be a loser - but then you use it for a little while and all is right with the world. Haters are gonna hate, but I say, while I'm not happy that you took it away three years ago, I thank you DirecTV for listening to us and giving us TiVo again!

Officially NOT a DirecTV hater anymore

2011-12-19T22:18:00.000-08:00

Ok, so DirecTV took my TiVO away and pushed their crappy DVR down my throat and it took them three years to give it back. But they did it, finally. And so, officially, I cannot say I'm a hater anymore.

Sure, I'm a tad bitter about it, and all those years suffering with the HR-series DVRs, but I have to admit that they, both TiVo and DirecTV, have persevered through whatever negotiations, ego and otherwise, to finally get a new HD DirecTV TiVo out the door, at a price I'm not thrilled about, but that I can live with.

Despite all the bad things you could say about this new TiVo, I'm happy. Perhaps not as happy as I could be, but I'm happy, so happy to have my "peanut" and responsive fast-forward, etc etc back. TV is enjoyable again.

Thank you DirecTV and TiVo for sticking it out and making it happen.

The TiVo has landed!

2011-12-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, ! got the DirecTV TiVo HD DVR installed today!

It hasn't even had time to load all the guide data yet, but first reaction is mixed. It is comforting to have the TiVo "bleep bloop" feedback again for sure. But it's disappointing how much DirecTV has gone out of their way to cripple this new TiVo.

It is SO GREAT to have the two-tuner interface again, to easily be able to switch between tuners! If there's one feature I miss on the DirecTV DVR, that's it. With all the weird obscure features DirecTV keeps throwing onto that DVR it just amazes me that they can't give us a way to switch between tuners.

In general with this new DirecTV TiVo, the response to menus, typing text for searches and fast-forward, pause etc. are better (by far) than the normal HR-series DirecTV DVR... BUT it is still not as snappy and responsive as a real TiVo (or the old HD TiVo) - damn you DirecTV!

Don't get me wrong. Even as much as DirecTV has tried to ensure TiVo doesn't overwhelm their own DVR software, this new TiVo is still a VASTLY BETTER experience than the absolutely tortuous standard DirecTV DVR.

Full write-up coming soon.

DirecTV TiVo Still a Unicorn

2011-12-14T18:59:00.000-08:00

The installer came to deliver the DirecTV TiVo HD DVR that I ordered. Or at least, that's what he supposedly was here to do. Except, DirecTV's ordering and fulfillment failed to tell him that. So when he arrived at the house today, he had no idea why he was here. When he found out it was supposed to be to install the new TiVo, he basically freaked: They didn't have any.

So he called his "guy" and they supposedly have a shipment of them coming in. So now they are supposedly going to come back in a few days. Something tells me I may never see them again.

As far as I'm concerned, the new DirecTV TiVo is still a unicorn. Lots of people say they have seen them, but until I have my own hands wrapped around its throat, it's just a myth to me.

UPDATE December 21, 2011: TiVo arrived see review.

It's a Christmas miracle!!! DirecTV TiVo HD DVR finally available!

2011-12-08T19:50:00.001-08:00

It's $199 and only available in selected markets through DirecTV: TiVo HD DVR. As far as I know, it is not available in stores.

DirecTV Web page: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/technology/tivo_receiver

There's surprisingly little detailed info about what features are included and what they left out in comparison to a current stand-alone TiVo, but I ordered the DirecTV TiVo HD DVR today so I'll be able to provide all those details in the next few weeks. Hopefully DirecTV didn't cripple it too badly and at least the price is not as bad as I feared. Certainly worth checking out. Like I said, I ordered mine already.

Why we want TiVo

2011-03-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

I've been using the HR-series DTV DVRs now for many years, along side old DirectTV-TiVos. I think I can speak with authority on the real-world differences between the HR-series and TiVo. People at first always said "Just give it time, you'll come to like the HR-series better than TiVo." While there are a few things I like better, the key parts of the experience are unreservedly worse.

Look, the HR boxes have gotten better, in many ways, since 2008 when I first had mine rammed down my throat. They don't crash as much, for one thing and many annoying bugs have been removed or improved.

But here's the deal. The HR-series DVRs have more features than TiVo, in some respects. But TiVo still wins in the basics: finding shows, setting up recordings, and watching TV (recorded or live). The HR-series DVRs suffer from feature-itis and they're guilty of one of the most deadly sins of UI design by focusing too much on the least-used functions and features while not focusing enough on the most-commonly used functions and features.

Here's a breakdown of the major issus, wins and losses, between the two interfaces/devices:

1. Speed

HR-series advocates often slam TiVo for being slow - and some of the functions are slow - but here's the thing: the things you do all the time are really, REALLY, fast and responsive on TiVo - not so on the HR-series DVRs. Pause, Fast-forward, menu navigation. When you click one of these functions, the response is near instant with TiVo and you also get the TiVo bleep-bleep feedback. While some advanced (i.e. seldom used) functions are faster on the HR-series DVR, the basics like hitting Pause, or fast-forward, or Menu, are tortuously slow on the HR-series boxes. You subconsciously train yourself to do things like hit Pause, wait.. and wait. Or arrow down a menu, and wait, etc. You don't want to click, click, click, because things can get crazy when it finally responds to that queue of events. Its almost comical, if it weren't so painful to deal with.

For the basics, the stuff you do all the time, Pause, Fast-forward, menu navigation, switching tuners, the TiVo wins - hands down. For these basic, and most-frequently used, functions the HR-series DVR is SOOOO SLOOOOOW and frustrating.

2. Recordings

Even with all the steady changes (sometimes improvements, sometimes steps backward, IMHO) to the HR-series searching and recording options, the TiVO is still better.

It's faster to find stuff on TiVo and faster to set it up to record - and the Wishlist model on TiVo is way easier to understand and use than the 'Recent Searches' and other weird search options on the HR-series - and I'm not a newbie here. I have been using this thing for a long time and I do a lot of searches, simple and complex, on the HR-series.

For many programs that I want to make sure I don't miss, I set the both the TiVo and the HR-series box to record the show/event. I have found that there are a few cases where the HR-series box recorded a program that the TiVo missed - but there have been many, MANY, more cases where if I hadn't set up the recording on TiVo, I would have missed the program. TiVo seems to handle when the guide changes better than the HR-series software does. It seems to be able to find the show after a guide change and still record, whereas the HR-series software doesn't seem to be able to do that and it simply dumps the recording-event and misses the showing. FWIW, when I've raised this issue with DirecTV Customer Service, their "solution" was to make sure I was there at the time the show started to make sure it recorded - Thanks, DirecTV. That's why I have a DVR, so I can be there when the show starts to record it.

Navigating the recordings is much slower and more difficult on the HR-series - it's back to that issue of not enough focus on the most commonly used tasks. It's push button on remote, wait... wait. Push button. Wait. etc. Whereas on the TiVo, it's bleep, bleep, watch.

3. Features

For obscure features I seldom use, the HR-series wins. Here are some of them:

It has Apps. I wish I could turn the damned things off. This feature is a waste of time - a lot of time, because the UI is so painfully slow.

Whole-Home DVR - this is a feature I would possibly use, if I had more than one HR-series DVR. But who would want more than one of these friggin' things - my wife won't let me get another one. She is happy with her 10-year-old, SD TiVo in comparison - she does NOT want one of these HR-series boxes - she knows what it's like from the one we have.

DirecTV2PC App - lets you watch shows on a PC. Unfortunately, they only offer a Windows App and we don't use Windows. There is no Mac version of the app, so I can't use this feature and according to DirecTV there are no plans to ever offer a Mac version.

Update December 2011: That's not to say TiVo doesn't have features that the HR-series lacks. Certainly a real stand-alone TiVo Premier has a lot of features that none of the DirecTV DVRs have. One example where TiVo clearly wins is the 50 "series links" (season passes) limit on the DirecTV DVRs. Obviously, this only applies if you have more than 50 season passes - but if you do, it's a show-stopper (my wife has over 150 season passes on her TiVo).

4. Some things I like about the HR-series

The Thumbnail video in the upper right corner while navigating the menus. At first I didn't like it, but I have come to like this more and wish TiVo had it.

On-demand. Well, DirecTV calls it "on-demand" but really it is "queue to download and watch tomorrow" (actually I think they have renamed this feature again and now it's called "DirecTV Cinema"). I use this. I don't love it, but it is okay. I wish searching was better and I wish you could filter out extra-cost content and have it only show free (ie. already paid for with my $150/mo check) content, but it's a extra that I like - I could live without it, but it's nice to have. Obviously, stand-alone TiVo boxes play Hulu and Netflix content directly (but not the DirecTV-TiVo boxes).

Summary

DirectTV has strung me along for two years now, getting me to wait for the release of a new HD TiVo. I don't think it's ever going to happen - or even if it does happen, from all I'm hearing it's not going to be that great anyway - operating on the slower HR22 hardware. If it doesn't give me what the old TiVo boxes give me, as outlined above, it doesn't solve my problem. I really don't know what we'll do. Probably just live with the old TiVos until they die. Maybe by then we can just shut the whole thing off entirely - or maybe I'll just have to bite the bullet and go with Comcast and stand-alone TiVo boxes. Why haven't we done that already?

We already know Comcast sucks - there is no wondering about that
DirecTV told us they would have a new TiVo box to be released "the first part of 2010"
DirecTV quality is (reportedly) better
DirecTV gives us more east-coast timezone feeds to get the shows earlier and to give us more ways to avoid TiVo overlap where we can't record a show because too many shows we want to record are on at the same time
Cost of (at least) three Stand-alone TiVo boxes, cablecards, etc.
Inertia of changing

DirecTV has strung me along and, because there are so few options, boxed me into a corner - and it's pissing me off.

Lots of chatter about DirecTV TiVo

2011-03-09T09:22:00.001-08:00

People really want this thing:

	julezig: @DIRECTV when, oh when, will the hd TiVo be available? Wed Mar 09 2011 08:48:27 GMT-0800 (PST)

	chapel976: @DIRECTV I signed up for the TiVo beta a while back and never heard anything. My family wants TiVo back more than anything. Wed Mar 09 2011 07:58:31 GMT-0800 (PST)

	chapel976: @DIRECTV When is the new TiVo box coming out? Wed Mar 09 2011 07:53:30 GMT-0800 (PST)

	mrigali: @TiVo @DIRECTV alright already, can you two please figure out and fix whatever the problem is so i can get a DirecTiVo? sheesh. Tue Mar 08 2011 22:46:42 GMT-0800 (PST)

	SpikeSmith: @TiVo ok I'll beat on #directv. I mean sheesh, their dvr is J-U-N-K! Lol I'll beta test your directv TiVo box if you need field 'help' lol Tue Mar 08 2011 20:43:57 GMT-0800 (PST)

	TiVo: @SpikeSmith We're dying to get it to you too. :) Yes, still scheduled for this year. DirecTV will have to speak to timing specifics. Tue Mar 08 2011 20:36:44 GMT-0800 (PST)

	SpikeSmith: hey @TiVo how about our #Directv TiVo sometime THIS year? We are literally dying out here with these 'dvrs'. :( Tue Mar 08 2011 20:29:11 GMT-0800 (PST)

	dw4980: @TiVo why the delay with directv? What's the big hold up? Tue Mar 08 2011 17:48:37 GMT-0800 (PST)

	dw4980: @directv Any news on the tivo? This thing is taking forever! What's the hold up? Tue Mar 08 2011 17:46:02 GMT-0800 (PST)

	farmdwg: @DirecTV @Tivo I'm here waiting for an update. Early 2011 is GONE!!! Can we say Early 2012? Tue Mar 08 2011 09:13:22 GMT-0800 (PST)

	DirecTV_TiVo: I second that “@the_cooler: @Directv I want to volunteer to beta test the Directv HD TiVo. Can you help?” Tue Mar 08 2011 08:32:19 GMT-0800 (PST)

	the_cooler: @Directv I want to volunteer to beta test the Directv HD TiVo. Can you help? Mon Mar 07 2011 18:49:59 GMT-0800 (PST)

	farmdwg: The @DirecTV and @Tivo partnership is sinking. Did it really take you 2 years to come up with that. Was this a promo stunt?? Mon Mar 07 2011 08:16:52 GMT-0800 (PST)

	farmdwg: @DirecTV @Tivo No news and we're in MARCH 2011!! Early 2011 is escaping you. HA HA! You finally updated your website and removed early 2011. Mon Mar 07 2011 08:14:29 GMT-0800 (PST)

	dylan555: RT @dustincaruso: @DirecTV @TiVo - make good on your 3-year-old promise of new hardware, or I'll be leaving after more than 10 years as a loyal customer... Mon Mar 07 2011 06:45:05 GMT-0800 (PST)

	DirecTV_TiVo: RT @iamurlegend: @DIRECTV hey have you seen the tivo premiere? im giving you 6 months and im switching to charter or something else! i need my tivo agian!!!! Mon Mar 07 2011 06:36:11 GMT-0800 (PST)

	DirecTV_TiVo: RT @dustincaruso: @DirecTV @TiVo - make good on your 3-year-old promise of new hardware, or I'll be leaving after more than 10 years as a loyal customer... Mon Mar 07 2011 06:35:35 GMT-0800 (PST)

	DirecTV_TiVo: @BoothRich Wanna ditch DirecTV and use TiVo to save money? Check this out : http://t.co/pk60c9T Mon Mar 07 2011 06:34:58 GMT-0800 (PST)

	EKimmel: @dewalker a little TV trivia: when Tivo 1st came out they made DVRs for DirecTV. DTv's orginal dvrs were Tivo, but now you can't get them :( Sat Mar 05 2011 15:23:12 GMT-0800 (PST)

	dustincaruso: @DirecTV @TiVo - make good on your 3-year-old promise of new hardware, or I'll be leaving after more than 10 years as a loyal customer... Fri Mar 04 2011 21:47:32 GMT-0800 (PST)

	hinds24: Glad I'm getting rid of my DirecTV. I think my Tivo is so old it isn't recording all my shows anymore. Hulu catches them though! Fri Mar 04 2011 16:10:26 GMT-0800 (PST)

	directv: @iamurlegend Our new DIRECTV TiVo receiver is still in development. Fri Mar 04 2011 08:36:05 GMT-0800 (PST)

SF Giants 2011 HD Schedule

2011-02-28T09:44:00.000-08:00

I was kind of assuming this year, now that Comcast Sports BA is a single HD channel (instead of the old 696 and 696-1 Std def vs. HD way it worked before) that this year I wouldn't need to massage the Giants schedule at all. Turns out I was wrong. The official schedule on the Giants MLB site doesn't list the TV info for games other than FOX and ESPN. And of course the Comcast site doesn't list the games other than those on Comcast. Sheesh.

So, yet again, I've taken data from http://www.csnbayarea.com/pages/schedule_giants and the sfgiants.com site to create calendars of the HD broadcasts of San Francisco Giants games for 2011.

You can download the ZIP containing two ICS (iCal) files here. One file contains all the games on Comcast Sports and the other file contains the games on other networks.

Enjoy.

Seeing hints from Beta testers for DirecTV HDTV TiVo

2010-12-19T11:16:00.000-08:00

It appears that some folks are hearing from TiVo about the new DirecTV HDTV units.

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=460571

I've been a DirecTV subscriber for over a dozen years and have had TiVo since the first unit came out in 1999 - my wife lives and dies by TiVo - we have a TiVo in almost every room of the house - we both subscribed to receive "updates" about the DirecTV TiVo well over a year ago, when they first started the list and we have yet to receive a single "update" of any kind. We are currently running our family room HDTV from an old HD TiVo getting nothing but standard def, because my wife would rather do that than struggle with the friggin' HR series DirectTV DVRs.

If anyone should be a Beta tester for the new DirecTV HDTV TiVo, it's my wife. Sheesh, TiVo.

Anyway, if the Beta testers are seeing activity, perhaps there still is hope for a new HDTV TiVo for DirecTV after all and we will finally see this thing made available.

Finger pointing between DIRECTV and TiVo

2010-07-01T12:25:00.001-07:00

When you ask TiVo about the new DIRECTV box, they say "we'll tell you when DIRECTV has any new information."

When you ask DIRECTV, they say "The latest word from TiVo is that it will be available later this year."

So who is really holding this up, TiVo, or DIRECTV?

Rumor: DIRECTV to Buy TiVo?

2010-06-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Zacks.com reported that shares of TiVo leaped 5.11% June 15, following rumors of a buyout by DirecTV.

DirecTV could use TiVo's intellectual property to gain competitive advantage against cable, telco and other satellite providers.

For TiVo, a deal would guarantee a reliable marketing and distribution partner for its DVR software. DirecTV has agreed to license TiVo's software, but has been slow to roll out the service.

However, Zacks.com also reported that no "concrete information" was available from either TiVo or DirecTV on the rumor.

DirecTV TiVo now due "second half" of the year

2010-06-20T10:40:00.000-07:00

Forever, we were told it was coming in the "first half" of this year. Now, Tom Rogers tells us that the DirecTV TiVo is still coming, but now it "looks like the latter half of this year" - does not sound very concrete to me. It sounds like whole thing could still fall apart.

It's interesting that the "resounding question" people wanted to know was the status of the DirecTV TiVo - did you guys hear that, DirecTV?

SF Giants 2010 HD Schedule

2010-04-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Once again, compiling data from http://www.csnbayarea.com/pages/schedule_giants and the sfgiants.com site, I've created a calendar of just the HD broadcasts of San Francisco Giants games for 2010.

You can download the ZIP containing a CSV file and ICS (iCal) file here

I've already noticed however that finding these games on DirecTV can be a challenge. Games listed on the Comcast site as being in HD on CSN-BA are not always on DirecTV in HD (or if they are, it can be really hard to find them).

Note: 2011 schedule here: http://burnedbydirectv.blogspot.com/2011/02/sf-giants-2011-hd-schedule.html

The new TiVo HD

2010-01-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

directv: @puck90 The new TiVo HD is scheduled for the first half of this year but the date has not been finalized yet.
Wed Jan 27 2010 10:24:42 GMT-0800 (PST)

Why does it take so long to update the guide?

2009-12-21T13:08:00.000-08:00

Two tweets from yesterday (Sunday, Dec 21).

First, at 8:30am Pacific:

DirecTV: Urgent NFL note: Late schedule changes to NFL games due to bad weather may not not be correctly list for your local FOX or CBS channel guide

Then, at 4pm we see:

DirecTV: @Ratdoggy the guide was not able to update in time to reflect the last minute changes from the NFL. The San Francisco game moved to 4PM ET

So why is it they can tweet but they can't update the Guide data? I guess we're suppsoed to applaud DirecTV for tweeting these updates - but it seems odd that they can't push it to the Guide too - I mean they own the infrastructure for it. What is the technical limitation and why don't they fix it?

HD DVR w/ TiVo

2009-12-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

Via Twitter,

http://twitter.com/directv/status/6501817838

New HD DVR w/ TiVo is scheduled for the first part of 2010. The best place to get updates when available is tivo.com/directv

http://twitter.com/directv/status/6540188328

TiVo Scheduled for early next year.

Via Tivo:

New and current DIRECTV satellite service customers will have the option to enjoy a next-generation HD Digital Video Recorder — sold and distributed by DIRECTV — that supports both DIRECTV's incredible High-Definition programming and the TiVo service, including features like Universal Swivel™ Search and TiVo KidZone.

Tivo software running on the Comcast DVR

2009-12-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

This is cool news, Tivo as an OEM software provider:

In selected areas of New England, TV fans can now choose between a stand-alone TiVo^® HD DVR with a cableCARD™ and a Comcast DVR with TiVo^® Service.

The Comcast DVR with TiVo Service is delivered as a software download to a Comcast DVR and offers access to TiVo's award-winning interface and Comcast's On Demand content. The TiVo Service also provides exclusive features, including TiVo WishList^® searches, TiVo Suggestions, and Season Pass^® recordings and an easy way to find your favorite shows on TV or On Demand.

The key phrase being "TiVo Service is delivered as a software download."

Some props

2009-08-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

As I recently noted, at least DirecTV is still trying to help, which is more than I could expect from Comcast or AT&T U-verse, the other choices in my area.

They came and relocated the dish. So far, pixelation and dropouts have decreased, so in that regard things are better. Still the same issues with the HR-XX (now an HR-22, in my case), but at least one problem has improved a lot.

This puts one "lesser of evils" credit in DirecTV's favor. I was 100% ready to switch to Comcast when I couldn't even get them to return sales calls or give me the same answer twice - that reminded me what to expect after I was a customer, if they couldn't even help me while trying to get me as a customer.

I think we'll all be happy if I don't have to call DirecTV for a while - that would be a good thing.

acceptance

2009-07-11T23:42:00.000-07:00

They wear me down. I pay them $150 per month. And, like a fool, I expect something for that.

The reality is the service is what it is. DirecTV is never going to make it work right, never going to give me what I'm paying for. They can't. They broke it when they went Mpeg4 HD. DirecTV will never again be as good as it was.

The problem is, they set the bar too high with the Tivo-based DVR. That experience was terrific. I didn't have to call DirecTV to complain (or write a blog to vent). It just worked.

Then they switched us all to their own DVR, the HR-21 in my case. And at the same time, their overloaded satellite feeds couldn't handle the quality Mpeg2 HD bandwidth, and so the Mpeg4 streams come along, with a bunch of new hardware that is not reliable. So we end up with choppy audio, breakups, video pixelation, and on and on.

And it's not that they don't want to help us - it's that they can't. They got themselves into this mess with bad technical and strategic decisions. Even if they answer a tech. support call, it doesn't matter, the tech. can't do anything about what is really broken, which is the entire DirecTV HD service - DirecTV works fine for standard-def (other than all the hardware and software bugs in the HR-xx series DVRs), but it is fundamentally broken for HD. The tech. on the phone can't fix that, even if they wanted to (nor can they fix, or even admit to, all the software bugs in the HR-xx series DVRs).

I think I might be able to get better technical quality from Comcast, because their system now (with digital etc.) is technically superior. However, it is a cable company. I know the support (customer service) is going to be terrible. I can barely get them to return a sales call, or listen to the questions I'm asking long enough to answer them. If I'm one of the unlucky ones where something does go wrong, I can't expect Comcast to be responsive at all, anymore than I can expect a "temporary tax" to go away someday. It's not in their DNA to provide customer service.

DirecTV is supposed to have a Tivo box for HD again next year, but due to the fundamental problems with their system, and given that DirecTV will hobble the machine and not support all the features of the normal Tivo box, I'm not sure that's enough.

Basically I'm screwed either way. Cable is a gamble. It might work, but if it doesn't I'll never get help from Comcast. DirecTV may have better customer service, i.e. they might try to help me, but they can't because their system is technically broken.

Yet another HR-xx DVR swap

2009-07-11T23:38:00.001-07:00

They swapped in another box. Of course that means I lose all my programs saved to the old box and I also have to "re-program" the new box with all my preferences and series and wishlist-equivalent recordings etc.

After a few weeks with the new box, it seems no better than the old one. Same problems. Missing recordings. Recordings that won't play. Etc. etc. just like everybody reports all over the net.

And the jitters, hiccups, pixelation, and audio breakups in recordings persist.

still pixelation even after service call and LNB swap

2009-06-21T14:38:00.000-07:00

DirecTV came out last week to align my HD dish. They swapped out my 5LNB "Slimline" for that the installer says is the "new" 3LNB "Slimline" - and he also professionally aligned the dish (right?). Well, now a week later, pixelation and audio hiccups is back on HD channels again.

DirecTV Baseball FAIL

2009-06-21T14:35:00.001-07:00

Game today on 696-1 is not there - you just get the DirecTV logo. Same game is playing on the low-def channel 696 but not in Hi-def on 696-1 (Comcast Sports Ney Bay Area HD). When you tune to 696-1 it says the game is there in the Info/title - but no game.

Logging issues here in addition to sending to DirecTV to keep a history. Sick of this crap. Not posting on other sites as they can't really help with any real problems - they just like to blame the victim.

DirecTV Help Forums for cheerleading only

2009-06-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

It should not be a surprise that the DirecTV Help Forums at http://forums.directv.com seem to do all they can to avoid the truth getting out about the real problems with the DirecTV DVRs.

But I was a little surprised to see the degree of censorship and "discussion control" over there. What is this, China? If a thread doesn't go the way they like, they will simply remove it. They may let it sit there for a while, but then if they can't find a satisfactory way to "blame the victim", the moderators pull the thread.

The moderators claim they are real DirecTV customers and that may be, but they are clearly selected based on their irrational support for all things DirecTV, especially the DirecTV DVRs. I suspect the interview goes something like a Bush-era DOJ interview:

Tell us why you find the HR21 and other DirecTV DVRs to be the best on the market.
What is it about DirecTV that makes you want to serve with all your heart?
Aside from the HR21, give us an example of another DirecTV product you admire.

A particularly touchy subject is the HD DVR area. It appears that the moderators have been told to be especially careful regarding this subject. While the rest of the net is full of reports of never ending problems with the HR-xx series of DirecTV DVRs, the DirecTV Help Forum moderators unconditionally claim they have no problems with the HR-xx series of DirecTV DVRs and anybody with a DVR issue must have other issues. The forum is totally opposed to any problems ever being due to general HR-21 issues. If a problem is with the DVR, it must be one particular DVR, a rare individual defective unit - not a general software or hardware bug. They refuse to admit there are such problems and it's pretty clear DirecTV has told them to say as much (or has made it clear to the moderators that they would lose their precious moderator status if they didn't unconditionally deny any such issues).

Why are they so touchy about their DVRs? Well I think it's pretty clear that it's because the boxes are a hellish nightmare for customers and a looming nightmare for DirecTV. As Cable TV goes digital and adds to the HD lineup, DirecTV starts to lose advantages. Blaming everything on the dish, satellite, and "installation" as is the typical "blame the victim" strategy of the DirecTV Help Forums, may backfire on DirectTV because, even if the problems are related to such dish-related "installation problems", customers are not going to tolerate them. Customers can make all dish-related problems go away, simply by getting rid of the unsightly dish all together. Guess how? - Cable TV. Thus, relegating DirecTV to the niche of serving areas where cable TV is not available.

At one time, DirecTV had several competitive advantages over Cable TV:

much better quality, digital vs. analog signals
more channels
better guide and user interface, (especially later with the Tivo DVR)
not having to deal with the cable company, who we hate about as much as the phone company

The big disadvantage? the DISH and "installation" issues

With Cable TV now digital, the above advantages start dissolving. One huge advantage cable has going for it (besides the market monopoly issue) is bandwidth. They can drive way more content into the home, which especially effects their Video-on-demand (VOD) capabilities, which far surpass those of DirecTV.

Also, with CableCARD one can use their own DVR, such as Tivo, with Cable TV, which is not possible with DirecTV. Even when DirecTV offered a Tivo-based box, it was still a DirecTV-specific model that had specific DirectTV-imposed limitations (no Music and Photo streaming, no Multi Room Viewing, no transferring shows to your PC, etc.), further swinging the balance away from DirecTV.

There's still that issue with hating the cable company, but with what DirectTV has done to me since the HR-21 and with the attitude over at the DirecTV Help Forums, it's about a wash now - only took a year and an HR-21 to convert a 10+ year DirecTV fan into a hater - and I know I'm not the only one. Good job, DirecTV.

Update: I'm told it's not the independent moderators who remove posts, but "Forum Administrators that are DirecTV employess that randomly review posts to ensure that they are in compliance with the 'Forum Terms & Conditions'"

At the end of my rope

2009-06-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

I've been with DirecTV for 12+ years. I'm sorry, but the DirecTV apologists on here are just plain wrong. I was happy all those years, many of which using Tivo Boxes and then DirecTV forced their HR-21 DVR upon me. That's when all the trouble started. After 10+ years of nearly no calls to DirecTV for support, it's been one problem after another for the the past 13 months (since the arrival of the HR-21 box). Before that I recommended DirecTV all the time. Since then, it's been an utterly unpleasant experience. There is no variable in the equation except the HR-21 box. No amount of DirecTV fanboy logic can change that.

Suffice to say with swapping boxes, software upgrades, freezes, glitches in audio, crashes, bad recordings, missed recordings, and on and on - I am at the end of my rope and considering switching to Comcast HD, who I already know I dislike. And the Comcast switch involves $1000 in installation fees and new TiVo boxes, and I think I'm still going to do it and be done with DirecTV, once and for all.

Has anybody else done this? How has it worked out?

HR21 0x2F6 release comments

2009-05-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

April 30, 2009 my HR21 downloaded a new version of the DTV DVR software, designated 0x2f6. There is a lot of talk of bugs and issues with this new version. Here's some comments I have about it, after using it a few weeks.

They have added some feedback so one can tell (usually) when something is clicked/selected with the remote. It doesn't give a Tivo "bong" sound, but the selected item/button does flash once to indicate it was clicked. Before, for many functions ("Delete" comes to mind) there was basically no feedback that the option was clicked for several seconds, which would cause one to press again, and then those clicks were "buffered" and played back later (much later) and the whole thing was annoying. With the new "flash" once" feedback at least you know the operation has started - it still might take 10 seconds or more to finish or to provide any additional feedback, but at least now you know to just wait rather than keep clicking.

They also added some additional progress bars at certain points (again, "Delete" comes to mind) to provide further feedback that the receiver is doing something. In the past, deleting a program could take a long time and there was basically no feedback that anything was happening.

For some silly reason they increased the "jump back" when using single-speed (one arrow) fast forward. This make this fast-forward mode almost useless because the time it takes to fast-foward is lost in the "jump-back".

A lot of people are complaining all over the net about audio and video break-up and sync problems. So far, for me, these have not been worse than I have always had with the HR21, or at least not it's not noticeable for me yet (very few recordings are 100% free of defects in audio or video with this blasted machine; there are always some burps and skips, and DJ-like scratching (repeats), video artifacts, pixelation etc.)

I have had some recordings that don't play for no apparent reason. They show as having normal duration but they won't play. They just get "stuck" - no combination of fast-forward, jumping around etc. cause the video to play. It would just jump from beginning to end and not play. A not quite as fatal of a situation is sometimes during playback a recording freezes and I have to fast forward to start it going again - there is a "hole" of a few seconds to a few minutes in duration in the video that will not play no matter what.

Update: You can find more about this release on DBSTalk forums here: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=155859

Update May 2009: I am now experiencing te pixelation and audio drop-outs that everyone else reports. It seems unlikely to be signal / dish issues becuase resetting the HR-21 box causes the issues to go away for a few hours. Others have started to simply unplug the box each night. DirecTV customer services refuses to accept that there are issues and provides the standard "swap the SATIN cables" useless advice as usual. I am just sick and tired of this.

Diversion: SF Giants 2009 HDTV games

2009-05-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

CSN games can be found on 696-1 (usually).

I combined data from the SF Giants site “broadcast schedule” and the Comcast Sports Net Bay Area site “Giants schedule” to produce a list of all games planned to be broadcast in HD this year. It assumes NBC and FOX are available in hi-def.

A ZIP file containing a CSV and ICS calendar can be downloaded here: http://mrblog.org/hdgames2009.zip

Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Channel
05/15/2009	07:15 PM	Mets at Giants	NBC
05/16/2009	01:10 PM	Mets at Giants	FOX
05/17/2009	05:00 PM	Mets at Giants	ESPN
05/19/2009	07:05 PM	Giants at Padres	CSN
05/20/2009	07:05 PM	Giants at Padres	CSN
05/21/2009	07:05 PM	Giants at Padres	CSN
05/22/2009	07:10 PM	Giants at Mariners	NBC
05/24/2009	01:10 PM	Giants at Mariners	CSN
05/25/2009	01:05 PM	Braves at Giants	CSN
05/27/2009	07:15 PM	Braves at Giants	CSN
05/29/2009	07:15 PM	Cardinals at Giants	NBC
05/30/2009	06:05 PM	Cardinals at Giants	CSN
05/31/2009	01:05 PM	Cardinals at Giants	CSN
06/10/2009	06:40 PM	Giants at Diamondbacks	CSN
06/12/2009	07:15 PM	Athletics at Giants	CSN
06/13/2009	07:05 PM	Athletics at Giants	NBC
06/14/2009	01:05 PM	Athletics at Giants	CSN
06/15/2009	07:15 PM	Angels at Giants	CSN
06/16/2009	07:15 PM	Angels at Giants	CSN
06/17/2009	12:45 PM	Angels at Giants	CSN
06/19/2009	07:15 PM	Rangers at Giants	CSN
06/20/2009	06:05 PM	Rangers at Giants	NBC
06/21/2009	01:05 PM	Rangers at Giants	CSN
06/22/2009	07:05 PM	Giants at Athletics	NBC
06/24/2009	07:05 PM	Giants at Athletics	CSN
06/29/2009	05:15 PM	Giants at Cardinals	CSN
06/30/2009	05:15 PM	Giants at Cardinals	CSN
07/01/2009	05:15 PM	Giants at Cardinals	CSN
07/03/2009	07:15 PM	Astros at Giants	NBC
07/05/2009	01:05 PM	Astros at Giants	CSN
07/06/2009	07:15 PM	Marlins at Giants	CSN
07/07/2009	07:15 PM	Marlins at Giants	CSN
07/09/2009	07:15 PM	Padres at Giants	CSN
07/10/2009	07:15 PM	Padres at Giants	CSN
07/11/2009	06:05 PM	Padres at Giants	CSN
07/12/2009	01:05 PM	Padres at Giants	CSN
07/24/2009	06:10 PM	Giants at Rockies	NBC
07/27/2009	07:15 PM	Pirates at Giants	CSN
07/28/2009	07:15 PM	Pirates at Giants	CSN
07/30/2009	07:15 PM	Phillies at Giants	CSN
07/31/2009	07:15 PM	Phillies at Giants	NBC
08/01/2009	06:05 PM	Phillies at Giants	CSN
08/02/2009	01:05 PM	Phillies at Giants	CSN
08/07/2009	07:15 PM	Reds at Giants	CSN
08/09/2009	01:05 PM	Reds at Giants	CSN
08/10/2009	07:15 PM	Dodgers at Giants	NBC
08/11/2009	07:15 PM	Dodgers at Giants	CSN
08/12/2009	12:45 PM	Dodgers at Giants	CSN
08/15/2009	04:10 PM	Giants at Mets	CSN
08/16/2009	10:10 AM	Giants at Mets	CSN
08/23/2009	12:10 PM	Giants at Rockies	CSN
08/25/2009	07:15 PM	Diamondbacks at Giants	NBC
08/26/2009	07:15 PM	Diamondbacks at Giants	CSN
08/27/2009	07:15 PM	Diamondbacks at Giants	CSN
08/28/2009	07:15 PM	Rockies at Giants	NBC
08/29/2009	06:05 PM	Rockies at Giants	CSN
08/30/2009	01:05 PM	Rockies at Giants	CSN
09/05/2009	01:05 PM	Giants at Brewers	FOX
09/07/2009	01:05 PM	Padres at Giants	CSN
09/08/2009	07:15 PM	Padres at Giants	CSN
09/11/2009	07:15 PM	Dodgers at Giants	NBC
09/12/2009	06:05 PM	Dodgers at Giants	NBC
09/13/2009	01:05 PM	Dodgers at Giants	CSN
09/15/2009	07:15 PM	Rockies at Giants	CSN
09/16/2009	07:15 PM	Rockies at Giants	CSN
09/18/2009	03:33 AM	Giants at Dodgers	NBC
09/19/2009	01:10 PM	Giants at Dodgers	FOX
09/20/2009	01:10 PM	Giants at Dodgers	CSN
09/22/2009	06:40 PM	Giants at Diamondbacks	CSN
09/24/2009	07:15 PM	Cubs at Giants	CSN
09/25/2009	07:15 PM	Cubs at Giants	CSN
09/26/2009	06:05 PM	Cubs at Giants	NBC
09/27/2009	01:05 PM	Cubs at Giants	CSN
09/29/2009	07:15 PM	Diamondbacks at Giants	CSN
09/30/2009	07:15 PM	Diamondbacks at Giants	CSN

directv comcast sports net bay area hd

2009-04-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

Comcast Sports Bay Area baseball games broadcast in hi-def do not appear in the guide until a few hours before the game, apparently. This is a total pain. Unless I remember to record the game before it starts, I miss the chance. For example, the game tomorrow is not in the guide yet, so I can't tell the DVR to record it. What a PAIN!

DirectTV - fix this!

program was no longer available (13)

2008-06-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

This machine is a royal pain. The latest issue is programs are not recording and when I look in the history I see "This episode was not recorded because the program was no longer available (13)."

Apparently this is (yet another) common problem with the DirecTV DVRs (HR20 and HR21). Thankfully I had one of the programs set to record on my Tivo as a backup, and it worked so I at least got to watch it (but the Tivo is not hi-def). The fact that Tivo was able to find and record the program (based on a 'wishlist') and the HR21 was not, sums things up pretty well. If it's a guide problem, the Tivo was able to handle it, while the HR21 was not. Typical.

Other discussions of this error:

Another user summed it up well:

This is why I hate, hate, hate that I had to give up TiVo. Can you imagaine trying to call DirecTV and getting troubleshooting on this? They will have absolutely no clue. Not that TiVo's Customer Service was that much better, but AT LEAST I NEVER NEEDED IT!

A typical HR21 zealot told me that my problem is I'm setting the recording too far in advance and that I should set it to record when the program starts. Umm, yeah. Besides that fact that that is an absurd suggestion (why do I have a DVR if I have to be home to activate recording of the program?), in the case of some of these programs, the recording was set within 24 hours of the program start time, not days in advance.

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area

2008-06-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

DirecTV is changing the channels for three stations as of today:

Comcast SportsNet Bay Area: 696; CSNBA HD: 696-1; CSNBA Plus: 697

Unfortunately DirecTV’s on-line guide (and DVR guide for that matter) don’t keep these channels up to date so it’s a real pain in the neck to set up recording.

Some minor nits

2008-05-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

Compared to the problems I was having, complaining about missing Wishlists seems pretty petty. In other words, if all I can complain about right now is Wishlists, then I'm doing pretty well.

But now that the HR21 has been working for a little over a week with no major problems, I'm noticing the smaller things. One of them is Wishlists. I really miss them. The HR21 has a feature called Autorecord which is the closest thing to the Tivo Wishlists. However, it's not the same.

For one thing, the Tivo lets you define and manage Wishlists. You can do things like list the Wishlists you have set up, or show the upcoming matches for a given Wishlist. Also with the Tivo, you don't have to auto-record everything - you can just use the Wishlist to search for shows (sort of like a saved search) and then select the ones that you really want from those matches.

The HR21 Autorecord feature doesn't do any of this - at least not that I can find. The auto-recorded programs appear in the To Do list with everything else, but there doesn't appear to be any way to quickly find what programs match a given Autorecord, for instance. Again, if I hadn't had Tivo before, I probably wouldn't even notice - in fact, I probably would never even have figured out the Autorecord feature exists at all (or how to use it). The only reason I found it was because I went searching, because of the Wishlist feature from Tivo.

This is a big difference between the Tivo and other DVRs. With Tivo, you find features seamlessly in the process of using the device. And when you do find them, they are obvious. You don't have to refer to a complicated "how to" guide to use them. All you need is the remote and the feedback the user interface provides. With the HR21 (and other DVRs I've seen people use), you literally need a huge cheatsheet with codes and "secrets" for how to use the features. It reminds me of the situations with the iPhone vs. other cell phones - the iPhone features are "natural" and people figure them out without a manual, and can actually use them - many other so-called "smart phones" have more features than the iPhone, but the user's of those phones don't even know it (or don't use them) because the features are so "unnatural", so difficult to find and so difficult (impractical) to use.

So far, so good with HR21 no. 2

2008-05-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a run-down of the problems I experienced in the week or so that I had my first HR21 DIRECTV box:

Blank recordings (black/empty screen)

Recordings that do not play (ask “delete?” when played)

Recordings with video and audio drop-outs, unwatchable

DVR stops responding to Remote and Front Panel Buttons

Black screen “Not authorized - Searching for signal” on certain channels

Fast forward speed 4 freezes and stops fast forwarding

Gets stuck doing a “search by title”, finally times-out and returns to “live TV”

It's only been 5 days, but so far (knock on wood), I have not seen these issues yet with the second HR21, although I have not really had an opportunity to test items 5 and 7.

DirecTV reports Q1 2008 numbers

2008-05-08T22:08:00.000-07:00

The company's U.S. revenues rose 14 percent in the first quarter to $4 billion and the average monthly revenue per subscriber increased 8.6 percent to $79.70.

DIRECTV says that seven million customers (41%) now subscribe to a HD and/or DVR service (DIRECTV does not break out statistics for individual high-def and DVR subscribers), up from 30% a year ago.

DIRECTV HD and DVR customers spend nearly $100 per month on programming packages, which is more than 50 percent greater than a non-HD/DVR customer, according to DIRECTV CFO Patrick Doyle.

The company claims the increase is due to expanding its high-def programming lineup. DIRECTV last fall had just nine national HD channels, but has since increased that total to 95.

TiVo
DIRECTV is "not doing a lot" in regard to expanding its relationship with DVR service TiVo, says CEO Carey. The executive said the company is now focused on deploying company-owned DVRs for new services, such as VOD and home networking. (DIRECTV pulled the plug on its marketing relationship with TiVo a few years ago, but still offers service for existing TiVo/DIRECTV set-tops.)

"I think we have a constructive relationship (with TiVo)," said Carey. "We are not doing a lot in all honesty but I think we have an honest dialog that I think is sincere about seeing if there are things that make sense for us."

"I think things like a DVR will become just like a VCR or a DVD player was in a home and become a mainstream part of an experience, as will HD," said DIRECTV CEO Chase Carey.

If that's the case, DIRECTV should be concerned. They risk losing a lot of customers that are fed up with their terribly unreliable DIRECTV DVRs.

Swap - HR21 number 2

2008-05-06T15:02:00.000-07:00

They took away the first HR21 and gave us another one. More news when the guide data and such is up to date so we can start using it.

Freeze on search

2008-05-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

Lots of problems the past few days with the HR21 DirecTV DVR. More scrambled recordings, and shows not recorded. Etc. Each time we call DirecTV their "solution" is to reset the box.

The latest is using "Search by Title", it just goes into an infinite "Searching..." screen and then after a LONG time (like 10 minutes), it goes back to live TV.

From the search by title screen you enter some text. Some shows are listed and matching that text. WHen you click on one of the matches is when you get the "searching..." progress bar that never ends.

Today's suggestions from DirecTV was to "swap the cables" (the cables coming from the dish) on the back of the box, and press the little red reset button - ridiculous. That's the best they offer to any problems.

In the more than a dozen years of being a DirecTV customer before getting this HR21 DVR rammed down our throat, I think we've called DirectTV no more than 20 times. We've had to call every day, sometimes twice a day in the couple of weeks that we've had this piece of garbage DirecTV DVR.

Technorati Profile

2008-04-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

Technorati Profile

mixed luck yesterday

2008-04-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday a Giants baseball game failed to record - this may be a foul-up with Comcast Sports Net. With the Sharks playoffs, "versus" and Comcast Sports are fighting over the Sharks games and making a lot of last minute changes to their schedules - too last minute for DirecTV and the result is the DVR doesn't know when the shows are on.

The HR21 DVR did record the Sharks playoff game in Hi-def, but the recording was horrible. It would play for a moment, then pixelate and freeze for several seconds. This continued for the whole 4 hour recording. Hi-def for 10 seconds, garbage for 5 seconds, is not exactly an improvement over old-fashioned SD TV.

two "good days"

2008-04-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

I've had two "good direcTV days" in a row - Sunday I was able to watch the F1 Race on SPEED in high-def, a couple of baseball games on Comcast Sports in hi-def, and the Sharks game in hi-def. These are things I couldn't do before - these channels are the new HD MPEG4 feeds, not supported by the HR10-250 Tivo box.

Each of these recordings did have a few glitches, but they were mostly fine. Also the HR21 box has not locked up or crashed for 2.5 days.

When it works, HD is nice. I just wish it worked ~~a little~~ a lot more reliably and consistently

The "Upgrade"

2008-04-27T01:58:00.000-07:00

After 12 years with DirecTV, the last four or so of which with the DirectTV HD Tivo HR10-250, I finally let them "upgrade" me to their own HR21 box.

DirecTV broke their deal with Tivo a few years ago and built their own DVR box. When not enough users switched, they rolled out new HD channels that only worked with their own DVR (and not with existing base of Tivo HD DVRs). DirecTV has been pushing HD Tivo users hard to switch, and gradually pulling channels from the HD Tivo, until today it has almost no HD channels anymore.

They have been hassling me for months to switch, but as they started shutting off HD channels on my HD Tivo, I finally relented.

They installed a new dish and HR21 box last week. It's been a disaster so far. Beyond the horrendous UI compared to Tivo, it freezes, locks up, is buggy, slow, and often unresponsive. Buttons don't do what they're supposed to do, or are erratic. The remote is flaky. It won't control the volume on my DENON receiver (Tivo remote did).

There are audio problems and video burps, especially on the "new" HD channels (such as HD local). I have yet to have it make a flawless HD recording - they all have some amount of drop out and other artifacts, missing hunks, etc.

Scheduled recordings don't record. The list goes on.. and this is after just ONE WEEK!

People that have never had a Tivo box may put up with the clumsy user interface, since they don't know any better, but nobody is going to put up with fact that their TV doesn't work anymore.

People speak of Vista being a fiasco for Microsoft - This situation with DirecTV's HR21 is far worse. DirecTV may never recover from this. Cable companies and Dish should be jumping all over this with a "fix your broken DVR campaign" making it easy to switch - they would clean up. They could convert 90% of HR21 users within a year.