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 It's based on the, now very outdated, HR22 hardware platform.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 One could argue that you're getting an old outdated UI with this new TiVo, but for me, getting that old HR10-250 TiVo interface back via the new THR22 makes me realize how much I missed it.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 You could argue that the interface is old and outdated.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
| 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 serviceSo 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.
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!
I so agree with you, I've used a TiVo for eleven years and I so prefer the TiVo over the awful Directv dvr. After just two days, I'm back in TiVo heaven.
My wife is a quadriplegic, the poorly executed D* dvr would start the screen saver after a couple of hours, she could't touch the remote. I reasoned, cajoled and complained about this problem for three months to no avail. It's not supposed to, but it did even after swapping 3 dvr's. I tested the TiVo for two days untouched and no problems.
She needs auto tuning, and if we wanted to have both tuners enabled, it was impossible to get the
program she wanted to display, it would always show the show tuned on the other tuner. Easily acomplished the first day with the THR22.
You've described my experience exactly. I would like to have some of the features that I lost by trading out this "new" DirecTV TiVo from my HR20 but overall I'll keep this one if for no other reason than its smoother/faster operation. The "press button...wait" experience is just too frustrating to make the other features I lost in the HR20 worthwhile. DirecTV's new HD guide is only cosmetic.
However, I do intend to call DirecTV to register my disappointment in their lack of info regarding the DirecTV TiVo's outdated UI and accompanying receiver as well as their intention to not update it. I've been a DirecTV customer since its beginnings in 1994, and this is the first time I've had a negative experience with them.
Excellent review. Thank you so much. However i've been searching online to find out if the SATA, Ethernet, and USB ports on this device are enabled (unlike series 2 versions of the DirecTivo). Can you tell me if they are, and what if anything you can do with them.
In regards to the SATA, Ethernet, and USB ports, I know for sure that the Ethernet port is not only enabled, it is effectively required (for on-demand downloads and swivel search at least).
As for the SATA port, supposedly the THR22 supports external hard drives, up to 2TB in size but I haven't tried it yet myself (and it may be only specific drives, not sure).
I don't know about the USB port. Maybe someone else will post more info.
I ordered the DirecTV HD TiVo three times from DirecTV in the last week. Each time, despite carefully verifying the order, they shipped me a regular DirecTV DVR instead. As it turns out, according to DirecTV, all orders for THR22s are being filled with HR24-100-Rs instead until March 17th. So in the meantime, I highly suggest ordering the THR22 from a third party.
FYI. There is a problem with obtaining the new Directv Tivo HD DVR when ordering online and over the phone. The ordering system has a glitch that they are not in a hurry to fix. I received 3 Directv HD DVR as well but it wasn't until I got give a special pin# with a dedicated agent in problem resolution, that the fix was to have a tech come out and install it but they had to put a note in the comments area of the order for the tech that says "regardless of what info was populated on the work order that it is to be a Tivo. They were going to charge me for the install but after so many screw ups they charged my account for the install and issued an immediate credit for it. It was approx $20 On the bad side, after seeing the 1080p display of the Directv HD DVR, it actually looks better than the Direct Tivo HD DVR. Keep in mind that the Tivo only has 1080p 24frames as a pass-through. Good Luck to all. After all this I may return the Tivo and go back to the Directv HD DVR.
DirecTV seems to have a lot of order and fulfillment problems, especially when it comes to TiVo. It's almost like they are intentionally sabotaging it and driving people to their own DVR models. We got lucky and got the installer (a third-party company) to really jump through some hoops to make the right things happen.
And even with DirecTV seemingly doing everything they can to get people NOT to buy the TiVo, all indications are that they are selling out everywhere they are available, although that might be mostly pent-up demand.
Another way DirecTV steers people away from TiVo, besides from making it really hard to buy them, is that if you make a fuss, they might upgrade you with a normal HR DVR free, while they NEVER give discounts on TiVo and always charge the $199.
I think the 1080p thing is a red herring. Are you saying the content (TV and not the menus) is that much better for you at 1080p? I still have one normal HR23 DVR and so I have the new menu and all that and I'd still much rather use the TiVo. For all the bragging about how fast the new HR DVR HD interface is supposed to be, the TiVo THR22 is still much smoother, faster, and more responsive... by FAR.
I hate the DirecTV dvr for the whole house. It has syncing problems as it gets lost and has to reset. I had a Tivo with a lifetime subscription that could not be added to the whole house. I miss my TiVo and am strongly considering going back no matter the cost. I really miss the pause one channel go to the other pause go back start again and back and forth. DVR for DTV sucks!
Guys, I go all yhe way back to the SAT-T60 then had the HR10-250... Now the HR22-100 and I are at odds. I can no longer deal with the lag.
What I would really like to know is, does the new THR22 TiVo allow one tuner to remain PAUSED while you switch to the other tuner. This is the only feature I'm really interested in. The HR22-100 does not do that.
Thanks,
Chuck
Hi Chuck,
yes, the THR22 has normal Tivo-style two-tuner switching; it allows one tuner to remain PAUSED while you switch to the other tuner
I had an HR10-250 and a DVR40 back in the day. I currently have 2 HR24s, and I find the new, fancy HD interface to be just as slow as the old SD interface, and it is still clunky. It is something like 6 button presses just to get to the to do list.
I am definitely thinking of going with THR22s when I move to a new house in August. I will lose whole home functionality, but that is a small price to pay for a responsive, logical interface.
FYI: It looks like Pandora is available on at least some HR units now.
Yes, I've seen a lot of reviews and posts on forums talking about how "fast" the fancy HD interface is, but I don't know where they are getting that idea because I still have an HR23 and can compare real world use, and I agree with you, that interface is SLOW SLOW SLOW and awkward for most things.
In a static screenshot, is it prettier than the TiVo? Maybe, in some cases. But is that worth putting up with slow and unresponsive controls - no way!
So is the HR-23 the newest box out there? I am a DirecTV virgin and in a dilemma. Let me explain and perhaps you can steer me in the right direction.
I have had cable for as long as I've had TV. In both the last two places I lived, Comcast has been the provider. I had 2 series 2 Tivos, then upgraded my HD TV to a TiVo HD, and then when I got an HD TV for my bedroom, I moved the TiVo HD into the bedroom and bought a Tivo Premiere. So, really, I LOVE TiVo. I had a Comcast HD box for about 2 months when I first upgraded to HD about 8 years ago and it was the worst experience. I remember fast forwarding, seeing the commercial end, pushing play, and still having 2-5 seconds worth of lag before it actually stopped fast forwarding. This left me having to rewind to get back to the show.
It was just too much and I paid the (at the time) ridiculous price to upgrade to the HD TiVo. Aside from the challenge of getting the techs to properly set up the CableCARDs every time I move, it has been so easy. I've never looked back.
Now I am faced to moving to an area with Charter instead of Comcast. My folks have Charter and hate it, absolutely hate it. I've been tempted to switch to DirecTV for years if for no other reason than the Sunday Ticket, but haven't pulled the trigger because Comcast has always treated me right. Now, the thought of dealing with Charter is a bit disconcerting and making me consider moving to DirecTV.
A couple folks I work with tell me they have the newest and best DirecTV DVRs that there are, and say there is no input lag, that the interface has the "jump back" feature known to TiVo lovers for so long where after you hit play while fast forward, it will jump back a few seconds. They even claimed there was a feature where the box could reliably skip 1 commercial at a time, so you just had to press it a few times and it would be at the start of your show after the commercial break.
My issue is this: some of this I can find on the DirecTV website. They advertise all these nice features. If it was truly as fast, responsive, and intelligent as the TiVo, I would take it. But if they have this nice interface and still a crappy hardware platform that leads to response time lag and such, I want no part of it. The $5 is irrelevant to me. I have been paying full price for 2 TiVos for over a decade. But if they just slapped the TiVo software (SD no less, which is a bit disappointing coming from Premiere's HD interface) on top of a crappy hardware platform, I don't want it. I want fast, responsive, intelligent.
So I am faced with 2 options. Switch to Charter, keep my two TiVos, and hope they are smart enough to get the CableCARDs installed and working and I don't hate their service. Option 2 is switch to DirecTV, but with what DVR box? A true challenge indeed.
What do you think>
Hi Eli, here's my suggestion FWIW. Since you already have the Cable Tivo boxes, I would suggest trying Charter before taking the big jump to DTV. I've had friends that loved their Charter cable, so it may vary.
As for your friends that have the Direct TV DVR and say there is "no input lag" I guess they are lucky. I have the DirecTV Tivo and an HR23 with the new interface to compare to daily and the lag and slow interface on that HR box is painful and frustrating to say the least, even though "theoretically" the TiVo has lower grade hardware. For me, the "skip" feature is useless because commercials never seem to match the time so it always takes me more time to reposition after using it than it does to just use the nice responsive FF on TiVo.
On the other hand, I'm not certain of the commitment to TiVo by DirecTV so I fear they may just pull the plug on it (again) at any moment and that's one reason I say to try Charter first, if you can avoid a long-term commitment.
My dilemma is this:I am moving and have fulfilled my 2 year obligation with Directv and now have the option again of Time Warner cable vs. renewing Directv but I really don't care for the annoying delay of the DTV channel description interface when 'flipping' compared to the immediate channel change with TW cable. Will the Tivo THR22 from DTV enable flipping without the annoying interface lag? And is the digital picture quality of TW comparable?
While the THR22 does remove the annoying interface delays of the HR boxes, it's still hard to say whether it's a good idea to leap into another contract commitment with DirecTV on that factor alone. It's not clear how committed DirecTV is to TiVo in the future, in terms of updates, new hardware etc. They clearly prefer if people to use their own crappy DVR software instead (presumably to avoid paying TiVo any money). I hope they support TiVo prospectively, but I'm not counting on it.
Someone here may have more personal experience with both Time Warner and DirecTV for comparison.
I've had the new THR22 unit for about 2 months now. I bought my first TiVo unit withing a year of them hitting the market and I've been dedicated ever since. Being a satellite devotee as well is why I've had to wait until now to make the jump to High Def. I'm pretty satisfied with the THR22, dispite the handicap DirecTV has given it. The speed, both in the menus and the channel switching, is very welcome. The biggest negative for me is it's lack of network intergration. It has no Media Access Key, thus it won't "talk" with your other TiVo units, or any other network device for that matter. It would have been nice to use a program like iTiVo to put some of the recorded programming on my iPad for travel. At the same time as this unit was installed, we also had a plain DirecTV DVR installed in our bedroom where we also have a TiVo Series 2. We were able to continue to keep the TiVo connected via the composite video connections, since we wanted some time to evauate the new DVR while being able to switch back to the TiVo if we wanted to. My wife MUCH prefers the TiVo interface, both the remote and the menus. Admittedly, I do as well - I think we'll be sticking with the old SD TiVo. On the upside, it will still work with iTivo. :)
Soooo nice to return to TiVo after 5 years suffering through Dish's ViP-722's horrible UI. The THR22 works great, even if it's had many TiVo features disabled by crusty old DirecTV. The kicker is the HD signal on DirecTV is *noticeably* better than on Dish, though there are a bit fewer channels (which were mostly junk anyways) - totally worth the trade-off. And as TiVo choices go, there's no comparison with Comcast's extremely poor HD signal quality - our cable-bound friends come over and are totally jealous of the picture quality, which is what it's all about! :-)
I'm curious what other Tivo fans would do with my conundrum:
I've kept my HR10-250 running on DTV all this time, but it's dying. I could spend $200 on a flat-rate repair from weaKnees (with no guarantee the saved programs & settings would survive), or spend $200 on the new THR22. So with costs being essentially equal, would you take your original DirecTivo experience or your new one?
(Yeah, an HR would be an option here too, probably even waiving the $200 for a 2-year re-up... but I hesitate for various reasons.)
Sorry to be so slow to respond to this.
In my opinion, the new THR22 experience wins, simply because it is compatible with all the current HD lineup, i.e. for the HD content alone.
Other than HD, the experience is similar, or roughly the same as the older DirecTivo, save for on-demand and Internet downloads, which are admittedly nice (and many/most of that content is HD too).
Thanks for the great article. I searched for it because my original DirecTivo unit (I guess that would be series 1) is starting to crap out on me. One of the tuners reports a weak signal no matter which cable I plug into it. I have kept it so long because I have been reluctant to give up my Tivo functions and my jury rigged 'multi-room dvr' feature that I created by splitting the signal from the back of the receiver and running another cable to almost every room in the house including the kitchen and two of the bathrooms. I have a Mac Mini and an AppleTV for the rare occasions when my wife and I watch different shows simultaneously or we want to see something in HD, like Game of Thrones. Anyway, HD signals wont run on that coax cable, so I have to come up with something else now. I'm looking into the new HD Tivo for DirecTV.
So, why do you suggest Cable TV for people starting from scratch but not for those who are already DirecTV customers? It seems that the pros and cons are pretty much the same whether one is already a customer or not. Also, how do you have scheduling conflicts when you have four tuners on each receiver? Does the multi-room feature unify the ToDo list and Now Showing list? Couldn't you get the cheaper Tivo Premier 4s and add up the storage capacity to equal the more expensive 4XL? I guess the answer must be no.
@Neil, the main reason about Cale vs. DTV was consideration for the costs of the TiVo boxes and lifetime subscriptions, vs. the upgrade cost and grandfathered TiVo lifetime, at least in my case.
If you have only one receiver, that cost is lower, so it's worth doing a comparison of channels available, HD quality etc. of DTV vs. moving to Cable for you, IMHO. Some Cable services offer TiVo in a package.
As for scheduling conflicts, the DTV THR22 TiVo has two tuners, not four, but it has live TV switching between tuners like any Tivo (the HR-23 receiver we have also has two tuners but you can't swap between them live).
It's not an easy call, and there's no one answer that's right for everyone, but I have to say that the longer I've used it, the more I'm happy with the THR22 DTV TiVo compared to either the normal DTV HR receivers, Dish, or the Cable TV receivers I see.
@Mr Blog Too, thanks for the info. I only have one receiver now because I'm still on the old standard definition Tivo. They aren't available anymore because Tivo only makes HD units. I can't split and run HD signals through my coax set-up. So, I'll have to get four or five Tivo boxes whether I do cable or DirecTV. You mentioned the price of the XL4, but isn't that extra cost only for the additional storage capacity? Wouldn't the sum of the capacity of 3 or 4 units of the cheaper model give a similar capacity to an XL, or is it not exactly additive? 200+ hours sounds like a lot to me, especially if there is an easy way to archive shows to a networked computer hard drive.
I'm trying to imagine how this multi-room feature works. For example, why would your wife care about losing the east coast feed if she has 12 tuners (4 tuners on each XL) instead? It sounds like Tivo isn't smart enough to unify the ToDo list.
If I install an off-the-air antenna and connect it to a Tivo Premier on the network, will I be able to view shows on other networked Tivos from DirecTV and the cable company?
@Neil, I guess if we had real TiVo XL units, the extra number of tuners along with TiVo multi-room could be the answer to scheduling conflicts. But, again, we would have had to spend over $2K to do that instead of the $400 for two THR22 DTV TiVo boxes (keeping one normal HR23 DTV box). TBH, I don't know with authority how well the multi-room feature works on a real TiVo. That's one (of the many) features that DirecTV forces TiVo to exclude from the DirecTV version.
@Neil, If I understand your question, the answer is no. The DirecTV version of TiVO is not compatible with real TiVo boxes made and sold by TiVo. The DirecTV TiVO has no multi-room capabilities at all (not even with other DTV boxes, the $15 mo service from DTV).
I have one Tivo lifetime subscription. It was only supposed to last for the life of the device. When DirecTV came to troubleshoot my reception problems, the tech told me that I wont have to pay for another Tivo subscription, just the $199 plus a two year contract. I guess you have two lifetimes, so you are even more attached to DirecTV.
If I can hold out a little longer, the cost of switching to cable might go down considerably because I would only need one Tivo subscription:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57440274-221/tivo-focusing-on-whole-home-viewing-with-ip-streaming-boxes/
I'm very tempted to switch to cable because they have 75mbps broadband while my DSL is maxed out at 3mbps.
Wow, thanks for this post/site. I feel exactly the same about when they forced their crap DVR on me. I basically missed the exact features you talked about, and was HOPING they would be on the new Tivo box, but it is mentioned NOWHERE?!? So, dual tuners and responsive controls here we come....
Thank you for your insight. I have always wondered how a loose cannon like Mark Latham was made leader and now it is explained, the old payback.
What small minded people, hate makes of us all.
And as for Latham, here was a man who called George W. the worst president ever ( he was right there) and then knocked people over in the stampede to shake his hand.
Obviously a man of no substance which explains his weathervane approach to policies.
However, as a political commentator I find Mark both refreshing and entertaining. A candid breath of fresh air who, because of his perceived ill-treatment by the ALP, is even-handed in his commentary, unlike the hacks like Kroger, Reith and Costello who just read from the prayer book and spout propoganda, thus dismissing their own credibility of argument.
HI: the thr22 tivo sucks. you cant delete the deleted files by group, only by one at a time.
also your hand controller will not work in a dark room. the tivo will not accpet hand controller inputs if the room is dark (no side lights on at all)!! so you cant change any channel or any other button push.
joe
Joe, the Tivo deletes groups. Just highlight the group in Now Playing and click "clear" on the remote.
As for the remote not working in the dark, I've never had that issue.
I was a DirecTV subscriber for the better part of a decade, starting with the original Sony DirecTiVo from circa 1998. Over the years my single dish outside proliferated to multiple dishes like so many gray flowers as DirecTV added more satellites.
But when DirecTV abandoned my HR10 in favor of their own equipment, I abandoned DirecTV in favor of Comcast. DirecTV's non-TiVo stuff is pure bat guano. Their native DirecTV UI and usability is abysmal.
Comcast is where I wound up. I'm not a fan of Comcast, but TiVo's commitment to cable is very strong, and that's clearly where the premium TiVo experience is to be found.
Bottom line: TiVo is more important to me than the transmission medium.
Also I feel DirecTV's on-again/off-again relationship with TiVo is likely to be off-again at any moment, and I don't want to get stuck in the cold again like I did with the HR10. For example, it seems like TiVo worked on their latest DirecTV stuff FOREVER. If it was a priority to them and to DirecTV it would have been released a year or two earlier.
Er, the above should be "single LNB dish outside proliferated to multiple LNBs", sorry for any confusion.
Actually, I didn't realize that Roamio was not the DirecTV version of TIVO. So in June of 2014 is there a new DirecTV TIVO, and if so is it equally as good as the one that you discussed? Thanks!
I have had Tivo since it first became available. There are 5 tvs in my house. When my husband couldn't live without HD we installed the Direct tv Crappola. Thank God I owned all my original Tivos! I returned one of the Directv units & replaced it with my Old Tivo on the TV I most watched. I'm not going to go into WHY because my fellow Tivo devotees have already been SO eloquent on the subject. Since then my husband has upgraded to the Genie but I held onto my Old Tivo, foregoing HD, replacing with spares as each one died. Finally out of spares, I was thrilled that I could get the THR-22. It has all my beloved Tivo features and I LOVE it but here's the rub...
I noticed that some programs which had OnDemand episodes available on the Genie did NOT have them on my Tivo. Probably would never have noticed except that I have Both systems in my house.
After an hour spent on phone with Tech and jumping thru all their hoops, the tech advised me that the THR-22 cannot access OnDemand on the network channels!! The tech had never even heard of this. She figured it out after reading the apparently VERY small print on THEIR specs of the unit. Are you kidding me? So even tho I pay EXTRA for my love of Tivo AND I was never advised of this that's the situation. I am pretty ticked off cause it seems to me if I can access other On-Demand, it's NOT the TIVO unit at fault but likely a Directv software decision that should be remedied IMMEDIATELY!!!
I already lodged a complaint verbally & on the site but if others have the same situation it might help if EVERYONE complained.
BTW if anyone else has the THR-22 and IS able to get OnDemand programs on their network channels I would like to hear about it. Just wondering if that was just a convenient explanation.
would love to hear from you
I own several Tivo's, but since switching from cable to Direct TV, they are just sitting in the closet. I miss them so much that I want to switch back to cable but my husband says no (even though he misses TIVO also). Can we hook up our old tivo dvr's with Direct TV?
It is utterly majestic, especially if you've suffered with the HR-series boxes, ... chrxl.blogspot.com