We've been getting a call for a couple of weeks about how DirecTV needs to upgrade our hardware for the new channels.

At first it sounded like a pretty good deal. But now that I look at it, it was pretty crappy.

I really LOATH the new DirecTV DVR. I want my HD-TiVO back. :-( It's way too complex, and tries to do too much stuff only at a mediocer level. The screen is too cluttered. There are also too many buttons on the remote. The text is smaller, and it's harder to navigate. Recording a season pass isn't nearly as clean and straight forward.

To top it off, our old dish wouldn't pick up the new channels. The old dish was on the roof. But our tech didn't have a 20 ft ladder. So he cut the cables as high up as he could. He then let the old dish sit up there as he put this massive new dish on the side of the house. And it's a freakin eye-sore really now that I look at it.

Now I need to go to home depot, buy a 20 ft ladder, climb on the roof, drop the old dish, and seal the holes with silicon sealant.

The new HD receiver doesn't include ATSC decoding like my RCA DTC-100 did. And I need to go in and edit my profiles because hitting the "game" channel causes me to loose my last station.

The tech told me he was supposed to take back several pieces of our old equipment. But I told him that I paid out of pocket for these receivers, and the salesman over the phone told me I could keep my old equipment.

And to add insult to injury, DirecTV added the HD package on which I never asked for. This was never explained to me when I agreed to this "upgrade" We had hi-def at one time, however we couldn't make out much of a difference between std def and high def on the 56" RPTV we had. So we canceled it. When they removed HBO-HD and HDNet from their standard package lineup, the upgrade wasn't worth it to us. And why the heck should you have to pay for HBO-HD when you already pay for HBO?

So if DirecTV calls you for an "upgrade", take the word "upgrade" with a dash of salt.

The Tivo interface is much better. I liked Tivo's alternate guide view (where you select the channel and in the left pane it showed what was currently on and the right pain showed a list of upcoming shows). The DirecTV branded DVR only shows each channel on one line, so you have to scroll across to see what's coming later in the day

When finished with a recorded show and you went back to the list, Tivo would keep you on the show you just watched; DirecTV's system takes you to the top of the list. I don't like that as I may have several episodes to watch and I then have to keep scrolling all over the place just to get back to where I was.

There are bunch of other things - too many to list here, but I agree. I miss the Tivo interface.

I love my HR20 700 much better than the HD Tivo in my book.

To set a season pass (or "series link"), just go to the guide and press the "R" button twice. To cancel it, press it a third time. It is instantaneous, quite a bit faster than the old Tivo based HR10-250 I had.

And why the heck should you have to pay for HBO-HD when you already pay for HBO?HBO-HD costs extra? :(

DG: It seems a lot of your unhappiness comes from the installer. Personally, I have no idea why you allowed him to perform the shoddy work in the first place, but we all are different.

As to TiVo, I preferred it too, but now find the DirecTV DVR is not only comparable in ease of use, but the better MPEG-4 PQ more than makes up for any in convenience I had in gradually learning how to use it. (And I had spent about $1,000 getting added hard drive space in my TiVos.)

I have had four DVR upgrades over the years and never, NEVER, was I asked to return the previous model.

But whatever, if you are that unhappy with D*, change providers. Find someone you are happier with.

Life is too short for this kind of angst.

I stopped reading when he said he couldn't tell the difference between HD and SD on a 56" set. I miss my Tivo as well, but the 50 or so extra HD channels is well worth it.

I stopped reading when he said he couldn't tell the difference between HD and SD on a 56" set. I miss my Tivo as well, but the 50 or so extra HD channels is well worth it.

We could tell the difference between SD and HD. But the cost upgrade for the minor improvement was not justifiable. We still got the annoying macro blocking in dark scenes. (The hazard of tubes is their great black levels which show such details.) Also, DirecTV still broadcast a lot of their new HD movies in PCM stereo! I get a much bigger difference in PQ with higher quality ATSC, BluRay and HD-DVD.

We also have a Toshiba 56H80 RPTV from 2000. So it's not like dot by dot LCD's HDMI we have now. So maybe something is getting lost because we are going over component. Copy protection maybe?

I'm just warning people that the upgrade may not be as pleasant and seamless as you would think.

The Tivo interface is much better. I liked Tivo's alternate guide view (where you select the channel and in the left pane it showed what was currently on and the right pain showed a list of upcoming shows). The DirecTV branded DVR only shows each channel on one line, so you have to scroll across to see what's coming later in the day
.

You can do this with the HR20, sorta. In the guide, highlight the channel number and then press "info." Note, I do not use the original remote (I have an mx500) so if there is no "info" button, appologies in advance.



When finished with a recorded show and you went back to the list, Tivo would keep you on the show you just watched; DirecTV's system takes you to the top of the list. I don't like that as I may have several episodes to watch and I then have to keep scrolling all over the place just to get back to where I was.



I think if you hit back or left you can go back to the last place you were in the list.

I miss the tivo interface too, but you can do the things you mentioned, they are just not intuitive like with tivo.

I stopped reading when he said he couldn't tell the difference between HD and SD on a 56" set. I miss my Tivo as well, but the 50 or so extra HD channels is well worth it.

+1.

The issue that people do not realize is that they are getting an INSTALL, not a DEINSTALL.

The installer is a private third party paid by D* to INSTALL and not paid that much. They are not paid to DEINSTALL anything.

Sometimes the individual can make an arrangement with the installer to wire things differently or do extra things, but that obviously was not done in this instance (probably could not in this case as the installer did not have a 20 foot ladder).

However, it is standard procedure to NOT take a dish off a roof as that leaves a holes in the roof from where the J Bracket is taken out. The holes are not the same for the newer Dish (it's larger) so that means you have holes in the roof and water comes in when it rains.

There are countless posts on this (as well as the differences on the HR10-250 and the HR21 series) on AVS and with 900+ post the OP cannot claim to be a n00b.

The customer has the right to approve or disapprove where the dish goes - and could have cancelled when the installer did not want to install on the roof (again, they would not have DEINSTALLED the old dish).

Personally, I would not have had them cut the Coax as it could have possibly come in useful down the road.

But bottom line, if an installer is putting in a dish where you do not like it, cancel and go with cable.

If they cannot see the difference between HD and SD on a 56" TV, then quite frankly, I am surprised they can the Dish on the side of the barn.....errr house.

...we couldn't make out much of a difference between std def and high def on the 56" RPTV we had...

You may want to spring for an ISF calibration. Seriously.

There is a thread on AVSforum that talks about CRT RPTV's. ISF calibration is expensive but it's worth it on this type of TV. For OTA you can get an AM-21 which isn't too expensive. The AM-21 hooks into the back of the DVR and can get OTA channels with the HR-21.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=695922

ISF does a great job of calibration which is awesome. This thread is just for you DigitalGriffin. A good calibrator can make your CRT RPTV a much better experience.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=695922

ISF does a great job of calibration which is awesome. This thread is just for you DigitalGriffin. A good calibrator can make your CRT RPTV a much better experience.

With all due respect, anyone who cannot make out the difference in HD or SD is not a good candidate for calibration and will probably be a problematic customer. He might be a good candidate for a Best Buy ISF as most likely he will want his money back :rolleyes:

LOL ...how do we now if the OP's 56" RPTV is even an HDTV ... it could be one of the last of the 4:3 SD sets. ;)

Chris_h2:

I'll play when I get home. Thanks for the tips.