We have been using UTV since March of 2001 and have 3 UTVs - one untouched and still going strong, one upgraded HDD and the third, a purchase off Ebay in 2005. We also have 4 Tivos and we hate to use them so we have them in places like our young daughters play room and our guest room to catch shows we might forget to record. We really hate Tivo but admit it gained a little better usability after DTV upgraded the interface a few years back. That being said, we are really not looking forward to switching to a different service when UTV goes end of life in 2008 or is it 2009 - does anyone REALLY know!! We also do not have HD (obviously) and its killing us to be not on the cutting edge...so we are looking at options.

I am asking this forum for their advice on the Verizon Fios service because this is the only forum that understands my expectations. Verizon and their sales guys promise the moon but I do not get any details on what the user experience really is. Here is what we really like about UTV and frankly can not live without:

1) Fast forward (at fast speeds...not just slow and a little bit faster)
2) "Upcoming Recordings" We travel a lot so when we go out of town and do not want to fill up the HDD we cancel the single recordings that week that we can live without. this not not cancel the series list.
3) The ability to stop, pause and get a menu in the middle of a show. I think you have to FF to end of show in Tivo or its not as intuitive (or a quick menu)
4) Responsiveness - UTV is fast. Tivo is unbearably slow.

We do not use PIP or the 30 second FF which I know a lot of UTV users love.

We have not looked beyond DTV UTV and Tivo because we have been happy with UTV and Tivo is such a disapointment that we have not been interested in more lackluster options. I understand HD Tivo is better but I also am more intriqued with the Verizon DVR that can be watched from other TVs...any advice? Are there any equivalant options to UTV on the market?

Another issue we face is the own vs rent service. We own all DVRs now so moving to rent is more expensive...but buying all new DVRS is bad as well.

We are also thinking about temporarily doing a dual service (DTV and Verizon) so we do not cut off DTV in case Verizon is horrible. Any advice is appreciated.

BTW - never had any issues with DTV. They have been great - even getting a new card for UTV in 2005 was a breeze We had the pixelization but that went away as noted in this forum a year or 2 ago. I'd love to stay with DTV if they had competitive options like On Demand and the DVR you can view from other TVs.

We are also thinking about temporarily doing a dual service (DTV and Verizon) so we do not cut off DTV in case Verizon is horrible. Any advice is appreciated.


I apologize that I can't offer any input on Verizon FIOS since the service is not available in my area, but I can offer this suggestion. If you do decide to audition FIOS, you can suspend your DIRECTV service for up to 9 months while you're making up your mind.

You might want to ask the rest of your questions in a FIOS-specific board.

Thanks for the advice. I started here because everyone told us Tivo was great and then we tried it. So far, Fios is getting very positive press but I think our expectations are higher after using UTV. The little things in UTV make the interaction so much better - esp if you use for hours day after day - ours definately gets a work out. I know I am preaching to the choir - I have watched this forum for years. Unless Fios is fantastic, we are holding onto UTV until they shut us down.

That being said, we are really not looking forward to switching to a different service when UTV goes end of life in 2008 or is it 2009 - does anyone REALLY know!!

UTV will not be shut off in 2009. The 2009 change has to do with over the air TV channels converting to HD. It's likely we will still be using UTVs for many years yet. There are a lot of standard definition receivers out there. Imagine the cost of replacing all of them (UTVs, Directivos, R15s and non-DVR receivers) not to mention the dishes that would need to be replaced. I still see single satellite dishes on houses when I'm driving around.