DirecTV HD DVR - HR2*/ HR34 Master Topic: one thread for all - Page 53

I was surprised they chose to mail me a new receiver. I was certain they would schedule a service tech to come out. Best case scenario I get a 24. Worst case I get what I have now. I can't complain too much about that.

I have a HR 20 with an OTA antenna and an external 1GB eSata hard drive.

There was an update about 2 months ago when DirectTV changed the whole home screen that has made my HR 20 almost unbearable to change the channels or go to the menu screen.

What is the best number box to replace my HR 20 that still works with my OTA and eSata hard drive?

Thanks for your help!

Any one will do that, but for OTA you'd need to add the AM21 OTA/ATSC tuner adapter, $50 from DIRECTV.

Well, best depends on what you want. The HR24 is the best 2-tuner DirecTV HDDVR. The HR34 is the best/only 5 tuner DirecTV HDDVR. The THR22 is the best DirecTV 2-tuner Tivo HDDVR. All should work with the AM21 OTA tuner rad mentions. The 1TB eSATA drive is probably not necessary with the HR34.

-Ted

What is a 5 tuner? It can record 5 shows at once?

Yep.

http://www.weaknees.com/pdf/hr34-spec-sheet.pdf

My replacement receiver arrived today. I had the HR21/100. The replacement is a HR21/200. Now I gotta program all my shows into the DVR.

Called DirectTV last night, able to speed my HR 20 up by turning the scrolling effects off and turning the native off. I have no idea what those 2 things do but, it did make it quicker.

Scrolling affects how the guide moves with the channel up/down. Off has the whole page change, while on has it scroll up/down.

Native on/off has to do with the resolution output. Native on has the receiver output the same resolution as the program is broadcast in. Turning it off has the receiver output a fixed resolution [you select].

Some simply select a resolution the same as their TV, while others use native and let their TV do scaling, which takes slightly longer but may have a better PQ.

My AM21 won't work with my HR34, no setup option I can find.

Works with mine. Once you connect it the setup menu option for satellite changes to satellite and antenna, that's where you set it up.

You should find it in the SAT setup menu.

I just got the HR24 installed to compliment my HR34 earlier today. Damn! The HD GUI on the 24 is so much faster than the HR34! It's night and day. Channel changing is faster, guide scrolling is faster. The thing is just overall more responsive. It's a shame that the HR34 can't be like this. And knock on wood, thus far with the HR24, no searching for satellite messages, I haven't played with the HR34 yet today to see if I still get it on that. I had a lot of wiring changed today as in addition to getting the HR24, I took the liberty of adding a World Direct dish to my collection of satellite dishes on my roof. So now I've got the Slimline 5 and access to the 95 degree bird in case I ever need it.

Can't wait to do my first CE on the HR24 tonight!

First of all you need to be smart enough to hook up both cables in the back.

My HR24/200 receiver has been overheating for the last couple of weeks. The effect is more pronounced in the mornings after the DVR comes out of the standby mode. On most days the DVR self check shows the temperature is above 141 degrees and so it goes in self cooling mode. However even throughout the day the temperature does not drop below 122. Usually it's hovering around 127. I had no overheating problems over the last year ever since I got it. I have not changed the dvr's placement.

The overheating coincided with the firmware upgrade.

I have reset the DVR and made sure there are no scheduled recordings. The fact that the DVR seems to overheat during standby mode is telling me that the fan is not running during standby. Having said that I have confirmed that the fan runs when the DVR is on.

Does anybody else have the same issue or any experience with DVR overheating?

I have HR20/100 that has been slowly dying. It requires multiple cold restarts every couple of weeks or so. Then two days ago we woke up to the blue computer screen showing it is checking the hard drive and it already found 12 errors... It was able to restart eventually, but I don't want to wait until moment it can not restart completely.

I call CSR and told them about the problem. They initially wanted to send me the replacement, but said they cannot guarantee the model. I said how about sending the tech guy to see what they have on the truck. The lady on the phone eventually cave in and said they will send somebody on Monday. What are the chances the guy will have Hr24 for me?

Well - I just had the truck visit my house and they replaced my HR22 with another HR22. Can't complain though - tech guy redid the wiring to my dish allowing me to record while watching different station - original house wiring (circa 1998) and subsequent tech visits never resolved that problem. for me

Thanks. Let's see what they will have.

Also, when I talked to the CSR lady yesterday about wanting HR24, she started saying that my current HR20 "setup" might not even allow switch to HR24. She was saying something about 2 coaxial cables coming in to HR20 vs. 1 cable coming in to later versions of DVRs, and that I cannot simply swap the receiver to a new one and expect it to work.

Can somebody explain what was she talking about? Isn't 1cable setup simpler than 2 cable setup? You can should be able t ogo from 2 to 1 easily, but going from 1 to 2 requires additional wiring. Am I missing anything?

CSRs seem to get lost easily.

The HR20 and all through the HR24, work with both a legacy [2 coax] and SWiM [single wire] systems.
The HR34 & H25 are the receivers that only work with a SWiM.

Thanks, veryoldschool!

It is good to know that. I was actually talking to supervisor at that time and I think she was just trying to "discourage" me from pushing for a higher end model by not being compltely honest with me. I specifically asked her about HR24, and I never mentioned H25 or H34. So, her story about me not being able to upgrade to HR24 without chnaging the setup appears to be total BS

I mentioned a few posts back that DirecTV tech replaced my H22 with an identical H22 - but he was able to reconfigure my system to SWiM by changing out the piece of equipment (don't know the name) that sits in the dish and has either 4 or 5? connections. In any case I had spoken with DTV techs on previous occasions & they had all indicated that based on the existing wiring in my house that this couldn't be done.
Interestingly - he also mentioned that DTV contracts out all of their installations (at least this is true in New Mexico & I suspect elsewhere in the USA as well) to save money by using a sub contractor. He said he & his fellow DTV techs often have to spend a lot of time correcting installation problems!

What is the difference between the HMC HD DVR and the standard HD DVR besides the extra tuners and the extra storage. If I do not care about those, is there any reason to pay for the HMC over the standard HD DVR? Any difference is PQ, user interface or responsiveness of the units?

I just signed up for Directv and the agent steered me to the standard HD DVR, but I am wondering if the HMC has any benefits in terms of PQ, user interface or responsiveness? Please let me know.

Those are the main reasons. If you record a lot of shows, and like that you get errors that you have to cancel a show because they are stepping on each other. Don't get the 34. The only feature you missed is built in PiP. Currently the software is behind the other DVRs but will have parity soon. I doubt DirecTV will say one unit has better video or sound over another.

Just to be clear, the 34 is the HMC HD DVR, correct?

Correct.

After several calls to Directv to get an HR-34, finally got one. I had to go through retention department to get one. I was very clear that I did not want to cancel my account that all I wanted was to get an HR-34 and if possible to upgrade a couple of my receivers. I'm getting an install tomorrow plus ALL my non HD receivers replaced.

I did my own self upgrade tp a SWiM 16 plus DECA BB internet and currently have one DVR and one HD receiver sharing recordings. I did not really need the installer to come but Directv insisted that the only way for my to get the upgrade was for their installer to do it. It should be just a matter of changing a few cables on the multiswithch, that I'll to tonight, then the installer just has to replace the boxes, go through the setup and reboot everything. We'll see how it goes.

So far I've loved how the whole house DVR system works. Can't wait to see what the HR-34 can do.

The 34 is really nice. Love not seeing the recording conflict errors. When they did mine they redid the wiring from the dish, four wires down to one, the SWiM and Decca upgrades and because I had the maintanence contract replaced the second HR-20 with a 24. My 20-100 wasn't compatible with the new setup. So instead of more retwring, swapped the box.

Enjoy!

What did you pay for your hr34?

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=3038762#post3038762

I know some guys have gotten this for nearly nothing, as I mentioned at dbstalk I don't mind paying for it, just not an ungodly amount. I thought this was acceptable...
looking forward to it tomorrow.