Best DirecTV receiver/Tivo combo? (1 Viewer)

[StephenT]

I have DirecTV service, and I really want Tivo service. My DirecTV receivers are some older models, so I was thinking I'd kill two birds with one stone and get a DirecTV with Tivo receiver. I'm interested in opinions on the Phillips DSR6000 vs. the Sony SAT-T60. The Phillips is ahead right now simply because it's cheaper. Is there any reason to get a separate PVR? Is the receiver/PVR combo the best way to go?
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Stephen

 

[Frank_M]

Stephen -
try the Tivo forum over at the AVS.com forum. It's amazing. That's where I learned what I needed before jumping in on the DSR6000... In fact, mine is due on Friday and I'm pretty psyched!
I got it from minidishes.tv, for $159. Then when you factor in the $100 Phillips rebate still available through the end of this month.. that seemed the way to go to me!
From what I know, the differences (aside from price) between the three units are non-existent.
I think they're like this:
Color - Black (Sony/Phillips) Silver (Hughes)
Menu Color Scheme - Standard Tivo (Phillips/Hughes) Different Colors (Sony)
Remote - Peanut (Phillips/Hughes) Sony (Sony. duh!)
The guts of the Phillips and Hughes are supposed to be indentical, actually. But I'd really recommend AVS to get much more info.
Good luck!

 

[Bob Jackson]

The DirecTiVo is better because it records the signal from DirecTV without any losses. It also has digital audio ouput (DD 5.1 on channels so broadcast). Also it is only $10/month per account ($250/lifetime) instead of $10 per unit.
The Standalone TiVo is better because it can record most any NTSC signal including locals channels not carried on DirecTV. Also if you leave DirecTV or they go to new receivers is a merger (very doubtful) you still have a TiVo to work with your signal.
The biggest difference between the DirecTiVo units (beside cosmetics) seems to be the fact all Hughes units (so far) ship with one disk drive (slightly better), but do not include a bracket for the second drive or connectors for the second drive (you need a new IDE cable and maybe a Y-cable for the power).
This only matters if you want to expand the recording time by adding a second disk drive.
[Edited last by Bob Jackson on September 18, 2001 at 11:12 PM]

 

[DeborahK]

Frank,
I looked at the DSR6000 at minidishes.tv and they all specify that they are for new DTV subscribers only. Is this how you got yours or were you upgrading and existing DTV system and found a work around for the "new" requirement?
Thanks if you can help,
Deborah
p.s. I looked at the DBS board you mention, but could find no discussion of this.
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[JohnnyN]

Do I have to have my phoneline connected in order to use PVR features?
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Somebody has to pay for retail businesses to let us walk in and audition high quality equipment side by side with our own dvd's and movies. I don't mind paying a premium to support this kind of service and convenience, I wish others would consider this when buying discounted b-stock merchandise from shady internet dealers.
JKB

 

[Pat Frank]

Yeah, a phone line has to be connected. Tivo sells a handy wireless phone jack device if you don't have a line in the area of your A/V equipment.
IMO the biggest advantage of the all-in-one unit (DirecTivo) is that you can record two channels at the same time, or watch one station while another is being recorded. Can't do that with separate units.
Biggest down side is not being able to record off cable. With some of the local programming not being available yet, it means not being able to record things like Star Trek (Enterprise starts next week, sigh) and Simpsons re-runs on a local station, for example.
(UPN is supposed to be picked up by DirecTV in January.)
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Pat Frank, MCSE, MCT
[email protected]
Miami, FL
(NOT the author of "Alas, Babylon", but thanks for asking.)
System: Yamaha RXV-992, Klipsch speakers, Panasonic DVD and a terrible TV!