Dish Network PVR (TiVo type) Receiver (1 Viewer)

[Scott Yuri]

Does anyone besides Dish Network make a unit that works with this system. I see the tivo's all over the place, but they are for direct tv. Or can they do both?

 

[Robert_J]

Stand alone Tivos (not the DirecTivo) and Replay TV will both work with Dish. They will record the analog output from any satellite receiver, cable box, antenna or basic cable.

Dish Network makes the Dishplayer (discontinued), PVR 501/508 (same box, different size drives) and the soon to be released PVR721 (dual tuner). Echostar (Dish's parent company) started out making receivers for big dishes and they continue to make all of the equipment for Dish and Bell ExpressVu (Canadian satellite).

Hughes Network Systems makes the Hughes, Philips and Sony DirecTivos. I'm not sure who makes the UltimateTV. All of these are only compatible with DirecTV.

-Robert

 

[Gary Thomas]

I had a Tivo in use with a basic Dish receiver & now have a PVR 501.

Comments:

Tivo's interface is significantly better than 501.

Program selection is much easier w/ Tivo vs. 501.

Replay quality is better with 501.

I occasionally had problems with channel selection / communication between the Tivo & dish receiver.

I'll definately get the two tuner model when Dish releases it.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Scott: The after-market Tivo/Ultimate TV/Replay units take an Analog signal and record it digitally.

The native mode PVR and TivoDirect units record the digital bits exactly as they come off of the sat.

This is why the native-mode units will give you a superior picture & sound - less conversions.

I woluld strongly recommend if you have dish, you go with the 501/508 or wait for the dual-tuner 721.

 

[Robert_J]

The after-market Tivo/Ultimate TV/Replay units take an Analog signal and record it digitally.

The UltimateTV unit only records from DirecTV satellites. They do not contain an MPEG encoder to record from any other sources.

-Robert

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Thanks Robert. Good to know that Ultimate TV stays digital until playback.