The pain of shopping for a new DirecTivo receiver. (1 Viewer)

[Kei]

I've looked through a number of threads on the DirecTivo. I haven't found any comparison reviews of the receivers that are out there, though I'm sure I must not be looking hard enough.

Who has DirecTivo? What box do you have? How fast is the menu?

I've gone to ABC Warehouse, and Radio Shack in my neighborhood. They won't sell DirecTV equipment anymore because Pegasus controls the area I am in and they don't get a kickback.

Neither Circuit City nor Best Buy currently have any DirecTIVO equipment. Both gave me vague "we are supposed to be getting them in" answers.

Aside from the fact I can't find one, where can I try before I buy???? I find it amazing that none of these retailers has demo equipment. I made the mistake of purchasing a newer RCA receiver to get the digital outs. I was appalled when I got it home and realized the menu moves at a snails pace. Thompson sent me a new unit with the same "feature". I asked for an old unit at a loss as a swap and they refused!

How is one supposed to "shop" for these receivers????

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[Robert_J]

where can I try before I buy???? I find it amazing that none of these retailers has demo equipment.

That's because we are in a transition period between Series I and Series II.
Series I menues are slow. Series II does have a faster processor but since no one has seen them, we don't know if it will make much of a difference. But once you get a Tivo, you will do much less channel surfing. These things were designed for you to watch recorded TV no live TV.
-Robert

 

[Kei]

Thanks for the reply.

Would everyone recommend waiting for the Series II? Does anyone know if it will be "upgradable"?

 

[Robert_J]

No one knows about the upgradability. It does come standard with USB ports. There is speculation that there will be external storage.

-Robert

 

[Reece]

I would look for a series I Directivo (just my opinion).

Since the series II "hackability" is in question, and the series I has been hacked many times over, it might be the better choice if you plan on upgrading your unit. The price of both units is fairly close now and I still see open box units at places like GG.

Either way these combo-units are a great value.

 

[Kei]

Well after I thought about it, I'm going to have to wait for the series II. I told my wife the reason we needed a new receiver was because the menu on the current receiver is so damn slow. Nothing like limiting your options.

 

[MikeM]

Is that really the only reason you want a new TiVo? If so, you can always consider hacking it. I can't guarantee this, but if you upgrade the hard drive in the unit to one with 80MB, 7200RPM and let's say an 8MB buffer, you may see faster menu re-draws and scrolls. The buffer could help. Vets will say that 7200 RPM hard drives will kick out more heat than 5200 RPM models, but I've never actually seen this be a problem.
As Robert said, run over The TiVo Community Forum and read all the pros and cons of hacking the device. Try a search for "buffer" and see what comes up about menu speed.
You would void your warranty, and if you break it it can be a pain to get back up and running.
However, if you enjoy upgrading PCs and don't mind tinkering it a bit, you can do it yourself, and it's very customizable. You may be able to see faster menus, and even if not, you'll have the fallback option of having a TiVo with a larger capacity.

 

[MikeM]

Kei, I should also point out that 9th tee has a new item available specifically for speeding up the menus.
It's called a Tivo Cache Card, and you can find the information at the following link:
http://www.9thtee.com/tivocachecard.htm
Once again, hacking your Tivo involves opening up the box, voiding your warranty, yada, yada, yada. I don't have any experience with this new device, but the 9th tee network card I placed in my Tivo has been a fantastic little device that has worked perfectly.

 

[TonyTone]

Kei--assuming that you are an existing Directv customer (you must be since you mentioned purchasing an RCA DBS receiver), what you could do is order the T-60 package that Directv is currently offering to existing customers ($199 + shipping + tax--gotta call them and mention the DTVO promo code to get the package, though); it includes the Sony T-60 DirecTivo receiver plus free installation (running cable(s) so as to take advantage of the dual-tuner function, and multiswitch). Unless you already have two lines alredy running to whereever the DirecTivo unit is going to be located at, plan on running the dual lines yourself, or don't intend to make use of the dual-tuner function--you're gonna need to have someone run the extra line for you. If so, that's where the free installation for the Sony DirecTivo package comes into play.

If you still want to hook up a Series 2 down the road, you can just swap out the T-60 with the Series 2 (presumably an HDVR2) unit and either hook up the T-60 in another room or sell it on Ebay; Directv won't penalize you for deactivating the T-60 as long as you maintain your Directv contract, i.e., subscribing to a programming package for the duration of the contract (usually a year).

As far as menu speed between the T-60 and the HDVR2--I heard anywhere from the T-60 being slightly faster to a virtual crapshoot. You probably already know the hardware differences between the two so I won't bore you with the details.

 

[Michael*K]

I don't have DSS and I'm quite satisfied with my current (analog) cable service. Assuming that I don't have any need to chuck my cable service for the expansive number of viewing choices that DSS offers, is there any technically superior reason for choosing a DirectTivo combo instead of the standalone Tivo box?

 

[Andy L]

The DirecTiVo only works with DirecTV, it will not record any other inputs. No MPEG encoder is built into the box because it records the DirecTV bitstream directly and no encoding is required.
I've used both a standalone TiVo and a DirecTiVo. The picture quality on the DirecTiVo is definitely better and the convenience of recording two programs at once can't be beat (or watching one and recording another, or recording two and watching another show that's saved ). The standalone TiVo can only record one show at a time, although you can be recording one show and watching another from the hard drive simultaneously.

 

[TonyTone]

As AndyL pointed out, there are tradeoffs between the SA and DirecTiVo TiVo units; however, being a DTV subscriber, I chose the DirecTiVo route. As a matter of fact I just bought the new HDVR2 this past Wednesday--a nice little unit. Now all I need to do to it is swap out the hard drive for a larger one...

 

[Mark_E_Smith]

Also dont forget the DTiVo can also record and playback DD 5.1 and outputs via Toslink! Even Dolby Surround sounds better.