So a few weeks ago we replaced our HD TiVo with the new DirecTV HD DVR, the timing worked out well for us since the TiVo started getting flakey the week before the new DVR was delivered. Now that we’ve had it for a few weeks I though I’d share my impressions of it.  Find out the good and the bad on the next page…

The Good

  • The picture quality of the HD channels is noticeably better with the new DVR. While the TiVo looked really good (and definately better than standard definition TV), the DirecTV DVR is much clearer.
  • Local channels in HD!!!  In order to get our local stations in High Definition before we needed to use an “off-air” antenna.  In DC this wasn’t a problem, here though it’s a different story as we seem to be way too far away from the network transmitters to get a signal.  With the TiVo that meant we could only get the West Coast NBC and FOX HD feeds off the satellite, we were out of luck for ABC and CBS.  The new DirecTV DVR can receive our local networks over the satellite, that means we don’t have to watch the Los Angeles stations if we don’t want to and still get our HD fix.
  • Disk Usage Meter-  The DirecTV DVR shows in the program list how much space is available on the hard drive, while the TiVo has a similar feature it’s buried under a few menus and as a result it’s not that usefull.
  • Speed-  The HD TiVo was notoriously slow when it came to browsing the guide, it would take a few seconds for the TiVo to fully populate the guide as you were scrolling around through it.  The DirecTV DVR is very fast and doen’t experience any of the delays that the TiVo does when browsing the guide.
  • Price-  It cost us nothing to move from the TiVo to the DirecTV DVR.  By comparison it cost us $99 plus a one year contract to move to the TiVo.  (Which was still a bargain considering it was $699  6 months before we bought it!)

    • The Bad

    • The interface-  TiVo still has the best DVR interface around.  It’s simple to use, easy to understand, and very intuitive.  The DirecTV DVR, not as good, it’s just not as well organized and simple to understand.  The interface of the DirecTV box works, just not as well.
    • Stability-  We could count the number of times that we had to re-boot the TiVo box because it crashed on one hand…. and still have a few fingers left over.  The DirecTV DVR crashes more than demolition derby driver.  It’s notorious for just shutting down when you’re watching a live TV show that you paused and then were trying to catch up on.
    • Local HD Channels- While we can now get the local channels in HD off the satellite which we couldn’t do with the TiVo, we don’t get as much as we would get if we pulled them off an over the air antenna.  DirecTV only offers the major networks (CBS, NCB, ABC, FOX) with the occasional independent network in HD over the satellite.  However if you have an off-air antenna you can also receive secondary channels that the local networks broadcast as well.  Those secondary channels offer things like enhanced weather reports and alternate program, and none of them are available over the satellite.
    • This may be a bit nit-picky but the IR receiver for the DirecTV DVR is not as responsive as the one on the TiVo.  Unless you have the remote aimed just right the DirecTV DVR doesn’t always respond.  The TiVo’s receiver is much more forgiving.
    • The programming contract-  In the past an equipment change on DirecTV incurred a year contract extension and sometimes an additional charge…  For the move to the DirecTV DVR we needed to agree to a whopping 2 YEAR contract!  While not a huge issue for us since we are satisfied with the DirecTV service and price, it’s still a bit annoying to be stuck in DirecTV’s snare for an additional two years.  We’ve been loyal customers for 4 years, isn’t that worth something?

    In a nutshell, well the new DVR doesn’t totally suck.  There were some compromises we had to make moving to the DirecTV box, but they’re not as bad as the compromises we had to make in order to move to the HD TiVO.  That is assuming that DirecTV can figure out what’s making the thing crash on us….