Questions before I dump Directv for Dish Network

I've been a D* customer since they first came into existence and its been very hard to consider going to one of its competitors until now. However, I'm ready to go hi-def and I'm now re-evaluating my options. The main reason for my loyalty to D* has been the alliance with Tivo. I love my Tivo - the feel of the remote, the Tivo sound, and the simplicity of use. However, that's going to end with the split between D* and Tivo and going to cable to keep future Tivo boxes is not something I want to do(that's another story). So, anyways, my question to you DN subscribers is primarily about the leased DVR-942 receiver. How does it compare to the HD-10-250 Tivo receiver? Overall better? Worse? Same?
-Feel of remote?
-Speed?
-Reliability?
-Software interface? (very important)
-Overall satisfaction compared to Tivo(especially interested to hear from former Tivo owners)?

Many thanks in advance for your comments.

-Feel of remote?
-Speed?
-Reliability?
-Software interface? (very important)
-Overall satisfaction compared to Tivo(especially interested to hear from former Tivo owners)?

I'll help you out a little bit. Overall, it's about the same. The Directv model does some things better and vice versa.

The remote are about the same. No advantage either way there. The dish model does have some buttons that you don't use though. Not sure what they are for.

Speed - the Dish Network model is WAY faster. One thing that really sucks about TiVo is the speed.

Reliability - Advantage - Tivo. My Dish model locks up sometimes and I have to reboot it.

Interference - for some reason, the words don't match up with the lips on the actors on my local CBS channel. Not sure if it's a problem with DISH or my local affiliate.

Overall - there is no Season Pass option on the Dish model. Also, when you record shows on Dish, you set it up by the time, not by the show. For example, you can't set it up to record every new episode of ER. You have to set it up to record every Thursday night from 10-11pm. This really sucks.

The reason I have Dish instead of Directv is that the Directv receiver was $1000 a few months ago and the Dish model was $500. Also, Dish Network has TNT in HD and Directv doesn't.

Hope this helps.

Dave

-Feel of remote?
Overall - there is no Season Pass option on the Dish model. Also, when you record shows on Dish, you set it up by the time, not by the show. For example, you can't set it up to record every new episode of ER. You have to set it up to record every Thursday night from 10-11pm. This really sucks.


Dave
On page 70 if the owners manual for the 942 that I downloaded from Dish says under Timer Frequency
New Episodes
Records current seasons programs each time they occur on that channel
.
Does that not do what it says it does?
I also am thinking of moving to dish and downloaded the manual to see what it can do as I have had a Replay TV for some time and it like
Tivo seems to have a more user friendly menu than the current DVR from Dish and Cable.
The page # on the PDF file is 77

The 942 has "Name Based Recording" but the 921 does not. I think Dave was referring to the 921 because of the price referrence.
The 921 was $550 (no longer listed on dishnetwork's web site)
while the 942 is $700.

The 942 has "Name Based Recording" but the 921 does not. I think Dave was referring to the 921 because of the price referrence.
The 921 was $550 (no longer listed on dishnetwork's web site)
while the 942 is $700.

You are correct. I currently have the 921. I am unfamiliar with the 942.

Dave

Isn't directtv from dish networks???

Isn't directtv from dish networks???
They are two separate companies. Directv has been around longer than dishnetwork.

Two years ago there was talk about directv merging with dishnetwork but that didn't happen. They still remain competiters.

the guy is installing dish right now. I thought it had to be an oval triple lnb antenna for hdtv and local hdtv when it available, but he is putting up a standard round dish. Model for correct install?

I also have a 921, and many of the shortcomings (as mentioned above) were fixed with the 942. So on 942, you can do name based recordings, and now they are working on improving the "record only new episodes" feature.

I used my Tivo for about 3 years, so I was very accustomed to it. Things I think Tivo does better than E*'s boxes:

1) Listings format. In Tivo, it was easy to get a lot of information in one screen - many channels, plus hours ahead on one channel.
2) Listings went farther into the future. The E* program info window is very short compared to what I recall from Tivo.
3) I do miss the blooping and such. Tivo had a lot of personality that E*'s boxes simply don't.
4) Tivo's ability to anticipate things that would interest me. It was sometimes sort of schizo, but I always liked seeing what Tivo recorded that it thought I *might* like based on what I watched. Sometimes it was crazy. Sometimes it was wrong. But every once in a while, it got you something really great. And it was just a "fun feature."
5) Reliablility. Admitedly, at the time I was only dealing with SD, but Tivo never locked up and my 921 does almost weekly. I gather the 942 is less prone to do that.
6) I seem to recall it was easy to "type in" names of shows you were looking for. The 921 interface for that is pretty clunky, though I guess if you are of the text message generation it isn't so bad since you can use the number keys like you do on a cellphone.

About the only things I would say have been improvements for me are:

1) E* Box really is faster. Tivo was slow to execute commands a lot of the time. However, my 921 does sometimes start playing a show very slowly, and sometimes it takes a long time to delete a show.
2) E* made it MUCH easier to record one show and record another. This mind you is compared to a free standing Tivo box with a single tuner. Not sure if you had dual tuners in the D* Tivo box (bet you did). The real benefit here was the dual tuners, not the interface.
3) Since my DVR is now integrated, I don't have misrecords. My Tivo couldn't do direct wire connection to my cable box (or my D* box when I was there, or my E* box when I switched to E* for programming reasons). So I had the IR connection and sometimes the channel would not change correctly and I would miss shows, or have recordings of blank screens.

the guy is installing dish right now. I thought it had to be an oval triple lnb antenna for hdtv and local hdtv when it available, but he is putting up a standard round dish. Model for correct install?
Hope he's installing the correct dish. Bellow are general descriptions of the dishes.

dish500 21 inch with twin LNB (most common dish for general programming gets 110 & 119))
105 superdish 30 inch oval includes FSS LNB (needed for some locals gets 105, 110 & 119)
121 superdish 30 inch oval includes FSS LNB (needed for internationals and some locals gets 110, 119 & 121)
dish1000 24 inch twin w/extra LNB (newest dish gets 110, 119 & 129 {Voom})
dish300 18 inch (can be pointed at any sat except 105 & 121 {usually used as a wing dish for 61.5 or 148})

PS: I sounds like you want the dish1000. If the dish is about 24 inches round and has a twin and regular LNB. I imagine it would say dish1000 or HD or something. Were you ordering Voom? If so that's the one dish solution.