Any info on comparision of FiOS DVR to TiVo or DTV?

cycokat

I'm hoping someone here can help me with this.

I was a happy DTV customer, then I moved. I have trees blocking my view to the south, so I couldn't keep my dish service. I grudgingly went back to cable tv (comcast).

FiOS TV just became available in my area. And they are a little light in terms of HD content, and do not have the Center Ice package so I'm not sure what I want to do. A big concern of mine though is the DVR functionality. (Although the Comcast guide and DVR are both less than satisfactory.)

-Does it work like the older DTV TiVo DVRs ? Or is it more like Comcast's or the Newer DTV HD DVRs ? (Nothing quite like the TiVo was)

-Can I easily switch back and forth between tuners w/out using the PiP?

-When switching between tuners, does any buffered program get lost?

-Can I pause one tuner, switch to the other, then switch back and pick up at the pause?

I'd very much appreciate answers to these questions and any other nuggets anyone thinks might be of use/interest.

Thanks in advance!

JPL

I can answer this. I was a directv customer too. I had their tivo, as well as the R15. I've been a fios customer since April. First, you're right - compared to directv, fios is currently a little light in terms of HD offerings. But that's going to be short-lived. They came out with a press release recently - they're going to be adding 30 new HD channels this spring, followed by another 90 throughout 2008, as well as some new SD offerings. And they're also (this is what I've really been waiting for) going to start rolling out HD VOD - it's already available in some markets - and will be expanding to (according to the same press release) 1000 titles by end of 2008.

As for the DVRs... well, if you don't like the Comcast box, you're going to be disappointed. Verizon uses essentially the same box as Comcast - it just has a slightly bigger harddrive. Also, the s/w for this box is currently in flux. Verizon is in the process of rolling out new guide s/w known as the IMG (interactive media guide) - you'll see some threads on that subject on this forum. They were supposed to have it rolled out to every customer by now, but have since halted the roll-out due to bugs in the s/w.

Latest plans, from what I've heard, involve getting the first service pack update to existing IMG customers, and then resuming the roll-out to the rest of us (I still have their old guide). I've heard some very mixed reviews of the IMG - some really like it, and some absolutely hate it.

The reason I'm going at length about the IMG is to address your question about dual live buffer. The box currently doesn't have it - meaning you can't actively swap tuners like you can with tivo (it's like DirecTV's new boxes in that regard). The new IMG currently doesn't have that feature either, but from what I understand, DLB is supposed to be made available in one of the next releases of the s/w. I don't know if it's in the first service pack update or not, since no one has that update yet.

Personally I don't mind the moto boxes. I found the dvr faster (more responsive) than my old R15s, and more robust (I had some issues with one of my R15s in particular), but nowhere near as functional (there is some functionality that I do miss from my old DVRs).

All that being said, I'm very happy I switched to fios. I can give you a quick pro/con list based on my preferences:

DirecTV over Fios:

- More HD channels (currently). This will be short-lived.
- Sports packages like NHL CI. Fios currently has none of those. Although if you like more of the general sports channels, I actually think fios may be a better deal - I now get CSN Philly (which I couldn't with DirecTV) in both SD and HD, and Fox Soccer channel as part of the base tier.
- Functionality of the h/w. Yeah, I found some of the DirecTV box design bizarre, and yeah performance-wise the R15 left much to be desired, but I really did like the functionality of those boxes.


FiOS over DirecTV:

- PQ - while I understand DirecTV's new mpeg4 HD channels are very close to fios in terms of PQ, fios has the best PQ I've seen. The SD on my old DirecTV service was really good, but on fios it's just clearly better. Because Verizon refuses to compress their stuff. They pass it on as they get it.
- No rain fade - fiber is impervious to all sorts of weather conditions.
- Local access - I really did miss things like Weatherscan Local when I first switched to DirecTV.
- More SD channels - even though DirecTV has more HD channels, FiOS actually has more basic cable channels.
- VOD - I never thought I would care for this... I was wrong. I love VOD. DirecTV is starting to roll out something known as DirecTV on Demand, but it's not the same thing. Also, Verizon has been pretty aggresively expanding their VOD library of late. I've noticed a slew of new feeds on there, added just over the last couple of months.
- Future expandability. Currently fios has much of the same limitations as regular cable because they both run QAM. Verizon does have more flexibility than cable in this regard, though. And when they go full IPTV, they'll have bandwidth that no one will be able to touch.
- No required commitment period.
- Price bundling (triple play and the like).

If you would like more detailed info, feel free to IM me. I AGONIZED over the decision to switch from DirecTV - I loved their service. I know you're no longer with DirecTV, but this should give you some comparison points to help you decide.

Creature

This perfectly summed up my own feelings about FiOS and DirecTV ... I have a love/hate relationship with FiOS (crappy DVR s/w compared to DTV/TiVO, hardware problems, Verizon billing headaches, etc.) but I think I'm here to stay. I just keep waiting for upgrades to the IMG.

cycokat

Thanks for the replies. I had a pc problem and wasn't able to get online for a few days, but wanted to say thanks!