# Wife says - Dump the R15



## General_Zod (Apr 3, 2006)

Well my wife can't handle it anymore and has dictated that we get rid of the R15. 

So what are my options? Is it safe to get an R10 (Tivo) from Ebay? Is Directv cool about allowing me to use someone's old card?

Do I have any other options? Any way at all to use another Tivo? Is the HD Dvr from Directv an improvement or is it basically the same crappy system?

Thanks.


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

General_Zod said:


> Well my wife can't handle it anymore and has dictated that we get rid of the R15.
> 
> So what are my options? Is it safe to get an R10 (Tivo) from Ebay? Is Directv cool about allowing me to use someone's old card?
> 
> ...


I don't have an R15, but I'll do what I can. You can use an R10 and most likely can use your R15's card in the R10. Sometimes they make you buy a new card, but often in a replacement with your old card, they do not.

As for the HR20, it had many of the same problems, but my understanding is that it has improved tremendously. So I have to ask which R15 problems are the most frustrating to you? That way we can tell if the HR20 has improvements for you.

Cheers,
Tom


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

General_Zod said:


> Well my wife can't handle it anymore and has dictated that we get rid of the R15.
> 
> So what are my options? Is it safe to get an R10 (Tivo) from Ebay? Is Directv cool about allowing me to use someone's old card?
> 
> ...


We have had an R15-500 for well over a year and have never had to reboot or any problem with it all. I think once, many months ago, it recorded a black screen, but that has been it. In my immediate family there are several in use with no major problems either. You may want to persue what may be wrong with your current set up. Low signal level, bad box, bad cableing, etc. FWIW


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## General_Zod (Apr 3, 2006)

Thanks for the responses so far. The truth is we have very little problems with the R15. The main issue is that sometimes, just sometimes, it doesn't record some shows for some reason and it isn't nearly as easy to use as the Tivo in her opinion. Personally I don't have much problem with it but I can confirm that sometimes it just decides not to record some things which is the main purpose for the thing. So last night she set it to record some shows and it didn't record them and I got orders to replace the thing.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

General_Zod said:


> Well my wife can't handle it anymore and has dictated that we get rid of the R15.
> 
> So what are my options? Is it safe to get an R10 (Tivo) from Ebay? Is Directv cool about allowing me to use someone's old card?
> 
> ...


You can also purchase R10's at www.weaknees.com .


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## jal (Mar 3, 2005)

I got rid of my R15 for a TIVO R10. It was a great decision. The TIVO works flawlessly, and the Directv experience is much better.


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## wolfs_darkshadow (Jan 22, 2007)

You cannot use your R15 access card in the R10, to activate the TIVO you will need to call D* and get them to issue you a new access card and I believe the current charge is $20.00, just thought you should know..


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

General_Zod said:


> Thanks for the responses so far. The truth is we have very little problems with the R15. The main issue is that sometimes, just sometimes, it doesn't record some shows for some reason and it isn't nearly as easy to use as the Tivo in her opinion. Personally I don't have much problem with it but I can confirm that sometimes it just decides not to record some things which is the main purpose for the thing. So last night she set it to record some shows and it didn't record them and I got orders to replace the thing.


I've also received orders to get rid of the R15 for three reasons:

* She reached her limit with the machine failing to record (or it only partially recorded) programs she wanted to watch.

* She is frustrated with too many playback quirks such as progress bar sticking, playback freezing, or "do you want to delete" popping up before the end of the show. Although this has improved significantly since January, there are still some quirks which annoy my wife.

* As a former customer service professional, she thinks DTV customer service sucks. She is tired of me calling DTV to report R15 issues (or billing problems), being on the phone for hours, getting wrong answers, and getting some sort of credit or free programing which we didn't ask for and don't want instead of having the problem fixed.

But Mrs Upstream doesn't want me to get rid of the R15 for another DTV receiver, she wants me to get rid of DTV altogether. She doesn't care that we would incur a cancellation fee with one year remaining on our 2 year commitment. I don't want to pay the cancellation penalty, so I've managed to stall her (and will probably be able to continue to stall her through the summer). But as soon a FIOS is available to us, she will demand that we switch.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

Upstream said:


> ...But as soon a FIOS is available to us, she will demand that we switch.


Wow... you're getting off easy. I actually had to WORK to convince my wife that we should switch


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## walters (Nov 18, 2005)

I can relate. I've taken a beating from the wife on the R15, and it's in the bedroom where we only watch TV as we go to sleep. There's no way it would have lasted this long in the living room.


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## Radio Enginerd (Oct 5, 2006)

General_Zod said:


> Thanks for the responses so far. The truth is we have very little problems with the R15. The main issue is that sometimes, just sometimes, it doesn't record some shows for some reason and it isn't nearly as easy to use as the Tivo in her opinion. Personally I don't have much problem with it but I can confirm that sometimes it just decides not to record some things which is the main purpose for the thing. So last night she set it to record some shows and it didn't record them and I got orders to replace the thing.


The WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) is certainly important. Best of luck to you. IMHO if she doesn't like the GUI or overall functionality of the R15 there's a good chance she wont like the HR-20.


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## Araxen (Dec 18, 2005)

I just recently got the R15 yesterday due to a storm knocking out my Tivo boxes. I'm gonna give them a go, but if they turn out to be more of a headache than it's worth I'll just go back to cable. Dtv can kiss my $127/month out the window.


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## dgib (Nov 16, 2005)

Upstream said:


> I've also received orders to get rid of the R15 for three reasons:
> 
> * She reached her limit with the machine failing to record (or it only partially recorded) programs she wanted to watch.
> 
> ...


I was having much the same problem and DTV just wouldn't budge on the HR20 upgrade cost so I called E* and 2 weeks ago became a new customer of theres. I absolutely love the VIP622 (sorry, but it is good) and I paid the early cancellation fee to DTV. It's crazy, I had been a customer for 5 years yet a new receiver (owned by the way) still can cause early termination fees. Anyway, since my 3 Tivo's were old and needing some money spent on them and I really didn't like the R15 for the last few months, I left and I can honestly say I have not looked back. Yes the E* HD DVR has problems but I can live with them. The only receiver that was perfect IMHO was the Tivo. When DTV stopped using them it was the start of the end.
DGIB


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## shal (May 7, 2007)

dgib said:


> ... since my 3 Tivo's were old and needing some money spent on them ...


 If you mean DirecTiVo's I hope they didn't go to eWaste. There are plenty of people interested in collecting rebuilding the hulks.


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## jal (Mar 3, 2005)

We have people, including me, who go way out of their way to pay for a TIVO R10 or other model of Directivo, that are now years old, rather than accepting a free R 15 from Directv. 


When Liberty takes over, I hope the folks there realize the poor quality of the R15 and bring TIVO back to Directv. The same holds true for the HR20. Neither of these non tivo boxes have the feature I want--a reliable recording feature.


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

General_Zod said:


> Well my wife can't handle it anymore and has dictated that we get rid of the R15.
> 
> So what are my options? Is it safe to get an R10 (Tivo) from Ebay? Is Directv cool about allowing me to use someone's old card?
> 
> ...


here is an avatar for you


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

Well my ex wife made a comment like that about my Charger, do what I did, help her pack!


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## bearymore (Sep 1, 2006)

wolfs_darkshadow said:


> You cannot use your R15 access card in the R10, to activate the TIVO you will need to call D* and get them to issue you a new access card and I believe the current charge is $20.00, just thought you should know..


I was able to use my R15 card in a Philips DSR704. I just had to call DTV and tell them the new receiver ID. I've heard that whether or not they do this for you can depend on the CSR you speak to. If they refuse call back and get a different rep.

I had no problem replacing two R15's with Directivos this way.


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## General_Zod (Apr 3, 2006)

So, since I have an HDTV, I guess one of these HR10-250's that I am seeing on ebay would be the way to go? I know they are expensive but this way I could make the wife happy by getting her a Tivo and I can upgrade the service to the high def channels. Is it a match made in heaven?


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## shal (May 7, 2007)

General_Zod said:


> So, since I have an HDTV, I guess one of these HR10-250's that I am seeing on ebay would be the way to go? ...


Alas, maybe only for a limited time. DirecTV is due to bring on new HD channels in MPEG4 encoding, which the HR10 can't decode. They'll probably move all HD to MPEG4 before too long. See this thread, starting at about message 13:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=959308


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