# This may cause a stir...But I dare say the R15 is now better than TIVO



## ncguy68 (Mar 22, 2006)

Since the latest CE releases for the R15 I think my R15 500 performs better than TIVO. The GUI response time is greatly improved and it has not missed a single recording in months. The new White GUI is fresher looking and a lot brighter. I had to turn down the contrast levels on my tv just a tad, but after a few days I am now getting used to it.


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

ncguy68 said:


> Since the latest CE releases for the R15 I think my R15 500 performs better than TIVO. The GUI response time is greatly improved and it has not missed a single recording in months. The new White GUI is fresher looking and a lot brighter. I had to turn down the contrast levels on my tv just a tad, but after a few days I am now getting used to it.


Not to hijack your thread, but a quick short story is in order ...

I had a DTiVo (HDVR2) up and croak on me this weekend. It looks like the drive failed; it was stuttering on video, and now it won't boot at all - gets stuck at the "Almost There" screen ..

So I thought about it ... do I open it up, dig a PC out of the attic (I'm a Mac guy - I have one old PC in the attic I use to run Linux for TiVo repair), dig out the InstantCake CD's, get a new drive, reimage it, put it all back together, and hope it works ...

Or do I call DirecTV and order a "free" R15.

I ordered the R15. It's prime-time 'enough' for me to not bother fixing the TiVo. I'll probably do it at some point for posterity's sake, but I'm liking the R15 more and more as the days pass.

It sucked butt when it first was released, but the software is drastically improved these days - so much so that I can't say I'll miss the TiVo. It's orders of magnitude faster, some shortcuts are quicker (double-tap for a season pass - TiVo took several menus for that) and overall, I like it very much.

Is it perfect? No. But is it the same hunk of junk it was a year ago? Not even close!


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## cawall (Sep 30, 2006)

I'm with you guys. I love my R15 and the features it offers. When I use my TiVo that's in another room, it seems cumbersome. I can't believe that original 35 hour box is still going. I will definitely replace it with an R15 when it dies.


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

+1. I like my R15 much better then any of the TiVo's I had.


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## MLBurks (Dec 16, 2005)

I absolutely agree! If the R15 was as bad as it was back in January, I think that I would have ate my cancellation fee! Great job D* AND CE testers!


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

BMoreRavens said:


> +1. I like my R15 much better then and of the TiVo's I had.


I loved my TiVo's -- for what they were, and when they were. And are there still TiVo features I'd like in the R15? Sure. But that list is very, very small. (Dual-buffering would be nice, but not a necessity. That's about it.)

The DTiVo units were ahead of their time, and they had a great run -- but I was a DirecTV customer before TiVo was in the equation, and I'll be a DirecTV customer after they're gone.

I guess if you became a DTV customer because of the DTiVo, you'd be upset, but that's not my situation.

I'm very happy with the R15 (and even happier with the HR20, to be honest.)

I'm very glad to see the improvements. I know some folks who work at DirecTV, and they tell me that fixing the R15 & HR20 have been a top priority for the whole company, from the top. It's good to see they're delivering on that.

I loved my TiVos, and the one thing the R15 is missing is a cool mascot like TiVo Guy. But it's time to move on, and the R15 and HR20 are a damned fine pair.


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## Ivan1670 (Jan 20, 2007)

I have to agree as well, I love my R15 and R20 I don't miss the Hr10 at all.


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

I prefer my R15 to the HDVR-40 in my garage and the R10 in my son's room. I didn't hack the HDVR-40 for networking so I don't miss that at all. But my son loves the 30-sec. skip.

If you want to cause a stir, go over to TCF (Tivo Community Forum) and post this.....


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I'm glad to hear my R15 brothers are experiencing some happiness for once!


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I deactivated my (only) Tivo based DVR some time back, in favor of two HR20's and one R15. Had two R15's but when I got the second HR20 I simply could no longer justify the second R15.

Carl


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

I love the DVR experience. To me it matters not if its the Tivo or the DIRECTV GUI. There are things I like in either and ... yup some things I don't like about both. Sure my first DVR was a Tivo, but I've moved past that--mostly since it didn't move on, IMHO.

Cheers,
Tom


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## MikeR (Oct 6, 2006)

I've had my R15 since last September. Nothing but positive experience, and my wife could never go back to non-DVR based on her experience with the R15. I've used TiVos previously, but have not missed them.

My favorite is the HR20, but the channel changing/guide scrolling speed of the R15 is very nice. Don't think it will be possible on the HR20 until the resolution/audio format is standardized on the broadcast channels...not a fault of the HR20, but don't see it happening soon.

Seems like a long time ago when Earl had to post...."The R15 has not been forgotten!" The CEs and frequency of releases has been great. Don't know what happened internally with D*/NDS to improve the development - but the results are much appreciated!


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

Tom Robertson said:


> I love the DVR experience. To me it matters not if its the Tivo or the DIRECTV GUI. There are things I like in either and ... yup some things I don't like about both. Sure my first DVR was a Tivo, but I've moved past that--mostly since it didn't move on, IMHO.
> 
> Cheers,
> Tom


You summed it up for me as well, Tom. I guess the thing I don't miss the most about TiVo is that it's always so concerned about what I'm watching so it can compile it's Suggestions. For me, Suggestions was never a big payoff since most times I find it hard to catch up on just the things I set to record, so I don't need the DVR to pile on.


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## chopperjc (Oct 2, 2006)

I do not use my r-15 as a "main" box but it has improved significantly within the last several months. I use it to record news shows and sports not in HD. The box changes channels a lot faster as of late. I do miss DLB a lot but for the most part I am over it. Tivo is a thing of the past for me. In truth the R15 is also a thing of the past as well. I have 2 H20's and 1 HR20. With however many HD channels getting lit up in the next couple of months why bother with a non-hd box.


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

I've considered replacing the bedroom SD D* TiVo with a R15, but thought about an HR20. We have an SD set but will upgrade to an HDTV in the future, so if I replace it with an HR20 we will be set. Hmmm decisions decisions.


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## bearymore (Sep 1, 2006)

Four questions:

Did they fix the problems with trickplay?

Does search record from channels you receive, or does it still record from channels you don't get (e.g. CBS East when you get L.A. locals)?

Are there still limits on the number of SLs and stored searches?

Can you get SLs for shows with the same name on different channels (e.g. Law and Order on NBC and on USA)?

These are the big issues for me. If they're solved, I'd go to the R15 tomorrow.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

What's a TIVO?.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

bearymore said:


> Four questions:
> 
> Did they fix the problems with trickplay?
> 
> ...


After almost two years, other than trickplay being "improved", the rest of those issues are unresolved.


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## bww (Feb 15, 2006)

I have both, currently, and yes the R15 has improved greatly, however, for me I keep the tivo in the living room and the R15 in the bedroom.

I believe many users focus on what they use most to say which system is better. If you used wishlists alot I bet there is no way you would like the R15, but if you like being able to use an rf remote and the picture in the menus you would go with the R15.

I like both of them but if it came down to only keeping one (for me) it would be the TIVO.


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## lonewoolf (Nov 21, 2005)

bww; said:


> I have both, currently, and yes the R15 has improved greatly, however, for me I keep the tivo in the living room and the R15 in the bedroom.
> 
> I believe many users focus on what they use most to say which system is better. If you used wishlists alot I bet there is no way you would like the R15, but if you like being able to use an rf remote and the picture in the menus you would go with the R15.
> 
> I like both of them but if it came down to only keeping one (for me) it would be the TIVO.


I agree. I've had the R-15 a couple of weeks and so far I've had to reset twice because in the middle of watching a recording of a rerun of NYPD the playback just stopped and said do I want do delete. This totally threw me off because this never happened in six years with TiVo. I tried everything but I had to reset and my future to record listings have practically disappeared. Bottom line this is not a DVR I will depend on.


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## Plusdvrjunkie (Jun 21, 2007)

Geez why is it taking so long to get game lounge?Come on.


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## ddeen (Jul 16, 2007)

The white gui and speed increase is a nice change, but I came over from E* and still miss flipping easily through favorities lists with the guide button and resume, start over for recorded shows. Maybe D* can get those in eventually, heck E* has only had that functionality for 4 or 5 years. All in all though the R15 is a much better DVR than it was 1.5 years ago.


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## laslo (Apr 2, 2007)

lonewoolf said:


> I agree. I've had the R-15 a couple of weeks and so far I've had to reset twice because in the middle of watching a recording of a rerun of NYPD the playback just stopped and said do I want do delete. This totally threw me off because this never happened in six years with TiVo. I tried everything but I had to reset and my future to record listings have practically disappeared. Bottom line this is not a DVR I will depend on.


I have the R15 100. I am on my second one and it also has the same problem. Watching a recording and message pops up tp Delete or Keep. See other thread on this issue. Never had that problem with Dish Network's DVR.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=92743


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## laslo (Apr 2, 2007)

ncguy68 said:


> Since the latest CE releases for the R15 I think my R15 500 performs better than TIVO. The GUI response time is greatly improved and it has not missed a single recording in months. The new White GUI is fresher looking and a lot brighter. I had to turn down the contrast levels on my tv just a tad, but after a few days I am now getting used to it.


See my reply to"lonewolf" below. I am having problems watching programs that I have recorded. A message pops up Keep or Delete and I can't watch the recording.


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## lonewoolf (Nov 21, 2005)

laslo; said:


> See my reply to"lonewolf" below. I am having problems watching programs that I have recorded. A message pops up Keep or Delete and I can't watch the recording.


The most important feature of the R15 is the Reset button. Unlike the TiVo software, the R15 forgets about your scheduled recordings once you restart which is MAJOR flaw.


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## MLBurks (Dec 16, 2005)

lonewoolf said:


> The most important feature of the R15 is the Reset button. Unlike the TiVo software, the R15 forgets about your scheduled recordings once you restart which is MAJOR flaw.


It does not forget your scheduled recordings unless you "reset everything". The only thing that happens if you just "reset" (or reboot) your receiver is that you will lose some guide info for a short while.


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## laslo (Apr 2, 2007)

lonewoolf said:


> The most important feature of the R15 is the Reset button. Unlike the TiVo software, the R15 forgets about your scheduled recordings once you restart which is MAJOR flaw.


That is not my problem. The program is recorded but then at random point during playback up pops a message prompting to Delete or Keep the recorded program. If you opt to keep it you get bounced to live view and no longer watching the recording. Each time you try to watch the recorded program the same thing happens.


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## SHUSSBAR (Sep 28, 2006)

ncguy68 said:


> Since the latest CE releases for the R15 I think my R15 500 performs better than TIVO. The GUI response time is greatly improved and it has not missed a single recording in months. The new White GUI is fresher looking and a lot brighter. I had to turn down the contrast levels on my tv just a tad, but after a few days I am now getting used to it.


No question that it has improved a lot and way easier to use. Still some issue to fix though. I would like to be able to delete from the To Do list for exemple in one click, and back to the next item listed.
Too many procedures bring the user back to step 1.

But frustration is down a lot , exept today with a satelitte detection issue. The TIVO downstairs detect both SAT but the R15 upstairs only detects 1 ???


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## Ira Lacher (Apr 24, 2002)

I am a soon-to-be newcomer to D* after 11 years with E*, and looking for some advice. 

I got one R15 free, paid $100 for the second but would like a third, considering that D* charges only one DVR fee for up to four receivers. So naturally, I turned to eBay, where I see a number of them going at dirt-cheap prices. Something is telling me this is not a good thing. What should I avoid when looking for an R15? Thanks.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Ira Lacher said:


> I am a soon-to-be newcomer to D* after 11 years with E*, and looking for some advice.
> 
> I got one R15 free, paid $100 for the second but would like a third, considering that D* charges only one DVR fee for up to four receivers. So naturally, I turned to eBay, where I see a number of them going at dirt-cheap prices. Something is telling me this is not a good thing. What should I avoid when looking for an R15? Thanks.


D* has been giving the R15 plus installation Free to existing D* subscribers online.
You could have D* install standard receivers then once a D* customer you log in at
directv.com/Upgrade Equipment/Enter the code"dvr4u2"/answer all the rest of the questions/once confirmed your R15 plus installation should be Free.I received my R15 this way I also could have received another one also but I only needed one,so I don't know what the limit is.Good Luck!:welcome_s


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## Ira Lacher (Apr 24, 2002)

Thanks! Probably should wait awhile for this? My install is scheduled for Wednesday.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Ira Lacher said:


> Thanks! Probably should wait awhile for this? My install is scheduled for Wednesday.


I would suggest to go ahead with your install(cause it's already set up) then at a later date go for a Free R15 online.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Ira Lacher said:


> I am a soon-to-be newcomer to D* after 11 years with E*, and looking for some advice.
> 
> I got one R15 free, paid $100 for the second but would like a third, considering that D* charges only one DVR fee for up to four receivers. So naturally, I turned to eBay, where I see a number of them going at dirt-cheap prices. Something is telling me this is not a good thing. What should I avoid when looking for an R15? Thanks.


Ira the R15 is D*'s first inhouse DVR and they have had problems with it,But through Earl here at DBSTalk and D* they have started a program to make the inhouse DVRs better it's called the Cutting Edge.It might be a program you might be interested in and for that you need to read up on and maybe participate in the
program. 
One way to make the R15 better is to make sure your R15s are running the latest
software and to reformat them.To reformat you push Menu/Settings/Setup/Reset/
Reset Everything/when you see the blue screen depress the record button&bottom arrow on the R15 at the same time for 20 seconds./When you release the buttons the Record light will stay on for awhile./This will eliminate the old software and install the new software as the original./It also does a house cleaning in the R15/It also will eliminate any recordings or Favorites list you may have.I have done this and it has made my R15 better.

P.S. I was with E* myself for over 4 years and the nice thing about being an E* subscriber is it turned me into a very happy D* subscriber.


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## Ira Lacher (Apr 24, 2002)

Jhon; thanks; I will ask the installer whether the R15s I am getting are the latest models with the latest software and if not, how to get those. I will also look up the Cutting Edge program.

So you think that those R15s on eBay are most likely early-generation machines with beaucoup problems? Would those be fixed by updating the software, as you suggested?


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## Supramom2000 (Jun 21, 2007)

It's really hard to say. They could be machines that would run smoothly with all the new updates and the people who sold them did not know about doing the updates. But there are some R15 users who say they still have all sorts of problems even with the updates, so some machines seem terminally flawed. I would stay away from E-Bay just because if you order through D, you can convince them to replace or take back a flawed machine.

Also, from another former E user, be prepared for a very different interface. There are many features that are not as user friendly, but my R15 still does what it is supposed to - record shows for me.

Sign up for the Cutting Edge updates and post any questions/problems here - and someone will ALWAYS help you.

Good luck!!


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

Ira Lacher said:


> I will also look up the Cutting Edge program.


The "Cutting Edge" program is a fancy term for Beta testing.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

Ira Lacher said:


> Jhon; thanks; I will ask the installer whether the R15s I am getting are the latest models with the latest software and if not, how to get those. I will also look up the Cutting Edge program.
> 
> So you think that those R15s on eBay are most likely early-generation machines with beaucoup problems? Would those be fixed by updating the software, as you suggested?


Even if the installer installs R15s that don't have the most recent software.Once they are hooked up they should automatically download the latest software(mine did).I would stay away from Ebay because if you buy from Ebay they don't install it
where D* does.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

qwerty said:


> The "Cutting Edge" program is a fancy term for Beta testing.


I was hoping they would call it"The Better Beta" but oh well.:lol:

No matter what it's called I highly recommend the program to improve the R15 and
HR20.


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## babzog (Sep 20, 2006)

MLBurks said:


> I absolutely agree! If the R15 was as bad as it was back in January, I think that I would have ate my cancellation fee! Great job D* AND CE testers!


I hated the R15 at first - dog slow, klunky... just horrible to use. Never used a tivo for comparison, but my first DVR experience was not going well.

Today, I like my R15 (so far, touch wood) with the latest CE (the only one I've ever remembered to download). It's much more responsive, some of the irritations are gone (such as the double tap to get to the program guide).


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## Blitz68 (Apr 19, 2006)

Jhon69 said:


> What's a TIVO?.


*USED* to be the best way of recording stuff on TV.

The HR20 & R15 have now kicked it's ass.


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

If everything on the R15 now actually works the way it was intended to to work (I give them the benefit of the doubt they INTENDED it to work logically and reliably) then I certainly concede that R15 vs. Tivo would be a matter of preference, but in my personal opinion it's not nearly as good as Tivo. I like Tivo's feature set better, I like its guide better, I like its navigation better, and I like its UI design better (I'm a geek in my professional life and want my tools to look more like the R15, but after work I want to relax and immerse myself in the soft, friendly, ungeeky style of the Tivo.)

But it's sort of a moot point, because if all the problems that bearymore mentioned on the first page are still there, then the R15 still isn't as good as the Tivo in the simple objective sense of "does it work as it's intended to?"

BTW, how's the title searching working these days? Still have to enter the "The" prefix and still no way to accomodate punctuation? Or is that changed now?


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

ApK said:


> BTW, how's the title searching working these days? Still have to enter the "The" prefix and still no way to accomodate punctuation? Or is that changed now?


Yes you still have to enter "The" first and no way to add characters (@ # . ! etc.) to searches, those are two pains in the butt I wish they'd fix, annoying as hell but not deal breakers. The other thing I want to work but it is not R15 related is Channels I Receive, if it won't scan them, why can't they just let us adjust that list manually?


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## OldDog (Nov 20, 2005)

There are features that the R15 has that I wish TiVo had and the other way around. 

Right now I have two series 2 DTiVos and one series 1 DTiVo and one R15 that replaced another series 1 DTiVo that is sitting as a backup in case of a failure. They all function just as they were designed and never miss a recording. I like them all.

However I am VERY unlikely to replace the DTiVos with R15s unless DTV comes up with the ability to do something like TiVo's wishlist recording that is close the the WLs functionality.

As a example I have an auto record WL one of DTiVos that is WORLD CUP WOMEN* genre EVENT I am confident that this will pickup all the coming games once the guide gets the data. (Tournament starts Sep 10)

On the R15 there is no way to do this at all and even when the guide gets the data I doubt there will be any way to set the recordings to auto record as the game are to be on 2 or 3 different chs (ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC{maybe}).

Plus later games could change from the ESPNs to ABC with only a couple of days notice. History (for the WC) says The guide will reflect this in time for DTiVos to react.

The R15 gives absolutely no way to be secure in the recordings.

As I said the R15 is now a good DVR and its reliability for what it does is very good but lacking wishlist like features means that, for me, it still lags far behind the DTiVo.


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## SDizzle (Jan 1, 2007)

I do like the R15 better than the Tivo........they just need to add some more of the cool features of the HR20 to the R15........


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## chachster (Aug 25, 2004)

Yes, I would agree that the R15 is now a great Tivo replacement. Still have a HR10-250 and SDDVR40 that I would like to eventually get replaced with a R15 and HR20. I currently have one R15-300 and it does a great job, it is a refurb that replaced a dead R10


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## jdmac29 (Jan 6, 2006)

My first dvr was an hr20-700 and it had bugs in it for the first 5 months or so but it has worked great since 12-06. All I have ever heard was how great TIVO was so last month when CC showed they had some directv tivo sd models only I purchased one. Now I stayed away from the R-15 due to the bad press it received from day 1 not being reliable and I knew it had basically the same interface as the hr20-700. I must say the tivo is slower and different but the 30 second skip is better that the 30 second slip on the hr20. I don't have 2 lines to the tivo for test out the dual buffers but with the r15 and hr20 you can just record one channel and still use the buffer on the other one so it basically works the same. I can't say I dislike the tivo but you can tell the newer directv dvrs are faster and are more technology ready for other things. 
So many folks are just TIVO crazy that they can't look beyond that and try something new but now I think if they give them a try then they want be dissapointed now.


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## redram38 (Dec 7, 2005)

I might like it better if it would let me play my recordings of local channels. The R15-100 just shows a black screen when I press play. Kinda far away from the Tivo if you ask me, in fact I guess I am gonna de-activate the 15-100 and activate my RCA Tivo back so I can record locals. How sad is that.


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## Supramom2000 (Jun 21, 2007)

That is bizarre. I record many SLs on my local channels. I record them on 2 different R15's and they both work great. The only problems I ever have are SLs on channels that show programs more than 1 time per day and are on daily (Disney channel, USA).


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## tsmithfd (Jan 8, 2007)

You guys are right, the R15 is much improved. I had one when they first came out. I actually deactivated it and put it up in the closet storage, i pulled it back out about 5 months ago, reactivated and sold the TIVO. Its easier for my family if all the units have the same GUI and remote. Honestly I am glad i stuck it out, the unit does work much better. Great job Directv ! THANK YOU


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## redram38 (Dec 7, 2005)

Supramom2000 said:


> That is bizarre. I record many SLs on my local channels. I record them on 2 different R15's and they both work great. The only problems I ever have are SLs on channels that show programs more than 1 time per day and are on daily (Disney channel, USA).


I think it is a problem with the Memphis Market and the New recievers, but my R15-500 works perfect. Just the 2 HR20's and the 15-100 has the trouble. It cleared up after a couple of days before, but that is a real pain with the new fall season fixing to start.


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## desslock (Jun 19, 2007)

bww said:


> I have both, currently, and yes the R15 has improved greatly, however, for me I keep the tivo in the living room and the R15 in the bedroom.
> 
> I believe many users focus on what they use most to say which system is better. If you used wishlists alot I bet there is no way you would like the R15, but if you like being able to use an rf remote and the picture in the menus you would go with the R15.
> 
> I like both of them but if it came down to only keeping one (for me) it would be the TIVO.


I'm with you. Same boat. Souped up, Bionic TiVo in the Living Room, R15 in the Bedroom. I still have trouble with the Series Link even finding episodes let alone recording them, but since 114a deployed, I have at least been able to add a new one. In the last days of 10FA, it would not even add a new series link at all, The R the R)) would list, then disappear.

I still don;t trust the R15 to depend upon it for my primary unit, but it makes a great backup unit in the bedroom. And it allows me the ability to (theoretically) record 4 shows at once. This will come in handy when the fall season kicks into full swing.


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## parapraxis (Apr 2, 2007)

When my DirecTiVo unit "died" I called D* and got the R15. I hated it. Then I found the Cutting Edge program (thanks, Earl) and things improved dramatically. I wasn't able to install the last two due to being out of town but hope to catch up soon.

I found through the TCF boards a reliable place to send your broken DirecTiVo units and for most repairs they'll fix it for $100. They did (had a blown power supply) and I recently reinstalled it on the main TV. 

I always thought that if I ever was able to get my TiVo back I'd drop the R15 -- but it is now functioning well enough to keep -- and so I will have it in my bedroom (as soon as the installer comes out and runs the second cable.

Unrelated -- Did they reset the post counters? I don't post much but am certain that in the five months I've had the R15 I've complained a few times on these boards. Oh well.


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