# R10 or R15??



## SolZer (Jan 20, 2006)

So, I am a long time TiVo user, and my Series2 40hr just died. Anyway, I recently got DirecTV and am looking at the R10 and the R15. I've heard nothing but negative reviews about the R15, so I am skeptical to say the least. I'm interested in everyones opinion on if I have a choice, which unit should I get, the R10 or the R15?

Much Thanks.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

now that you are over here....

I would say the R15 is an option, if you are willing to learn a new interface.... the future is brighter for the R15... if you can deal with it's rough start....

Other then that... going with an R10 is not so bad, if you know that what you get today pretty much is all you are ever going to get out of the unit.


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## Igor (Jan 3, 2005)

It is faster than R10, has larger disk, supports interactive services, and is compatible with the new push service DIRECTV was showing during the CES (not yet launched).

Nothing comes for free, it has few issues ;-)


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## SolZer (Jan 20, 2006)

ebonovic said:


> now that you are over here....
> 
> I would say the R15 is an option, if you are willing to learn a new interface.... the future is brighter for the R15... if you can deal with it's rough start....
> 
> Other then that... going with an R10 is not so bad, if you know that what you get today pretty much is all you are ever going to get out of the unit.


Thank you kindly for your response. I'm honestly torn. I'm not committed to TiVo, I just want a unit that works and will record what I tell it to record.

Let me ask you, is it your impression that DirecTV will address these issues with software updates, or do you think they will release the R20 here soon? I'd hate to go with the R15 to find it phased out in 6 mos.

Much Thanks


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## SolZer (Jan 20, 2006)

Vitor said:


> It is faster than R10, has larger disk, supports interactive services, and is compatible with the new push service DIRECTV was showing during the CES (not yet launched).
> 
> Nothing comes for free, it has few issues ;-)


New push service??


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

I'm not in the know or anything, but I think DTV is working on the HR20 (the HD equivalent of the R15) and isn't planning to replace the R15 anytime soon.

The R15 will probably never be "better" than the Tivo, but it is the direction DTV is going with their new features, interactive functions, and I'm guessing the HR20 will be almost exactly identical in functionality ... with the exception that it handles MPEG4. The R15 will probably improve somewhat with software updates. I haven't had that many problems with it, and for me it was the only way to go since I have VOIP (whereas there's no guarantee the R10 will work with VOIP).


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## SolZer (Jan 20, 2006)

fancydancy said:


> I'm not in the know or anything, but I think DTV is working on the HR20 (the HD equivalent of the R15) and isn't planning to replace the R15 anytime soon.
> 
> The R15 will probably never be "better" than the Tivo, but it is the direction DTV is going with their new features, interactive functions, and I'm guessing the HR20 will be almost exactly identical in functionality ... with the exception that it handles MPEG4. The R15 will probably improve somewhat with software updates. I haven't had that many problems with it, and for me it was the only way to go since I have VOIP (whereas there's no guarantee the R10 will work with VOIP).


Fancy, thanks for the response. So, if you DID have a choice which unit would you have purchased? 

Much Thanks.


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

I'd only had my SA Tivo for about a year, so I wasn't nearly as emotionally invested as you'll find over at tivocommunity.com. The ban of any R15 discussion over there was understandable, but also hysterical 

VOIP issues aside, I probably still would choose the R15 ... the interactive features are pretty important for things like NFL Sunday Ticket, plus I'm sure I'll get interested in some new features in the future which will only work with the R15. Also, I hope to have HD at some point and the learning curve should be pretty simple if the R15 and HR20 basically run the same OS.

Though the R15 definitely requires some babysitting.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

SolZer said:


> So, if you DID have a choice which unit would you have purchased?
> 
> Much Thanks.


Well, I actually bought both. I started with an R15, my very first DVR so no prior TiVo background. I have two R15's, and I'm happy with them. They do record what I tell them to.
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Then, out of curiosity because I heard so very much in the various forums about how much better TiVo based units were, even the R10 was "vastly superior" to the R15, I bought an R10 to play with.
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Well, after using both for a long enough period of time to get a fairly decent feel for them, I prefer the R15 to the R10 overall, although there are a few features on the R10 that the R15 lacks which are pretty nice.
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So my personal recommendation would be the R15. I do think DirecTV will get the bugs fixed. Will it be perfect? Who knows. But it's pretty decent right now, and is expected to improve.
-
Carl


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## Wolffpack (Jul 29, 2003)

fancydancy said:


> VOIP issues aside, I probably still would choose the R15 ... the interactive features are pretty important for things like NFL Sunday Ticket, plus I'm sure I'll get interested in some new features in the future which will only work with the R15. Also, I hope to have HD at some point and the learning curve should be pretty simple if the R15 and HR20 basically run the same OS.
> 
> Though the R15 definitely requires some babysitting.


Fancy,

Have you tried any of the active channels? I've seen mention of the fact that using the active channels has been causing the R15 to hang.

I'd like to see experiences of more folks using the active channels and how the R15 responds. That, along with other promised features could make future DTV DVRs worth consideration.....if they work as advertised. Currently they do not.


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## Igor (Jan 3, 2005)

I use the NewsMix channel everyday and once or twice a week I visit the weather page (located under the ACTIVE section). It never caused any issue.

Just to be clear, I never tried to record these channels and have no idea if they would record (... and this post make me think that I should try it  )


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## fancydancy (Nov 29, 2005)

I've checked the weather a few times and have occasionally used the Sports mix. No problems with hanging while I've been watching, but I'm not usually doing this that often or for that long.

Are these mix channels specific to the R15? I thought all DTV customers with a regular receiver have them.


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

fancydancy said:


> I've checked the weather a few times and have occasionally used the Sports mix. No problems with hanging while I've been watching, but I'm not usually doing this that often or for that long.
> 
> Are these mix channels specific to the R15? I thought all DTV customers with a regular receiver have them.


The actuall ability to select one of the 6 "windows" and listen to that channel (with out changing audio modes) and then jumping to that channel if you so desire...

The R15 is the first DVR to be able to use it, the H20 (HD non-DVR) and I think the very latest non-dvr reciever can do it (D10 maybe is the model number I think)


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## Igor (Jan 3, 2005)

As the R15, the D10 unit supports the multiple audio channel and the "Active" button access some sort of portal where you can get weather, horoscope, etc.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

And the newest SD receiver, the D11, also does all of that.
-
Carl


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