# R15 Newbie



## paigeb25 (Feb 9, 2007)

We have an R15 300 that we got a week ago. We have been gravely dissappointed with the speed and faults compared to our 3 year old Tivo system.

One major problem with it recording things we didn't ask it to. Like this morning it recorded the history channel when we had it set to record a program on ABC. when trying to view it from the playlist it was stuck on the history channel. We couldn't move to any other channel at all. We tried the guide, select another channel...still history. Pressing 100 on her remote...still history channel. We couldn't get it off, so I unpluged the unti and plugged it back in. Now it works...But give it a few hours and we will have things recorded that we never asked it to...like the news or god forbid the "Direct TV channel". It recorded that 32 times in one day... Yes, I have checked..none of them are series... 

A few of my recording were missing but not a problem.

I called Direct and they said I had the latest update. I complained and explained I would rather have an R10...they refused...so now I'm stuck with this faulty r15...

What is the latest update? And are the updates that were previous to the last...how do I know I got them?

Our guide is extremely slow...About a 8 sec delay before you see the screen or scroll down...Argh. My daughters is much faster than ours....

Is it so hard to have something that works properly?


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

Did you pay a lot for the R15? If so, call DTV, tell them how dissatisfied you are and demand they let you return the unit for a refund.

If the R15 was cheap enough to not waste the effort, then unplug it and put it on a shelf to try again after a few more updates.

Then go to Weaknees or look on eBay or elsewhere for a DTivo unit.

ApK


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## paigeb25 (Feb 9, 2007)

ApK said:


> Did you pay a lot for the R15?


We paid 99.00 for the R15 300, we will get a 99.00 refund after 3 months. So I suppose it's free...

I did complain to them. They said they would be willing to switch it out for another one. In my opinion, if this one is straight out of the box, and the only people I have heard rave about it is DirectTV themselves...then what is going to make me get another one? Will there be that big of a difference?

I guess I'm just use to the tivo model...set and forget. Whereas I have to babysit this model....I thought it was to make my life more easy! Ha!:grin:

Is the HDTV model better? should we just upgrade to that one?


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## Cerus (Feb 8, 2007)

The latest update version is 1029. Go into your setup, then select info and it will tell you your version there. It should have updated to that version when you got your R15. 

As for the HR20 being better, yes and no. It's had a lot more updates than the R15 and seems to have less "annoying" issues than the R15. I do know that the series record issues are pretty much non existent on the HR20. It does have some occasional issues where recorded programs are nothing but a black screen but it's not all that common.

I would check your s/w version and if it's not the latest, have DTV push the update through. If it's still not working correctly either have them replace it or see about upgrading to the HR20. I'm sure you could work something out with DTV since it's not functioning correctly and you just got it.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

paigeb25 said:


> We paid 99.00 for the R15 300, we will get a 99.00 refund after 3 months. So I suppose it's free...
> I did complain to them. They said they would be willing to switch it out for another one. In my opinion, if this one is straight out of the box, and the only people I have heard rave about it is DirectTV themselves...then what is going to make me get another one? Will there be that big of a difference?


Not many people have been getting the 300 model lately. Ours has been pretty much trouble-free, but generally the best model seems to be the 500. I would call them and let them switch it out, you'll probably get either the 100 or 500. Those two are in a little bigger case, if that matters.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Unfortunately, you have no control at all over what model you receive. You can ask, but even if the CSR notes your request, it is the model that is in the next ready to ship box that you will get.

Carl


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## paigeb25 (Feb 9, 2007)

Is this normal?

Yesterday we were set to record 2 shows at the same time. My husband was watching something on the discovery channel and hit pause, ate something, came back. So it was like 30 minutes in the buffer.

7:15 rolls around and I walk in and say "okay we can watch our shows now". He says okay let me catch up with this and we'll flip over. To our surprise, there is only ONE show recording because he took up the other line with his buffer.

Doesn't it warn us before it kicks one of our show off? Had he known I was recording 2 and 7 he wouldn't have kept it in the buffer..But he did and was trying to catch up but never did. He thought it would at least come on and say "hey dummy, I cant record 2 programs and keep this for ya, take your pick"...

did we loose that tivo feature too?

Btw, we are at the 106c upgrade. The direct manager told me that was the latest one..


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## rlambert7 (Feb 7, 2006)

paigeb25 said:


> ...Doesn't it warn us before it kicks one of our show off? Had he known I was recording 2 and 7 he wouldn't have kept it in the buffer..But he did and was trying to catch up but never did. He thought it would at least come on and say "hey dummy, I cant record 2 programs and keep this for ya, take your pick"...


It should warn you 5 minutes before. It should say something like, "The recorder needs to change to channel [x] (where x=1 of the two channels of your 'two shows at the same time' recordings). Then, there will be two prompts, "OK, Change channel", or "Don't change" (If you select the second one, the recording mentioned at the beginning of the message will be cancelled.)

A couple of things. The default response of the two options in the message is to change the channel, so even if you were not around to see the message, it should have changed the channel, and you should have gotten your two recordings. Also, if you are watching a previously recorded show around the time a "two show recording" is about to start, you will not get the message (because there is no need for it).

I was wondering if it could have anything to do with the fact that you had paused the live TV, so I did an experiment. It was about 1:45p. I paused the channel I was currently tuned to, and selected two shows that started at 2p to record (these were on channels other than the one I was tuned to). At 1:56p I got a message like the one I described above. I just ignored it, the channel did eventually change, and the two shows started recording as they should have.

I might be useful for you to try a similar experiement.


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## paigeb25 (Feb 9, 2007)

rlambert7 said:


> It should warn you 5 minutes before. It should say something like, "The recorder needs to change to channel [x] (where x=1 of the two channels of your 'two shows at the same time' recordings).
> I might be useful for you to try a similar experiement.


Okay I tried again tonight at 7 and same thing happened. Kept the show in the buffer and canceled the previously scheduuled...No warning..nothing...

Once I watch 3 of my shows tomorrow I'm going to try to push a reboot..


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## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

When your -300 was installed did they and/or you do a reset everything? If not, you will want to do so.

Please see my post here: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=78741

Please note that this will erase all recordings and series links and reset all settings to factory defaults. After do this, you should see noticable improvement on your -300.


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## mrrandyd (Feb 1, 2007)

Can somebody explain to me what the difference is between an R15-300 and an R15-500? Thank you.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Different manufacturers. The -300 is physically smaller than the -500. In my personal opinion, the -500 is more reliable and more stable.

However, the -100, -300 and -500 are supposed to be functionally identical according to DirecTV. They each run a different software build due to hardware differences.

The -500 was the first one to appear, in November 2005. Then the -300, and most recently the -100.

Carl


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## mrrandyd (Feb 1, 2007)

carl6 said:


> The -500 was the first one to appear, in November 2005. Then the -300, and most recently the -100.
> 
> Carl


Thank you Carl. I'm contemplating a switch to D* from Dish but these threads have given me pause with regard to the reliability of D* DVR's. I currently have three 510's that are increasingly more tempormental and typically need a reboot at least once per week (remotes are also beginning to fail). The functions seem to operate properly--it just locks-up from time-to-time.


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## wohlfie (Dec 28, 2005)

paigeb25 said:


> Is this normal?
> 
> Yesterday we were set to record 2 shows at the same time. My husband was watching something on the discovery channel and hit pause, ate something, came back. So it was like 30 minutes in the buffer.
> 
> ...


Same thing happened to me last night. I was watching something from 8-9 and had it paused for a while. At 9:00 both Dirt and Boston Legal were set to record.
At about 9:00 I unpaused and finished my 8-9 program. I guess I had assumed the buffer had autosaved at 9:00...but no. At about 9:20 I went into the list and only Boston Legal was shown as recording. And this is where it gets wierder.....I checked the TDL and both Dirt and BL were indicated with no conflicts. And there was nothing in the history.

It sure seems like the autoswitching isn't always working if the R15 is paused....


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## ApK (Mar 6, 2006)

So what's the moral here? The R15 will reliably record what you program it to, only if you don't actually USE other basic features, like pause?

ApK


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