# Newb: New DVR Feature Set



## CorpITGuy (Apr 12, 2007)

I am a current Dish Network customer. This year's foliage put my view of 119W in danger. My signal fades. Dish told me they couldn't do anything else for me and that I should have the tree cut back. The limbs are huge, hang over my house, and it will cost me $300-500 to get that done. I'd only have the same problem in a few more years (huge oak tree).

So, today I ordered DirecTV. I ordered the non-HD DVR (is that the R15?)

On my current Dish system I have one box that operates both of my TVs. If I schedule conflicting events on one TV, it records on the other. There is one hard drive. If I am recording something in my living room I can go to my bedroom and start watching it from the beginning. 

I was a bit concerned that I will have two DVR boxes with Direc. Will they be tied in at all? Can I record on one and view on another? Will they intelligently work together to record all my scheduled programs? Finally, my wife and I record between 10 and 20 events per day. Can they handle that kind of volume?


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

Even though I'm no longer actively using the R15, I can answer some of this. The first answer is - no, they won't be tied together at all. If you order more than one, they'll be totally independent boxes. The good news is that DirecTV has a low, flat DVR service fee. $6 covers all the DVRs in your house. I had two set up, and the second one was largely a redundant recorder for the first - I set up many of the same shows on both so I could swap between TVs.

As for the volume - that's a tough call. You should be ok - I've had days with intense volume of shows (running marathons of Mythbusters, e.g.).


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## msalvail (Sep 19, 2003)

What receiver did you have with DISH?


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## CorpITGuy (Apr 12, 2007)

I had the 522 with Dish. The saleswoman at Direc said I could tie them together, but I was afraid she was lying because she passed over my question quickly.


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## msalvail (Sep 19, 2003)

I would call them back and threaten to cancel your order unless they give you a second R15. When I ordered on Friday, they offered me 2 of them, one for instant $99 rebate and the other for $99 mail in rebate. Call and tell them that you are an existing Dish customer and that you want that deal. If the CSR tells you no, ask for their supervisor or a retention specialist.


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## CorpITGuy (Apr 12, 2007)

I did order two R15s, I think... cost me 213 bucks.

Thanks for the advice! I will ask the installer if there's a way to link the two together.


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## rlambert7 (Feb 7, 2006)

CorpITGuy said:


> ...today I ordered DirecTV. I ordered the non-HD DVR (is that the R15?)
> 
> ...I was a bit concerned that I will have two DVR boxes with Direc. Will they be tied in at all? Can I record on one and view on another? Will they intelligently work together to record all my scheduled programs? Finally, my wife and I record between 10 and 20 events per day. Can they handle that kind of volume?


The R15 is DTV's standard definition DVR. It only requires an 18" round dish with a single LNB. The dish points at 101W. Go to directv.com/DTVAPP/customer/dishPointer.jsp, and enter your zipcode. That will give you the compass heading for your dish to point at 101W. It will also give the elevation, so you can check to see if you have adequate line-of-sight.

If you get two R15s, the installer will run two lines from the dish to a multiswitch, and then 4 lines from the multiswitch (2 lines to each R15). Each R15 will operate independently of the other. Each one will be able to record two shows at the same time. And, it you are recording two shows at the same time, you can be playing back a previously recorded show. You can also be recording one show, and watching another one live.

The R15 has several ouputs: RF (coax), 2 sets of "composite" (RCA yellow [for video], red and white [for audio], S-video, and a digital optical audio. Note - whatever channel you have the R15 set to will be sent out on ALL of the outputs. And, if you are playing back a previously recorded show, that will be sent out on ALL of the outputs. You can't send out one channel on one set of outputs, and another channel on a different set of ouputs.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

Some D* locals are on the 119 D* satellite. Mine are. I hope yours aren't!

You should have gotten the DVRs free. You can still enter the DVR4U2 code on th D* website after you get an account and get all of them you want, free (at least, I have gotten 2 that way and it will let me keep going, last I checked.)


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## dodge boy (Mar 31, 2006)

Cut the tree down and have firewood for those summer night's sitting around the fire drinking a couple cold ones while watching DirecTv.........


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

I agree that the price you were given, for a new customer, stinks. I got my first R15 for $100 at Circuit City, and my second one free through the on-line promo (dvr4u2). Some folks hate the R15. Some REALLY hate it. I personally really liked the box - and I came from using TiVo. It has some problems - and some folks have real show-stopping type problems - as well as some limitations (e.g. you can only set up 50 series links, you can only have 100 items on your to do list, you can't set up two separate series links for the same show - e.g. if a show is on two different channels, and you want to record both, you're out of luck - you have to set up a manual record of the second). Still, foibles and all I thought it was a good machine. Mine were pretty solid (particularly the one in my living room). I particularly liked the integration between DVR and live tv functionality. For example, say you're watching a show that's been recorded (watching in play-back mode). You decide "ah, let me see what's on live tv", so you bring up the guide and find a show that you want to watch. Select on it, and the playback stops automatically (and seemlessly) and you watch the live tv show. Now the live tv show hits commercial... so you hit the prev button, and it takes you back into playback of the show you were watching from the playback list, and does so from the spot where you left off. Very seemless, and very nice. Very hard to tell between live tv and recorded tv (the only distinction is the play bar - it's green for live tv and orange for playback).

I actually just suspended my DirecTV account. I really wanted HD, but wasn't willing to shell out $300 for their HD DVR, so I had FiOS installed. And I got their multi-room DVR. I have to say, the OP has a very good point - having those TVs tied off the one DVR is a mighty nice feature. Saves from having to do dual maintenance (on two DVRs), but still allows you to access shows from other TVs. I like that feature alot, so I can certainly understand the desire to be able to link them together. Unfortunately, with the R15 (or the HR20, from what I understand) you can't.


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## CorpITGuy (Apr 12, 2007)

Thanks for the advice!

I certainly hope all my programming comes in on 101, as 119 is completely out of the question for me.


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## CorpITGuy (Apr 12, 2007)

Well, thank you to everyone who responded.

119W *is* required for my market's local channels. I had to cancel my order and get cable+TiVo (ugh).

Thanks again!


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## AppliedAggression (Aug 16, 2003)

IF you have an HDTV or have been thinking about it, then may be worth looking into getting the HD DVR and getting your locals OTA.

Keep in mind that your satellite dish does not have to be on top of your house. At my parents house the dish is actually about 75 feet from the house on a pole.

Just offering some options... good luck


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## Ext 721 (Feb 26, 2007)

jpl said:


> - having those TVs tied off the one DVR is a mighty nice feature. Saves from having to do dual maintenance (on two DVRs), but still allows you to access shows from other TVs. I like that feature alot, so I can certainly understand the desire to be able to link them together. Unfortunately, with the R15 (or the HR20, from what I understand) you can't.


'course, the ease of having everything all-in-one loses luster if the one dies.

'swhy I'd never get a DVD/VCR/TV combo, and why I still prefer an army of remotes to just one.

Never understood folks who throw their original remotes away, but they do.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

Ext 721 said:


> 'course, the ease of having everything all-in-one loses luster if the one dies.
> 
> 'swhy I'd never get a DVD/VCR/TV combo, and why I still prefer an army of remotes to just one.
> 
> Never understood folks who throw their original remotes away, but they do.


Yeah, that is possible - it's a single fail-point. So if my DVR gives out I'm outta luck on both TVs. But given the fact that my DVR currently works flawlessly, I'm not to worried about it. If the DVR goes, I still have the standard STB to use until I get a replacement unit (which Verizon covers since it's leased). Given how quickly technology changes these days, chances are pretty good that the unit I have will be replaced long before it dies on me. It's what happened with my R15s. I never even had one of those long enough to fill up the HD.


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