# Getting a DIRECTV R15 This Morning. How concerned should I be?



## NJRonbo (Dec 24, 2005)

My God!

I ordered the DIRECTV R15 a week ago as a gift for my
Mother so she could record her favorite TV shows.

She is not a power user and her needs are few.

However, I have read nothing but concerned reviews on
this product including this past week's article in USA TODAY.

I hear DirecTV is doing software upgrades to this unit.

Anybody out there who actually owns this model....

Could you please let me know if this DVR is working well
or should I return it and buy a TIVO from Best Buy?

Thanks in advance for your help. Happy Holidays!


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## ZildjianB (Dec 19, 2005)

I have spent a week with my R15 and am very close to chucking it out the window. It is not working well, and I would not recommend it to anyone in its current state. Perhaps in a few months (years) enough software updates will have been pushed out to it to make it adequate, but certainly not in the near future. Yes, it does have some nice features, but it fails its most basic function as a Digital Video Recorder far too often.

If you want ease of use and reliability for your mother, try to find a R10 (TiVo) DVR. Good luck.


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## majortom (Oct 31, 2004)

Based on my experience so far, as long as she does not care about actually recording what she wants and playing anything back using fastforward, she will be fine. If those things matter, you might want to return it and get a real DirecTiVo receiver.

Its UI is no where near as intuitive and these boxes are no where near as reliable as those they are replacing.

/carmi


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I'll offer the other view. I have two R15's. I've had them for just over a month now, and so far they are both working, and working well overall.

I have eperienced the problem of both first run and repeat shows recording, and while it should not do that and needs to be fixed, it has not really caused me a problem, I just delete the recordings that are repeats. I have not missed any recordings. I had one instance of the R15 erasing a show I had not yet watched that I did not intend to erase. I have never had either R15 lock up or freeze. Caller ID did stop working on both units after a period of time, but I did not buy them to be big caller ID boxes so that problem is not an issue for me.

I personally happen to like the user interface, and the way the guide looks. I have had absolutely no problem using FF to get past commercials. I never had dual buffers, so don't miss them.

The R15 includes features that are not in the TiVo based units, which are related to services that DirecTV will be implementing in the future.

So as an overall summary, if you are an existing TiVo user, and are very used to your TiVo and like the way it works, you will not like the R15 as it really is different, has a different look and feel, and lacks certain TiVo features. On the other hand, the R15 has some things the TiVo lacks, and is the direction that D* is moving in the future. For the average user, including your mother, I think the R15 will serve the purpose quite adequately. It is a new product, and it does have some bugs that need to be fixed. But there are a lot of R15's in service, including my two, that customers are happy with. More than a thousand R15's have been sold by one on-line dealer alone, who recently posted that most of his customers were happy with their units.

So your challenge, the really hard part, is to sort through the noise and try to sort out what is really going on. The vocal TiVo advocates hate the R15, and are more than eager to harp on every possible minor issue. D* puts the opposite spin on things, denying some bugs even exist which obviously do based on the numerous reports. The real world lies somewhere between these two extremes.

My recommendation would be to stay with the R15 unless your mother is an experienced TiVo user.

Carl


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## Malibu13 (Sep 12, 2004)

NJRonbo said:


> My God!
> 
> I ordered the DIRECTV R15 a week ago as a gift for my
> Mother so she could record her favorite TV shows.
> ...


NJRonbo, Welcome to DBSTalk...:welcome_s

Both sides of the R15 issue have very valid points. It is a decision you will have to make for yourself, depending on your Mother's Savvy in regards to operation of the current units available. For immediate ease of operation use, you may want to go with an R10, as it would most likely be easier for your mother to navigate and quickly understand its operation. The R10 will likely be supported by D* for some time to come but may not receive further updates as the R15 is likely to be the future technology for DirecTV and should be considered when choosing.

Merry Christmas


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## NJRonbo (Dec 24, 2005)

Guys,

I stopped the installer moments before he arrived.

I went to the local electronics store and found a R10.

All is working well. Based on what I have read here, I think 
I'm better off with the R10.

Thanks for the advice. Happy Holidays!


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## boba (May 23, 2003)

NJRonbo said:


> Guys,
> 
> I stopped the installer moments before he arrived.
> 
> ...


I think that was a very wise decision. In six months it maybe a different story, but Directv shouldn't have introduced a unit that wasn't ready for the market.


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## shy007 (Apr 11, 2003)

I got the R15 and it works great..... I've had no problems with the machine recording or playing back..... I'm sure folks are having tons of problems but why is it just for some and not all......


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

That is the thing... the NEGATIVE voices always seem to be the loudest... As with most forum boards... All the users NOT having problems, don't post.


Both units (the R15 and R10) are good units... Both have their ups and downs.


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## Brennok (Dec 23, 2005)

I am going on two days with mine, and I have already run into the limit issue where I can't add new shows which is a major issue because I have yet to add primetime shows. I also like the conflict resolution but I hate it when adding new series recordings. Maybe I am missing something but I have yet to find a way to add a new season pass for a show with conflicts without canceling an episode of the other two shows. I routinely have backup shows only to record if one of the two preferred shows aren't one but currently I have to keep canceling shows I like just so I can set a series recording.


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## tall1 (Aug 9, 2005)

shy007 said:


> I got the R15 and it works great..... I've had no problems with the machine recording or playing back..... I'm sure folks are having tons of problems but why is it just for some and not all......


The power users are having problems. Someone new to DVRs or non-Tivo users are ignorant and you know what they say about ignorance.


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

tall1 said:


> The power users are having problems. Someone new to DVRs or non-Tivo users are ignorant and you know what they say about ignorance.


Is it something like, "takes one to know one?"


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## cmtar (Nov 16, 2005)

tall1 said:


> The power users are having problems. Someone new to DVRs or non-Tivo users are ignorant and you know what they say about ignorance.


I have had a Dtivo and SA tivo and to me the R15 is better. Trashed my Dtivo weeks ago and gave away my SA.


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