# And so it ends...



## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Well 23 months after I got my R15....

I finally gave it to a friend (after full disclosure). It spent 4 months active and 19 months in a closet. 

I disliked the UI, but could have gotten used to it. 
It was the missed recording and repeated resets that sent it to the closet.

I have seen nothing here to encourage re-activation and subsequent frustration with DTV over being overcharged for the protection plan (their fault) and the lack of Philly's CSN (Comcast's fault) have led me to likely move to FIOS TV

I test drove the FIOS DVR at the mall and was pleased to see auto-correction similar to what I was used to, and quicker response time than my mom's cable DVR (also on a motorola box) which concerned me. I also found the Search results to be more like what was used to with my Dtivo more robust than the R15.

I am dissapointed that the R15 was never able to deliver promised features in two full years like VOD ( or whatever you want to call it), remote scheduling, DIrecTV to go, let alone simply being able to differentiate channels I receive from those I don't, or record shows I tell it to. I love 2 button "season passes" but not when it doesn't actually record.

What the HR-20 can do or what the CEs promise is irrelevant to me. I do not trust the DVR+ products. After two years, they have exhausted any goodwill about updates and upgrades.

Will FIOS be better? I dunno. I like DTV content, channels, love the Sunday Ticket. But, I watch 98% of non-sports programming via DVR. And if I can't trust the DVR, then all the content in the world won't compensate for a failed recording.

If DTV does in fact read these boards, understand that I am willing to pay an early cancellation fee (1 year ago got the HR10-250 free with ST) and move to FIOS after my experience in the last 2 years in lieu of the likely free programming and free HR20 to stay.

I do not believe my experience and opinion to be unique and if DTV can take notice and make improvements,than we all may benefit

A brief look at my postings will show, I have been critical (and satirical) but, IMO never ranting and bashing of DTV. 

Finally, the simple fact that DLB was not and is not a feature of the DVR+ line is a clear indication of the poor design of the product.

It is a very popular feature and although not universally used, it offered no downside. I know people who never listen to AM radio..but it comes on every car stereo I've ever seen.

If the next generation of DVR+ (whenever that is) does not include it, I will be shocked.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

While I agree that upgrades to the R15 have been painfully slow in coming, they are now getting a little better.

However, any comparison to the HR20 is not valid. They are totally different platforms, with totally different development teams, and different underlying software platforms. To not trust any DVR Plus product because of early experience with the R15 is being unfair to both yourself and DirecTV.

Your R15 was in service for 4 months and on the shelf for 19. Were any of the in-service months recent, or are you basing your "it isn't getting any better" on other people's posts or experiences?

Regardless, I hope you are happy with whatever solution you end up with. 

Carl


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## mexican-bum (Feb 26, 2006)

Glad that you found something that you like. My grandparents have Fios and like it pretty well. Definitely not my cup a tea but thats my opinion


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## convem24 (Mar 11, 2007)

I have not missed a recording in 12 months and after CE upgrades I am pleased with my R15, I believe however the HR20 is a better DVR product that D* has built. I hope the R16 is a better product once it is released. I will probably pay a lease upgrade fee to change over to the R16 once the verdict comes out on the functionality of the R16. I know that customers have been frustrated with the R15 but my luck must be better than most. I have never had to go through a replacement from D* on mine plus I have a R15-500, which I have heard is better than the R15-300 or R15-100. So I guess it depends on which iteration of the R15 you have.

In your situation in the Philly DMA (service area) satellite companies are legally prevented from Comcast Sports Net Philly because of a weird law that was in place at the time. Comcast sells the right for Verizon FIOS to broadcast CSN Philly but no other competitor so in your situation is Sunday Ticket more important or the content CSN Philly can give you. Personally I like more HD content but your situation is unique and difficult to deal with. Good luck either way!


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## NorfolkBruh (Jun 9, 2007)

convem24: I think you might have missed his point. For the original poster, if you disliked the R15 you would absolutely have issues with the HR20. So many of the DBS folks make excuses for D* and this box. The fact that it is improving and it has improved over what it was a year ago does not excuse the fact it is STILL missing recordings or saying it DID record and you get an "error 3" or some other useless message. It's a DVR that has problems recording and if recordings are important to you then missing them is unacceptable regardless of the box.

I am thrilled the HR20 is improving but like many folks on here I was an early adopter and remember the horror of missed shows. I work very hard, volunteer a lot, and enjoy my time watching shows I've recorded except... well... the HR20 DOES miss them and THAT is the posters point. He's tired of it. He also makes a point of DLB. It is IMPORTANT to him and the fact Earl has pointed out time and time again that DLB is HIGHLY unlikely to implement this is reason enough for him to move to something else.

The fact that both of these units, the R15 and the HR20 are "improving" through the CE process is a good thing. The fact that the NR (national releases) are missing recordings, saying a program is recording when in fact it is not, showing error messages that don't mean anything to the subscriber and apparently nothing to the CSR level, Supervisor Level, or even Retention or Tech level folks at D* are EXACTLY why he is switching.


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## redram38 (Dec 7, 2005)

No missed recordings on my R15-500's in a loooooonnngggg time. Cannot even remember it has been so long. The updates did the trick and the CE's have made it even better


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

I switched from DirecTV to fios and I'm very happy. I loved my directv service, but fios is better suited for me. All that being said, just wanted to give some info to the OP - just food for thought:

1) You mentioned the search capability. I'll be honest, I found the searching on the moto DVR that verizon uses to be it's weakest aspect. There isn't too much flexibility in it's searching capability. For example, you can search by subject (say Movies), but there's no sub-topic you can add to that. There's no autorecord/wishlist functionality at all. 

That being said, they are rolling out their new guide s/w - everyone's supposed to get it by year's end (they hit some bugs, so they halted roll-out, and are applying bug fixes before resuming). There is some enhanced search functionality included.


2) The amount of recording capacity for the DVR is pretty small. It has a 160 GB harddrive, which is small for an HD DVR. Made smaller by the fact that Verizon doesn't compress their signals. For example, on the R15, I noticed that 1 hour of SD would take about 1GB of space. On this DVR, you're looking at close to 3 GB/hour of SD recording. That's good because you get better PQ, but in one respect it's bad because you suck up alot of space per recording. And some HD recordings just really suck down space. Verizon is considering adding a capability for additional storage, but that's way down the road, if at all. I don't think you'll see additional capacity until they get their next gen of STBs - for which they recently submitted and RFP.

3) You mention DLB - realize that the Verizon DVR doesn't support this either (currently... although it is being worked, from what I understand).

4) One good thing, though, is that if you really hate the Verizon DVR, you do have an option - you can get a Tivo HD DVR and a cable card or two from Verizon and you'd be good to go.

I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll throw this out there. If you have any particular questions/concerns about fios, IM me. I'd be more than happy to give you my take - and I'll be totally honest with you.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

One more thing I meant to add. My overall impression of the Verizon DVR is that it's capable. It doesn't have the functionality of the R15, but it's much faster, and pretty robust. It's insanely easy to use - the functionality is really intuitive. And it does have some of the niceties of the R15/HR20 (one touch recording, e.g.). And it does have the one thing that the R15 doesn't (or at least didn't when I had the R15) - a series manager! I've never understood that aspect of the R15's design. The idea that you would need to have to have an upcoming recording just to modify the settings for an existing SL is something I just never understood.

Also, the speed of the moto DVR makes up for some of the missing functionality. One example - I loved the mark & delete functionality of the R15. I used it alot. The moto DVR doesn't have anything resembling a mass delete like that. I thought I would really miss it. I don't. The reason is because the delete is really quick on this DVR. The mark & delete became necessary because of how long it took to do multiple deletes on the R15. The moto DVR is fast when it comes to that, and takes very little time to do one-by-one deletes. Even if there was a mass delete on this DVR, I probably wouldn't use it because of that faster speed.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

carl6 said:


> However, any comparison to the HR20 is not valid. They are totally different platforms, with totally different development teams, and different underlying software platforms. To not trust any DVR Plus product because of early experience with the R15 is being unfair to both yourself and DirecTV.Carl


I disagree. I think it goes to D*'s standard of quality. Yes, the R15 has improved, but it was extremely buggy when the released it to their customers. They also eliminated any other choices for DVRs other than third party/legacy. I hadn't followed the HR20, but I recall hearing it was also very buggy. NorfolkBruh confirms.
Point is, D* has a history of releasing products to their customers that aren't ready for market, and taking the stance "Tough! We'll fix it later." I think that history should be taken into account any time you consider another D* product.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

^ This is not just DirecTV's problem. Microsoft, anyone?

Look at the situation right now. DirecTV is trying to roll out multiple HDTV channels at once and new hardware to receive them. It they didn't have on-going quality issues, I'd be shocked. Such is life on the bleeding edge.

I'm not excusing DirecTV for their faults. I'm very glad I just got my HR20 now, not months ago. But this is unfortunately the way of the consumer electronics industry.

No matter what they say, the ultimate consumer _*IS*_ the beta tester in this rapidly evolving technological world.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I agree that the way the world works... there isn't enough time for testing extremely complex systems. 

To the OP, I wish you well, all anyone could ask is that you be entertained, not frustrated, by your entertainment.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Stuart Sweet said:


> all anyone could ask is that you be entertained, not frustrated, by your entertainment.


God, isn't this the truth!

Back in the '80s I went for a full balls-to-the-wall audiophile sound system. I spent many thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours setting up a record playing stereo system that would blow any body's socks off. I had to get rid of it. All I could hear was what it did wrong. I was ultimately disappointed in something everyone else loved.

My solution was to get off the merry-go-round. I've had the same whole-house stereo system for 21 years now. It doesn't sound as magnificent when sitting in the ONE chair, your head locked in a vise for things to image properly, but it does sound fine when I'm in the shower. This is better.

Sometimes I think I'm going through this life just to learn this one lesson. There is no joy without acceptance.

Maybe in the next life I won't care if people talk behind me at rock concerts.


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

mikewolf13 said:


> Will FIOS be better?


Mike -- please stop back in 4 to 6 months and give us you impression of Fios. When my DTV commitment is up next summer, I will seriously consider a move to Fios, and I am interested in comparisons from people familiar with both DTV and Fios, including picture quality, DVR functionality, content, and customer service.

( And JPL, thanks for your insight on comparing the two services.)


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

jpl said:


> I switched from DirecTV to fios and I'm very happy. I loved my directv service, but fios is better suited for me. All that being said, just wanted to give some info to the OP - just food for thought:


Thanks for the info. Like I said I gave it a real quick try out at the mall I am sure I'll have a couple questions before I committ.

I believe what I test-drove is the new GUI. (In Delaware)

Again I am not endorsing FIOS (yet) just saying I would rather try that than stick with what I have.

I am aware PhillY CSN's lack of avaialbility is comcast's fault not DTV (or DISH) and althoug I love ST, Since I live in my home market for the NFL, I will trade ST for all the Phillies, sixers,and flyers games I miss...

DYK, that when the phillies play on ESPN, it is usually blacked out on my system becuase CSN has the local rights...even though CSN isn't avail on DTV..That stinks (Not blaming DTV)

In reference to othe other posts/questions:

None of the 4 months are recent, I base my assumption on it not being much better on what I have read here. I don't care how much the CEs have improved.Nationally, the box is still not a quality replacement for what I had before (and currently). I am happpy DTV is making improvemnts and doing CEs but two years is too long..remember the posts in 12/05 how an upcoming upgrade would fix alot of the issues? it's been too long.

Many of the issues the R15 had, the HR20 had upon release...it has ahd more upgrades and more aggressive upgrades, but the bottom line is the handling of the R15 (right or wrong) influences my opinion of the HR20. They are branded the same.

If i hated my Nissan altima, it would impact my decison to buy another Nissan, even if the Maxima, Rogue or Quest were designed and built by others...

At some level DTV has oversight of the two products, if they are completely seperate. and have many of the same issues that does not compute. IF they are completely seperate but are extremely similar in the UI, that seems odd to me (not a programmer). What they share is the DTV DVR+ brand at a minimum and I hold them accountable for that.

I still do not understand why any negative post gets multiple "I've never had any problem" posts. ...Congrats! Those with issues are certainly the minority..but it is a far too big population that increasingly gets dismissed.

Norfolk: +1 ..exactly


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

mikewolf13 said:


> I still do not understand why any negative post gets multiple "I've never had any problem" posts. ...Congrats! Those with issues are certainly the minority..but it is a far too big population that increasingly gets dismissed.


Where are the mass volumes of recent posts of people having issues with the R15? They are just as rare... and are actually more expected in a forum board to be posted.

Given the population of R15's out there... and the post counts here and on other forum boards.... by the "numbers" the volume of issue posts, are by far the minority... and by a very very large margin.


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Upstream said:


> Mike -- please stop back in 4 to 6 months and give us you impression of Fios. When my DTV commitment is up next summer, I will seriously consider a move to Fios, and I am interested in comparisons from people familiar with both DTV and Fios, including picture quality, DVR functionality, content, and customer service.
> 
> ( And JPL, thanks for your insight on comparing the two services.)


I will be happy to, I will be around...just as I have been for months (with minimal posting recently)

At this point the switch is more a matter of when than if,, it's hard to turn off perfectly functioning TIVOs for the unknown....and the longer I hold out the smaller my fee...so once the sign up offer is too good to resist or my hunger for Flyers/SIxers heats up, it'll be done...


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> Where are the mass volumes of recent posts of people having issues with the R15? They are just as rare... and are actually more expected in a forum board to be posted.
> 
> Given the population of R15's out there... and the post counts here and on other forum boards.... by the "numbers" the volume of issue posts, are by far the minority... and by a very very large margin.


I acknowledge it's a minorty.

I never cited mass volumes.

The number of posts have dropped dramatically on this forum (movement to HR20? abandoning the R15?, Happy? or discouraged by what sometimes seems to be a pro-DTV atmosphere?)

Most happy posts are CE participants...that's great..but talk about aminority of R15 users.

When I stop in I read many the same issues as we had 22 months ago, I see few (in comparison to HR20 ) improvements.

With regards to the "atmosphere" comment above....I have no doubt that you and the vast majority of posters give their honest and objective opinion. I laud the CE program, but it does make you and others vested in the idea that the products are quality and appropriately gives pride in driving improvements.

However, for those that continue to have issues or newcomers with issues, too often their legitimate issues are responded to by "mine's perfect" or the same "It'll get better" soon responses and not help.

Do i doubt the credibility and sincerity of those here..not at all. 
But I do think sometimes the atmosphere appears to be very pro-DTV.

22 months ago many people posted how great the R15 was how there were no issues...and the same ones have posted many times how much better it has gotten since then...That rings hollow TO ME, because it appears to be empty praise. I have a hard time listening to someone touting all the improvements and "fixed stabiltiy issues" of a box that never had issues in the first place.


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## Mark20 (Dec 25, 2006)

qwerty said:


> Point is, D* has a history of releasing products to their customers that aren't ready for market, and taking the stance "Tough! We'll fix it later." I think that history should be taken into account any time you consider another D* product.


Unfortunately Motorola (more specifically the company that they bought) also has a bad history of also releasing products well before their time. To a large degree they abandoned the user interface aspect in their digital cable boxes and let others develop it since it was very problematic and they could not get it anywhere close to stable.

I've had one short chance to look at a Moto Fios box. The downconverted HD was horrid. SD was at least as good as D*'s, maybe better. And I quickly found that the PAGE button on the remote shot me out of the guide instead of moving it up/down a page.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

Mark20 said:


> Unfortunately Motorola (more specifically the company that they bought) also has a bad history of also releasing products well before their time. To a large degree they abandoned the user interface aspect in their digital cable boxes and let others develop it.
> 
> I've had one short chance to look at a Moto Fios box. The downconverted HD was horrid. SD was at least as good as D*'s, maybe better. And I quickly found that the PAGE button on the remote shot me out of the guide instead of moving it up/down a page.


What do you mean by downconverted HD? Not sure what you're referring to there. The regular HD on fios really is stunning... no compression at all (well, Verizon doesn't do any additional compression - if the source is compressed then that gets passed along too). As for the page up/down buttons - yeah, that's currently an issue. The reason is due to some short-sightedness on Verizon's part. When they decided to develop their new IMG guide s/w, they switched remotes on new subscribers. The old remote had separate page up/page down buttons (in addition to the channel up/down buttons). These buttons were used to control scrolling through the guide. With the new guide, they went with more of a DirecTV approach, and had the channel up/down buttons do double duty.

The problem is that the new remote (made by Philips) doesn't have the page up/down buttons... they only have the channel buttons. If you get the new remote, with the old s/w, though, you're kinda stuck. The channel up/down buttons only control channel changes. If you try to use the channel up/down in the guide, you get what you saw. As a result, if you stick with their remotes, you have to wait to get the new IMG before the page up/down will work.

Is it annoying? Yeah it is, but I got an old comcast remote from someone that has the page up/down buttons and it works fine for that.


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## Mark20 (Dec 25, 2006)

The TV was SD. I forget what the connection was between the Moto box and the TV but what I saw could have been a lot better. The downconverted HD image was fuzzy. SD channels where fine though.

Again I didn't have alot of time to critique it or examine the set-up.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

Mark20 said:


> The TV was SD. I forget what the connection was between the Moto box and the TV but what I saw could have been a lot better. The downconverted HD image was fuzzy. SD channels where fine though.
> 
> Again I didn't have alot of time to critique it or examine the set-up.


Oh... ok... thanks for the clarification. I can't speak to that since I've never tried connecting my HD to an SD TV.


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## Mark20 (Dec 25, 2006)

Would be interesting to hear what the results are with different types of connections.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

Mark20 said:


> Would be interesting to hear what the results are with different types of connections.


I may end up giving it a try... but I think my wife would have me committed  She thinks I'm insane with this stuff as it is. Still...


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## Mark20 (Dec 25, 2006)

That's why I take the pills, they quiet the voices in everybodies else's head.


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Upstream said:


> Mike -- please stop back in 4 to 6 months and give us you impression of Fios. When my DTV commitment is up next summer, I will seriously consider a move to Fios, and I am interested in comparisons from people familiar with both DTV and Fios, including picture quality, DVR functionality, content, and customer service.
> 
> ( And JPL, thanks for your insight on comparing the two services.)


Ok, I've used FIOS for a couple months now, and prepared to give my review/comparison.

Picture Quality- HD quality has never been better for me. but I must qualify I never had MPEG4 with DTV. SD on my SD Tv's looks markedly better to me, my wife also said so. Placebo effect? maybe but we both came to same conclusion separately. I did not notice a change with the SD on my HDTV.

Content: There were no SD channels I received before that I did not also get with FIOS, since I stopped my HD package with DTV a few months earlier, MY HD programming increased...though I certainly understand DTV has more national HD channels at the moment. Additionally, the HD I really care about is the networks, ESPN and my movie channels...I get those. I don't care about getting the food network in HD. So I am plenty pleased. As FIOS increases their HD channels, that will be a nice bonus.

Also having CSN Philly was a huge factor for me.I understand this is not a national issue..but until Comcast allows DTV to carry the channel, DTV will be at a disadvantage for me. (when I left cable for DTV, my local co. didn't carry it). Because I live in Philly market the CSN is much more important than the NHL, NBA or MLB packages. Also being in Eagles market, NFL ST is less of a factor than if I lived elsewhere. But I will miss it.

DLB: Yes it has dual buffers. The old remotes had a swap key, mine does not, so hitting LAST takes me to the last channel/buffer. . A drawback is the inability to maintain pause point on the inactive tuner. I preferred TIVO version where I could surf on one tuner while buffering the other while paused, but it's something

VOD: It is nice to have but not crucial for me personally, Ever since I had a DVR, I have not understood the draw of VOD. I guess it can save disc space or be a nice backup if you forget to record something..but personally, I still think it sounds like a better idea than it is. Also on the FIOS DVR, I can only have 2 incoming programs at a time..in other words I can't watch VOD and record 2 shows. I can certainly watch a recorded show and record 2 shows but since VOD uses a tuner. I can't record two shows while I watch a VOD program.

Space Remaining: I am told how many hours of HD and SD I have recorded, and how much space (in a % that remains). The time in each format was useful and I re-educated the spouse not to accidentally record series on our SD TV in HD..eats up space.

The guide/series links: Love the guide. I can hit record once for the show and twice for the series. Doing this also gives me a popup menu to modify my series settings if I choose. I can have PIG or turn it off. I can have the video in the corner or half screen. It's fast to scroll through I have no series limit or to-do list limit. I can set a "season pass" (to borrow a term) with an option to record only that channel or any channel, I can set an option to record only during that time period or any time period. The PIG works whether it is Live, DVR or VOD.

Search: I think this is better than the R15 or DTivo. When I searched for Knight Rider a few weeks ago to set up the record. The results came back for Knight Rider and "VAL KILMER", so entering a show name also gives you the ability to quickly select other programs by the actors in that program. I have the option to use the bingo style keyboard like the DTivo, a scroll wheel (like putting your initials in old arcade games), cell phone type (hit 2 twice for a "B") or predictive cell phone method (type 564448 for KNIGHT). lots of options! Also entering in "Pit" I get programs that start PIT, programs where any word starts with PIT like Fever Pitch, Option for programs with "Brad Pitt", any program with the word "Pit" in the description or episode title...and if there was a channel name starting with "Pitt" that would come up too.

30-second skip: There is both skip and jump back button which can be set at either 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute or two minutes. Personally, I have skip set to 30 seconds and jump back set to 10 seconds, in case I skip ahead to much I can ease back in 10 second increments..and for instant replay I don't normally want to jump back more than 10 seconds. These do NOT work in VOD only Live or recorded programs.

Auto-correction: Works very well..I loved the TiVo auto-correction when REW/FF and have no trouble with this feature

There is a multi-room DVR (yes MRV), but I chose to get separate DVRs to have more disk space and the ability to record 4 programs at a given time...(ok 6 if you include the kid's TV....why clog our DVR up with their shows?) SO I cannot comment on this service, that DVR also allows Music and Photos form PC.

Widgets: Ok so I can bring up my local weather or Traffic at any time...nice. not terribly exciting but nice.Traffic is better than horoscopes, but I doubt I'll ever check the traffic before I go anywhere.

ISSUES/Concerns: Occasional Remote latency...but this is an exception not the rule and usually only in VOD menus ...a few spontaneous re-boots (4 total, I am aware of out of 3 DVRs), There is a bug where recordings set for CSN Philly on the HD channel actually records the SD channel.(only occurrence of this bug I have seen)

Missed recordings...the reboots , I am aware of occurred during programs resulting in missing about a minute of each. A few other "learning curve" missed recording were actually human error because the default was set to record a series only at the original time. No other recording have been missed. I received NO manual or instruction for the new GUI so other options/features may exist that I haven't found....I accidently found the series options and 30 sec skip settings.

But I find the menu structure to be intuitive...it has been easy to do anything I've tried to do. I just don't know everything there is to look for.....One issue :In most menus, as you scroll down the list there is a list to the left of the next drop down list....so you hit the left arrow and access that menu..but sometimes you hit OK and get to the next menu...there seems to be no reason for the inconsistency.. a minor annoyance but one that should be addressed once the reboots and CSN HD issue are resolved.

Because of the lack of compression the 160 GB HD on the DVR appears to only hold about 90-100 of SD. Not an issue so far...but once the new network shows resume and we record more in HD...that could be an issue. External HD is not supported (yet) but will be a must eventually

I can search for a keyword, but I can't SAVE that search or set up auto record for that keyword..or at least I don't know how to yet.

TO DO: Lists all programs scheduled to be recorded and any conflicts

History: None that I am aware of.

If anyone has additional info on how to swap tuners, locate history, or any other "issue" I have had, please let me know. If anyone has specific " Can you do this or that ?" let me know.

As most know I hated my R15, I have had a fraction of the issues I had and can only hope that FIOS can be half as effective with improvements over the next 2 years, cause they have a lot less to fix...but they do have some biggies

Customer Service: THANKFULLY, I have not reason to call them yet, because I am well aware of the nightmare that can be. My experience has always been that Verizon CSRs are very friendly and courteous, but often clueless and incapable of getting anything done correctly and getting to the right person very difficult....but at least they are nice....YMMV.

Committment: 2 years...I could have not had a committment, but I took adavntage of a offer for a free 19' HDTV which required the comittment, it also locks in my promotional price for 2 years I also took advantage of a promo to get the "movies package" (Showtime/Starz/Encore) for $5/month which is also good for the 2 years.

The mods may want to move this to another forum (general DTV)...i know it is primarlily about FIOS which does not have forum here, but as a former DTV, DTivo, R15 user...I figured I'd comply with the request for a review of my experience.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

I really wish FIOS was an option in Colorado Springs!
Have you tried to find a manual on-line?


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

qwerty said:


> I really wish FIOS was an option in Colorado Springs!
> Have you tried to find a manual on-line?


Yes..There are how-to movies but no true manual.:nono2:

The welcome kit is a psuedo-manual..i guess...it's probably good review material if someone is curious..touches on features like Marketplace..for those that can't spend money quick enough...and the ability to add/change prgoramming (like HBO) through the STB

"Game lounge" - like and remote scheduling coming soon...

I did learn buttons C and D are reserved for future featured.....I wonder if C and D will be better than Feature 'X'?


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## mikewolf13 (Jan 31, 2006)

Quick Update: It looks like the CSN philly HD issue has been fixed. i recorded channel 829 successfully. 

woo hoo...there goes my drive space


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## Upstream (Jul 4, 2006)

Mike -- thanks for the update.


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## Kevin Dupuy (Nov 29, 2006)

carl6 said:


> While I agree that upgrades to the R15 have been painfully slow in coming, they are now getting a little better.
> 
> However, any comparison to the HR20 is not valid. They are totally different platforms, with totally different development teams, and different underlying software platforms. To not trust any DVR Plus product because of early experience with the R15 is being unfair to both yourself and DirecTV.
> 
> ...


I agree the R15 is 193% better than it was... but DIRECTV needs to merge the codebases of R15 and HR20 or something, why shouldn't the SD DVRs include VOD and Ethernet ports?

It befuddles me. And I just said befuddles. Dang it.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

I know this isn't a fios forum, but figured I'd fill in a couple of the blanks - excellent review, btw, Mike. Totally agree with your assessment.



mikewolf13 said:


> There is a multi-room DVR (yes MRV), but I chose to get separate DVRs to have more disk space and the ability to record 4 programs at a given time...(ok 6 if you include the kid's TV....why clog our DVR up with their shows?) SO I cannot comment on this service, that DVR also allows Music and Photos form PC.


This feature works surprisingly well. I have the MR DVR. I love being able to stream music and pictures to my TV - but it does have one limit - you can only feed the music and pix to the TV with the DVR on it. You can't get it off the other TVs fed off the DVR. Also, apparently video streaming is coming soon too.

The ability to set up a recording once, and watch it on another TV is a Godsend. I had two R15s, and while I liked them just fine, the dual maintenance of recordings drove me up a wall. This is particularly nice for the kids - set up their series, and kick them down stairs to watch them. There are a couple nits with this, though:

1) Can only currently stream SD programming. While the DVR records HD just fine, and plays it back on the HD TV just fine, the setup can only currently stream out SD recordings. In fact, your other TVs HAVE to have the SD set top box. You can't have an HD STB, or a DVR on that other TV. Still this is just fine for us - we have one HDTV and one SDTV. The downside is for stuff that's broadcast both in HD and SD. There are shows that are available in HD but I only record in SD for this reason (that and because the PQ is not an issue for those shows, and it's nice not to suck up the space for the HD version). HD streaming is supposed to be coming this year.

2) There is a latency when accessing recorded content on that SD STB. My DVR is nice and fast, but when I watch something recorded via the MR feed on that other TV, there's a definite latency when I press the 'trick play' buttons. It's understandable - everything goes through the computer router for this functionality. So when I hit FFWD, it goes from remote->SD STB->router->DVR. And follows the same path back when responding.



> Widgets: Ok so I can bring up my local weather or Traffic at any time...nice. not terribly exciting but nice.Traffic is better than horoscopes, but I doubt I'll ever check the traffic before I go anywhere.


I agree with this, but I do find the weather somewhat useful. They're also going to be adding community information at some point. But I agree - getting fios for the widgets feature is like buying a car because you like the cup holder.



> ISSUES/Concerns: Occasional Remote latency...but this is an exception not the rule and usually only in VOD menus ...a few spontaneous re-boots (4 total, I am aware of out of 3 DVRs), There is a bug where recordings set for CSN Philly on the HD channel actually records the SD channel.(only occurrence of this bug I have seen)
> 
> Missed recordings...the reboots , I am aware of occurred during programs resulting in missing about a minute of each. A few other "learning curve" missed recording were actually human error because the default was set to record a series only at the original time. No other recording have been missed. I received NO manual or instruction for the new GUI so other options/features may exist that I haven't found....I accidently found the series options and 30 sec skip settings.


As you mention in a later posting, the CSN Philly issue (and this affected other markets as well) has been resolved. Verizon knew about this one for a while, and they came up with a fix, but wanted to test the heck out of it before rolling it out.

The reboots are another issue. They tend to hit when you do alot of activity on the box. Again, Verizon is aware of this one - and they're supposed to be rolling out another s/w patch very very soon. Hopefully this one will be on the list of fixes. The missed recordings is another issue. There are actually a couple here. First, after they gave us the new guide s/w (the IMG) they told us to check our recordings. And sure enough there were a couple series that went stale on me, and I had to redefine them. Everything else went just great for a few weeks. Then I noticed other series that went stale. Deleting and redefining those seemed to take care of them. Still I sporadically get hit with this. I have a theory as to what's happening, and I believe it has to do with a flaw in the scheduling s/w (no kidding) that's exploited by guide data that goes missing. Meaning that there's a bug in the s/w that comes out when gaps show up in the guide data. And those gaps have been happening lately for a couple reasons. One, they're getting set to get rid of analogs in every market, so they're shifting things around. And two, they're adding channels. For example, a few weeks ago they gave us MTVu on, I think, channel 182. Someone noticed that whenever they add a channel, all channels north of that number on the guide lose several hours-worth of guide data. It comes back after a while, but the damage has been done - and the series on those channels get hosed.

Again, that's just a theory, but it does seem to have some merit. And again, this is one that Verizon is definitely aware of and they're working on a fix.



> Because of the lack of compression the 160 GB HD on the DVR appears to only hold about 90-100 of SD.


I think 100 hours is generous. SD programming gets recorded at a rate of about 2 - 3 GB/hour with FiOS (vs. about 1GB/hour with DirecTV). That's due to less compression, which results in a nicer picture, but at a cost. I think I would get about 80 hours of SD max on my DVR.



> Not an issue so far...but once the new network shows resume and we record more in HD...that could be an issue. External HD is not supported (yet) but will be a must eventually


They have a new STB coming out pretty soon, from what I understand. The DVR had better have some kind of expandable/external storage or there will be an insurrection. Ok, that's a little strong, but I'd be shocked if the next gen DVR did not have that. Also, I know you're not big into VOD, but they do have some network shows on there. Currently only CBS, NBC, and USA, and only a handful of each. But they are free, and they have almost no commercial interruption (there's probably 30 - 60 seconds of commercials, total, for each hour show). It's currently all in SD, but they're starting to roll out HD VOD - including in our area. Again, right now it's really really limited, but it's a start. Try doing the following:

- Menu -> Search
- Search by Content Type
- Pick VOD as your Content Type
- Enter in HD as the thing to search on

You'll see a folder pop up called HDTV. Go in there, and you'll see the HD VOD offerings in your area.



> If anyone has additional info on how to swap tuners, locate history, or any other "issue" I have had, please let me know. If anyone has specific " Can you do this or that ?" let me know.


Not that I'm aware of. There is no history (which bugs me too), and you figured out how to swap tuners. That feature was actually added at the last minute. They rolled out the first version of the IMG s/w to many markets, and they had issues. So they stopped the roll-out, and put in a patch. Then they continued the roll out. The version that you and I initially got was that patched version. The original version didn't have DLB at all, but Verizon decided to put them in with the patch.



> As most know I hated my R15, I have had a fraction of the issues I had and can only hope that FIOS can be half as effective with improvements over the next 2 years, cause they have a lot less to fix...but they do have some biggies


With apologies to folks on this forum, Verizon does seem to have a much better process for these types of fixes. And they seem to be pretty responsive to user requests



> Customer Service: THANKFULLY, I have not reason to call them yet, because I am well aware of the nightmare that can be. My experience has always been that Verizon CSRs are very friendly and courteous, but often clueless and incapable of getting anything done correctly and getting to the right person very difficult....but at least they are nice....YMMV.


I've actually been impressed with their customer service. The problem they're having right now, though, is growing pains. When you're growing at 30 - 40% per quarter (which is what they've been doing), you hit these issues. Folks are now hitting excessive wait times to get through to a representative. I'd recommend going here first:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/vzdirect

You'll have to register to post, but the forum is actually monitored by Verizon tech support, and I've gotten a number of issues resolved this way.


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