# DVR, PVR : What's the difference



## Presence (Mar 14, 2004)

Subject says it all. I know the D stands for Dish and the P for Personal, but what's the difference between the two? I've read around Dish's website, but their definitions do not make it any clearer.


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## FTA Michael (Jul 21, 2002)

A little while ago (last year?), TiVo asserted that "PVR" and "Personal Video Recorder" are TiVo trademarks. For generic equivalents, TiVo suggested DVR and digital video recorder.

Simply claiming a phrase is your trademark doesn't necessarily make it so, but I haven't heard of anyone mounting a trademark challenge. Dish, in particular, seems happy using DVR to describe its TiVo-esque boxes.


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## guruka (Dec 27, 2003)

Presence said:


> Subject says it all. I know the D stands for Dish and the P for Personal, but what's the difference between the two? I've read around Dish's website, but their definitions do not make it any clearer.


The D stands for 'digital.' They are exactly the same of course. On the Dish 921 receiver, some screens say DVR and some say PVR 

.....G


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

Around the end of July/beginning of August of last year, TiVo Inc put at trademark on what Carload said, they also don't want companies to use 'TiVo like' in descriptions. If my memory serves me right, and it does, Mr. Ergan used that phrase on two separate occasions on Charlie Chats, since this went into effect. Any one know the phone number of a big shot over at TiVo? I have a trademark violation I'd like to report


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## stonecold (Feb 20, 2004)

if you really want to get to show the orginal dishplayers age they dont even call it dvr or pvr it PTV ( Personal TV)


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## NEBUGEATER (May 19, 2003)

The REAL difference is $5.00 / Month !!!!!!!


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## Delta4C (Mar 15, 2004)

Just as the Instant Replay Deck allowed 30 seconds of live video to be recorded on a hard disk in 1967, the ReplayTV and TiVo decks could record 14 hours of video in 1999. With the built-in 10 GB hard drive continuously recording, these decks provided the capability to pause and rewind live TV. The ReplayTV and TiVo both retailed for about $700 at introduction, although the TiVo could be had for $500 by paying a $10/month fee for the service. TiVo was more successful, as its unit could learn the owner's viewing preferences and record appropriate programs automatically. ReplayTV withdrew from the hardware business in 2000, with their box being re-introduced by Sonicblue in 2001. Microsoft and RCA jointly introduced UltimateTV in 2001, which featured a video recorder integrated into a DirecTV box.
http://www.pvrcompare.com/  
Tivo Series 2 vs ReplayTV 5000/5500 Comparison
Winner: ReplayTV

http://www.cedmagic.com/history/


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

NEBUGEATER said:


> The REAL difference is $5.00 / Month !!!!!!!


Exactly  !


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## samo (Nov 9, 2002)

> Around the end of July/beginning of August of last year, TiVo Inc put at trademark on what Carload said


Not true. Simple trademark search shows that neither PVR or DVR are trademarked for digital recorders (there are PVR and DVR trademarks, but not by any Digital Recorder Companies). TiVo has a trademark on "Personal Video Recorder", Dish has Dish PVR And DishPlayer, Scientific Atlanta has "Multi Room PVR" and "Multi Room DVR", Gemstar has DVR and PVR Plus. It is also interesting that "Primetime Anytime" belongs to TiVo and "Primetime. Anytime." belongs to Replay.


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