# DTivo-er considering switch to 522



## Ray_Clum (Apr 22, 2002)

Now that the 522 has NBR and a wishlist type feature (if I'm remembering correctly), I'm considering getting Dish through SBC to go along with long distance & DSL. My question is how reliable and robust is the NBR and the wishlist feature (i.e. missed shows or special length shows caught)?


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## reddice (Feb 18, 2003)

Anything is better than the Tivo.


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## Ray_Clum (Apr 22, 2002)

Also, with the unit set in dual mode (controlling two different TV's), can you watch recordings set on one TV/Tuner on the other TV?


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## maximum (Jun 23, 2004)

Ray_Clum said:


> Also, with the unit set in dual mode (controlling two different TV's), can you watch recordings set on one TV/Tuner on the other TV?


Yes since all programs recorded share the same hard drive. From what I've heard this is the main advantage the 522 has over Tivo. I haven't heard of any other dual tuner DVR with dual outputs.


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## Racerx (Dec 5, 2004)

maximum said:


> Yes since all programs recorded share the same hard drive. From what I've heard this is the main advantage the 522 has over Tivo. I haven't heard of any other dual tuner DVR with dual outputs.


 Yep, that was the selling point, for me. I love my 522, even though it drives me nuts, with bugs, on an almost daily basis.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

Now that TiVo is testing pop-up ads I also am seriously considering dropping my DirecTV TiVo for a DISH 522. Several of my neighbors have them and they love them. One thing that I have noticed when playing with my neighbor's 522 is that is considerably faster than my TiVo (guide and now playing list).


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## boba (May 23, 2003)

If you like TiVo you will hate 522 if like redice you think TiVo is terrible you deserve the 522, you will love the bugs.


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## lazaruspup (Mar 18, 2005)

maximum said:


> I haven't heard of any other dual tuner DVR with dual outputs.


Scientific Atlanta and Motorola both make a quad tuner with multiple outputs for cable systems.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

boba said:


> If you like TiVo you will hate 522 if like redice you think TiVo is terrible you deserve the 522, you will love the bugs.


Boba,

I have several neighbors (four) with 522s. NONE of them are having any serious bug problems.

I think this is just more of your unjustifiable DISH bashing that you getting well known for.

And talk about bashing -- just wait until TiVo fully rolls out its "no skip pop ups". You are going to see a LOT of TiVo bashing on this and other forums. It will be interesting to see how dealers like you defend them.


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## Racerx (Dec 5, 2004)

Well, I don't Dish bash, I am saying that the 522 is rife with bugs. I have to deal with them, constantly, and I am a former, disgruntled Directv customer.


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## geobernd (Nov 4, 2004)

From my experience: DTivo and 522 are no comparison at this point. I have Dish and DirecTV (neither alone has all the channels I like). The DTivo is rock solid - no hickups - no missed recordings.
The 522 is so so... Missed recordings, hickups, pixelation... Also NBR is not equivalent to the season passes/wishlists on Tivo. NBR is Name Based. DTivo's guide uses Series IDs (numeric Identifiers) that work much more reliable if a show changes... 
I was tempted to switch to the 522 completely but could not part with my DTivos and the reliability.
Yes - the Tivo Guide is slower, reordering Season Passes is slow - but I don't do that often. I usually have everything set and just check every couple of month.... Also the automatic conflict resolution with the dual tuners on the Tivo is working better than on the 522....


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## chaddux (Oct 10, 2004)

boba said:


> If you like TiVo you will hate 522 if like redice you think TiVo is terrible you deserve the 522, you will love the bugs.


It's best to just ignore boba entirely. He's the resident DISH-hater and 99.9% of everything he says is bashing DISH. He does it here and on satelliteguys.us as well. He also has absolutely no idea how to separate sentences using punctuation.

I have a 522 and love it.


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## geobernd (Nov 4, 2004)

Let me add a bit to my previous comment (after thinking a little more).

It might depend on how you watch TV.

The DTivo lends itself much better for the planning TV viewer - setting up season passes and never having to worry about them. Rarely watching live TV and making spontaneous shedule changes.
The 522 wins if you watch more live TV (e.g. longer live buffer) - want to quickly schedule shows from the guide - so the more compulsive TV viewer is probably better served by the 522...

Again - just my opinion...

Woudl I be happy with either if I didn't know the other: yes


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

chaddux said:


> It's best to just ignore boba entirely. He's the resident DISH-hater and 99.9% of everything he says is bashing DISH. He does it here and on satelliteguys.us as well. He also has absolutely no idea how to separate sentences using punctuation.
> 
> I have a 522 and love it.


On the flip side it's best to ignore reddice since he's a D* hater.

As mentioned earlier, D* hardware works, E* has issue. I think a good indication is the number of threads/posts in the two providers DVR sections of this site. E* DVR has 3,176 threads and 36,621 posts. D* has 1,028 and 7,386.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

RAD said:


> As mentioned earlier, D* hardware works, E* has issue.


As a person who has both systems I would agree that E* systems tend to have more "issues" than D* systems but having said that D* systems are FAR from perfect and E* systems as not nearly as bad as some people make them out to be.

What bothers me a lot about these forums is that some dealers and other posters bash DISH every chance they have. This is unfair (and a bit dishonest if you ask me) and really doesn't reflect the true state of affairs. DISH equipment is very reliable for most people and it is just sad that some people don't have enough integrity to post the complete truth.


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## chaddux (Oct 10, 2004)

RAD said:


> On the flip side it's best to ignore reddice since he's a D* hater.
> 
> As mentioned earlier, D* hardware works, E* has issue. I think a good indication is the number of threads/posts in the two providers DVR sections of this site. E* DVR has 3,176 threads and 36,621 posts. D* has 1,028 and 7,386.


That's an indication of nothing. You'll note that there is a similar difference in the main DirecTV and DISH Network forums. If you factor in the number of posts for the Voom forum, I guess that means Voom is basically perfect (1933 posts vs 22486 and 85666). Taking something out of context is never an indication of anything. Who is to say that difference is based on problems? Maybe it's based on popularity or raves or any number of different things. I can take your post out of context and make it look like whatever I want. Something like this:

"I think a good indication is the number of threads/posts in the two providers DVR sections of this site. E* DVR has 3,176 threads and 36,621 posts. D* has 1,028 and 7,386." Guess that means the DISH Network DVRs are more popular and, therefore, better. Since no one ever posts about DirecTV DVRs, they must be really crappy and no one is using them. That's not a logical argument and neither is yours.

See how this works?


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## tds4182 (Jul 17, 2003)

chaddux said:


> That's an indication of nothing. You'll note that there is a similar difference in the main DirecTV and DISH Network forums. If you factor in the number of posts for the Voom forum, I guess that means Voom is basically perfect (1933 posts vs 22486 and 85666). Taking something out of context is never an indication of anything. Who is to say that difference is based on problems? Maybe it's based on popularity or raves or any number of different things. I can take your post out of context and make it look like whatever I want. Something like this:
> 
> "I think a good indication is the number of threads/posts in the two providers DVR sections of this site. E* DVR has 3,176 threads and 36,621 posts. D* has 1,028 and 7,386." Guess that means the DISH Network DVRs are more popular and, therefore, better. Since no one ever posts about DirecTV DVRs, they must be really crappy and no one is using them. That's not a logical argument and neither is yours.
> 
> See how this works?


I do agree with you that it's possible to "twist" almost any quote/set of facts to fit your particular bias or viewpoint.

Having said that, I think it's also fair to point out that the posts re the E* DVRs do tend to be more critical of the unit(s) than do the posts re the D* Tivos. This seems to be true in all the various DBS forums (DBS Talk, SatelliteGuys, AVS Forum, etc.)

I don't really have a dog in this fight, but I do believe this observation to be accurate.

Everyone should buy & enjoy whatever fits their needs best!


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## astrotrf (Apr 5, 2004)

chaddux said:


> That's an indication of nothing. You'll note that there is a similar difference in the main DirecTV and DISH Network forums.


You and RAD both have good points. D* has more customers, but they post less. Why? It's an indication that there may be problems with E*, as RAD says, but the raw numbers alone aren't definitive, as you point out.

The thing to do is to take a quick scan of the threads to see what they're talking about.

On the D* side, threads tend to be about TiVo or programming or how to do tricks with the remote to activate hidden features. Once in a while, there's a bug thread.

On the E* side, there's a bit of talk about programming and other things, but *REAMS AND REAMS* of threads and posts about bugs.

It was, in fact, this analysis that finally overcame my inertia against switching from E* to D*.

Now I have both, and they're each good for different things. But the D* machines are rock-solid while the E* machines are riddled with bugs, both minor and major.

On the upside, the time I spend Eldon-bashing provides some of my most pleasant moments! 

Terry


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## Racerx (Dec 5, 2004)

As I stated earlier, I WAS a D* customer, until thier customer service screwed me around ( the actual service, or hardware quality was never an issue). I got mad, and switched to E*. Since I have switched to E*, I have had no problems with customer service, and the features are great, but their hardware is sheer crap! EVERY DAY, I am cussing out their 522, for one reason or another, because of bugs and glitches.
Since I have been a customer of BOTH, and have had the opportunity to compare, and they both have their weak points. However, what you have to deal with, on a constant, daily basis, is the hardware, and the E* hardware, IMO, just doesn't cut the mustard, and, in alot of ways, I kinda wish I'd just stayed with D*. Take those comments however you wish, but that is my, honest opinion.


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## N7OR (Mar 2, 2005)

Well, I guarantee you that my 522 has serious audio/video synchronization problems. I'm not bashing or cheerleading anybody. All of your neighbors that have bug free 522's are either clueless or just will not admit to making a mistake by choosing a 522. The latest software upgrade made absolutely no improvement.


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## juan ellitinez (Jan 31, 2003)

here we go "all the "NEW" members (with less than 10 posts) bashing e* They always seem to come out of the woodwork when someone has something nice to say about e* !!!!!!Yet everytime a poll is taken the overwelming majority on this board issatisfied with e*


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## kwajr (Apr 7, 2004)

No One Has Mentioned That Dish Seems To Have Better Pq Than A Tivo Does Even When Set To Best


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

kwajr said:


> No One Has Mentioned That Dish Seems To Have Better Pq Than A Tivo Does Even When Set To Best


Are you comparing a E* PVR to a standalone Tivo connected to a D* STB? If that's the case then that's what would be expected since the D* STB has to uncompress the signal, pass it to the standalone Tivo which then has to recompress it, which adds to loss of PQ. D* Tivo PVR's don't have a PQ quality setting since they record the data streame unmodified as it's received and uncompress it when viewed. So your response is comparing apples to oranges, not an accurate review of the services.


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## buckyp (Dec 17, 2003)

N7OR said:


> Well, I guarantee you that my 522 has serious audio/video synchronization problems. I'm not bashing or cheerleading anybody. All of your neighbors that have bug free 522's are either clueless or just will not admit to making a mistake by choosing a 522. The latest software upgrade made absolutely no improvement.


So because you have problems with YOUR machine and I don't, I don't have a clue? Jeeze. Lets not generalize here.

I have a 522. It has had a minor problem that was due to a bad switch. (not the 522's fault) I have had to reboot twice since I got it in Feb. I have never had any sync issues. If it was perfect, I would not have to reboot, but once a month is bearable for what I get. I love the 2 tuner, 2 output with UHF.

I love my 522. I do have a clue and I did not make a mistake!

If you made a mistake getting the 522, go back to D*.


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## kwajr (Apr 7, 2004)

RAD said:


> Are you comparing a E* PVR to a standalone Tivo connected to a D* STB? If that's the case then that's what would be expected since the D* STB has to uncompress the signal, pass it to the standalone Tivo which then has to recompress it, which adds to loss of PQ. D* Tivo PVR's don't have a PQ quality setting since they record the data streame unmodified as it's received and uncompress it when viewed. So your response is comparing apples to oranges, not an accurate review of the services.


so the dtivo doesnt give you a choice that make sense though well i do think it is something people should atleast think of with a stand alone


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## Racerx (Dec 5, 2004)

juan ellitinez said:


> here we go "all the "NEW" members (with less than 10 posts) bashing e* They always seem to come out of the woodwork when someone has something nice to say about e* !!!!!!Yet everytime a poll is taken the overwelming majority on this board issatisfied with e*


 I didn't come here to bash E*. I came here to get answers about problems with E*'s ****ty hardware. Nice try at slanting the issue, though. I just figured, while I was here, and noticed this thread, I'd add my personal experience with BOTH brands. If I thought E*'s 522 was the greatest thing since sliced bread, I'd tell ya. However, just because YOU think it is, don't expect everyone else to think the same.


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