# Frustrated with VIP722 aka "I miss my TiVo"



## tekn4god (Oct 21, 2010)

"I miss my TiVo" seems to be an echo'd sentiment around this forum for those of us coming from the DirecTV world. I've had my VIP722(k?) for about 6 months now. In that time, I've gotten used to the missing Suggestions, the lack of control for Wishlists (seriously, why can't I tell it MOVIES ONLY!) and the crazy FastForward/Rewind speeds.

I cannot, however, get used to the fact that the clock in INFO displays the wrong time when playing back a live program (happens about 1 out of 3 times). Who thought it would be a good idea to display the clock at the playback position instead of displaying the actual time (and why is it inconsistent)?

Even more annoying is the back button behavior. On my unit a single press of the back button may go back 10 seconds, 10 minutes or all the way back to the beginning of a 2 hour movie. Several threads here note that it is due to some patent dispute with TiVo. Yes, this is kinda rant-ish, but seriously, how difficult is it really to check the timecode and backup 10 seconds?

Calls to Dish are useless. More than once I've been verbally abused by the customer un-service representative for requesting a fix or lodging a complaint. So, I don't call anymore.

On the good side, after 6 months of putting up with the erratic behavior of this unit, my wife and I find we watch much less TV overall. I'm anticipating that by the end of our contract we will have found most of the shows we enjoy online and will completely cancel service.

I truly am sorry for the rant, but I'm frustrated with Dish's lack of customer service, appalled by the fact that this is the "best" I can get for money, and disgusted that I have to keep paying on it for another year and a half, unless I pay their early discharge fee, which I'm considering. I couldn't find an online way to communicate with their technicians (like I could with TiVo), but I found this forum and found others as frustrated as I am (and a few fans).

Anyway, thanks for letting me rant.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

tekn4god said:


> ....
> 
> Anyway, thanks for letting me rant.


Much of what you say is simply cockpit error.

In any event, I also can not wait for you to be back with Tivo.


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## clotter (Apr 12, 2008)

Perceptions are a funny thing. My first DVR experience was a Tivo unit with DTV. I stuck with that until they went to MPEG-4. I was then "upgraded" to a HR-100. I didn't really mind the HR series until it got so painfully slow to operate, I couldn't stand it. I hated the lack of speed of the HR so much, I switched to Dish. 

I have to agree that Tivo had a slick interface and was for the most part trouble-free. The HR actually had features that seem to fit me better for how I use a DVR. I think the 722 is somewhere between the other two. I would have to rate the 722 #1 for me though. My wife, on the other hand, mentions at least weekly how much she misses Tivo.

I totally agree about the behavior of the back button. Most of the time it works fine, but I get the occasional erratic behavior you describe. I would rarely use the back button if it had the "skip a few seconds back after going forward" like the HR had. I really miss that.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

clotter said:


> ....
> I totally agree about the behavior of the back button. Most of the time it works fine, but I get the occasional erratic behavior you describe. I would rarely use the back button if it had the "skip a few seconds back after going forward" like the HR had. I really miss that.


I've *never* had a problem with the (10 Second) back button. I *always* have problem with the pause and Slow ahead and Slow back.


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## clotter (Apr 12, 2008)

SaltiDawg said:


> I've *never* had a problem with the (10 Second) back button. I *always* have problem with the pause and Slow ahead and Slow back.


I would definitely agree with that.


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## tampa8 (Mar 30, 2002)

I too hope you return to Tivo quickly......


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

clotter said:


> I would rarely use the back button if it had the "skip a few seconds back after going forward" like the HR had.


Do you not use the skip forward button to skip forward 30 seconds?


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## BarryG (Jun 25, 2006)

What he's talking about is when you go from FFWD to PLAY in the Tivo, it automatically skips back a few seconds to counteract the tendency to overshoot.

I like the 722K but have to admit that my old DTV Tivo was more intelligently designed and flawless in operation.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

BarryG said:


> What he's talking about is when you go from FFWD to PLAY in the Tivo, it automatically skips back a few seconds to counteract the tendency to overshoot. ...


I can see how that will drive the OP back to Tivo. 

(BTW, I prefer the Dish approach. YMMV )


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## jkane (Oct 12, 2007)

I personally despise the "I know where you want to stop during a skip than you do" feature of the Tivo. Drives me crazy every morning when /I am trying to stop the news right on the weather.

I have not had a problem with my 722 skipping forward or back for about a year or so now. I do recall it used to do some funny things, but I had forgotten it even did that since it's been so long since it happened.


I never noticed a time being wrong issue either. Not even sure what you are talking about.

I agree, the search and wishlist features of the TiVo are much better. We have a series 2. I loved it when it was new. Snappy and great features. Now, it has been patched to death. It is slow and sluggish. Sometimes I press the remote button, and it takes 4-5 seconds to respond. Unaccaptable!

Dish is the other way around. When we first got it, and I was an early adoptor for both it and the TiVo, it was slow and had many usabliity issues. They have patched it to the point of it being a much better product.

When it comes to support, I don't find any of the service providers helpful! Dish is not alone. That doesn't make it right, but it makes the support argument a non-issue.

In the end, I find that Dish has made the 722 a better product over time, and TiVo has ruined my TiVo experience over time.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

BarryG said:


> What he's talking about is when you go from FFWD to PLAY in the Tivo, it automatically skips back a few seconds to counteract the tendency to overshoot.


I know what he's talking about. He's using F-FWD to go through commercials or whatever instead of pressing the 30 second skip button. Commercials are in 30 second increments so one press usually gets through one commercial. Once one gets used to this method, it's extremely easy to zip through commercials very effectively. 
However, for some reason folks who come from a TiVo background seem to have signed an agreement that this is the only way they will ever attempt to zip through commercials and complain when it doesn't work exactly as a TiVo. Folks, it works differently because it's a different device; get over it.
Rant emphasized in blue.


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## clotter (Apr 12, 2008)

Kent Taylor said:


> I know what he's talking about. He's using F-FWD to go through commercials or whatever instead of pressing the 30 second skip button. Commercials are in 30 second increments so one press usually gets through one commercial. Once one gets used to this method, it's extremely easy to zip through commercials very effectively.
> However, for some reason folks who come from a TiVo background seem to have signed an agreement that this is the only way they will ever attempt to zip through commercials and complain when it doesn't work exactly as a TiVo. Folks, it works differently because it's a different device; get over it.
> Rant emphasized in blue.


I actually do use the 30 second skip but I'm anal about missing the first couple seconds of the show, so I use the skip back to get there. It was just automatic with the HR series. I don't remember if Tivo did this or not, but I'm talking about the DTV HR series of DVR. Regardless, I'm not crapping on the 722, overall I quite like it.  My wife on the other hand does not share my feelings.  But what can you expect, she just Can't Understand Normal Thinking


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

clotter said:


> But what can you expect, she just Can't Understand Normal Thinking


I'm going to assume she doesn't read this forum.


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## tekn4god (Oct 21, 2010)

SaltiDawg said:


> Much of what you say is simply cockpit error.
> 
> In any event, I also can not wait for you to be back with Tivo.





tampa8 said:


> I too hope you return to Tivo quickly......


I suppose it shouldn't surprise me to find the same attitude here that I find from Dish Customer Support.



BarryG said:


> What he's talking about is when you go from FFWD to PLAY in the Tivo, it automatically skips back a few seconds to counteract the tendency to overshoot.





Kent Taylor said:


> I know what he's talking about. He's using F-FWD to go through commercials or whatever instead of pressing the 30 second skip button. Commercials are in 30 second increments so one press usually gets through one commercial. Once one gets used to this method, it's extremely easy to zip through commercials very effectively.
> However, for some reason folks who come from a TiVo background seem to have signed an agreement that this is the only way they will ever attempt to zip through commercials and complain when it doesn't work exactly as a TiVo. Folks, it works differently because it's a different device; get over it.
> Rant emphasized in blue.


I love the assumptions that people make when they don't really read what you've written.

Actually I wasn't talking about using the FastForward button at all. I meant exactly what I said - the 10 second "Back Button" is erratic. It may go back 10 seconds, or anywhere between and up to the beginning of the show with a single press. I also know I'm not alone as I've seen other posts here regarding the same issue. Some examples (searched this forum for "back button"):
dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2417731#post2417731
dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=2150765#post2150765
I would have linked them, but apparently I'm not allowed.

I realize, Kent, that this is a different device and will exhibit different ways of doing things. I do use the 30-second skip feature to skip through commercials, just the same as I did on my TiVo. The devices are, according to the manufacturer's instructions, supposed to have a have similar feature when comparing the SKIP/BACK buttons. I'm saying that its highly annoying to be in the middle of a 3 hour program and have the back button go back to the beginning. This has nothing to do with my preference for one system over the other, its simply a bug that should have been squashed long ago.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

tekn4god said:


> I do use the 30-second skip feature to skip through commercials, just the same as I did on my TiVo. The devices are, according to the manufacturer's instructions, supposed to have a have similar feature when comparing the SKIP/BACK buttons. I'm saying that its highly annoying to be in the middle of a 3 hour program and have the back button go back to the beginning. This has nothing to do with my preference for one system over the other, its simply a bug that should have been squashed long ago.


I rarely have that happen with my 722 or 612. Almost never when I'm watching something on the internal hard drive. A little more frequently when I'm watching something directly from an external hard drive.

You're right, it shouldn't happen. If it's happening frequently, then something is wrong with your 722 IMHO.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

tekn4god said:


> ...
> I love the assumptions that people make when they don't really read what you've written. ...


You meant the mostly nonsense in your first post. Most quesations posted here don't get the response that you did... wonder why?

Did *you* even read the responses that you did get? lol :lol:

As an example, you said, "I'm saying that its highly annoying to be in the middle of a 3 hour program and have the back button go back to the beginning. This has nothing to do with my preference for one system over the other, its simply a bug that should have been squashed long ago."

The answers should have told you that this is not a widespread problem - most of us have never heard of it. You cited a previous post ... wonder if that other person contacted dish... or did he slink off to DirecTV? lol 

Bye!


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

BarryG said:


> I like the 722K but have to admit that my old DTV Tivo was more intelligently designed and flawless in operation.


If my local cable company can get more HD content, I would dump Dish and buy an HD TIVO.

My 722 is OK, but no where near what TIVO had 6 years ago. Dish and Direct are still trying to dance around TIVO. I would PAY extra to have a dish DVR running TIVO.

I also dumped Direct when my Direct Tivo unit died. My local dealer gave me 3 Direct DVR's that all died after a few days. Dealer was so embarrassed, he gave me my money back and got me out of a new 2 year contract.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

tommiet said:


> If my local cable company can get more HD content, I would dump Dish and buy an HD TIVO. ...


I have Fios available to me. I wouldn't have a TiVo and Fios HD on a bet. The Vip series Dish DVRs are far superior to Tivo and simply superior to the fios boxes.

Oh wait, I'm a Dish owner posting in a Dish forum. Is that permitted? lol


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## palerider (Mar 20, 2007)

SaltiDawg said:


> I have Fios available to me. I wouldn't have a TiVo and Fios HD on a bet. The Vip series Dish DVRs are far superior to Tivo and simply superior to the fios boxes.
> 
> Oh wait, I'm a Dish owner posting in a Dish forum. Is that permitted? lol


I couldn't agree more. I tend to treat Tivo users with the same disdain as I have for Mac fanboys/girls. They simply don't have a clue! Enough said.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

Let's not broad brush TiVo and Mac users. Let's stay on topic and refrain from the personal attacks.


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## tommiet (Dec 29, 2005)

palerider said:


> I couldn't agree more. I tend to treat Tivo users with the same disdain as I have for Mac fanboys/girls. They simply don't have a clue! Enough said.


If I had a choice, I would have a TIVO. Not that Dish's DVR is bad, just I think the TIVO software is better. Had both for years and I'm probably more qualified than others that have never seen it.

Normally I don't comment on kiddie's playing on the net... You can go back to Facebook and MTV now. Let the adults talk...


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## altidude (Jan 13, 2010)

I had a Tivo on D* for about 8-9 years. I missed my Tivo for about 48 hours when I switched to Dish. The 722k, IMO, is a better DVR, especially with the addition of the OTA module.


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## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

When I do notice erratic skip back behavior it always seems to be be a SD recording, HD recordings it works properly.

My suspicion is something in the SD data causes it.


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