# Is Dish HD DVR the best?



## Jambals (Dec 21, 2007)

I currently have D* TV with a Tivo DVR & just recently purchased an LCD TV and am wanting to upgrade to an HD DVR. I have been surfing the web & comparing HD Dvr's. 722 vs HR21 Haven't really looked at Tivo HD. I was wondering which is better. Should I just upgrade with my current Sat. company or switch over to the 722? How well do the cool features of being able to hook it up to an HD & SD TV work? This would allow me to elimante a receiver. I also like the option of being able to add an external hard drive. I just want to make sure changing providers is the correct thing to do. Appreciate any thought & insight.

Thanks


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

There is so much more to switching carriers... then just the DVR...

I would highly recommend doing a lot of reading, and find out the features of both carriers current systems....

There are a few comparison charts out there to get you started...


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Agreed ... and at this point in the year it would be best to wait a few weeks until E* and D* make their Consumer Electronics Show announcements ... they often announce the best deals of the year.


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## Hunter Green (May 8, 2006)

IMO, TiVo beats DISH DVR hands down, but not by as much as I feared. However, DirecTV's version of TiVo, last I heard, was still quite a few revisions behind the main TiVo line, and thus, well behind either. But maybe the DirecTiVos are more up to snuff nowadays, in which case, they'd be back ahead.


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## wje (Mar 8, 2006)

Having used both E*'s and D*'s DVRs, I prefer the 622/722 now. It was a bit of a learning curve when I switched, but now it's very nice. One killer for me with D*'s current offering is the lack of an OTA tuner.

Back when I was using the HR10, which was the Dish/Tivo HD recorder offering, it really wasn't very good. It was a number of releases behind non-D* Tivo. It was finally updated, but not until many, many moons had passed.

Of course, D* isn't shipping Tivo-based units any more. So, if the comparison is between E*'s and D*'s non-Tivo DVRs, my personal preference is the 622/722.

However, rumors abound that D* and Tivo are going to make up, and possibly produce a new unit. The HR10-250 may even get a new Tivo update. Want to buy mine?


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## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Since Directv bought Replay I doubt very much that they will bring out any new Tivo product.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

DISH dvrs are the best out there according to Cnet reviewers. I agree. I have had TIvo and DISH and I perfer DISH dvrs to TIvo. I wouldn't mind some of TIvo search features, but over all the extra bells and whistles that DISH dvrs have made up for it. 

1) I can record on my 622/722 hd dvr 3 things at one time :1 ota , 2 sat . This is something that Directv can't do and their newest hd dvrs and receivers don't have an ota tuner at all. BIG DRAWBACK.

2) My receiver can be used in either single mode with pip features or dual mode and two different programs can be watched at the same time in two different rooms while three different programs record at the same time. Comes in handy when my wife wants to watch the hdtv in the living room and I want to watch something different on the tv in the computer room.

3) I can use an endless number of external hard drives upto 750gb on my dvrs increasing my recording space and allowing a archive library. I can also use my internal hard drive and record too. I use my internal hard drive on my 722 ( 55 hours of hd /350 in sd) for a scratch pad so to speak and send programs off of my internal to my external. I use my internal for tv series and my external for movies- have up to 82 recordings right now , mostly in hd.


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## texaswolf (Oct 18, 2007)

the *only* draw back to having one unit is if you have 2 HDTV's or surround in two different rooms, other than that...everything Mike stated makes it a better unit. If we could attach multiple externals at the same time would be nice...which im sure is coming up soon.

is it unlimited number of externals you can use? I had heard you can only format 3 times?


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## Jambals (Dec 21, 2007)

Thanks for all the replys thus far. 

Question Is OTA an outside standard antenna? I don't have one so I guess that will rule out recording 3 things at once.

Also Is there any particular EHD to buy? Should I buy a 750GB or will 500 be plenty. I noticed on EBAY that there seems to be plenty of Western Digital EHD's available.


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## texaswolf (Oct 18, 2007)

i just picked up this EHD from buy.com...best price i found at the time...works great so far.
http://www.buy.com/prod/western-dig...-external-hard-drive/q/loc/101/202418917.html

be careful with some ebay dealers...check the history if you go that route


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## Jambals (Dec 21, 2007)

Thanks for the link on the EHD from Buy .com Nice price


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## wje (Mar 8, 2006)

Jambals said:


> Question Is OTA an outside standard antenna? I don't have one so I guess that will rule out recording 3 things at once.
> .


Yes. OTA: off-the-air
So, you can record two sat chans at one time, while playing back a recorded one.


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## texaswolf (Oct 18, 2007)

Jambals said:


> Thanks for the link on the EHD from Buy .com Nice price


happy to help


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

texaswolf said:


> the *only* draw back to having one unit is if you have 2 HDTV's or surround in two different rooms, other than that...everything Mike stated makes it a better unit. If we could attach multiple externals at the same time would be nice...which im sure is coming up soon.
> 
> is it unlimited number of externals you can use? I had heard you can only format 3 times?


You can use as many different external hard drives as you want on your dvr. So I can buy say 10 external hard drives and as long as I let my receiver format those drives , they will all work on that receiver .

You can only move it from one dvr receiver to another ,on your account, 3 times and then it is stuck or bonded with the last receiver you moved it to on the 3rd attempt. The only way to move it again is to move all recordings off of that external hd to say the internal hd of the last receiver. Then move the external hd back to the other dvr and let it reformat and you get to move 3 more times. They are supposed to be working on a way that all external hard drives can be moved as much as you want and to as many receivers as you want, on the same account.


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## texaswolf (Oct 18, 2007)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> You can use as many different external hard drives as you want on your dvr. So I can buy say 10 external hard drives and as long as I let my receiver format those drives , they will all work on that receiver .
> 
> You can only move it from one dvr receiver to another ,on your account, 3 times and then it is stuck or bonded with the last receiver you moved it to on the 3rd attempt. The only way to move it again is to move all recordings off of that external hd to say the internal hd of the last receiver. Then move the external hd back to the other dvr and let it reformat and you get to move 3 more times. They are supposed to be working on a way that all external hard drives can be moved as much as you want and to as many receivers as you want, on the same account.


AHHH ok....thanks!


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## ASN21 (Aug 17, 2007)

The Vip 722 and 622 are BY FAR the best HD-DVR's out on the market. Anyone who tells you otherwise has no clue what they are talking about. King of recording space...picture in picture (my tv has no built in pip...so this is damn SWEET!) not to mention many other features that tops tivos expensive rates and expensive hardware.


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## JohnL (Apr 1, 2002)

texaswolf said:


> the *only* draw back to having one unit is if you have 2 HDTV's or surround in two different rooms, other than that...everything Mike stated makes it a better unit. If we could attach multiple externals at the same time would be nice...which im sure is coming up soon.
> 
> is it unlimited number of externals you can use? I had heard you can only format 3 times?


Texaswolf,

If you have a Dish 622/722 HD receiver and you use external Drives then you use any number of Drives with the same receiver. If you use those same Drives to connect to another 622/722 Receiver then you are limited to 3 Times swapping the external drive between different receivers. In the future Dish is going to update the firmware to allow unlimited swaps between HD Recievers but only receivers on YOUR own account.

Currently if you try to swap an External Drive more than 3 times the next time to swap the only option is to reformat the drive (losing all stored content on that drive) before using it again after that 3rd swap.

If you use the same external drives with the same receiver then you can use as many drives as you want and can swap between Drives as much as you want just as long as it is with the same receiver that formatted the External drive(s).

John


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## rey_1178 (Dec 12, 2007)

ASN21 said:


> The Vip 722 and 622 are BY FAR the best HD-DVR's out on the market. Anyone who tells you otherwise has no clue what they are talking about. King of recording space...picture in picture (my tv has no built in pip...so this is damn SWEET!) not to mention many other features that tops tivos expensive rates and expensive hardware.


i agree. having had a dish 211,dish 622 and d*hr20 the dvrs for e* are far the best out there. the hd video on these receivers also looks superior to the hr20 which is a bit grainy.


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