# Might switch to FIOS - Hows the DVR?



## mikefour77 (Jan 24, 2011)

So, I am considering a switch to FIOS, but I have had a hard time trying to get some information about the DVR, like how much will it store, can you attach an external HD, how many shows can you record at once.... all that jazz.

I currently have DTV, so that is my baseline.


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

The 7232 DVR has two tuners and a 500GB hard-drive. It will store about 45-60 hours of MPEG2 HD, probably 50 is a good number, while the future VMS1100 Media Server will have a 1TB hard-drive claimed to handle 100 hours of HD. The 7232 DVR does support an external eSATA hard-drive for additional capacity.


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## mikefour77 (Jan 24, 2011)

Well, that makes me feel better. On their web site they say that the DVR will hold "up to 20 hours of HD", which for my house is simply not enough.

If you attach the external hard drive, does it disable the internal HDD in the same manner as the DTV DVR, or does it add on the space on the external HDD?


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

mikefour77 said:


> Well, that makes me feel better. On their web site they say that the DVR will hold "up to 20 hours of HD", which for my house is simply not enough.
> 
> If you attach the external hard drive, does it disable the internal HDD in the same manner as the DTV DVR, or does it add on the space on the external HDD?


I've not tried it myself, but it states that the eSATA drive is additive, with a maximum allowed of 2TB external.


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## gpg (Aug 19, 2006)

How many channels can be recorded simultaneously?


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

gpg said:


> How many channels can be recorded simultaneously?


Two tuners, similar to the DirecTV HR24. The VMS1100 will have 6.


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## mikefour77 (Jan 24, 2011)

You all have been very helpful. Alright, one more question. 

If I were to get multiple DVRs to get additional tuners, does FIOS have similar functionality to the Whole Home service with DTV? Can I play from one DVR a show recorded on another DVR?


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

mikefour77 said:


> You all have been very helpful. Alright, one more question.
> 
> If I were to get multiple DVRs to get additional tuners, does FIOS have similar functionality to the Whole Home service with DTV? Can I play from one DVR a show recorded on another DVR?


Yep.it's called "Multi-Hub DVR" and it's a few dollars more per month.

Regular MRV: http://www22.verizon.com/residentialhelp/fiostv/receivers/multi-room+dvr/multi-room+dvr.htm

Multi-Hub MRV: http://www22.verizon.com/Support/Residential/tv/fiostv/receivers/multi-room+dvr/questionsone/129824.htm


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## mikefour77 (Jan 24, 2011)

Sixto said:


> Yep.it's called "Multi-Hub DVR" and it's a few dollars more per month.
> 
> Regular MRV: http://www22.verizon.com/residentialhelp/fiostv/receivers/multi-room+dvr/multi-room+dvr.htm
> 
> Multi-Hub MRV: http://www22.verizon.com/Support/Residential/tv/fiostv/receivers/multi-room+dvr/questionsone/129824.htm


Many thanks!


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## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

Make sure you get a 7232 or the Cisco equivalent. They both are BLACK, not gray. Don't let the installer leave you with an earlier model DVR.

The 7232 is leaps and bounds faster than any D* DVR,

The eSATA drive is additive.

The multiroom feature works, but get HD boxes. You can't stream HD recordings to an SD set-top box.


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## mikefour77 (Jan 24, 2011)

bobcamp1 said:


> Make sure you get a 7232 or the Cisco equivalent. They both are BLACK, not gray. Don't let the installer leave you with an earlier model DVR.
> 
> The 7232 is leaps and bounds faster than any D* DVR,
> 
> ...


Right now, I have three DTV DVRs, so I overall have 6 tuners but really only use four. Plus, we tend to hang onto alot of content. For example, we have about 20 shows taped at any given time for my daughter to watch, plus all the regular stuff for my wife and I, so the available space is a big deal for me.

I would need at least 4 tuners to replicate my current set up, so I am thinking of getting the multiroom DVR, a second DVR, and one HD set top box. As long as they can all comminucate with one another (al-la Whole Home), then we are business.

Seeing as I have never used a DVR outside of DTV, I am full of nervous trepidation!


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

mikefour77 said:


> Right now, I have three DTV DVRs, so I overall have 6 tuners but really only use four. Plus, we tend to hang onto alot of content. For example, we have about 20 shows taped at any given time for my daughter to watch, plus all the regular stuff for my wife and I, so the available space is a big deal for me.
> 
> I would need at least 4 tuners to replicate my current set up, so I am thinking of getting the multiroom DVR, a second DVR, and one HD set top box. As long as they can all comminucate with one another (al-la Whole Home), then we are business.
> 
> Seeing as I have never used a DVR outside of DTV, I am full of nervous trepidation!


Spot on, Mike. two DVRs + an HD STB, and you're all set.

There used to be a difference between "multi-room" DVR and "multi-hub" DVR. Now they are all the same - any set-top box can play back content from anywhere (except that standard-def set-tops can only play SD content) so long as you have Multi-Room DVR on your account.

Great stuff - the biggest different from DirecTV's "whole home" is that with DirecTV, there is a Unified Playlist - all the shows are on a single list. With FiOS, when you look at your video recordings, there is a 'folder' for each DVR -- mine are labeled "Family Room", "Basement" and "Master Bedroom" specifically.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

mikefour77 said:


> Right now, I have three DTV DVRs, so I overall have 6 tuners but really only use four. Plus, we tend to hang onto alot of content. For example, we have about 20 shows taped at any given time for my daughter to watch, plus all the regular stuff for my wife and I, so the available space is a big deal for me.
> 
> I would need at least 4 tuners to replicate my current set up, so I am thinking of getting the multiroom DVR, a second DVR, and one HD set top box. As long as they can all comminucate with one another (al-la Whole Home), then we are business.
> 
> Seeing as I have never used a DVR outside of DTV, I am full of nervous trepidation!


Yea, I have 3 DVR's (no reg boxes) and they all like each other just fine. Only 2 gripes are is that I miss the unified playlist and I don't like the fact you can't fast forward more than 8X and there is no "large jump ahead" if what you are watching is on a "remote" DVR. There is on local box.

Example is I wanted to jump to the end of the recorded basketball game and it took FOREVER to get to it. On a "local" DVR you have a silly "thumbnail" option (which rarely shows thumbnails and when it does they are barely visible) that lets you easily & very quickly jump ahead in large increments. The moral of that story is record sports events on the DVR you plan on watching from. 

The change takes some getting used to but eventually you do and with a couple exceptions I am very happy. Just make sure you get the 7232 DVR's because they have the larger HD's. They are still supplying 7216's some of which have upgraded HD's and some that do not. Supposedly all new installs get the 7232's (at least here in NJ). I'm saving well over $100/month with the triple play over my separate services when I had D* and that was my primary reason for the switch. In 2 years when my contract expires and the locked rate skyrockets I will have rethink it.


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

TBlazer07 said:


> Supposedly all new installs get the 7232's (at least here in NJ).


... if only. My brother had a FiOS install the 1st week of April (new customer) and ended up with a 6416 DVR. The installer said they don't have any stock of 7232 or even 7216's at the garage. Ugh. He went through the set-top box replacement menu and it said he should have a new DVR mid-May. We'll see.


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

dmurphy said:


> ... if only. My brother had a FiOS install the 1st week of April (new customer) and ended up with a 6416 DVR. The installer said they don't have any stock of 7232 or even 7216's at the garage. Ugh. He went through the set-top box replacement menu and it said he should have a new DVR mid-May. We'll see.


I wonder if they thought that the VMS1100 was originally supposed to available by now.


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## mikefour77 (Jan 24, 2011)

Sixto said:


> I wonder if they thought that the VMS1100 was originally supposed to available by now.


So there is not ETA on the VMS1100? I tried looking a bit and didn't find anything. I would certainly much prefer to switch directly to this DVR box.


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

mikefour77 said:


> So there is not ETA on the VMS1100? I tried looking a bit and didn't find anything. I would certainly much prefer to switch directly to this DVR box.


In 2011, the Media Server was expected "late 2012" and there were many articles and a video at the tale end of 2011.

At CES 2013 in January, there were a ton of articles and another video, all referencing the same official announcement at CES, with "very soon" for availability.

And then there was one article (Huffington) from the recent NAB conference that referenced "September".

Very little real information is available other then the 3 spurts of info (12/2011, 1/2013, 4/2013) referenced above.


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

Sixto said:


> I wonder if they thought that the VMS1100 was originally supposed to available by now.


I would assume that's the case, yes.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

dmurphy said:


> ... if only. My brother had a FiOS install the 1st week of April (new customer) and ended up with a 6416 DVR. The installer said they don't have any stock of 7232 or even 7216's at the garage. Ugh. He went through the set-top box replacement menu and it said he should have a new DVR mid-May. We'll see.


Maybe that was the problem, they looked in the GARAGE instead of the warehouse!  I was told ALL new installs get 7232's, guess not. :shrug: What happened to me was I swapped out an HD receiver for my 3rd DVR and they shipped me a 7216 with 120GIG HD. Got me p1ssed so I drove over to the Woodbridge Mall Fios store and they told me they had no 7232's in stock so I called C.S. from my cell phone who called Woodbridge while I was there and I had a 7232 5 minutes later.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TBlazer07 said:


> Maybe that was the problem, they looked in the GARAGE instead of the warehouse!  I was told ALL new installs get 7232's, guess not. :shrug: What happened to me was I swapped out an HD receiver for my 3rd DVR and they shipped me a 7216 with 120GIG HD. Got me p1ssed so I drove over to the Woodbridge Mall Fios store and they told me they had no 7232's in stock so I called C.S. from my cell phone who called Woodbridge while I was there and I had a 7232 5 minutes later.


Guess every one of these companies is riddled with liars, huh? Enjoying FIOS?

Rich


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## renpar61 (Aug 5, 2006)

I'm also considering FIOS to replace Dish. With Dish I am currently limited to 3 tuners total (I have 1Hopper/2Joey config) and it's not working too well for me. Kids and I are always recording something while watching something else, wife wants to watch her own stuff… I would need probably 6 tuners to keep everyone happy.
Besides, with triple play the monthly savings would be worthwhile.
My understanding is that if I get 1 DVR with "whole home DVR" capability and 2 satellites I will be able to use a total of six tuners from any of my 3 TVs, correct?
Or should it be 3 different DVRs as long as the can talk to each other?
Please someone clarify this for me and/or suggest the appropriate configuration for 3 TVs (all HD).


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

renpar61 said:


> I'm also considering FIOS to replace Dish. With Dish I am currently limited to 3 tuners total (I have 1Hopper/2Joey config) and it's not working too well for me. Kids and I are always recording something while watching something else, wife wants to watch her own stuff&#8230; I would need probably 6 tuners to keep everyone happy.
> Besides, with triple play the monthly savings would be worthwhile.
> My understanding is that if I get 1 DVR with "whole home DVR" capability and 2 satellites I will be able to use a total of six tuners from any of my 3 TVs, correct?
> Or should it be 3 different DVRs as long as the can talk to each other?
> Please someone clarify this for me and/or suggest the appropriate configuration for 3 TVs (all HD).


You could do 3 7232 two-tuner DVR's, where you'd be able to see all recordings from any of the three TV's, but you may want to wait for the VMS1100 6-tuner media server. There's a sticky with some details here.


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

So, to simplify things...

I'm about to make the switch from DirecTV & Cablevision. I'll be speaking with a sales rep within the next 24 hrs. I'm trying to learn as much as I can reading from this forum. Can anyone suggest what I should be requesting in terms of the DVR, etc? From what I read here a few posts back, try to get the 7232. How is CS in dealing with requests such as that? I'll be getting the triple play, and they seem to have some good promotions currently. Any advice on getting them to possibly sweeten the pot a 'lil more?

Thank you!


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## Sixto (Nov 18, 2005)

Cobra611 said:


> So, to simplify things...
> 
> I'm about to make the switch from DirecTV & Cablevision. I'll be speaking with a sales rep within the next 24 hrs. I'm trying to learn as much as I can reading from this forum. Can anyone suggest what I should be requesting in terms of the DVR, etc? From what I read here a few posts back, try to get the 7232. How is CS in dealing with requests such as that? I'll be getting the triple play, and they seem to have some good promotions currently. Any advice on getting them to possibly sweeten the pot a 'lil more?
> 
> Thank you!


The 7232 DVR is the most current DVR available from FiOS. When I added the Triple Play back almost 2 years ago it was fairly easy to get in this geography. They also offer an upgrade, thinking it's $40, for existing subscribers to upgrade to a 7232. The next platform will be the 6-tuner VMS1100 Media Server, and rumor has it that the VMS1100 will be available in the September time-frame. Good Luck.


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

Thanks Sixto! Techs will be out to install on June 7th. I'm looking forward to it!


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

Install went well, just under 3 hours. Internet has been very good, but I'm having issues with picture quality. On most channels, I am experiencing picture breakup. It happens quite a bit, mostly on HD channels. But, I say that because they're mostly what I watch. Although, it has happened in the SD channels as well. It was pretty bad on Friday and install, but has gotten just a little bit better. Guess I need to call them.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

By all means call. Your picture should not be breaking up at all.


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

I was in contact with FiOS support via Twitter on Sunday. The refreshed the receivers a few times and so far, all has been well!!!


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

I have another question...if I may? I just attached the 750 GB external hard drive I was using with my DirecTV receiver, to my FiOS one. The 4 programs I had recorded before I attached the drive, are still available to me. Is this normal? When using with DTV, it rendered anything I had recorded on the receiver itself inaccessible unless I disconnected the external drive. After I set it up last night, I recorded a movie and when I checked the available storage, it showed the 8% used on the receiver and 1% used on the external drive. Does the system now utilize the external while still leaving me able to access the internal drive as well?


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

In a word, yes!


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

Laxguy said:


> In a word, yes!


Thank you....but, it seems to benefit me to disconnect the external drive until I've used up all available storage on the receiver?


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

That's your choice! Enjoy!


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## davidjplatt (Sep 22, 2007)

Cobra611 said:


> Thank you....but, it seems to benefit me to disconnect the external drive until I've used up all available storage on the receiver?


Why? On a TiVo the external drive gets "married" to the internal drive and they become a pair. On the DirecTV DVR the external drive becomes active and the internal drive becomes hidden. On FiOS the drives are "semi-independent". When a show starts recording it goes to the drive with the most free space. The external drive can still be removed from the unit and you don't lose recordings on either and can attaches a second external drive and swap it back and forth with the first external drive as you wish. What's the advantage of not having the external drive connected? Are there shows you always want available that you are going to record then attach the external drive after the internal fills up?


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

I was under the assumption, that once the external was attached you would lose the ability to access the internal hard drive, like with DirecTV's receivers.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

With DIRECTV's receivers, an attached external HD makes the internal unavailable for the time the external is active: You remove it and the previous shows are there.


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## Cobra611 (Apr 17, 2010)

Laxguy said:


> With DIRECTV's receivers, an attached external HD makes the internal unavailable for the time the external is active: You remove it and the previous shows are there.


Right, and I did not know with FiOS you can access both. So, yes I will go back and reattach the external. Thanks


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