Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOVE IT

As we all are gadget lovers here, I thought I would share my newest toy with yall.

I just got my Dish Network 508 DVR (or Digital Vidio Recorder) and I cannot believe that I went this long without one!

Some features that are just incredible are:

-Online vidio guide is now IN MEMORY. (2 days if your sat points only to 119, but 9 days worth if your sat points to 110 & 119!) This means, no more waiting to see what is on, in the future. Just scroll to it, and you are there!

-about 60 hours of room to record stuff, on the 80 gig HD. The current model, available from dish, is the 510, and has a 120 gig HD, but they also charge you a 4.99 monthly fee. The 501 (40 gig) and 508 (80 gig) are still available, new or factory refurbished, from e-bay. No more thinking I have an empty tape and come home to find I had a full tape, and missed taping my show.

-Completely skip (not just fast forward, but instantiously skip!) forward 30 seconds in the bat of an eye. It is not like a VCR's fast forward (they have that too, and it is crystal clear, similar to a DVD) but BAMM, in like a half a second, you are 30 seconds ahead. Hit it 4 times, and you are two minutes ahead. If you go a little too far, just hit the SKIP BACK button, and it moves you 10 seconds (not 30) back. Perfect for finding the end of the commercial and the begining of the show.

Ability to pause live tv! This is wild!

And, a better way to watch TV, is to either set the DVR to record your program, and start watching it about 10-20 minutes into the program, and this way you can skip all the commercials.

Oh, and you can watch a program that you are currently recording! So, you are recording a show while out, you get home and your show still has a couple of hours left, you can start watching the same program that you are recording!

-There is another model that has two tuners in the receiver, so you can record one show and watch another.

-Another very cool thing, is the SEARCH function. Type in a search word, say STARGATE, and it will search (2 or 9 days) ahead and find all the incidents of STARGATE. You can either search by title or title and description. Recording the show is a couple of buttons, and you have the option to set it as a ONCE , or WEEKLY or M-F or Daily option.

Very happy with my purchase. I should have done this a year ago!

Just thought I would share.

DVRs rule! When your Dish Network contract is up, you may want to look into DirecTv with TiVo.

The Dish DVRs ar OK, but the TiVo functionality blows it away, no contest. Especially the "Season Pass" feature, which records all your favorite shows (skipping reruns, if you like) with absolutely no user intervention. The Dish DVR is "dumb" by comparison.

But I digress, I don't want to rain on your parade. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Welcome to the wonderful world of DVRs BuddTX, you'll never watch TV the same again. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif Someday everyone will enjoy what you and I (and a couple million other folks) are already doing. There's certainly no going back after you get a taste.

Peter

If you can still find one, the first few ReplayTV units. Offer 90% of Tivo without the monthly fee. Some people don't like Tivo because the unit sends back to Tivo every button push that you do. BIG BROTHER knows what you are watching. I don't know if Replay or Dish does the same thing. But all are great systems...

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

I've had both the Dish DVR and DirecTV Tivo... both are an infinite improvement over regular TV.

The Dish DVR is a little better than Tivo in that it has forward commercial skip (Tivo just a skip backwards, although I hear it can be hacked for forward skip). Tivo's season pass feature is unbeatable though, making it much better than the Dish DVR. It's so nice to always have something on the Tivo to watch, without having to pick every single program you want to record.

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

If you are Linux/Unix minded, you can build your own. Check out the MythTV project: http://www.mythtv.org/. It's a fairly mature project and is very slick.

-john

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

Its available for Microsoft systems too, all you need is a video capture card and a program called Snapstream. There is only one charge for the software (although the demo version is fully functional for 30 days). This option is useful for doing a DVR feature for us cable tv users.

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

FWIW, I played with a couple of programs, including the Snapstream (althought I never got it working) under Windows 2K before moving my capture card to my Linux box. I assumed that it would be easier to setup and use under Windows. Other than watching live TV, I never had a very good experience. By contrast, I was really impressed with MythTV. It is a very Tivo like experience. Recording all instances of a show is a snap and you have the files to play with as you like. Agreed, if you have Windows you can add something like Snapstream. However, if you are starting from scratch and have the ability, MythTV is very slick.

-john

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

the P/DVR ROCKS! I saw one at a friends a couple of years ago and loved it, 2 monthes later Dish started offering real local stations (DirecTV's idea of local stations was L.A., we're in North Idaho), go it, loved it, had some real problems with hardware (par for this household), but it is just perfect for our vewing style, you forgot to mention the on the fly software upgrades, and digital signal sure spoils you!

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

I've been on TiVO for several years now, recently updated to DirectTV with TiVO built in and it's as fantastic as you say /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Truly wonderful stuff.

Especially with children, I can approve and record the shows that I think are OK to watch. And whenever it's time to relax in front of a little TV we can watch what I choose, and not just whatever happens to be on at the time. There are actually some childrens shows on that don't suck, but your chances of just sitting down in front of them are rather low /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I don't know how people raise kids without a TiVO /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I sure wouldn't want to do it!

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

TIVO is by far the greatest "gadget" type thing I have ever bought. If you have TIVO make sure you buy the "Home Media" option. Adds a whole new world to an already great product.

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

Oh, another cool feature, is the remote.

My "Cinima 7" allinone remote, as nice as it has been for controlling my TV/VCR/Sat Dish/Receiver/DVD, did not quite cut it for the Dish DVR.

I was at first a little upset, because the Cinema 7 had a cool feature, that allowed me to use my RECIVER as the volume control, no matter what the video source was, so no need to have multiple remotes.

Well, the Dish Remote has the same feature, it defaults to TV for sound, but can be programed for a receiver. So now my Mute and volume work via my Receiver all the time, just like before.

So Tivio does not have a SKIP FORWARD button! Sounds like they were afraid of pissing off advertisors. That skip button is awesome!

I did not like Tivio knowing what I watch and what I record.

Someone said that DTV reported that a record number of "rewinds" happened Super Bowl Sunday!

I really think the color and stereo seperation is superior with Dish vs DTV. I did have (2 actually) Dolby Digital DTV receivers, and, using the same cabling (fiber optic for the DD), my dish looks and sounds better.

Just my opinion.

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

now that you mention it Budd.. so does ours. I wouldn't touch Tivo just due to the report back feature. but didn't TIVO have some problems with someone trying to sue them for some wierd advertising related reason?

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

When we get a house the dish/tivo is very high on my list. Right behind the gun safe. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

[ QUOTE ]
Avix said:
I wouldn't touch Tivo just due to the report back feature.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not crazy about TiVo's "phone home" aspect either, but the data gathered is anonymous. I think as personal as it gets is your Zip code. If that's still a problem for you, you can also elect to "opt out" completely.

TiVo is still the best thing out there (by a large margin) as far as DVR's go. You'll never hear from an unhappy TiVo user. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Peter

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

I actually think of TiVO's phone home as a good thing. I'll never be a neilson family, I don't want to be. But if I can add my numbers anonymously to the programs that I watch and help them stay on the air then I want to do that.

There is so little good TV, if you can add your vote to keeping the good stuff without getting target marketed (and TiVO absolutely guarantees that they are not tracking you as an individual) then thats a good thing!

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

We should have TIVO for CPF. Just imagine coming home from work and watching "As the Sasha Turns", "All my lumens" and other winners.

Brightnorm

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

Ahh..

I am a poor boy. I do have DSS, but must soldier on with 2 vcrs for now.

I envy you TiVo owners!

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

PJS- Are you still under contract with DirecTv? If you're a "free agent" going month to month, you may be in luck. Many subscribers are having luck in getting a free TiVo just by calling DTV and asking for one! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Even if you're still under a yearly agreement, this is worth a phone call.

Dish Network is currently running a promo where you get a free DVR as a new customer, and many Cable companies are now offering set-top DVRs too.

Just call up DTV and tell them you saw the Dish Network offer and were thinking about cancelling your service to try DN with the free DVR. Say something like: "My mother ,brother, best friend, etc. has one and they say it's the greatest thing in the world, blah, blah, blah." I would be suprised if you weren't offered a TiVo receiver for little or nothing. If the frontline CSR isn't receptive to the idea, ask for the customer retention dept. This is a "second-tier" CSR and is who they transfer you through to when you say you want to cancel you service. Their job is too keep you on as a subscriber any way they can. It costs far more to lure a new customer than it does to keep a current one, and DTV is trying to reduce customer "churn" by offering incentives to current subscribers.

You could be TiVo'ing in a week, and you'll wonder how you ever did without it (no joke). /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

The TiVo functionality is only 4.99 a month and is the best $5 a month you will ever spend. If you have the most expensive programming package, the TiVo fee is waived.


Peter

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

Dish Network is having another special, where they will install a Dish500 Sat dish, FOR FREE!

The Dish500 is a Satallite that points to two different satallites, one at 110, the other at 119.

The cool thing about this, for me, is, in addition to getting more channels (that I am already paying for), and getting more PPV channels, is that the 110 sat. downloads a 9 day Viewer guide, whereas the 119 sat only downloads a 2 day.

Why is 9 days important? Because when you do a search of your favorite shows, etc, you can mark for record, up to 9 days in advance, not just two.

Re: Just Got Dish Network DVR (like Tivio) & I LOV

[ QUOTE ]
LitFuse said:
PJS- The TiVo functionality is only 4.99 a month and is the best $5 a month you will ever spend. If you have the most expensive programming package, the TiVo fee is waived.


Peter

[/ QUOTE ]

Dish charges a 4.99/Month fee also, but if you find a 501 or 508 receiver (they are still out there, check e-bay), they will not charge you the fee.

Now the other side to the story, is you could probably get a 510 (129 gig HD) for free, or for like 49.99, whereas you will have to pay 227.99 or so for a 508. At 60.00 a year, the break even point is like 3.5 - 4 years, and by then it will be time for another receiver, so it is, as they say, 6 on hand, half dozen another!