I know I'm in the minority here, but my wife and I couldn't stand the TiVo and actually dumped it in favor of the DirecTV DVR. I find the interface less busy and more functional, and, well, the recommendations always sucked anyway.

That said, I'd consider the DirecTiVo (I got mine just after the split) if it has all of the other TiVo functionality (like networking, Amazon, etc) that the DirecTV DVR doesn't support but for less than the $12/month that TiVo charges (total rip in my book).

DrewWorksToo

thank god, i hate the DVR that DirecTV uses but hate time warner more so I've been stuck with it.

trekkie

Hoooooray! <3 TiVo <3 Rhapsody! HATE: Directv DVR

Junginator

I love my Tivo, but Comcast is really ruining the experience with their overzealous use of the broadcast flag. I do not pirate, I only placeshift, but I'm still treated like a criminal none the less.

I may very well dump Tivo and Comcast if I cannot fully use my hardware the way it was originally intended.

axiomatic

O M G !
this is the best news I have heaqrd in a Long time.
I am a long time Diect tv subscriber and just up dated to HDTV. My old HD TIVO hr250 wasnt able to get but 8 HD channels so I reluctantly let Direct tv give me one of there DVR's. It is not as bad as the comcast version but i miss my tivo.
I will be the first in line for the new ones.

Happy Days!

jayway

Well it's official, I now owe someone my first born... thank god, because I loathe the DirecTV DVR. For me TiVo is the only "make or break" service related to my television experience I really care about and has thusfar dictated which service provder I use with my series 2 which just keeps on ticking.

saeder

@highfloydelity: The broadcast flag means that I can't use Tivo2Go to placeshift the show to my laptop or other PC in my house. It worked fine for about a year but Comcast has gone nuts recently and every show recorded has the broadcast flag turned on so I can't move anything.

axiomatic

im in the minority, but i dont mind the hr20 so much. works pretty well for me, never had major issues with it. Menus can be a bit wonky, but nothing that really really irked me. Im on board with tivo, better interface for sure, better features. I just hope they incorporate some of the directv dvr features into it... Like the mix channels, the active channel, the games channel, the ability to remote in using your cell phone or directv website. I dont use those features a bunch, but i dont want features taken away either - only new ones added. And it would have to work with my existing dish - no new dishes please.

tulanejosh

This is surprising news. I've got the TiVo (HR10-250) and the DirecTV HR20. The DirecTV DVR is far superior to the TiVo box. It doesn't take one or two minutes to remove a season pass. The guide is easier to read. It tells you how much room you have left to record shows. It's also less expensive to use. But it's good to hear that TiVo is staying relevant. It keeps the cable and satellite companies on their toes.

ObtuseGoose

@axiomatic: What's the broadcast flag mean?

Any news on Comcast getting the Tivo software on their DVR's? Giz had a post a while back about a pilot but I haven't heard anything since.

highfloydelity

@tulanejosh:
You don't want new dishes? New dishes mean that DTV is putting more sats up in the sky, which means more bandwidth for more HD and other content. Its not like you ever have to pay for the new dishes (I never have, and I have gone from one LNB, to two, to three, to five). More LNB's = More good stuff!

chumitz

Will the current Tivo HD device receive a firmware update to make it compatible with DirectTV once that support goes live next year or will be talking about a completely separate unit that will work with DirectTV and perhaps cable? I've been contemplating DirectTV for a while but have been hesitant since an HD compatible Tivo box doesn't exist for DirectTV yet. If the current Tivo HD DVR would be firmware upgradeable to support DirectTV, I'd consider using that with Comcast until the support is there. Otherwise, I may just bite the bullet and move to DirectTV knowing I could replace their DVR with Tivo's next year

apobull

This is great news.

gransee

@apobull: The existing "DirectTivo" HD units (the ones that DirecTV discontinued to push the HR20 instead) do not have the required hardware to decode MPEG4 streams in realtime (nor sufficient CPU/memory to do it in software), so chances are you'll need a new box.

That said, it's theoretically possible that Tivo could take the lessons learned from the Comcast partnership and port the Tivo software to the existing HR20/21 hardware platform.

rekoil

as long as they improve tivos all around loading times this will be great. I used to have a Tivo Series 2 and it took forever just to bring the guide up plus it was hard to read compared to the DirecTV DVR I have now as long as that get's improved everything will great.

pokebud

Thank God! I have had nothing but problems with my HR20-700 and HR21-700. Can't wait.

bmikuta

Crap, and I sold my soul this year for 2 HR21s, now I'll have to re-up to get tivos next yeah, meh

bitgod

Nice. I might be interested in ditching Comcast at some point, but not having a Tivo interface would have been a big problem.

That being said, I'm more interested in Fios coming to my area.

RalphWiggum

I kinda wish they would release it before Hockey season starts up. I'd like to get this bad boy but I don't really want to wait for HD.

Imakeholesinu

halle-fricking-lujah!!!

robsantos

@tulanejosh:

My biggest complaint is the 50 show limit to season passes. That's a deal breaker for me. The killer is I need about 53.

They told me when I first got it the 'summer update' of 2007 would fix it let me season pass more.

Also their season pass doesn't always keep grabbing shows. For example when Charlie jade moved thanks to sci-fi's complete jackasses in charge from 8PM EDT to 3AM EDT it didn't move with it. TIVo would catch those. They index the show and if it moves, it changes.

TiVo also let me grab all shows on all channels, with one pass. I need a pass per channel if I say want to grab every episode of say Doctor Who that airs regardless of channel.

trekkie

DirectTV is a SCAM! Stay away from DirectTV!

They promised us 30 days to decide to keep the service. When we decided against DirectTV and opted to keep Charter so that we could actually get a signal in rainy weather, they said "What 30 days? You only had 24 hours to decide."

They told us that they can look up every person that ever made a notation in our account.....every person that is except the original sales rep that told us that we had 30 days to return it and cancel the contract. That person they cannot find.

They did NOT mention the fact that you own the dish even if you cancel the service. I other words they will not uninstall the dish or horrid-looking black wire that they tacked onto the side of our white house.

We have blocked them from hitting our credit cards and have filed a fraud complaint against the company with VISA.

We are currently contemplating a lawsuit to get our home back to the condition it was in before they knocked holes in walls and drive screws all around our house to hold up that awful looking cable.

DIRECTTV IS A SCAM!

squishyalt

@squishyalt: Yeah, because other TV providers would have used white wires? Yeah, right.

You should have read the contract. End of story.

Junginator

This had me really excited until I remembered what DTV will probably due to the TivoToGo features I currently enjoy on my Series 3 with Charter. I can't wait for the new and exciting ways they will cripple the functionality of this box when it finally rolls out. Even with the awful CableCard issues, I can still extract my shows using a fully supported method from Tivo themselves. Who wants to take bets on how much they will restrict that??? The Tivo experience means so much to me, it will dictate my provider. I (reluctantly) jumped ship to cable just so I could get the Series 3 functionality. If DirecTV wises up and allows this box to live up to it's full potential, I will gladly return to DirecTV because I think their programming selection is vastly superior to anything cable can offer, especially in MPEG4 goodness.

robroy90

The HR21 isn't all that great but it was a MAJOR improvment over the TIVO crap guide that scrolled slower then a piss drop at 40 below!

As long as Tivo fixed that MAJOR BUG since then, I'll try it out.

After the last DTV update I've been less then happy with my HR21. They changed the yellow button to no longer give you the ToDo list. Lame!!! The most comonly used button gets switched from a single button press to 5 BUTTON presses!!!!

Does Tivo still only record the last 30 minutes? The HR21's 90 minutes was a big improvment as well.

JEmlay

Fucking Finally.

Any other DVR that is not a TIVO is gonna suck because TIVO patented all the useful shit. Any DVR trying to compete with TIVO's awesomeness will inevitably have to work around the obvious way of doing something because TIVO is doing it that way already. This I think is mainly why TIVO is better.

Every Cable Provider DVR's interface that I have used is about as pleasant as a root canal.

RoboChop

My 2 HD-DVRs will be in eBay about 10 ms after the HD-TiVos for DTV are available.

DTV's DVRs are horrible; the UI is so steeped in "old school" mentality. The biggest annoyance? They stupid "live view" picture on the top.

Uh, I have no interest in watching whatever random crap happens to be on the last channel the tuner was on. Seriously, and much less force me to have to hit MUTE every time I go into the menus.

Huge 67" 1080p screen... and it only shows me 6 lines of shows at a time in my "now playing"? Even TiVo in standard def gave me 9 lines. And, every time I go back into the now playing list, it restarts at the top, forcing me to page down over and over. This is a big deal with a 1 TB drive...

I cannot convince it to NOT show me PPV movies when I search for movies I want to record. Nope - screen filled with PPV and some (but not all) premium. I had to turn on Parental Locks just to stop the porn movies from showing up...

Why do you have to "turn on" the DVR? That is so "cable box" mentality...

goglen

Perhaps the headline should read, "DIRECTV DVR gets TiVo capabilities next year?"

Its going to be a DIRECTV DVR with TiVo software on it; maybe a new remote.

Lipstick on a pig, friends. Lipstick on a pig...

tivoupgrade

@squishyalt: Perhaps you should read my post before commenting.

We were on the PHONE with them. There was no contract faxed over. The only piece of paper we ever saw was a yellow addendum left by the installer that didn't have anything on it about the packages that we requested for our trial period.

Direct TV is a lying, sleazy scam of a company.

The only reason you see so many damned dishes is because DTV doesn't remove them. Another thing they DON'T tell you (in writing or otherwise) when they are drilling holes in your house.

But, if you like them, by all means use them. Just pay careful attention to the part of your contract where it says that they auto-renew your contract for another 2 years unless you call or write and ask them not to - and to the part that says that they can go up on your prices without notice and it will not affect your contract length.

I guess some people like getting screwed. I'm just not one of them.

squishyalt

@squishyalt: not a scam at all and its unfortunete that you had a bad salesperson. Fact is you should have read the contract.

Now as a bright spot for you they do record every sales conversation and they keep them on file for up to 7 years so if you do go to court they would know who lied.

Now as far as the signal goes I have had it for 3 years now and I have never had a problem with my signal not once. I have went through major storms and even 1 hurricane and I have never lost signal.

The contract is not faxed over you should get a copy of that when the installer came and if you didn't well I don't know about you but I would have asked for one.

One more question how did you think they where going to put the satalite on your house? Maybe glue it on?

sounds to me like you got screwed because you messed up and didn't understand what was going on.

taftsearlobe33

Actually the person complaining about Dtv and their "1 month trial" has a very VERY valid point. The rest of you monkeys have no idea what you're talking about.

When you "sign up" with DTV they DO NOT give you your service contract. Yes that's right. The service contract is usually mailed in your first bill envelope which you receive like 40 days after installation anyway and it's too damn late.

A sales person will never, ever tell you about this. Even if you ask them they can tell you whatever they want to lure you in. I've spoken to numerous supervisors and such and actually the moment you "activate" a receiver you've signed your life away ( well 2 years anyway ) and you never even know about it till it's too late. It's the simple truth. I have been a DTV customer for more than a decade at various times but their practices are very anti-consumer and I've started to record every single conversation I have with a DTV rep because when an issue arises suddenly noone knows what was said and who said it.

StarControl

@StarControl: "you monkeys" no need to be racisit

taftsearlobe33

@StarControl:
What the hell are you talking about? When I signed up for DTV they TOLD ME it was a 2 year contract. You have 30 days to cancel. End of story.

Call them up and cancel if you don't like the service within a month. Even a "monkey" can do it!

JEmlay

@JEmlay: Apparently it didn't work for squishyalt and taftsearlobe33, how is "you monkeys" racist?

highfloydelity

@taftsearlobe33:

I must have lived in a cave too long but since when is calling someone a monkey racist ? To me it's "crazy people" anywhoo....

@JEmlay:

Don't know who you spoke to but as a first time customer I've seen in person people get lured into contracts without even being told so. As for a 30 day trial - the half a dozen supervisors I spoke with about a year ago would disagree with you - there's not even a 24 hour trial period. You activate the receive - your ass is theirs, unless you pay the oh so sweet $20 per month ( 480 total ) cancellation fee.

If you have hard documentation to prove what you say I'll eat my shorts and shut up.

StarControl

Many years ago, when TiVo first came out with the DVR for DirecTV, I signed up (even before the 2nd tuner was activated) and had the dish installed, etc.

Oops, next day, I found out that "Sacramento Locals" did not quite include all of them. Missing the 2 channels we watched most.

I gave it a week to see how we'd like it anyway, and decided we did not want to sacrifice our locals. I called DTV, and canceled. They tried to balk, and I informed them quite simply that I agreed to the contract only because I was guaranteed all my locals.

No locals = no contract. They had to come to my house and I even had them remove the dish and wires.

Of course, this was back in like 2001.

goglen

@StarControl:
Obviously your experience in the matter is extremely narrow. You like to talk about DTV reps screwing people over yet you easily skip over the fact that you can get DTV through many other means then DTV themselves. Best Buy, Circuit City, local DTV vendors, online DTV vendors. When you purchase services from them, YOU SIGN A CONTRACT RIGHT THERE ON THE SPOT. You get a COPY of the contract right there on the spot.

If they verbally or visually offer a 30 day money back guarantee then it doesn't need to be written into the contract. Just make sure you have a copy of the guarantee. That's good enough to void the contract.

Let's take a look at a fact:
"A sales person will never, ever tell you about this."

The FACT is, that is flat out FALSE. You ask me for "hard documentation to prove" yet you offer no such thing. Personally, when I signed up, I was told there would be a 2 year contract. When I upgraded to HD I was told there would be another 2 year contract. When I upgraded to HD Tivo I was told there would be ANOTHER 2 year contract. When I upgraded to DTV HD DVR I was told there would be ANOTHER 2 year contract. These contracts obviously resetting themselves. So why is it after all these many years I was completely aware of the contracts yet you claim no one is ever told about them? I call BS on everything you say.

Who here has Direct TV and KNEW they had a 2 year contract for FREE HARDWARE? If so much as one person says YES, then you are wrong. But, no chance of that. After a day these comment sections die.

Actually, You want proof? Just read ANY advertisement for DirecTV. The bottom of the AD will state 2 year contract required for equipment.

@highfloydelity: What the heck are you talking about? You tell me! How is that racist???

JEmlay

@taftsearlobe33: THERE WAS NO F'ING CONTRACT TO READ! We had the flyer they sent in the mail and the sales person on the phone....THAT'S IT!

It is really my own stupid fault. You should NEVER, EVER, EVER trust a salesperson! Record the conversation, or get it in writing, or it doesn't exist.

Fortunately for us, Bank of America has seen this scam before and has blocked DirectTV from accessing our account. The BoA rep did tell us to watch our account for charges under a different company name - because they have had DirectTV do that to try and get around blocks on other accounts.

The BoA rep said to tell them if it happens and BoA will put the money back and prosecute DirectTV for fraud on our behalf.

As far as DirectTV goes....just know the following....
(a) You are signed up for 2 years at the moment that they activate your equipment - or was it after 24 hours - or did we have 3 days -- who the hell knows. No 2 DirectTV reps told the same lie.
(b) YOU own the dish and wiring. They do NOT remove it if you cancel the service.
(c) The "Office of the President" at DirectTV is a bullsheet call center - don;t waste your time.
(d) DirectTV owns a good portion of the so-called subcontractors (via shell corporations) that they blame problems on.
(e) DirectTV call center employees are liars and frauds. (They told me that they could locate everyone that has touched our account - EXCEPT for the original sales rep.) No 2 reps had the same story.
(f) SIGN NOTHING until you have used the system for a week (or until the first rain) and you see how your install is going to work in inclement weather. If they don't go for that - tell them to take their sheet with them.

The rep from the "Office of the President" even told me that they never would make any money if they allowed people to try the system out for 30 days before they were contractually obligated.

Feel free to use your imagination for what I told him.

squishyalt

Spoke to DirectTV again today. First got a nasty little man named "Sam" who insisted on talking over me and generally acted like you'd expect a scammer to act. "Sam" did not have the intelligence to understand that you CANNOT agree to an agreement that you were never presented with.

Then, I called back to make sure that "Sam" had actually processed the cancelation order. This time I spoke to "Samantha" - go figure.

"Samantha" was nice enough to tell me that DirectTV reps are under no obligation to tell you that you only have 24 hours to cancel the service when they are selling it to you. She also said that the installers were also under no obligation to reveal this to the customer and that the first you'd see of it was on the contract in with your first bill - which, as you may have guessed, does not arrive within 24 hours of the start of your service.

Thanks "Samantha", your recorded call will be a great help in our suit against DirectTV.

squishyalt

@squishyalt:
"Thanks "Samantha", your recorded call will be a great help in our suit against DirectTV."

Interesting. So far, what do your loses total up to? Because that's all you can sue for. I hope it's worth it.

JEmlay

The April 2006 announcement was for a three-year extension to their deal. Has anyone heard of a longer extension, because April is only 7 months away.

In the meantime DirecTV is still selling their non-TiVo DVRs. Makes me wonder what they two have actually accomplished together in the last 29 months. Meanwhile my Series 1 DirecTiVo is starting to get old and cranky and AT&T and Comcast are filling my postbox with offers to bundle everything under the sun.

DirecTV better get with it...

x509v3