We had to reach a bit to get to the transport keys, which, during the course of a normal evening's worth of fast-forwarding, became a bit of a nuisance. Specifically, we would have liked the DirecTV's remote to give the transport controls-play, pause, skip, and so forth-the central position since, in our experience at least, they're accessed more frequently than the menu-browsing cursor controls.
#Video plus dvr series
The rectangular box measures about 15.1 by 2.8 by 12.3 inches (WHD) and weighs 9.5 pounds.Īlthough DirecTV's newly designed, off-white clicker is pretty smart-looking and certainly gets the job done, it's not quite up to the ergonomic level of the ones included with the Dish ViP622 and the TiVo Series 3. Aside from the light show, the face also sports Power, Guide, Menu, and Record buttons (the last illuminates yellow during recordings) to the left and Active, Info, and Res buttons (the last, a very convenient option, toggles through 480i, 480p, 720, or 1080i outputs) to the right. When the receiver is turned on, the LEDs glow steadily unless you fast-forward or rewind, which causes them to begin a mesmerizing rotation in the appropriate direction. Our eyes were immediately drawn to the circle in the center of the unit's face, which incorporates a four-way directional keypad and Select button, along with a circle of 12 bright blue LEDs.
On the outside, the DirecTV HR20 gets all-silver coloring, a few important buttons, and numerous useless lights. Providing you get a model that works consistently, as our review sample has, the DirecTV HR20 is a well-thought-out, easy-to-use conduit to DirecTV's programming.
#Video plus dvr software
Of course, we expect DirecTV's constant software updates to improve performance, but if you buy an HR20 now, you should be prepared for bugs. No, the HR20 didn't deliver quite the same consistency of performance we've seen on some other DVRs, and judging from the opinions of CNET users, some work well while a significant proportion do not. (Sports fans, keep in mind that cable will almost always offer superior local HD sports programming to satellite, while DirecTV's exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package remains a big draw for football fans.) Programming aside, we did end up liking the Dish better, and both outclass the typical cable company DVR, hands down. Both companies offer substantially different programming options, which you can find outlined here, and for the most part we recommend choosing between the two based on your programming needs first. Given recent changes in both companies' pricing packages, and the similar costs of their respective HD-DVRs (depending on current rebate deals, they both cost from $199 to $249 for new subscribers), you're not going to pay too much more for one or the other. These channels and all future DirecTV HD channels will utilize MPEG-4 AVC compression, which squeezes more information out of limited bandwidth.ĭirecTV's major competition, aside from the cable companies, is fellow satellite provider Dish Network, which has had its next-generation MPEG-4 high-def DVR, the ViP622, on the market since early 2006.
It costs a lot less, works a lot faster, and does a good deal more than the original, too-namely, it can receive and record a whole range of new HD channels, starting with local high-def versions of the four or five major broadcast networks in 49 metropolitan areas (as of the time of this writing), representing a majority of the U.S. The HR20 dropped the friendly, smiling TiVo interface and replaced it with a new, perfectly competent menu system designed by DirecTV. But there are also a few major differences. Both allow all of the now-familiar "pause live TV, fast-forward through commercials, record any show you want at any time" goodness of standard DVRs, both can record two high-def channels at once, and both cost more at the outset than HD DVRs that are available for rent from your cable company. Its successor is the DirecTV Plus HD DVR, or HR20 for short, and despite the passage of some 29 months, they're pretty darn similar. In April 2004, DirecTV was one of the first companies to offer a DVR that could record in high-def, the DirecTV HD TiVo.
0 kommentar(er)
