#291976 - 08/01/2007 18:21
HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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I own a HR10-250. I have read the previous posts about the HR20-700 (which is in stock at my local BestBuy). For some reason, I thought about switching to the new HR20-700. Does anyone have the new unit? What's your experience so far vs. the Tivo in the 10-250? What about DishNetwork simply for the HD content. If I switched to DishNetwork, I lose FuelTV(Snowboard shows mainly) but gain SD transmission of Local channels (but alas no HD of locals).
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#291977 - 08/01/2007 18:24
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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I thought DirecTV had all of the local channels these days, no? Edit: 94%, apparently
Edited by wfaulk (08/01/2007 18:26)
_________________________
Bitt Faulk
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#291978 - 08/01/2007 18:34
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: wfaulk]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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I'm in the 6% (probably in more ways than one). Locals aren't a huge deal for me since we can pick em up easy enough with a roof top antenna. DishNetwork only transmits my locals in SD anyway.
The main reason I would consider DishNetwork would be for the HD content. I assume DirecTV will be adding some soon. My 10-250 is unhacked (no network access). Just a stand alone box.
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#291979 - 08/01/2007 18:36
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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I have two HR20-700s. I posted a mini-review here after I had the first one for a couple days. It's still not 100%, but things have been getting much better. As far as UI and features go, almost everything about it is better than the DirecTiVo boxes. The current software should be considered beta, but it generally behaves well. Sometimes a recording will get botched, but it happens way less frequently than a couple months ago. OTA ATSC (no QAM) was enabled right before christmas, but was available to anyone that wanted it a few weeks before then. The way the HR20 gets software updates is over the satellite dish. A couple times, DirecTV has put a new build on the satellite for a couple hours during the evening. Since the boxes only look for new software early in the morning, only people that knew to force an update within the specified window would get the new build. This is a great system to allow everyone to stay on the bleeding edge if they want. It's something that never happened with Tivo. The HR20 also has a crude form of HMO working with the built-in ethernet port. So far music and photo streaming are enabled, but video streaming should be coming soon. DirecTV claims you need an Intel Viiv compliant PC, but I have it working on my Opteron running WMP 11.
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-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#291980 - 08/01/2007 18:41
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Quote:
The main reason I would consider DishNetwork would be for the HD content. I assume DirecTV will be adding some soon. My 10-250 is unhacked (no network access). Just a stand alone box.
DirecTV has a much clearer plan for the future than Dish Network. Two satellites will be launched this year capable of 150 national HD channels and up to 1,500 local HD channels on spot beams. These will be using MPEG4 compression which makes the HR10-250 unsuitable. From what I've seen of the current MPEG4 locals I can get in NY, the quality is much better than the "HD Lite" DirecTV uses for the MPEG2 HD channels.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#291981 - 08/01/2007 18:47
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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I assume the UI is pretty doable. Activation was standard? What's the word on the future of HD programming with DirecTV? Surely they've got to catch up in '07.
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#291982 - 08/01/2007 18:57
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Last I saw, they had agreements to carry all currently available national HD channels other than InHD and the Voom channels.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#291983 - 08/01/2007 19:00
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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Thanks for the info. Great analysis.
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#291984 - 08/01/2007 19:17
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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No problem. Please read this forum for info on the HR20. There are plenty of people with major problems and plenty of people with minor problems (like me) or none at all. There is no explanation how two units with the exact same hardware and software behave differently. I happen to like the HR20, but both of mine work well. I just want to make sure you get other opinions. Also know that you will need a 5-LNB dish to receive the new satellite feeds. If you order from DirecTV, you will get it installed for free. If you buy the HR20 from BestBuy, you may need to pay for the dish/installation. Unlike past dishes, this one is very hard to self-install without a proper signal meter.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#291985 - 08/01/2007 19:54
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 12/11/2001
Posts: 7738
Loc: Toronto, CANADA
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The UI of the Echostar boxes is so bad that I'd only use the video signal and pipe it into a PC-based PVR. That would also let you set up more than 2 tuners within a single PVR.
In Canada we don't have DirecTV, so we're stuck with the Echostar boxes from ExpressVu or even worse UI and boxes from StarChoice. And then of course there's digital cable here with boxes featuring even more horrendous UI implementation.
The DirecTV boxes looked pretty sharp when I saw them demonstrated at CES before they were released. I think they're putting a lot of work into their software with NDS and likely have an actual roadmap unlike the boxes from China (Echostar, etc..)
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#291986 - 08/01/2007 19:57
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14493
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
The main reason I would consider DishNetwork would be for the HD content. I assume DirecTV will be adding some soon. My 10-250 is unhacked (no network access). Just a stand alone box.
Most major cities have a *ton* of free, over-the-air, HD broadcasters. All ya need for those is an antenna and an ATSC receiver (most HD TV sets have one built-in)
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#291987 - 08/01/2007 20:09
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: mlord]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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Quote:
Most major cities have a *ton* of free...
Sigh. Four feeds CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox. Fox is barely SD with their broadcast footprint facing the wrong way from the city it's supposed to service.
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#291988 - 08/01/2007 20:11
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: hybrid8]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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Quote:
I'd only use the video signal and pipe it into a PC-based PVR.
Is there anyway to get 1080i from a satellite receiver into a PC-based PVR?
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#291989 - 08/01/2007 20:16
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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Quote:
There are plenty of people with major problems ...
I know what you mean. The more stuff I own, the more stuff seems to break.
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#291990 - 08/01/2007 20:28
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: mlord]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Most major cities have a *ton* of free, over-the-air, HD broadcasters. All ya need for those is an antenna and an ATSC receiver (most HD TV sets have one built-in)
I live about 8 miles from Washington DC, and I can only get the main four, with the CW coming in 50% of the time. The problem is trees, and that for some reason other stations like PBS have set up stations south of the city. Because I'm west of the city, I can only point the antenna at the primary channels and have to give up on the others.
I'm getting more and more excited about FIOS TV all the time. I won't be able to get DirecTV at my new place, so I won't fret about those 150HD chanells that may or may not come in in the next two years.
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Matt
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#291992 - 09/01/2007 00:42
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Quote:
Quote:
I'd only use the video signal and pipe it into a PC-based PVR.
Is there anyway to get 1080i from a satellite receiver into a PC-based PVR?
This is one solution. There is a competitor to this device, but I can't remember the name right now. I don't think either device supports the newer MPEG4 receivers though.
EDIT: R5000 is the competing device.
Edited by robricc (09/01/2007 00:48)
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#291993 - 09/01/2007 01:01
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Quote:
I'm getting more and more excited about FIOS TV all the time. I won't be able to get DirecTV at my new place, so I won't fret about those 150HD chanells that may or may not come in in the next two years.
DirecTV 10 and 11 will be launching this year. DirecTV's ability to compete depends on it. There aren't even close to 150 national HD channels broadcasting yet and probably still won't be two years from now.
FiOS television is a compelling option if the hardware is OK. Otherwise, they're just a cable company without the bandwidth burden of providing analog channels to legacy customers.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#291994 - 09/01/2007 01:13
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14493
Loc: Canada
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Quote:
Quote:
Because I'm west of the city, I can only point the antenna at the primary channels and have to give up on the others.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index....rentPage=search
He's probably already got one. But if not, there are better units around than that one.  This unit can even be computer controlled via an "IR mouse".
Cheers
Edited by mlord (09/01/2007 01:14)
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#291995 - 09/01/2007 02:25
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Quote:
Because I'm west of the city, I can only point the antenna at the primary channels and have to give up on the others.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index....rentPage=search
I'm aware of the type of device. It was something we considered when we went HD a couple years ago. The problem? It would make using a Tivo a little difficult...
_________________________
Matt
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#291996 - 09/01/2007 02:28
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
FiOS television is a compelling option if the hardware is OK.
That's what I'm trying to find out. There is very little information about the TV side. I was hoping to find a user forum or something, but so far I've only been able to find bad images of the backs of the boxes.
I'm hopeful, though. I found an image of the "Multi-Room DVR" that they offer. That's their highest-level box. Apparently it's not enabled yet, but it has an eSATA port on the back. That really got me interested.
_________________________
Matt
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#291997 - 09/01/2007 12:13
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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I know you can't use DirecTV, but the eSATA port on the back of the HR20-700 is enabled.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#291998 - 09/01/2007 12:31
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: Dignan]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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Quote:
The problem? It would make using a Tivo a little difficult...
I googled to see if there was some type of hack for Tivo using USB ports. That would be pretty slick but alas nothing.
I don't know if something like this could be used with the Tivo box.
At least you could watch live with it and they do vastly improve the signal.
You might also complete this and see what they come up with. We have a lot of communication studies done (for telemetry radios) in areas with difficult terrain. Obviously, we install repeaters as necessary which you won't be able to do but maybe they can recommend a solution. Trees and terrain make it tough.
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#291999 - 09/01/2007 13:19
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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One question. Does the HR20-700 support simultaneous output of the various video formats. Meaning, S-Video, Component and HDMI?
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#292000 - 09/01/2007 13:32
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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Yes
EDIT: Let me add that if you have the HR20 setup for 16:9 output, that's what it will output on all connections. If you have a widescreen monitor on the component connections and a 4:3 monitor on the S-Video, the S-Video picture will look squished from the sides.
Edited by robricc (09/01/2007 13:34)
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#292001 - 09/01/2007 13:43
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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Ok. Thanks for you continued help. Leaving now to purchase.
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#292002 - 09/01/2007 13:53
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: blitz]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 30/10/2000
Posts: 4931
Loc: New Jersey, USA
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OK, tonight between 11PM and 1:30AM eastern time, a new release candidate will be available on the satellite.
Also, once you first power it up, you may want to ensure you're using the most up-to-date release available. You do this by pressing 02468 in sequence at the first picture you see on-screen upon bootup. This will force a software update and it's a good idea to do this even before activating the receiver. If you're hooked up via HDMI-only, the first few boot screens won't be visible. It's best to do initial setup with component or composite/s-video.
The HR20 takes a long time to boot (about 5-10 minutes). Doing a software upgrade can add another 10 minutes to the process. Sometimes it may seem like it's hanging, but it's not. Resist the urge to reboot if it seem like it's hanging.
_________________________
-Rob Riccardelli
80GB 16MB MK2 090000736
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#292003 - 09/01/2007 14:51
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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Quote:
Resist the urge ...
Must... try... to... resist.
I currently use component video only. My plasma is 720p and too big to shuck for a new one now. HDMI was invented shortly after I purchased it. Saving for the Panasonic 103". Only $67,000. 
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#292004 - 09/01/2007 17:34
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
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Quote:
This is one solution.
Heh, those guys from my home town. I think I applied for a job with them, once upon a time.
Seems like everyone in that town is ex-Grass-Valley-Group employees starting their own video-related company.
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#292005 - 09/01/2007 20:01
Re: HR10-250, HR20-700 or DishNetwork
[Re: robricc]
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addict
Registered: 20/11/2001
Posts: 455
Loc: Texas
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I picked it up at lunch. Will connect later today. Thanks for all the help.
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