OT: Direct TV / DVR / DVD/ Home Theater Thread

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:21 pm

Who the hell upgrades computer equipment in the middle of the afternoon? That is ridiculous.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:25 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Who the hell upgrades computer equipment in the middle of the afternoon? That is ridiculous.

Poking around AVS and some other forums, it appears that they've been "updating" their system intermittently since the weekend!! People have had trouble getting things processed all week.

Somewhere along the way I obviously pissed off the television gods.

fatheadX · Post by **fatheadX** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 12:09 am

Keep the info coming, Rob. I'm soooo close to going the same route, but can't quite pull the trigger for some reason.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 4:11 am

fatheadX wrote:Keep the info coming, Rob. I'm soooo close to going the same route, but can't quite pull the trigger for some reason.

Finally got up and running about 7:30pm...almost 8 hours after the hardware was hooked up! Notwithstanding the delay, everything else is cool. The hardware is a clear step up from the Motoroal STB that Comcast was using. The software seems to be an improvement as well. It's early days, however. I'll post more when the honeymoon is over. Right now having Setanta is clouding my judgment

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:03 pm

After you start filling up that 320GB internal hard drive and you become a slave to recording everything in HD, look to add an external HD via the eSATA jack in the back.

I lasted about 2 weeks and then grabbed a 1TB drive on sale at Best Buy (Western Digital "green" drive, runs cooler than normal drives even when on 24/7 like it is... only like $269 paid I think), as well as an aluminum enclosure w/ fan from NewEgg (~$20). Now I have about 50+ HD movies recorded on there and it's barely making a dent in the hard drive space. HD nirvana I tell ya.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:26 pm

I heard that in Japan, they have DVRs with terabyte drives and a Blu-Ray recorder for about $800.

Not sure what they're allowed to archive permanently to Blu-Ray.

In this country, channels like HBO would likely use the DRM so that you can't copy it to a permanent medium like optical disc, especially a high-def optical disc.

They probably have high expectations of re-selling all those HBO series box sets on high-def media, after having sold a ton of DVD box sets.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 1:30 pm

Hey Jon...when you add the SATA drive, how does it show up in the playlist? Is it integrated somehow?

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:18 pm

Can someone point me to this faq about on demand. I've search all over the DTv site and I can't find anything.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:43 pm

I didn't connect an eSata but what supposedly happens is that you turn off the unit, attach the drive and then power the DVR on and it will let you format the eSata and the playlist will be blank.

Because you can only use the internal drive or the eSata drive but not both at the same time.

Later, if you disconnect the eSata, then it would read the saved recordings in the internal drive.

You would think some people might have tried to upgrade the internal drive directly by now.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:02 pm

Danimal wrote:Can someone point me to this faq about on demand. I've search all over the DTv site and I can't find anything.

http://www.directv.com/dod/dod.html

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:30 pm

I just bought a flat screen for the bedroom & tried getting a free HR20 for the bedroom. no luck. suggestions??

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 3:42 pm

greggsand wrote:I just bought a flat screen for the bedroom & tried getting a free HR20 for the bedroom. no luck. suggestions??

Keep calling.

jondiehl · Post by **jondiehl** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:26 am

greggsand wrote:I just bought a flat screen for the bedroom & tried getting a free HR20 for the bedroom. no luck. suggestions??

Ordering tips:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p ... post839938

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:50 am

Enjoy DTV, Rob. They have their issues like cable does at times (a few of my HD channels are currently not working properly) but their HD offerings destroy cable at this point.

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:05 pm

was anyone aware that Dtv has another HD tier called HD extra? it costs 4.99 per month, but just includes channels that were previously in the original HD tier, MGMHD, UniversalHD, MHD, HDNM. you'll get the code 721 on these channels if you don't have them.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:43 pm

TheGamer wrote:was anyone aware that Dtv has another HD tier called HD extra? it costs 4.99 per month, but just includes channels that were previously in the original HD tier, MGMHD, UniversalHD, MHD, HDNM. you'll get the code 721 on these channels if you don't have them.

That would explain the channels I wasn't getting. Sucks they took them out, but those really aren't the greatest channels anyway, especially if you have the premier package like we do.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:00 pm

TheGamer wrote:was anyone aware that Dtv has another HD tier called HD extra? it costs 4.99 per month, but just includes channels that were previously in the original HD tier, MGMHD, UniversalHD, MHD, HDNM. you'll get the code 721 on these channels if you don't have them.

I noticed that but never bothered to find out why I wasn't getting them. Not a big loss, but kinda sux.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:52 pm

Has anyone had problem with the installation Direct TV did?

Had some windy storms out here in the past month.

Now I notice that the mutliswitch mounted under the dish on the wall is coming loose (they're over 20 feet above the ground) and the cable run from the dish which was secured to a rain gutter drain by platic ties have come loose.

Direct TV offers an extended warranty for like $5.99 a month. Otherwise, they're telling me $80 for them to come out and resecure things.

It's been over a year since they've done this work and they warranty the work their installers do for only 3 months.

I would imagine this kind of thing might be pretty common, with severe storms tending to be more common back east?

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:48 pm

Going to order a big fat drive and an external enclosure this week for the DVR.

With the proiferation of the HD channels and DOD coming, I think it's a no brainer

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:08 pm

wco81 wrote:Has anyone had problem with the installation Direct TV did?

Had some windy storms out here in the past month.

Now I notice that the mutliswitch mounted under the dish on the wall is coming loose (they're over 20 feet above the ground) and the cable run from the dish which was secured to a rain gutter drain by platic ties have come loose.

Direct TV offers an extended warranty for like $5.99 a month. Otherwise, they're telling me $80 for them to come out and resecure things.

It's been over a year since they've done this work and they warranty the work their installers do for only 3 months.

I would imagine this kind of thing might be pretty common, with severe storms tending to be more common back east?

I have the 5LNB dish, and Marquette is very windy, especially in November and during the winter. We've had some days of 50-65 mph gusts, and I haven't had any problems with it. The only time I ever had trouble with it was when we got hit by the tornado in Iowa.

And even then, my local dish actually stayed on the roof.

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:39 am

Brando70 wrote:Enjoy DTV, Rob. They have their issues like cable does at times (a few of my HD channels are currently not working properly) but their HD offerings destroy cable at this point.

I'm still getting things straight. My base package is the ChoiceExtra or whatever. But there are some channels that I get that I "shouldn't" (eg, The Food Network), and others that I thought I should that I don't LOL It seems that they listings on the website aren't in sync with the current composition of the packages or something.

MUTTS · Post by **MUTTS** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:50 pm

I'm in the process of designing my mancave/home theater and would love to see what you guys have done. Lots of good ideas over at AVS forum but I'm sure the dsp boys have nice set ups as well so why not show them off so I can shamelessly steal ideas.

Tony

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:19 pm

greggsand wrote:I just bought a flat screen for the bedroom & tried getting a free HR20 for the bedroom. no luck. suggestions??

free, s*** I can't even get my first one cheaper than 199. Starting to get pissed and to top it off they want to charge me an install fee. The last time I called they quoted me $300 some bucks. I hung up immediately as I was PO'd beyond belief. I can switch to cable and get 2 or 3 HD dvrs cheaper than that. They are really pissing me off!!!!!!

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:34 am

MUTTS wrote:I'm in the process of designing my mancave/home theater and would love to see what you guys have done. Lots of good ideas over at AVS forum but I'm sure the dsp boys have nice set ups as well so why not show them off so I can shamelessly steal ideas.

Tony

Mine is nothing terribly special but provides a decent HT experience.

TV -- Panasonic 42" plasma, 768p native resolution. 1080p would be nice, but the picture on this is really fantastic.

Receiver -- Onkyo DS575. About eight years old. Good receiver, but a little outdated in its setup and i/o features

Speakers -- Polk satelleite 5.1 system. Purchased with the Onkyo. This was a great system when I was in an apartment/condo because the sub was not overpowering, but it's a little weak for my living room now.

DVD Player -- Sony DVP NS75. An upscaling 720p/1080i player. It has a bug that causes a slight picture crop when upscaled, but it's almost unnoticeable at the 720p setting, which is closer to my set's native resolution. Even with that issue, a great player. Supersharp picture and terrific sound for a player under $200.

DirecTV H20 HD DVR -- Have been very happy with this, haven't had any problems with it.

360 with built-in white noise machine

I would like to go Blu-Ray even without a 1080p set because I know I'll get an even sharper picture than I do with standard DVDs. And I definitely want to upgrade the speakers and receivers. I've been perusing AVS and the Web for ideas there, but budget-wise I will probably have to wait -- if I'm going to drop the coin, I want to get something I really want.

JohnnytheSkin · Post by **JohnnytheSkin** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 12:09 pm

Here's my setup. It's pretty good, IMO, but I've had loads of problems with rear projection sets over the years (aross multiple brands) and am now saving up for one of the new Pioneer Kuro 1080p plasmas.

TV: Mitsubishi WD-57831 1080p DLP

Home Theater: Onkyo HT-S990THX 7.1 HTIB

DVD: Toshiba HD-A20 (w/ 1080p/24Hz firmware)

Games: 60GB PS3 (a Blu-ray only player until recently) and Xbox 360