Are All HD DVRs Fatally Flawed?

[BJ_M]

In the history of home theater, there is a case to be made that the advent of satellite television is one of the most significant developments to ever make it into the racks of our best home theaters. With a tiny dish installed on the roof and a price sometimes lower than cable, you could get out-of-market sports games, tons of movies and more channels than ever before. Add in TiVo technology and the proliferation of other digital video recording technologies (DVRs) and HDTV content, and watching television will never be the same.

Yet all is not well in the world of HDTV. While digital cable bounced back with competitive services and products, including high-speed Internet bundled in with HD receivers, it has been suggested that each and every one of the mass market HD receivers on the market are truly flawed components that are missing the reliability, features and technology to deliver good service to satellite and digital cable customers alike.


read more here on problems with each type of box ....

http://www.avrev.com/news/1106/09.flawed_dvrs.shtml

[JohnnyMalaria]

In the history of home theater, there is a case to be made that the advent of satellite television is one of the most significant developments to ever make it into the racks of our best home theaters. With a tiny dish installed on the roof and a price sometimes lower than cable, you could get out-of-market sports games, tons of movies and more channels than ever before.

Except when it rains. And when there is seriously bad weather, that's exactly when I NEED the service. I really wish I could get cable where I live but I have to lump it with satellite and pay *extra* to get local channels. What a rip!

If I could get cable, I'd be able to get cable internet, too. I have to lump it with ISDN because I live 4.01 miles from the nearest CO and the telco won't even test my line for ADSL suitability.

[Conquest10]

I just read his 6412 rant. Seems he had more of a problem with Comcast's CS than the actual receivers (except for the one that kept rebooting). I've never had a problem with mine. Always records on time and exactly what I want recorded. No complaints except for some programs are occasionally listed as HD in the description when its not (but it does not have the HD label by the title).

[bendixG15]

Is this news ??

[FulciLives]

I have Comcast cable and the DCT 6412 III cable box and I must say that lately I've been having an issue where after I turn it off then turn it back on again ... I get no sound! I have to unplug it and plug it back in for the sound to work but then my TV GUIDE is empty and it takes time (a lot of time) for everything to fill back in.

It's gotten to the point where I turn the TV off but leave the damn cable box on.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[stiltman]

I have Comcast cable and the DCT 6412 III cable box and I must say that lately I've been having an issue where after I turn it off then turn it back on again ... I get no sound! I have to unplug it and plug it back in for the sound to work but then my TV GUIDE is empty and it takes time (a lot of time) for everything to fill back in.

It's gotten to the point where I turn the TV off but leave the damn cable box on.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

I get this problem all the time, sorry don't know what box I have.
I get the sound back by changing channels, then back to what I was wtaching

Pain in the arse

[jman98]

To save people the trouble of actually reading the article (which is a waste of time)...
The author tried 3 different HD DVRs and didn't like any of them. Calling them "fatally flawed" is overkill.

[MozartMan]

It's gotten to the point where I turn the TV off but leave the damn cable box on.

That's the best solution because turning the box off just turns the front display off, box is always on.

[MozartMan]

I get the sound back by changing channels, then back to what I was wtaching

Or you can push PAUSE button and then LIVE button.

[RabidDog]

And has s/he tried the plethora of boxes available for OTA dvb-t? they seem to be springing up faster than hydras teeth in a harryhausen movie. eg humax goodmans inverto topfield tvonics sony phillips etc. None of them are perfect but competition and innovation will surely go hand in Hand. A nice eco-system is springing up around freeview which is due to critical mass, millions of customers and many more as digital switchover marchs relentlessly forward.

[ntscuser]

In the history of home theater, there is a case to be made that the advent of satellite television is one of the most significant developments to ever make it into the racks of our best home theaters. With a tiny dish installed on the roof and a price sometimes lower than cable, you could get out-of-market sports games, tons of movies and more channels than ever before.

Except when it rains. And when there is seriously bad weather, that's exactly when I NEED the service. I really wish I could get cable where I live but I have to lump it with satellite and pay *extra* to get local channels. What a rip!

If I could get cable, I'd be able to get cable internet, too. I have to lump it with ISDN because I live 4.01 miles from the nearest CO and the telco won't even test my line for ADSL suitability.

We've had mini dishes in the UK a bit longer in the US and as it has been known to rain occasionally here as well the standard cure-all is to fit a slightly bigger third-party dish.