DirecTV through an S3?

Mike Hunt wrote:
On 2006-11-18, tooloud wrote:
Mike Hunt wrote:
On 2006-11-17, Bill Kearney wrote:
Anyone heard rumors of there being a cablecard to let you record
digitally from a DirecTV signal?

No, haven't heard of such a thing.

Given the miserable customer acceptance given to the DirecTV house
brand DVRs, it'd sure be nice to have an alternative to the
HR10-250.

Why do you want an alternative to the HR10-250?

1) It's quickly becoming unavailable.

Except for places like ebay where they're plentiful.

Sure, if you feel comfortable knowing that eBay is the only place you can
get 'em.

2) It doesn't support the MPEG-4 channels.

If that matters to you. It doesn't matter to most people I know.
MPEG4 is being used for locals and most people I know just don't care
about local channels. I know many people who would prefer to NOT get
their TV through local distributors.

I get my locals OTA, but I think we can all see the writing on the wall
regarding any future HD channels.

3) It's an old model.

It's actually the newest DirecTiVo model out there but regardless,
that's bad why? I still have a series1 working great from 6 years
ago.

Yeah, it's the newest model simply because it happened to be the last one
they worked with Tivo on. It appears the same will be true five years from
now.

4) It doesn't support many Tivo functions.

The DirecTiVos never supported many of the SA functions. That isn't
unique to the HR10-250. The new DirecTV DVR may never have these
functions either so you're not gaining anything there.

I suppose it depends on whether you bought DirecTV to get the Tivo or
whether you bought the Tivo to get the DirecTV service. I'm only with
DirecTV because they were the only ones that offered a DVR with the Tivo
service.

You realize that is
the TiVo model and not the DirecTV house brand DVR, right?

I think everyone knows that and also that the HR10-250 is kind of a
lame duck these days.

Lame duck?

Lame duck.

How so?

Uh, because DirecTV has already shown us the future of their HD plans, and
it looks to be moving towards MPEG-4 to me.

Almost everyone thinks it's the best DirecTV DVR,

Sure, because it's got the Tivo software and happens to do HD. Being "the
best DirecTV DVR" isn't much of a feat these days.

especially if you want HD. With the high expense of the S3, the
HR10-250 is something I might get for xmas.

High expense? The S3 is more powerful and is priced at 20% less than I paid
for my HR10-250.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply

On 2006-11-19, tooloud wrote:
Mike Hunt wrote:

especially if you want HD. With the high expense of the S3, the
HR10-250 is something I might get for xmas.

High expense? The S3 is more powerful and is priced at 20% less than I paid
for my HR10-250.

And now you can get an HR10-250 for 20% the price of an S3.

Also, if I were to get an S3, I would take the $199 deal to transfer a
lifetime sub to it which adds to the total bill, if I went that route.

--
This is my .sig

Mike Hunt wrote:
On 2006-11-19, tooloud wrote:
Mike Hunt wrote:

especially if you want HD. With the high expense of the S3, the
HR10-250 is something I might get for xmas.

High expense? The S3 is more powerful and is priced at 20% less than
I paid for my HR10-250.

And now you can get an HR10-250 for 20% the price of an S3.

sigh Yes, because it's a lame duck product that doesn't get much support
these days. We were lucky to get folders on the HR10-250, though they
managed to screw that up, too. It's going to be supported less and less as
they move more HD channels (local and national) to MPEG-4.

Also, if I were to get an S3, I would take the $199 deal to transfer a
lifetime sub to it which adds to the total bill, if I went that route.

That's great, but it has nothing to do with the HR10-250 because that wasn't
an option on them.

--
tooloud
Remove nothing to reply

On 2006-11-19, tooloud wrote:
Mike Hunt wrote:

Also, if I were to get an S3, I would take the $199 deal to transfer a
lifetime sub to it which adds to the total bill, if I went that route.

That's great, but it has nothing to do with the HR10-250 because that wasn't
an option on them.

You're right, it wasn't. For DirecTV, the option was to have your account
have a lifetime instead of the box which is even better. This allows you
to upgrade your boxes and keep your lifetime sub.

--
This is my .sig

On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 18:00:37 GMT, "tooloud"
wrote:

Mike Hunt wrote:
On 2006-11-19, tooloud wrote:
Mike Hunt wrote:

especially if you want HD. With the high expense of the S3, the
HR10-250 is something I might get for xmas.

High expense? The S3 is more powerful and is priced at 20% less than
I paid for my HR10-250.

And now you can get an HR10-250 for 20% the price of an S3.

sigh Yes, because it's a lame duck product that doesn't get much support
these days. We were lucky to get folders on the HR10-250, though they
managed to screw that up, too. It's going to be supported less and less as
they move more HD channels (local and national) to MPEG-4.


And don't forget all the advantages that come from it being a TiVo.

Also, if I were to get an S3, I would take the $199 deal to transfer a
lifetime sub to it which adds to the total bill, if I went that route.

That's great, but it has nothing to do with the HR10-250 because that wasn't
an option on them.
--
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Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early
in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."
-- Benjamin Franklin

"MegaZone" wrote in message
...
"Bill Kearney" shaped the electrons to say:
Anyone heard rumors of there being a cablecard to let you record
digitally
from a DirecTV signal?

That's not possible. CableCARD is simply an access token, the host
device has the tuners. So, even if DirecTV or Dish decided to start
using CableCARDs for access cards (they could, but have no known plans
to do so), there are no host devices with satellite tuners that could
use them. Definitely not the S3.

Thanks MZ. I wasn't clear on the cablecard being access-only, not a tuner.
And given DirecTV's long history of access card "issues" I wouldn't expect
them to play along with a 3rd party for it.

It's really a crying shame DirecTV screwed their Tivo relationship up.
Their own DVR is an absolutely miserable replacement for a DirecTivo.
If/when Verizon FIOS supports a digital recording dual-tuner Tivo-equipped
device I'll drop DirecTV like a bad rash. Comcast is miserable and I have
no intention of ever using their services again. DirecTV with Tivo has been
great, without it I'm going elsewhere.

"Bill Kearney" shaped the electrons to say:
If/when Verizon FIOS supports a digital recording dual-tuner Tivo-equipped
device I'll drop DirecTV like a bad rash. Comcast is miserable and I have

They do - the TiVo Series3. FiOS supports CableCARD.

-MZ
--
URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me.
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-852-2171
URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris

Bill Kearney wrote:
Comcast is supposed to have a TiVo set top box Real Soon Now,
and then Cox Cable maybe 6 months after that.

If they support CableCard there's no need for a service-specific unit.
Granted, the cable companies would certainly like to have their 'own'
because of the higher charges they can gouge for them.


And if you want video-on-demand, PPV, etc. the S3 won't do it for you;
you'll have to wait for the cable DVR w/Tivo software.

--c

And if you want video-on-demand, PPV, etc. the S3 won't do it for you;
you'll have to wait for the cable DVR w/Tivo software.

I have no desire for PPV or VoD. I've had DirecTV for ages and have only
used PPV twice, at that was at the very beginning of our subscription. That
and if I still wanted to use PPV I could use their website to set it up.
VoD is likewise weak. It's not actual VoD anyway, there's only a limited
selection available and you get to choose from that pre-selected bunch.
Even if they "let you" select some to queue up you'd still be stuck waiting
for it. With a Tivo and wishlists I already do this. Nothing I want to see
is "that important" that I need it "on demand".

You forgot to mention the interactive stuff. Likewise, used it briefly in
the beginning, found it stank, and never used it again. I don't expect it
to be any better now, especially without a high-bandwidth uplink. Unless
they want to subsidize my broadband link I'm not going to waste it for
"interactive TV".

As has been pointed out, however, Verizon's Fios can use a cablecard
equipped S3. And news today says they're opening up the local county's
cable franchise to Verizon instead of just Comcrap alone.

So at this point, seeing as I've just picked up an HR10-250, it looks like
I'll give DirecTV a try for the next 6 months before jumping ship for Fios
and an S3.

-Bill Kearney