It IS high-definition TiVO, but has some execution flaws
Written: Mar 30 '05
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Pros: HDTV picture on your own schedule, with no commercials!
Cons: Reports of widespread failure of the HDMI connector.
The Bottom Line: HDTV is an outstanding step up from standard, and this is a good solution if you can't watch live TV with commercials.
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| nhunt's Full Review: Hughes HR10-250 (250 GB) 200-Hours Video Recorder |
After using TiVo for a year, when upgrading to HDTV, I couldn't contemplate having to watch live TV again! I considered DirecTiVO HD, Dish, and Voom. Dish with DVR was much more expensive, and Voom still didn't offer a DVR.
I did my own satellite dish installation, which was actually pretty straightforward (except discovering that my house wiring was actually not connected to a ground connector at all). The DirecTV configuration and setup was straightforward, except that the DirecTV rep on the phone had never handled a DirecTiVo HD, and her computer apparently had no entry for HR10-250. It took a supervisor to figure it out. Its important to install and adjust a standard VHF/UHF antenna too, since many of the HDTV channels come in off-air. You get program guides and some channels from the satellite, but the ATSC broadcast on VHF and UHF significantly extend the range of your HD programming.
The receiver literature variously claims 2 and 4 separate tuners. In fact there are 2 ATSC off-air tuners, and 2 satellite tuners, but only two channels to the HD, so it is possible to watch one and record one, or record two channels, but not more.
The interface is the standard TiVO interface familiar to users of SD TiVo or DirecTiVo. A couple of notes: the graphics are apparently derived from the same SD graphics as standard TiVo. This means that the aspect ratio of the menu screens is stretched to 16x9, so that all the little circular icons are oval, and the letters of text are stretched out. It looks a little cheesy for a $1000 unit! Secondly, the processor is obviously stretched to the max handling the HD signals, so the user interface, while usable, is sluggish to the point of irritation - much slower than standard TiVo.
Standalone TiVos have a "now playing" display mode (for the list of recorded shows) that puts episodes of shows in folders, which is the obvious way to go. This isn't made available on the old version of the software in any of the DirecTiVo models, which is a sore irritation. There is supposedly some backdoor hack that may open this up, but I haven't made it work yet.
The other standalone TiVo 2 features that aren't available to any of the DirecTiVo receivers are the Internet conection features. You have to connect this device to a phone-line, no WiFi for program guides. And no TiVo-to-go or any of the related features.
Its all over the net, but can't hurt to repeat: like all the TiVos, you can restore the functionality of the ad-skip button by pressing "Select, Play, Select, 3, 0, Select" while viewing a recorded show. That makes the right-arrow button skip 30 seconds forward, and the left-arrow skip 8 seconds back.
One serious issue has cropped up for me: the HDMI output has failed - one morning the TV screen was covered in snow, and rebooting TiVO gave me a few flickers of the startup screen colored pink, and then failed back to snow again. Talking with the CS rep, its really the connector, not the electronics, and it needs to be replaced - but not until they have figured out a replacement that won't just break again. The four other DirectTiVO HD that I am acquainted with have all failed identically, either DOA, or after a couple of months, like mine. Fortunately, its no great loss to switch to component output, since there is no copy protection (today) on any output from the device. But if anyone switches on the broadcast copy-protect flag, the analog outputs will presumably be cut off, the HDMI the only feasible alternative. Another contact suggested to me that the HDMI connector is on a daughter board, and simply removing it and reseating it may restore HDMI functionality - at least temporarily!
HDTV broadcasts aren't perfect yet either. Frequently there are sound sync problems (+/- 100mS), which appear to be in the transmission, not the recording, since they appear when viewing live too. And I've heard of shows where some of the 5.1 channels are missing until half way through when someone at the station obviously plugged in the dropped connector.
Sound is good via optical or coax digital connector. It is also output in stereo on the HDMI cable to the TV (when the HDMI connector works)! You can choose to record with 5.1 when available or save space and always downsample to stereo. But once downsampled for recording, you can't put it back...
HD shows are huge - the 250Gbyte disc is only good for about 30 hours of HD, or about 100 hours of standard content, or some appropriate mixture. Deleting a single HD movie makes room for many hours of SD content! If you need more space, WeaKnees.com does warrantied disc upgrades, or sells new receivers with larger discs, either one or two 300G discs in place of the original 250G. There's a stiff premium, of course...
For all the niggles, its really the only way to get HDTV - especially if you can't bear to watch live TV with commercials.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $999+$40/mo
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Epinions.com ID:
nhunt
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Member: Neil Hunt
Location: Bay Area, California
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 3 members
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