Avoid This Unit (but you can't!)
Written: Jan 21 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Picture Quality: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
|
|
| Recording Time: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Tivo and the concepts around it, are very cool. The unit has a large capacity.
Cons: Built on the same technology platform as 'The Clapper'.
The Bottom Line: If you must have a DVR for High Def, this is your only choice. But avoid it if you can get by without it!
|
|
|
| diver5050's Full Review: Hughes HR10-250 (250 GB) 200-Hours Video Recorder |
Imagine taking the 'concept' of Tivo, and transplanting it into ~1990 technology. If you imagine that, you can imagine what its like owning this unit.
Perhaps I'm just a little frustrated, because I had a perfectly good Samsung HD receiver and got spoiled. Perhaps over the last 10 years, I've become accustomed to pressing a 'guide' button on my remote, and actually seeing a guide instantly -- not watching helplessly as the unit struggles to fill the screen, one by one, with each title. Imagine your prior routine -- Pull up the guide -- press page down repeatedly and scroll through 100 possible shows in maybe 10-15 seconds? Well forget it -- in about 8 seconds you'll get one screen. I just don't understand -- I have a 250gb (I think) hard drive that goes out and collects literally thousands of program titles and information two weeks in advance, yet it can't show me what's playing right now without a miserable delay. I think the disk and CPU in these systems must have been stolen from an old Commodore 64,
This is not the only problem with this unit, but is symbolic of most of them.
Lets get one thing out of the way first: Tivo is cool. Very cool. Watching one program while recording another, pausing live TV, skipping commercials, etc., etc., etc. All very cool, and this unit does most of these things well. But that's exactly what you should expect for $600.
What else might one expect for $600?
- A channel guide that works with the same performance as those that come with $99 receivers (enough on that)
- An aspect ratio control that goes beyond just 'normal' and 'wide'. Now if you don't own a 16:9 television, you won't appreciate this, but if you do, read on with horror:
- My television (with no other source), and my prior HD receiver BOTH have 4 settings for aspect ratio: Pillar Box, Wide, Zoom 1, and Zoom 2. Those with 16:9 televisions understand why this is critical. These settings are necessary whenever you're not receiving HD, so that you can make screen adjustments to maximize the usable screen area.
Now, this system, almost a year newer than my prior receiver and television, only has two modes, Normal and Wide. I've literally taken giant leap backwards! No longer can I 'zoom' in on letterbox broadcasts over non-hd channels. I now must either watch them with borders around both top and sides (using about 2/3 of my screen), OR using the 'wide' mode, stretch them out so that even the most beautiful supermodel looks like she needs the Atkins diet (and I still have letterbox bars above and below). I just can't believe how disappointing this is to see in a unit of this price.
- A recorded program menu (directory) that makes any sense. My receiver now has probably about 50-60 programs recorded. How are they organized? I have no idea. Its not by date. Its not by Title. Its not by any logic that I can discern. Did I record Seinfeld? How many episodes? Well, I guess I'll scroll through 12 screens to find out--- look, there's one; oh, there's another, great!.
There are other issues too. I would recommend reading one of the other reviews here, which I agree with wholeheartedly, though unlike that reviewer, I didn't experience any defects or issues with the unit itself. Maybe that's the beauty of using 1990 technology -- at least is proven.
Someone may be reading this saying, "Stop complaining -- if it were so bad, you wouldn't have bought it or you would have returned it". Well, friends, DirecTV has joined the ranks of the monopolistic cable companies. Whereas before you might find multiple brands available for their receivers (my HD receiver is a Samsung), you'll not find another HD DVR for DirecTV available other than this one. Obviously the manufacturer with the lowest bid (Hughes I believe) won, and we lose.
The only thing I can recommend is for those of you who can wait, instead of buying this unit, call DirecTv and express your dissatisfaction in this product (I did). If enough people do, maybe we'll see some choice in the future, or at least some FORWARD innovation. Otherwise, proceed at your own risk -- and don't say I didn't warn you.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 599
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
diver5050
|
|
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 1 member
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.