DIRECTV HR34 Home Media Center DVR

• may require 2 YEAR extension of contract,monthly fees will apply by DirectTV
• may also require to be activated as a "Leased Receiver" as per DirecTV policy change

Summary:

Overall, the DirecTV Genie (HR34) is a very good HD DVR and the five tuner feature makes it a must have for those who share a DVR and are willing to pay a premium. As a standalone DVR, it is a five star product. However, due to bugs and performance issues with the Whole-Home DVR feature (recording on one DVR and playing back on another), I can't give it five stars overall.

Detailed Review:

[Updated: February 1, 2013]

I've been waiting for years for a DVR with more than two tuners and the HR34 has finally delivered. If you've shared a DVR, then you are probably familiar with the "Live TV Conflict" screen that appears when you want to watch something but all of the tuners are in use. I used to get this screen constantly with the two tuner HR24. I've had my HR34 for six months now and I can only remember seeing the conflict screen once. This alone makes up for the extra cost.

I ordered two upgraded units from WeaKnees.com. Technically, I believe the order is considered a lease, not a purchase. The upgraded model is the same as the regular HR34 except with a two terabyte hard drive, which is double the capacity of the standard model. The standard one terabyte model will record up to 200 hours of HD.

After getting the units, I had DirecTV send a couple of techs to do the install. Normally, I would install it myself, but to get the extra tuners to work, the wiring needed to be upgraded. I've read that you need to have a SWM dish and SWM power inserter, but that wasn't an issue because I already had those. I've also read that you may need to extend your contract with DirecTV for two years if you add this unit to your account. However, when I added the units I received from WeaKnees to my DirecTV account, they did not require me to extend my contract. I did order an HR24 separately straight from DirecTV and that did require a two year extension.

When the unit was first powered up, it had the outdated DirecTV software installed, so it was running the old DirecTV menus. After a few hours, the new version of the software loaded (with the new black menus.) The interface was slow for the first day or so; I was told that was due to updates and program data that it was downloading. After that, the software (the menus, etc.) has generally run at a good speed.

For those familiar with DirecTV, the HR34 is functionally similar to the HR24 except with more tuners, more storage, and a larger case. The software appears to be a variant of the software used to power the HR24 and seems to be functionally the same (menus, search, etc.) I read in a previous review about recording reliability problems; so far, my HR34s have recorded reliably. Perhaps the software has been patched since those reviews were posted.

This DVR has a nice menu system, good search functionality, and some cool extras like sports scores on certain channels. If you go to ESPN, wait a few seconds and then press the red button on the remote, you'll get a menu with sports scores and, if it's a live event, you can drill down and it will show you what channel(s) it is playing on with an option to instantly switch to that channel. Very cool!

The Whole-Home DVR service is where I've run into trouble with my HR34s. Playback of content recorded on one HR34 from another HR34 usually works until I want to pause, rewind, or fast forward, at which point the picture usually freezes. The workaround is to exit the recording and resume it again from the playlist. I've also run into a problem with the DVRs not communicating with each other. The solution was to unplug the units and then power them up simultaneously. These bugs are very annoying, but at least there is a workaround for both.

To use the On Demand features that use the Internet (e.g., HBO On Demand), the tech installed an adapter (DECA) that connects the DirecTV via Ethernet to my router. The On Demand works well but it is limited by the speed of the Internet connection. So if you want to watch a movie or TV show from On Demand, start downloading some time in advance of when you want to watch it. Also, the On Demand downloads expire after a certain amount of time (I've seen as short as two weeks.)

Overall, I'm happy with this DVR. If I were using this as a standalone DVR, it would meet all of my expectations. I really want to give the HR34 five stars, but it's not quite there yet because of the aforementioned bugs and performance issues with the Whole-Home features. Hopefully, future software updates will make this a five star product. Although it's not perfect, of all of the DVRs I've used over the years (including TiVo), the HR34 is my favorite.

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The pros: Can record 5 programs at once. Connects to whole home Directv service. I have 3 other DVRs, an HR24 and two HR22s and now I can record 11 programs at once and watch them on any of the 4 TVs. Only 1 room can watch the same recorded program. If someone is already watching a show, you can watch other shows but not the same one. Can access on demand shows via wifi internet connection. Larger capacity to record than other DVRs.

The cons: Its expensive. No optical output for audio. HDMI and Digital Audio Coax outputs only. Picture in Picture is hard to use but its there after all these years of no PIP. Need the SWM dish. This is a lease and not a purchase so you must return it to Directv is you discontinue service. Requires a 2 year service agreement and the penalty for early term is $20 for each month you leave before the 24 months is over. Youtube feature is primative compared to smart TVs (no fast forwarding, hard to search).

DTV can offer a credit if purchased from them. Whole home DVR connection needs an installer to come out which can be arranged by Directv.

LOWERING TO 2 STARS

SOMETIMES DOES NOT RECORED PROGRAMS FOR NO REASON; ESPECIALLY THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE CLINTONOPOLIS. HAD A REPAIRMAN COME OUT AND HE WILL REPLACE IT THOUGH IT SHOWS NO ERROR CODES. FAST FORWARDING THRU COMMERCIALS IS VERY DIFFICULT; IT EITHER GOES TOO SLOW OR TOO FAST.

Read Best Reviews of DIRECTV HR34 Home Media Center DVR Here

If your setup is HDMI based and especially if you have a slightly older A/V receiver between this unit and your TV then steer clear. You can finagle it to where the HDMI handshaking is only a problem between 1080i and 1080p program/resolution changes but for what you are paying for this unit, you should not have to "settle" for a problem only 15% of the time. If you don't make the adjustment to turn Native off or set it to only one resolution then every other channel change will cause you to lose the video. The only way to get it back is to turn off either the HR34 or your receiver so that they re-sync...or change your settings. This is the only DirecTV unit which causes this issue as all of the older models work just fine with an A/V unit via HDMI and Native "on". Search for HR34-700 and HDMI to get clear picture of just how big of a problem this is... Unfortunately most people are improperly identifying the issue as something else but the issue is only the HDMI handshaking between this unit and your receiver/TV which reoccurs continuously as the resolution changes from channel to channel.

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Maybe because it's a new product it needs some tweaking. I almost sent it back after using it a couple of days. If you are coming from using one of the old Tivo HR 250's to this prepare for some adjustment. I would say it has some bugs. There are times I programed it to record something and it didn't. There are more steps to go through to record, more buttons to hit on. If you hold down the guide button for a nano second too long it will yip right through the listings in a blur. Fast forwarding through commercials is a knack. One and two seems to go very slow, three is okay but if you hit four, you will miss some of the program. It's just not a Tivo :-(( Better than nothing I guess. I've been using it now for several months and becoming familiar with how to work with it's quirks.

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As DIRECTV customers for more than three years, we got our "free" upgrade to the Genie system. When it works, it's great, but we found out that it is tempermental when recording some programs. They show up as being recorded, but when we attempt to play them, the only thing that appears is a frozen picture of the channel we were watching. We had a technician come out and do a software upgrade. The problem happened again within a few days. We had another technician come out and he replaced the unit. Everything was fine for a week, but now the unit has an issue with recording programs from our local ABC channel. I am now trying to get service for a third time. We have an older HD-DVR and it records and plays things flawlessly. But the Genie has issues. I did talk to a technician and the thought now is that there is an issue with my in-home cabling. Would I recommend the Genie to anyone? No.

February 23, 2013 Update The freezing picture issue I had earlier stopped happening a few days ago. But I wasn't going to cancel the service call that I made a week ago for today. The service technician came out and replaced a few cables and connectors. One thing he noticed was that I had the cable running from the wall plate into my surge protector and then into the Genie. The technician said that most surge protectors aren't usually made for satellite reception (they might be available now, but my surge protector is several years old). We had a computer get affected by lighting through a phone line several years ago. That spooked us enough to have the surge protector for our TV cable as well. I was a little hesitant to forgo the surge protector. He updated some connectors at the wall plate and provided two new cables with blue connectors (something about the frequency they can handle). The cables replaced the older, suspect (suspect to him anyhow, I have no idea) cables and still allow me to keep using the surge protector. He said if the problem still persists, then I should bypass the surge protector. I'm not ready to increase my rating on the Genie just yet, but if this freezing picture issue is in the past, my rating will be much higher.

April 5, 2013 Update Well there was another freezing picture issue a while ago and I bypassed the surge protector. It worked for about a week and the freezing picture came up again. A technician from Case Management came out to my house and replaced basically all of the wires and connections between the dish and the house cabling. This included the 16 channel single wire multi-switch, a power inverter and a couple of signal splitters. In order to bypass any problems with internal wiring, I asked the tech to run the cable directly from the SWM installation right to the Genie. We had success, but I was cautiously optomistic as I've had my hopes dashed before. It's been three weeks since the service call and everything works great. We do enjoy the whole-home DVR and the ability to watch anything recorded from our two DVRs on a third TV.

So, do I recommend the Genie? Yes, I recommend it but if your house is more than ten years old you might have some issues.