We installed a DirecTivo in 2001. When in 2008 Tivo announced they would produce a new, HD DirecTivo we were delighted, and opted to hold our HD upgrade until it came out. Time passed, and passed and passed and the new Tivo went off to live with Duke Nukem in vaporware land. Finally pulled the string on the purchase of a new AV receiver, a new 46in LED TV, and this DVR. Now it is installed and working, how does it compare to our old Tivo?First, a warning: the HR24 DVR is designed to work with a SWM dish. That's single-wire multiswitch, a single black coax cable from the dish. If you have what our installer called "a legacy installation," aka Multiswitch, characterized by TWO cables from the dish, then in addition to the DVR you need a pair of "B-Band converters." These are small boxes that go inline with the coax cables to convert something to some other thing. There are no B-Band converters in this box. They are available from Amazon, just search on "DirecTV B Band Converter" and you'll find them. If you have two cables to your old DVR, order a pair of them at the same time as the HR24. I was lucky, my installer had a spare pair in his truck.
I got no kickback from DirecTV when I said I had ordered my own HR24; except that they refused to schedule the installer until I had the box in hand and could read them the device serial number. They admitted that the Amazon price ($199) was the same they would have charged. The installer said that customers who order the MRV (multi-room viewing) option will get an HR24, but those who don't (I hadn't) would get "whatever we have." Which might well be the slower HR23. So I was right to get the HR24 from Amazon, but if you are going for MRV, you may as well get DirecTV to send it with the installer.
OK, now we've used it a few days, how does it compare to Tivo? Well, darn it, it's just fine! The only Tivo feature it lacks is that it doesn't record "suggestions" of shows it thinks we might like. I kind of miss being able to go through the Suggestions folder every few days to see what Tivo found for me.
The user interface is not as polished to look at; the menus and dialogs are square-edged and rather crude looking. The button layout on the remote is kind of bizarre and arbitrary compared to Tivo's "peanut" -but the response time to button-presses is fine. There are four levels of fast-forward instead of three, and #3 is too slow and #4 is too fast. There is a 30-second forward skip that Tivo had as an easter-egg feature. The "skip backward" function goes back 6 seconds instead of 8. There's a Back button that takes you back through successive levels of menu, and that's very convenient (Note: the Harmony One universal, if you opt for that, does NOT have this Back button; you have to program a soft-button for it.)
Although the search function is designed differently from Tivo's, it has pretty much the same abilities to find programs. There is a nice feature TIvo lacked: when viewing the detailed info on a recorded program, you can select "cast and crew" to get a quick search on the names of cast members, to find other programs they are listed in. There's also a "you might like" search that is sort of a replacement for Tivo suggestions.
All in all, DirecTivo die-hards do not need to fear the HR24. If you are tired of waiting for a new DirecTivo to emerge from the vapor, go ahead and make the jump. It's fine.
-100 Thomson (mfg the HR24)
-200 Samsung (mfg the HR24)
-300 Philips
-400 Hughes
-500 Humax (mfg the HR24)
-600 LG
-700 Pace (mfg the HR24)
-800 NEC
Now for my review. Yes I know they are leased, so I`m not going to ramble on about being "ripped off". I `ve been a subscriber since 2004, so it`s not an issue for me. I leased my directly from Diretv for $99 plus tax after asking them for a "good customer" discount. The installer arrived the next day and swapped out my dish with a Slimline 3LNB. It had to be installed on the corner of my home on a pole due to the higher wind load of the larger dish. Other installers may want to put it on your roof with addition braces, I declined that option. Since I had a legacy installation, mine was connected using 2 leads with the B-Band converters. If you have any barrel connectors connecting different lengths of cable it is IMPERATIVE you use the BLUE centered ones designed for HD. Also RG-6 cable is required. After all was hooked up, the problems started. Pixelation, some channels working, some not. The box was reset, and all seemed fine, until the installer left. Some shows recorded that night did not. I had a "searching for signal 1 (771)" error. These were random, some were "signal 2", and others recorded, but were completely pixelated. The box would work fine one day, only to completely screw up the next. After 3 return trips by the installer, the box was replaced. Problem solved, no further issues. I can`t compare the speed to the HR20-23`s, but compared to my 2 R15-500`s standard defs, they are SUPER fast! All in all very happy with the quality of the picture, and overall function of the box.
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I just recently purchased this unit and activated it yesterday. What a major difference from my HR20-700 which this unit is replacing. I mean the difference in overall performance is night and day. One of the major problems I was having with the HR20 was the lag or delay with the response after a button was pressed on my remote. I mean at times it would literally take a full 5 to 8 seconds (I timed it several times) for the action to take place once the button was pressed on the remote. This was driving me absolutely nuts. The HR24-500 is lightning fast. No lag or delay whatsoever. The response time is immediate; the way it should be. Another major improvement is the speed within the guide, especially when navigating to channel 1100's or VOD channels. Again, the HR20 would seriously lag here and take an inordinate amount of time opening any channel. The HR24 opens each and every channel immediately. Again, the way it should be.On an another note, the HR24 is all Black and matches the rest of my components in my system. The Silver HR20 just stood out and just didn't look right with the rest of my gear. Not to mention the extremely large Orange Recording Light which was overly Bright when recording a show and definitely was distracting. The HR24's recording light is extremely small and does not pose any type of distraction whatsoever. You hardly even notice it is recording a program. Again, just the way it should be.
I am very, very satisfied with the HR24-500 from DTV. They have finally made a product worthy of having.
Read Best Reviews of DirecTV Plus HR24 HD DVR Here
Despite the fact that DirecTV will tell you that buying and activating this product will NOT result in a new 2-year commitment, they will still code you for that and charge you an early termination penalty of $380 plus having to return this receiver to them if you should switch carriers within 2 years. I bought this receiver in October 2010 upon the advice of the DirecTV rep--they offered it for $150 with a commitment or I was told I could buy it elsewhere and just activate it without a commitment. Which I did, and even verified with the activation guy that I was free of commitment. Then in January 2011 I cancelled DTV to move to ATT Uverse. The cancellation rep told me that their system showed what I was saying but that my account had been coded for a new 2 year commitment when I activated this receiver and she was sorry their rep had given me the wrong information but there was nothing she could do about it. So they billed me a $380 early termination fee, plus they want this receiver sent to them (they consider these receivers to be leased, not purchased and will bill you an additional $500 if you don't return it to them, not Amazon). Full disclosure: I've been a DTV customer for 15 years so this whole thing is completely appalling. Buyer beware--nowhere does it say any of this, I never signed or agreed to any of it, but DTV will treat you like you did, apologize for your misunderstanding and bill your credit card nonetheless.Want DirecTV Plus HR24 HD DVR Discount?
It seems there is often a great confusion about whether purchasing directv's receivers on amazon will cause a commitment on your directv account upon activation. Well there was no way I wanted anytype of agreement or commitment for 3 years! So I did some research.. thought I'd share!"New" A new hd/dvr will run you around $350. If you are buying an hd/dvr receiver for less than than, your most likely buying a leased receiver. Example: if you go to best buy to purchase directv equipment, you are NOT buying a receiver that you will than own... you are purchasing a lease.
"Used" When you purchase a used receiver, you will actually OWN the equipment. Owning the equipment outright means no commitment/agreement on your account. Although with my used receiver I did have to purchase a new access card from directv for around $20 if I remember correctly.
Hope that helps!
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