About 6 months ago, I changed over from Cable TV to Satellite TV through Direct TV.   What a huge difference in the quality of their DVR's .     I was always so disappointed with the Cable DVR.   The amount of hours of recording time that you got was always running out on me.   HD programs really sucked up a lot of the time.  It was so slow in operating, too.   It seemed like it took forever to search for a program and then to set it up to record.   Not so with the Direct TV DVR.   I have so much more room to store recordings now.   And the ease of operation of the many functions is second to none!   I will never go back to Cable TV again.   They switched out our DVR at one point, and what they put in was worse than the first one.  I have had no problems at all with my current DVR.   The ease and speed of setting things up to record is Awesome.   I highly recommend this DVR to anyone looking for a new one.

Patsylub

Franklin, OH

I have used 3 DVR's:  TiVo, Dish PVR, and DirecTv DVR.  The directv DVR is the WORST.  I don't think anything can compare to TiVo, but directv has fallen very far from the DVR tree! It's supposed to record 2 shows at once.  The 1st DVR I had to replace because it would only record 1 show.  So now, I'm on my 2nd DVR and it too has problems.  The remote has to be directly pointing at it, with NO obsruction of view, to work at all. We're constantly over fastwording and rewinding because the dvr doesn't respond to the remote commands.  Even after repeated battery replacements.  Also, it very frequently doesn't record shows...just randomly.  Even if it's in the to do list, it doesn't record. I am just waiting for my contract to expire so I can rid myself of this terrible product.  DirecTV should go back to using TiVo boxes!!

motleybabe

Leander, TX

I honestly cannot imagine life before DVR. It must have been really difficult, that's for sure. I love the freedom that it gives me, and the fact that I can live my life and do the things I want to, and have my TV record the shows that I love to watch, and then I can go back and watch them at my leisure. I am aware that this is no new, ground-breaking phenomenon, and that it has been done before, and has been around for a while, but I really love it and being fairly new to it, it still blows my mind each and every time. I hate hate hate watching commercials (they are definitely one of my pet peeves, and a waste of time) and I love that with my recorded shows on my DVR, I can watch my favorite programming commercial-free! I also love that you can fast forward and pause LIVE television! (I still will never fully grasp that concept, but hey, it's great, so I'm not complaining!) DVR has made my life easier and I highly recommend it to anyone with busy lives who still love to watch tv. :)

katiemichelle

Sacramento, CA

Overall, I am impressed with the DVR. This is my first experience with a DVR, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. It records what I say, when I say, so that is good. Here are some issues I have with it. I don't feel there is enough space. I think I have about 100 hours of programming and that's about it. i don't watch tv a whole lot, but when I do, I like to watch what I want, which is why I have so much stuff recorded. I don't like the idea of having to pick what to delete in order to record somehting else. The DVR also runs a little slow. I undertsand it is a computer, but I am used to the comcast box that runs pretty much instantly. I have also had the VDR freeze up once or twice, whic was quite a pain. The biggest thing that bugs me, and I don;t know if there is a way around this, is that when a program I am recording goes over the scheduled time, I miss the end unless I record the program immideately following. I know it seems petty, but it would be nice if a DVR could get that figured out and just stop recording when the selected program is actually over.

zack7983

Sacramento, CA

The number one problem that we had with Dish Network was their OVERHEATING HD DVR...from the very beginning, the DVR overheated, so the Tech guy indicated that I would have to elevate the DVR in a stiltlike manner..Well during the over two year commitment, the DVR continued to OVERHEAT, until, finally it just would not stay on at all, anymore.. This led me to go in the direction of Directv...THEIR DVR DOES NOT OVERHEAT!  I have only had this DVR for a month, but it is a vast improvement over the Dish DVR.  Visually, I see a big improvement in the picture, with more color. Love that you can easily see the upcoming episodes or movie performances, vs. Dish.   The only negative, that I see, at this point, is that there is no Episode numbers, so you can keep up with serial episodes, It appears that Directv has better customer service than Dish.  Having a DVR really allows for a lot of flexability in one's life...

sundancer53

Woodland Park, CO

I have had a dvr for a year and a half now. I love it. It's easy to use, and now I never miss my favorite shows. I haven't followed a program in almost eight years, just don't have the time. Now that I have the DVR I have been able to program in the shows that I like and it automatically records them for me from week to week. Once it's recorded I can watch it at my own convience. It has saved me quite a bit as far as my kids are concerned. I used to go out and buy the DVD's of their favorite shows but not I have them recorded. The only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars is because 200 hours can get filled up rather quickly. That sounds kind of awful but we have 5 different viewer in our home that record programs. more than seventyfive percent of out recordings are cartoons and childrens programs. It comes in handy when you need to distract the kids so you can get dinner made. When we run out of room it is easy to just go through it and erase old programs to make room for new ones.

Lee5

Springville, CA

Thank you directtv for the dvr. I will never be the same. This really changes the way I watch television. My dvr is the best thibng since sliced bread. It is really simple to use. Just go to the guide and then click on the show that you want to watch and click on record it is that simple. I love it for when there is more than one show that I want to watch. I can record two shows will I watch another. Then I can wait to watch my shows when it is quiet and I can relax on my own time not on the time slot that the network chooses for me. I really don't think I can go back to watching television any other way. I have recommended the dvr to all my family and friends. they usually just laugh at me but believe me they come to my house and If I am watching something that is interetesting and they are about to leave and they ask me what channel it is playing on so they can watch it when they go home and I tell them it is recorded then they usually make a face like I made the comment "I told you so" but that is alright by me because I did tell them so.

threejoess

Jeanerette, LA

I have had DirecTV for a couple years now and recently upgraded to a DVR receiver-- I kick myself because I waited so long! A DVR is one of the greatest inventions for television in years! The DirecTV DVR receiver is an upgrade from the basic receiver that comes with a DirecTV package. Along with being able to search for shows and look at the previews on each channel, the DVR receiver is so much more! Not only can you search for shows you want to watch, but you can actually record them. This is extremely convenient for my family because we have very busy schedules and are never home to watch our favorite shows. With the DVR, we are able to record and watch later. Even better, the DVR allows you to fast foward through commercials, pause and rewind! A 30 minute show turns into a 18-20 minute show when you forward through the commercials. It really ends up making your TV viewing experience more productive because you aren't wasting time watching commercials. The DVR receiver holds up to 200 hours of recorded shows, which is more than enough for a family. You can watch a show and erase it or save it, allowing you to make room for upcoming shows. The guide on the DVR allows you to manage your recordings and see what is upcoming. It lets you know if there will be a conflict of recording (you can only record two shows at once) and will reschedule a show if needed. I don't really like the fact that you can't watch live TV if there are two shows recording, but its not impossible to live with. Another great feature about the DVR is that you can go onto DireTV's website and login to your account and search and record shows from your computer! This is great if you think of a show you want to watch at work and set it to record that evening. One thing that does bug me about the DVR and the menus are their speed when searching-- sometimes it takes forever to type in your search and get a quick result. I would also love to see the system give you recommendations like Netflix does. Overall I am very pleased with my DirecTV DVR!

glutenfreeinID

Meridian, ID

I have several HD DVRs from DirecTV.  When they first started rolling these out I still had the Tivo based DirecTV DVRs (1 HD and 3 SDs).  Early on it was very frustratng to have to learn a complete new system that lacked in features that theold systems had.  However, after using at least one of them for over 2 years its starting to grow on me a little.  That being said  would probably jump at a DirecTV/Tivo DVR when (or if) it ever comes out. The DVRs themselves have been realtively reliable (I did have one go bad, real quick).  However the software upgrades that DTV puts out often end up with worse performance than previous versions. Recently they have added the ability to watch what is recorded on one DVR remotely on another, which is nice.  I would really like to see them add the ablity to transfer the recordings to a mobile device, watch it remotely via the internet (like a slingbox) and add the capability to increase the storage capacity with an external hard drive.  Those upgrades along with better software upgrade reliability would change my four stars to five.

captainjrl

Fresno, CA

I have 2 of these units in my home.  Very user friendly and great for setting up "season passes" for not only myself but also for my son. Quality is great - not really sure how I watched TV in the past. I tend to watch a lot of TV - little bit of everything.  One limitiation I have noticed is that you are only able to have 50 season passes - I wish you could record as many shows as you wanted with the space being the only limitation. I notice if I want to add the summer shows, I have to delete the fall shows and just try and remember to readd them when they come back on. Other than that minor downside - this recorder is great.  I also have it hooked up to the internet in order to get Video on demand - this is another functionality that I feel needs some more work - you have to select your items and then you have to download the show/movie and wait several hours to be able to watch it. I wish this was a little bit faster - but alteast I have some sort of "on-demand"

kmkreamer

West Chester, PA