OT: DirecTivo vs. 'New Direct TV DVR'?

[Thomas Charron]

On 5/22/07, Richard Soule <richard.soule at oracle.com> wrote:
> My 11 year old TV crapped out yesterday so I ended up picking up a 50"
> 1080p Plasma (Panasonic TH50PZ700U).

> Wow! HDTV is really good. Blu-ray through the PS3 is pretty amazing. The
> BBC version of Planet Earth on Blu-ray is one of the most amazing things
> I have ever seen on a TV.

  Are you connecting with the HDMI cable?  It's annoying, but it will
only do 1080i UNLESS you use the HDMI.

> That said when I called DirecTV to get HD channels (old TV wasn't HD) I
> was informed that DirecTV no longer has an agreement with TiVo and no
> longer offers DirecTivo. DirecTiVo is a combo box that combines all of
> the features of DirecTV with TiVo in one box. The UI rocks.
> I'm really worried about switching to a new DVR as I'm terrified that
> the UI is going to suck.

  I don't have one yet, as DirecTV sucks bawls on customer support,
and I'm supposedly on a waiting list to get one for free (like THATS
ever going to happen).  But the UI is supposed to be simular to the
one on the normal HD receivers.  If that's the case, the UI isn't
really that bad, but it's not good either.

> Apparently DirecTV is moving from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 or something and the
> HD DirecTiVo DVR that I purchased just a few years ago isn't compatible
> with the new MPEG-4 compression or something...

  Correct.  They're migrating all of their HD feeds to MPEG-4.  While
it's unknown how long the premium HD channels will be broadcast in
MPEG-2 (of which there aren't very many anyway, currently), the new HD
channels they are rolling out sometime in the next six months over
their new satellites will all be in MPEG-4.

> I've got the dude coming out tomorrow to set me up with the new box for
> $99. It's supposed to be $299, but apparently my long time subscription
> status is getting me a discount.

  Must be nice to actually get some service from the farkers.

> Anyone know if I'm getting ripped off? Should I really be paying for a
> new DVR when my old DVR is only 2 years old?

  I think the resounding answer will be yes, you're getting ripped
off, but unfortunately, what can you do.  When they started migrating,
they'd already terminated the business deal with Tivo.  :-(

-- 
-- Thomas