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DIRECTV HD DVR | 
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Brand: DIRECTV
Category: CE
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 34670
Media: Electronics
Size: Hughes HD-DVR250 DIRECTV HD Digital Video Recorder
Shipping Weight (lbs): 15
Dimensions (in): 22 x 7 x 16
MPN: DWO2-10020
Model: DWO2-10020
UPC: 708986932802
EAN: 0708986932802
ASIN: B00067TQ4S
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| Features:
| • | hold up to 30 hours of High Definition programming or 200 hours of Standard Definition programming | | • | 1 DIRECTV HD DVR | | • | HD outputs configured for 480p, 480i, 720p, and 1080i formats | | • | Watch one program while recording two others | | • | 5.1 digital optical audio output and HDMI/DVI, component, composite and S-video outputs |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Marketing description is not available.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 DIRETV HD DVR Inferior to Tivo May 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The new DIRECTV HD DVR unit is inferior to Tivo in major ways.
First let me say that I have used the new DIRETV HD DVR unit for more then one month. Also I own more then one of these units, I have three and have experienced all of the same problems with all three of the units.
These units are poorly made.
During playback of recorded programs I have experienced stuttering and eventual freezing up of the video & audio. The only way [& the way DIRECTV told me to correct this problem] to correct this problem is to unplug the unit and restart everythingm, which works but thne it starts up again in a couple of hours. Also the only other way to fix the problem I was told by DIRECTV technical support was to erase and reformat the hard drive, which I did [and lost all recorded programs doing] only to receive the same results as unplugging the machine.
Aside from the above also I have experienced shows that recorded but no sound on the recording would play. The only way to fix this was to reboot the whole system again same as above.
Also I have experineced shows that say they are recording in my to do list and even on the guide but they don't show up as recorded on my playlist. Same thing as above on how to correct this.
Programing wise it is inferior to Tivo which is much simpler to use & has better "Wish List", "Date Programing", "Season Pass" features that make finding and recording shows much easier. It is especially poor in finding your favorite sports teams and recording sports events.
Besides being much easier to use in recording, Tivo is also more accurate in it's recordings. With Tivo you could search ahead 3 to 4 weeks in a calender to record shows whereas DIRECTV's unit in many cases is only good a week out.
When I put in a Series to Record sports event like UEFA Cup it records many soccer events that have nothing to do with the UEFA Cup etc.
I love my DIRECTV but I hate their HD DVR unit, it is a terrible product. I'm canceling my serivce and switching to Cable with a TIVO unit.
 Still working well after one year February 16, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I bought this unit in Dec 05, and it is still working well a year later. I've only had one instance where it locked up and needed to be reset (with no loss of recorded shows).
The other reviewers have gone over the features, so I won't repeat those here, other than to say that it works as advertised.
The main feature lacking is DVD recording capability, however none of the other HD units that I examined had that ability either. Also, there's no high-speed dubbing option, so recording to an external VCR or DVD must be done at 1X speed.
I'm planning to keep this unit, until they make a DirecTV unit that has HD and DVD recording capability.
 Vastly inferior to RCA Ultimate TV January 12, 2007
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have been a DirecTV customer for five years now, and my previous experiences with digital recording are with RCA Ultimate TV. I recently bought this receiver when I decided to upgrade to the HD era. I bought my beautiful plasma TV and I hooked up my receiver with eager anticipation. The box functions about 98% of the time, so I'll give it a bit of credit for that, but the interface and software of this device are very very poorly designed. The simplest way that I can put it is that the Tivo experience is vastly inferior to the Ultimate TV experience in every imaginable way. My wife and I both frustratingly agree with this after battling dissonace with this product.
It's impossible to fully describe why this product is so mediocre. The best way to do it would be that the menus and functions are all laid out poorly. Nothing is ever as easy or fast as it should be. Do you want examples? Let me give you a small handful.
1. With this box, you cannot watch TV while scheduling a program. To schedule a recording, the box completely switches to menu screens. With Ultimate TV, you can watch TV in a small box in the corner while setting up another recording. This applies all over the Tivo box. You can't navigate any menus at all while watching TV.
2. The remote control that comes with it is a lousy design. It's almost perfectly symmetric so that you can't feel which buttons are which. Add that to a poor sensor on the box that won't detect the remote from any kind of sharp angle, and you have a very annoying experience.
3. There are only three fast forward speeds with this box, vs. Ultimate TV's four speeds. In addition, there's an annoying half second delay between when you press the fast forward button and when the box actually starts fast forwarding.
4. There is no one touch recording with this box. A glaring omission, to say the least. To record something on TV, you have to go through three or four menus to finally get a recording started.
5. If you have a recording conflict, Ultimate TV gives you the option of immediately resolving it. This box does not. It only gives you the option to cancel a recording that you just set up.
6. Tivo has really stupid brand names for all sorts of functions that should have simple names. Your recorded shows are called "My Now Playing List" instead of "Recorded Shows", or something like that.
7. There's a delay before every menu comes up. This box just works very slowly.
8. THERE IS NO FUNCTION THAT TELLS YOU HOW MUCH SPACE YOU HAVE LEFT. You have no idea if you have five hours left or two hours left. This is an incredibly stupid ommission. Every recording medium ever made except for Tivo shows easily and clearly how much space you have left. Ultimate TV certainly does. Tivo does not.
Nothing, by itself, is a big problem. It's all of the little annoyances that give you the impression that this is, overall, an inefficiently designed product without the user's convenience given much consideration. I highly recommend only buying this receiver if it is your last resort. I'll probably never buy another Tivo product again. There are a lot of recorders better than this one.
 A great HD DVR for us folks that love Tivo!! September 5, 2006
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
I wanted to upgrade from my standard non-HD DirecTV DVR, the R10, to a HD DVR with DirecTV. My options were DirecTV's new HR20 HD DVR, or the Tivo-based HR10-250 HD DVR. Living in Upstate NY, I understood that the new DirecTV HR20 DVR was not available, or would not offer local HD channels (via mpeg4) in my area for some time. Therefore I went with the HR10-250. The HR10-250 still uses Tivo based software, and allows me to integrate OTA (off the air) local HD channels into the DVR system. I have been using Tivo for 7 years, and love the look and feel. It is very intuitive to me.
Setting up the system was a breeze. I plugged in my HD antenna and did a "channel scan", and saw all my local HD channels nicely mapped into the DirecTV channel guide. Recording shows on local HD channels is the same as any other DirecTV channel.
I recorded several shows, including a US Open Tennis match on a local HD channel, and a couple movies on HDNet. They look amazing! You can jump around in the recorded show just as fast as any non-hd recording. My only complaint is that all the recorded shows cannot be organized into folders. This was a feature that my old R10 has. Supposedly there is a software upgrade coming, version 6.3, that enables folders on the HR10-250.
My brother just had the HR20 installed. DirecTV does not yet offer local HD channels, so he decided to use an OTA antenna. Turns out the HR20 would not let him do this. The installation technician did not know if or when DirecTV would allow this. I suspect they turn this off by default to force people to get local HD channels from the satellite. The HR20 appears to be very fast, however it does not use Tivo software. It does not have the streamlined use that Tivo offers.
For Directv folks who love Tivo and want to upgrade to DirecTV HD, I think the HR10-250 is there only option, and it's not a bad option at all.
 local channels? July 15, 2006
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was informed by Directv that I would be able to get my HD local channels. NOOOOO! Be careful when signing up for directv, if you plan on using the hd-dvr, you will not be able to receive locals. Directv did not tell me until after I signed the contract. I called cust. serv. and after speaking with a supervisors supervisor, I was finally told that the HD-dvr does not get locals and that the upcoming DVR will be able to receive locals. Back to adjusting an atenna for every channel for now.
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