Directv Tivo reciever comparison

Server Ninja
Pyroman[FO]'s picture
Location: what

Okay I'm going to take the plunge and get a DirecTV with Tivo this week. From what I understand there are three series 2 Tivo machines with Direct TV built in, the RCA one, the Phillips one and the Hughes Direct one. Does anybody have any of these? I figured internally they'd be the same and just difference themselves on the number of inputs and outputs they have. Any kind of stats or comparison between the units would be great as google is spammed with "FREE DIRECTV TIVO HDTV CHEESE WEASEL PLAN MONTH VIAGRA XXX!" when you try to search about DirecTV and Tivo.

"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson

Demagogue
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griffon's picture
Location: San Jose, CA -ish

They all license Tivo, so I''m going go out on a limb and say theare all equivelent but you might want to ask this over at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/

-Griffon
Did Samurai Jack ever get back to the past?

Server Ninja
Pyroman[FO]'s picture
Location: what

Heh, I was on that board today researching the Home Media Option, didn''t even think to look for that info!

A couple of people seemed to favor the Phillips one, but they all agree they''re the same on the inside. In fact they come off the same assembly line in Mexico.

"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson

Coffee Grinder
Soulgrind's picture

You might want to check the series 2 aspect as well. I got one about 6 months ago and it''s not really series 2.. it''s just the Hughes version 2 of direcTivo. The major downside to that is that I had to get a phone line installed in order to use it, no ethernet capabilities.

That being said.. it''s the best investment I''ve made since buying a house.. umm. and getting engaged .

Oh, and the phone line is becoming useful as well as I''m replacing my Comcast Cable Modem with Verizon DSL .

All that and a
Donator V6.0
baggachipz's picture
Location: do() || !do(); $try=NULL;

None of the DirecTivo''s have the Home Media option or are able to use the USB/Ethernet ports. Phone line only, if that matters to you. That being said, for 99 bucks it''s a great deal for DirecTv customers and is only 5 bucks a month as opposed to 12 for regular Tivo customers. If I didn''t already have a ReplayTv I''d get that done as well. In fact, I still may so that I can get the dual-tuner aspect. Watching one thing while recording another is a huge advantage. I don''t know what your budget looks like, but have you considered holding out for the HD DirecTivo that''s supposed to hit the streets soon? It''ll cost a fortune out of the gate though.

I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities

Server Ninja
Pyroman[FO]'s picture
Location: what

Now wait, are you talking about the USB ports being disabled or merely that the listing updates come from DirecTV so there''s no way the Tivo software can use it.

Because I was going to get a USB ethernet card and install the Tivo FTP server. As long as they haven''t disabled the USB ports that should work fine.

*edit* checked it out, you have to hack your tivo to get shell access, then install the drivers for the usb ethernet cards manually. No big deal.

"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson

All that and a
Donator V6.0
baggachipz's picture
Location: do() || !do(); $try=NULL;

The USB ports are indeed disabled. Supposedly there is a way to upgrade the software on the unit to v.4 to activate them, but it''s of course all hush-hush at the Tivo Community forum. It''s a damn shame that they disable them, and of course the Tivo community is pissed. But the DirecTivo falls under DirecTv''s control, not Tivo''s so they do with it what they like.

I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities

Intern
Donator
Location: Denver

I have the Hughes model after several years with regular cable and a Sony TiVo, and I don''t like it much.

Don''t get me wrong. I love TiVo. I need TiVo. I will never again be without it if such is in my power.

However, the Hughes receiver is generally slow and playback often stutters after switching from ff/rewind back into play, forcing me to whack the ''instant replay'' button so I can see whatever the receiver just skipped. The fan is very noisy.

My old Sony also included star ratings for films. The Hughes doesn''t, and I miss them.

Here to save you all
Donator V6.0
TheGameguru's picture
Location: Cinemaction!

Let me get this straight..

Pyro?...is that you? your really going to pay the man $5 to time shift recordings?

You?

The Open Source guys are rolling over in their graves..

why not just use Myth TV?

Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter

85's face the truth you're too dumb.

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Server Ninja
Pyroman[FO]'s picture
Location: what

I got tired of having my noisy computer in my living room. Buying a Home Theater case and putting in the parts myself wasn''t worth it when you can get DirecTivos for $99. Also considering DirecTivos have no recompression artifacts, straight from the satellite to my HDD. Now paying $300 for a stand alone unit and $12.95 a month, that''s a different story ...

It also doesn''t hurt that I have my xbox modded and I can run MythTV on it except for the recording features, which I can use Tivo for. It works out nicely.

"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson

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Sku Boi's picture

question...if a tivo runs linux what about installing myth tv on the tivo?

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Server Ninja
Pyroman[FO]'s picture
Location: what

It''s a MIPS processor, MythTV depends on XFree86. Though I''ve heard recently of using svgalib and Embedded QT, I still don''t think that''d work on MIPS. It''d also run like ass.

"If I was Obama I'd have made a joke about that. Then again, if I was Obama I'd have f*cked up my own campaign long ago by making c*ck jokes." - 1Dgaf
"Poor Achmed, only three days away from retirement ... from Jihad." - Mike Nelson

All that and a
Donator V6.0
baggachipz's picture
Location: do() || !do(); $try=NULL;

Yeah from what I understand, MythTV requires a lot more horsepower than what a Tivo unit can provide. I''ve explored the DIY route with PVR''s too, and have seen that it''s riddled with frustration and enormous expense, and your results aren''t as good as just using a standalone unit.

I generated a virtual world in the toilet bowl this morning.
-- Podunk on the PS3's mystical, magical abilities

Space Filler
Donator
Sway's picture
Location: Clayton, NC

I''ve got the Phillips. It''s a behemoth and makes noise even when it''s in Standby. Playback is generally good. I''m at work and not sure what inputs/outputs there are, but I can check tonight. I don''t use it for exporting anything, though. Mine is pretty much run by the book.

"If you're not a stinky-stink, you're not addicted to anything!" - Reaper