G4 Tech TV Reviews Three New HDTV DVRs

Thomas Hawk writes "G4techTV does a review of three of the new HDTV recorders. Noticeably absent is Microsoft's Media Center 2005. The Hughes HD 10-250 gets the highest marks and is the 'G4tech TV Lab Pick.' Although I haven't used the other two HDTV recorders I have to say I would concur on their opinion of TiVo's DirecTV box."

Comments

Hughes

[apoplectic]

I've owned one of these for the past two months, and I have to say that I love the box. Video from the HDMI port is impeccable. The Tivo friendliness factor is high as usual. I've not blinked over the high cost of the unit since I fired it up.

Only complaint? The usual slow Guide rendering.

Re:Hughes

[rufo]

The guide is set in Grid mode by default, which is horrifically slow. Bring up the guide and press the Enter key on the remote to bring up the Guide options, and set it from Grid mode to whatever the other option is - this is what standalone TiVos default to and it is light-years faster. It may take a little getting used to but most TiVo owners tend to prefer the TiVo style as opposed to the grid (I know I do).

Re:MCE 2005

[doormat]

MCE 2k5 can support 3 tuners, including HD tuners. The problem is that the only tuners out there are ones that get the signals over-the-air. IE not your HD digital cable or satellite box (and no it doesnt support 5c/hdcp over firewire, but there are ways to set that up with WinXP and some third party software).

http://www.anandtech.com/multimedia/showdoc.aspx ?i =2240&p=9

OTA on Hughes as well

[RedX]

The reviewer mentioned the $10.99 fee for DirecTV's HD package but didn't mention that this box is also fully capable of recording OTA HD programs with no monthly charge. I've had this box since the week it was released and only carried the HD package for about a week but still have plenty of HD recordings each week via OTA channels that I don't pay a dime for.

HDTiVo can output to non-HDCP sets

[Radak]

The reviewer is wrong. The Hughes HR10-250 most certainly can output to non-HDCP-compliant sets. In fact, it even comes with a HDMI-to-DVI cable in the box. Just last night I was watching HD stuff on my 20" Dell LCD, using the (non-HDCP) DVI input.

However, if the broadcast flag is ever flipped on (no one's done it yet), then those people using non-HDCP sets will get downres output on DVI.

Service Fees

[tji]

The DirecTV service fees listed in the article are a bit misleading..

The $10.99/month is for a package of HDTV channels (ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Bravo-HD.) You are not required to purchase this package.

For no additional charge, you can record all of your local off-the-air channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, etc.). And, if you have HBO or Showtime, those you automatically get their HD channels as part of your existing package.

Roll Your Own

[tji]

One option that is important to the Slashdot crowd, but is not listed in the article is creating your own DVR. There are several HDTV PCI cards available that can be used to build your own HD recorder. I have used one for the last two years to record all kinds of OTA HD material for free.

Some of the options:

- pchdtv.com HD-2000 / HD-3000 cards + MythTV, on Linux. This option has a ton of potential. But, from what I hear, there are still some fairly major kinks to be worked out. I am hoping this improves, as I would love to switch to a Linux solution.

- MyHD MDP-120. HD tuner card with hardware MPEG2 decoder (so, system requirements are very low). Probably the best of the group of similar cards with hardware tuner. Software is reliable for basic recording and playback. Can't do full PVR functionality, like pausing live TV or playing a saved file while recording another. (Some of the similar cards are: AccessHDTV, HiPix, OnAir DTV Pro, etc)

- Dvico FusionHDTV. HD Tuner card, MPEG decoding done in software.. simpler hardware means it's cheaper. Software has been unstable in the past, but seems to be improving. Reportedly making BDA drivers for use with Windows Media Center 2005.

- ATI HDTV Wonder. Fairly new. Software based MPEG decoding. Is supposed to have good MS Media Center 2005 integration.

- ElGato EyeTV 500. MacOS X HDTV solution. Firewire based device, uses software MPEG decoding.

- Sasem OnAir USB HDTV. supported on Windows only, connects via USB 2.0 port.

Dish Network Fee

[GweeDo]

While they mentioned the $4.99 a month DVR fee from DirecTV, they failed to mention the $4.98 fee from DishNetwork/EchoStar. If you have a DVR with any hard drive > 80GB you get hit with their Video On Demand service fee for $4.98 a month (I get tagged with that on my 522 for its 120GB hd). You can however get this fee waived if you signup for the America's Everything Package which is 180 channels + locals (if your market is supported) + all the premium content channels for $77.99 a month. If you are the AT60,120, or 180 you have to pay the $4.98 though.

Just offering that heads up :)