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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."
As far as I knew, Media Center Edition doesn't have HD support. Not therefore surprising that they wouldn't include it in their roundup.
(perhaps the author meant that MCE was noticeably absent as an HD-DVR?)
No, really! I'm one of the *good* lawyers!
Call for Help with Leo (now broadcast out of Toronto) and Screen Savers (AKA what happened on slashdot today) and maybe that Martin guy is all I watch on the channel.
It's fairly good but the billions of videogame-related shows are essentially useless.
MCE doesn't yet have HD support. This wasn't a "roundup" of all DVR systems.
No, really! I'm one of the *good* lawyers!
Next week on /. we will see the story: "Major HDTV broadcasters sue HD DVR manufacturers"
My sig would have been a lot cooler if
The folks over at pchdtv.com are now taking orders for the new HD-3000 *linux only* HDTV video capture card.
And yes, they are working on QAM digital cable support for this new card. Here is a nice FAQ about what is new in this card.
In my neck of the woods there are few HDTV providers - Cogeco (a cable system), and Bell Canada ExpressVu (a satellite system). Both of them use entirely different hardware, and thus my choice of PVR box is dictated by my choice of provider (in my case it would have to be a Motorola DCT6208 or a Bell 6120..whatever manufacturer that is), and if I ponied up the $800CDN or so with one and became disatisfied with the service, I'd have to toss the box in the garbage.
Which is why I chose to rent the box for $20 a month - when the two-tuner version comes out (within the year) I'll do a swap. The point of all of this? I guess that ultimately I am choosing provider and the PVR comes along for the ride.
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.
This account has been posting karma whoring and troll posts all day, and in fact has been doing so for the last several months. "Pan T Hose, PhD" (Mr. Pantyhose to you) uses a large sig with the PhD acronym in it in an attempt to garner mod points. This technique has been used by several other fake "PhD" troll posters in the past. This fellow is slightly more subtle sometimes, but if you look at the posts overall, most of them only make a nominal amount of sense and are intended as trolls, flamebait or karma whoring, and do not actually contribute meaningfully to the discussion (as this post, which is based on factually incorrect information mixed with some flamebaiting).
Please mod Mr. Pantyhose accordingly.
I can say the hughes box is very nice. Two tuners, standard direct tv interface, and everything you'd expect from a TiVo. My only complaint is the lack of caller id that some direct tv boxes carry now.
oh... and yeah... $1000
Wow... people still watch Tech TV since the G4 buyout? I never seen the flagship show for a network (TSS) get mutilated like that before, not to mention I could literally feel my brain cells being killed with each promo they showed... felt like I was watching Nickelodeon or something.
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.
One of the cons for the Echostar unit is that it can only record 25 hrs of HD content, but that problem isnt mentioned anywhere on the HD DirecTV/Tivo box, even though its got the same sized hard drive. The only difference is that you can go to weaknees and upgrade your HD DirecTV/Tivo and get 70+ hours of HD recording.
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
I'd say it has more to do with the fact that the Media Center is a piece of software that's being implemented on hardware that ranges from $1000 to $6000 depending on what brand you get... meanwhile this review was limited to settop boxes that are one-size-fits-all kits.
Ostensibly? Really, you might at least check what the words mean before you post them. I realize that you're just trolling/karma whoring, but surely you might take some pride in at least making semantic sense. :b
Bít, zabít, jen proto, ze su liska!
I think equally important in the discussion is the number of channels that will realisticly be offered in the near future.
... especially when you're talking about $1000 for the PVR!
While I'm not OTA, cable, or dish network expert (neither am I a DirecTV expert!), I do know that the launch of DirecTV 7S earlier this year represented a monumental leap forward in bandwidth capability. It's my understanding that the purpose of 7S is to relieve the other birds from their coast-to-coast broacasts (using it's spot-beam technology), thereby freeing up the frequencies for HD content.
From what I read (sorry I can't provide links), the amount of bandwidth 7S brings to the skies above us is enormous, and the intended purpose of the bandwidth is the carrying of HD content.
DirecTV knows that Cable is ramping up HD offerings. Not wanting to fall behind, I'm sure DirecTV will offer more HD channels in the future.
Personally, I'll hold off until 7S starts broadcasting, and wait for DirecTV to offer ESPN, CNN, FOX, etc in HD before I actually sink my credits into a HDTV. Hopefully by that time, prices of HD-TiVO's will have come down (hopefully to $500).
But, I think that contemplating what future offerings will be provided is certainly relevant when discussing which company to go with.
Hope this info helps.
Do it for da shorties
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.
Hah, that will be the day. Now, would someone please explain how they would sue when Time Warner offers the HD DVR service to it's customers? Here in Austin, we provide both the Scientific Atlanta 8000 and 8300 HiDef DVR units.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Broadcasters WANT ratings. And pissing off Time Warner and Cox cable is not a wise move.
Life is not for the lazy.
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.
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.
(Mr. Pantyhose to you)
I think I've actually gotten emails promising this sort of thing.
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
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Sloppy and Incomplete reporting. The "Lab" uses no test equipment when evaluating video equipment and no test patterns"The 921's high-def 1080i output via DVI and component output looked the best to my eye with great contrast and smooth clarity" Who cares about your eye? I have an eye, I have two, I want actual facts from you. They use no standard methodologies or even common criteria when they evaluate gear so no apples to apples comparison is ever possible. In this case they mistakenly report that the TIVO's HDMI output is incompatible with DVI, it is not, and it even comes with an adapter cable, but they make no mention of what will happen to the DVI if the Broadcast Flag is ever enabled on the content. On the fly down conversion? Blacked out picture? What about the Component output? How do they look to your eye? Lots of older HD monitors only have analog component inputs if the DVRs have cheap and awful D to A converters that would be good to know. blah blah. This channel sucks now.