Customer Reviews

DIRECTV Plus DWO2-10021 HD DVR (Lease)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I agree with most of the posts here about the garbage that is the HR20, but it has improved greatly since October. Nevertheless, it si so unreliable that I had to get DirecTV to re-connect my 5 year old TiVo (for free) to catch all the programs this thing misses. They have sent out numerous updates, but it seems that they are spending more time enabling features to make the thing appear to be better than TiVo rather than addressing basic recording (that's what a DVR is for right?). It is like a high end car with an awesome stereo, and brakes that don't work. I nearly left DirecTV over this thing, and I've been with them since 1995!

Being a long-term TiVo user (including 2 D* HD TiVos) I kept my expectations low and I actually figured I could adjust to this DVR, given some positive aspects. I don't think the interface is as good as TiVo's, but it is adequate.

I've had it two months, and things keep getting worse. Sometimes recordings don't record, for no reason. About 3 weeks ago our HD locals started dropping out for a few days at a time. The first technician sent out was incapable of debugging this problem. We learned later that the satellite dish wasn't set up right to begin with and it took numerous calls, emails, and two tech visits before they did a simple 2-minute alignment to get us signals in the 90's on the HD locals, which got rid of the pixelation and frequent non-availability.

Another BIG problem is the reliability of the unit. Lots of lockups requiring unplugging or a red-button restart, both of which take perhaps 8-10 minutes to recover from.

1-800 Tech Support has been poor. If you can get through to a "specialist", they aren't bad. But the advice just seems to be "do a full reset" (i.e., a total reset including removing all of your series links & existing recordings). When we tell D* that this is unsat, they offer a replacement REFURBISHED unit! With no additional warranty - that is, I've already had my unit two months, so they would only give me one month on a refurbished unit. Who's to say that the replacement unit abused by someone else is any better than what I already have?

If you luck out and get a dependable unit, it's really not that bad. But the poor quality and customer support warrant only one star - maybe less, but I can't do less than 1 star.

*** Update June 16, 2007 *** Thankfully, this DVR is functioning much better now. I've only had to reset it once in the last month. While I prefer the TiVo interface, this has some different capabilities - when it works properly, I can live with it just fine. It's a bit ironic that the problems seemed to stop as soon as I started to pay $6 a month for the service plan. :-) If I were to rate it now, I might give it 3 stars.

*** Update Nov 27, 2008 *** With time, software updates with new features have made this a much better & more dependable unit. I STILL miss some of TiVo's features but I'm happy enough as long as I don't need to contact DIRECTV for any help. Most interactions, whether via email or phone, are quite frustrating. I'd give it a solid 3 stars now.

*** Update April 2010 *** A few weeks ago, my ENTIRE series manager was deleted, right after a software upgrade. UGH.

Don't waste your time and money with this unit or Direct TV go with what ever cable company is in your area. They lied to me and stole my money and time. I had to send the DVR back to them 4 times, 4 and it still doesn't work. I have to reset it daily, the HD picture is not that great, and the record function doesn't work most of the time. So I called Direct TV and ask them if they were coming out with a better version anytime soon and they said they were still trying to fix the problems with the current one. I told them I had returned mine 4 times and had been very patiant but was tired of wasting all my time calling them up and returning DVR only to have to do it over and over. Please give me my money back and let me out of my contract, they said no. They told me if I didn't want my DVR I should return it to who ever sold it to me 2 months earlier. This product should not be on the market.

I have used Directtv for over 10 years and have been satisfied for the most part. But with this new HR-20 HD DVR Receiver, I find that I have a piece of JUNK. I am on my third receiver and I still have the same problems of LOCK UP and have to push the red button. This causes a complete reboot and then have to wait for all the programming to download again. JUNK!

I have had no picture problems... but a buggy, buggy, incomplete piece of equipment so far:
- freezing with the FWD/RWD/Pause while switching back and forth from the 2nd tuner to a recording program on the first tuner
- Unit needs regular reboots (weekly, I'm thinking) to function at its best (which is still flaky)
- I am definitely experiencing a "cutting in-and-out" of digital sound on (some) recorded HD programs (like the Orange Bowl recorded earlier tonight)
- I've come back to my 'List' to watch an HD recording of an NFL game that NEVER would display to the screen... 3.5 hours of HD recording... all black screen (used 9% of the drive, so was using HD-type disk space)

"Pluses":
- setup menu and product manual encourages me to think that connection to the unit from home network possible/easy
- the Disk Space bar with '% full' didn't exist on my prior Series 2 TiVo (also through DirecTV) - but I would have rated that (non-HD) box manufactured by Hughes at least 4 stars

Maybe firmware upgrades will make this non-BETA in the not-to-distant future and provide (promised) support for recording off-air local HD programming, not from the satellite, to the DVR... but I won't be holding my breath (this hope for firmware upgrades is the only reason for 2 stars over 1 stars).

NOTE: This is not TiVo like some of the older/prior non-DirecTV brand units available in past years (Series 2 TiVos)... losing TiVo ratings/suggestions/functionality does suck.

Frustrated and stuck with the only provider of the NFL Sunday Ticket... there is NO other reason I'm still with DirecTV (even though I have little/no complaints with customer service I've received from them).

2007-01-02


Update #1 (definitely upgraded to (at least) 3 stars):

There are a number of firmware upgrades that have been showing up on this DVR Plus in the past month... most importantly to me are stability enhancements and the ATSC tuners were activated (ability to record over-the-air HD programming via an HD antennae). The over-the-air channels (i.e., 3-1, 3-2) integrate right into to the Guide very nicely... HD PBS DVR recordings! Woo-hoo!!

To track these firmware upgrades I'd like to point out a great forum which discusses each update and when they have been made available to the techie geeks (forcible downloading firmware updates) as well as to the everyman via nation-wide, automatic downloading and installation of these updates. Amazon discourages links... but there is an incredibly helpful dot-com forum called dbstalk, with a forum specifically about the HR20 (#112):
DirecTV(tm) HR20 Q&A
And another about DirecTV software updates (#110) that is currently HEAVY with information about HR20 software updates:
DirecTV(tm) Software Release Notes Forum

2007-01-12

I just got off the phone with DirecTV to cancel my service. Sole reason for cancellation was this lousy HD DRV. I've never been so disappointed in a product. I loathe cable, but I'd rather have cable and a TiVo that deal with this unreliable piece of junk. (My three year old was raised in a TiVoverse, and she just doesn't "get" how the DVR could say it's recording a show for her, and then we go to watch it and it's 90 minutes of black screen.) When cancelling, I was appalled to find out that the $300 I had paid for this box was a lease downpayment, and that I now need to return the box. $300? To borrow it? No one said a word to me about this when I upgraded to HD...

Have had the HR20 for about 6 months. Issues with DirecTV aside, this receiver does not hold a candle to the (non HD) Phillips Tivo unit. I kept the Tivo and have it on another TV in the house - it never drops a program, always advises of any !ANY! conflict in programming, menus so simple a child could navigate easily. I now use the Tivo to prove to DirecTV the inadequacy of their HR20 HD DVR receiver. I agree with previous reviewers - menus are not easy to navigate, needed information is buried many levels down; there is a program history function that for no apparent reason, shows current and future scheduled programs as cancelled. Recorded programs either start fine, give you six minutes of program, then ask if you want to delete or keep; or just give you a blank screen instead of the supposedly recorded program. When you check history, it says 'cancelled.' Software updates require complete reset and reprogramming of the unit, to incorporate the new 'patches.' I could go on and on about this unit. Never have had something this unreliable. The only compliment I can find it in my heart to give DTV for this unit is its remote control, and then only because it does give you a ratio change button, it programs easily, and has skip buttons for the guide. Other than that, the Tivo remote still stands tall with easy FFW buttons and recording controls.
As for DirecTV, some of the tech support people do an awesome job - considering they're apologising most of the time. Local subcontractors are abysmally ignorant and most of them incompetent. It takes three or four calls to get a job done correctly. They've left huge bundles of cable on my roof; they've disconnected the HD and left without checking it. The final straw was yesterday, when they said a supervisor was coming between 1 and 5. At 4:11 I called, only to be told that the sub had rescheduled for Monday! No phone call, nothing. Again, I could go on and on; Monday will not be pleasant for the supervisor and/or quality control people. The only reason I'm still with DirecTV is their tech support, and I'm stubborn.

I have used Directtv for over 10 years and have been satisfied for the most part. But with this new HR-20 HD DVR Receiver, I find that I have a piece of JUNK. I am on my third receiver and I still have the same problems of LOCK UP and have to push the red button. This causes a complete reboot and then have to wait for all the programming to download again. JUNK!

Direct TV in their brilliance decided to bail out on TIVO and venture out on their own with an HD DVR. It was a bad move. Their DVR is as user-friendly as an upside-down lawnmower. Where TIVO would require two menus, this one requires three or four, and only after you learn the pathways because they don't really make any sense. It frequently locks up, requiring a complete re-set. The "prioritizer" allows you to select tv shows for future viewing, but if there are no upcoming shows, there's no apparent way to delete the item off the list. It looks like something that TIVO might have thrown away two years before they ever put anything on the market. TIVO is light years ahead of this device.

Having a DVR is better than not having one. This is Direct TV's only option. But if there's nothing that firmly ties you to Direct TV, you should really consider whether you want to go with them, since this device is as bad as it could be.

A petition needs started for a class action suit against Directv for this piece of junk they call HR-20 HD DVR.
Almost daily I have to hit the red reset button because:
A) There is no picture on any channel
B) The remote quits working
C) Channels just disappear from the available channels menu

And yes, it is quite slow changing channels.