DirecTV R10 (70-hour TiVo)

Pros: DVR with TiVo (TiVo being phased out by DirecTV); Dual tuners are a must.

Cons: No component outputs.

Summary: Equipment I Have
2 DirecTV R10 Receivers - Both purchased from WeaKnees.com (lower price than DirecTV at the time of this writing)
DirecTV HR10-250 HD Receiver
Sony RDR HX715 DVD Recorder
Terk 3-LNB HD Satellite Dish
Sony KD-34XBR960N 34” Widescreen HDTV
Sony 27” Standard Definition TV (R10 connected)
Sony 13” Standard Definition TV (2nd R10 connected)

Info
DirecTV R10 is a standard-definition receiver for DirecTV customers only. It also has a DVR with TiVo. With DirecTV, the DVR/TiVo service is only $4.99 per month. If you have up to four other DVR receivers in your home, you only have to pay the $4.99 one time per month.

80GB Hard Drive.

Approx. 70 hours of recording space.

The last DirecTV receiver that will have the TiVo system (most likely). Hopefully other manufacturers will continue to make a quality receiver like this for DirecTV users who enjoy using TiVo. Many retailers seem to be taking it out of their stock. It is currently not available from Crutchfield, Circuit City, Best Buy, or Amazon. There are some retailers on the web who still have it. WeaKnees.com has it, and they also have R10s with larger hard drives. They also do upgrades for many DirecTV receivers. I would recommend an authorized DirecTV retailer, either in person or on the web.

Or you can get it directly from DirecTV. Caution: When I tried to order 2 R10s from DirecTV, I was also having an HD dish installed. The customer service rep said that they could not guarantee what receivers the installation people would bring. They would be either the R10s or two R15s. This was my rationale for buying the R10s from WeaKnees.com.


Overall
The bottom line is: I would never want to watch TV without it.

High-quality picture and sound, even for standard definition.

Better choice than the DirecTV R15 (no TiVo).


Nice Features

Dual Tuners
Record one program while watching another program with dual tuners (twin incoming cables). Or you can record from two channels at the same time, while you watch something that you previously recorded. You would need three VCRs to do this with VHS.

Wishlist
A great feature. Save Wishlists for your favorite films, actors, or directors. Examples in my Wishlist: Stanley Kubrick, The Godfather, Stephen King, Gone with the Wind, Roots. You can have programs in your Wishlist automatically recorded.

Jump-Back Feature
An exclusive feature of the TiVo system (as far as I know). Since the fast forward and fast backward speeds are so fast, you may go slightly beyond the desired point in the program. The jump-back feature compensates for this by jumping either forward or back slightly. When you skip through commercials, you can usually hit the exact spot right before the program returns.

Recording a Program
When you press the Record button, the DVR does not start the recording from when you pressed the record button. It takes the entire program from the latest saved half-hour block of programming. If you change to a certain channel, then press Record before the end of a half hour, the DVR will save the entire half hour of programming to your hard drive.


Criticisms
Even though it is a standard-definition receiver, component outputs would be appreciated.

Additional outputs would be better, especially S-VHS and audio.


Suggestions
A stop button on the remote would be nice.

A delete button on the remote would also be nice, since all deletions are verified before they’re executed.

A 10-second advance button would be good. Sometimes it would be nice to skip ahead by 8 or 10 seconds without having to use the forward button. An advance button that skips ahead 30 seconds would not be needed. I wouldn’t use it to skip through commercials, unless there was only one commercial. I use the forward button on the 3rd speed to skip commercials.

Back and Forward
Skipping back or forward through a program that is being temporarily recorded is pretty fast. When you are watching something that you previously recorded, or watching something that you are currently recording, you can use the forward and back buttons with the advance button and instantly go to the tick marks (the small white lines) in the status bar. You cannot do this while temporarily recording though. An even faster way to go back and forth would be great.

Mix Channels
The ‘Mix Channels’ feature is about the only feature on the DirecTV R15 that is really worthwhile, and would have been great on the R10. I would like to see an expanded version of this feature. Imagine having a mix channel feature to view all of your ‘Channels You Receive’ and/or your ‘Favorite Channels’. Hopefully other manufacturers will take a cue and include a feature like this in their future receivers for DirecTV.

Tivo Suggestions
Get rid of the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down buttons. There is really no such thing as a “similar type of program” for most programs. In most cases a Tivo suggestion for a certain program is really nothing like the program that was given a Thumbs Up. For example, what similar program can you compare The West Wing to?


Hints

Skip Through Commercials
For those who did not realize this after using the DVR on the first day: Instead of watching a live TV program from the very beginning, start watching it 10 or 15 minutes after it begins. Make sure you’re set to the correct channel for the program that you want to temporarily save. Since the DVR is temporarily recording the program for you, just use the back button in the 3rd speed to scan back to the beginning of the program. Then when the commercials come along, you can use the forward button to skip through them. Eventually you may catch up to the live broadcast (depending on the length of the program), but usually you may be able to see the entire program without any commercials.

TiVo Menu Sound
I was a little tired of the TiVo sound effects after the first few hours of using the receiver. It wasn’t until the next day when I found the volume setting for the sound effects. DirecTV Button -- Messages & Setup -- Settings -- Audio -- Sound Effects Volume. You can select Off, Low, Medium, or Loud.

Season Pass
If you don’t want to use the guide and set up the DVR to record the same program every day or every week, use the Season Pass feature. Set a Season Pass for a program and the DVR will record it every time it’s on for up to 28 days. You can even specify the DVR to record First Run episodes and Repeats, or only First Runs.