HDTV Forum

akirby wrote:Sorry, Bruce. I was talking to danerigden who said he used a H20 with a DVD hard disk recorder and I was questioning whether he was able to record in HD using that setup.

Umm, ya, how is that possible?

I had an early model H20-700 that went back 3 times (my older H10-250 went back 5 times). I also have an H20-100S. Since they updated the software (several times actually) I haven't had any problems, and I never leave them on all of the time. They also need lots of ventilation because even when they are "off", they generate lots of heat. The last thing you want to do is place one on top of your A/V receiver. They are never really "off" anyway - they record an hour or so of any channel that is currently selected (in addition to "waking up" to record preprogrammed shows). I have turned the unit "on" found a show on that I liked (on the station it was already on) , hit the record button and got the entire show as long as it was within the hour window.

I have lots of extra air circulation space around my A/V receiver (which is in the very top of my rack as it generates the most heat), 2-3", and the H20 sits in it's own shelf with equal air space below the A/V receiver. All of my other gear is below that. I understand that DVD players are particularly susceptible to heat damage and shortened life expectancy.

It seems that every single cable or satellite box I have ever owned runs hot.

The A/V rack, for my home theater, is designed for good convection cooling with air passages on three sides but I am considering adding a whisper fan to push even more hot air out.

On my older original A/V cabinet I drilled extra holes in the back because it's ventilation was very poor. I had to do the same thing for the computer bay in my desk.

Open racks obviously ventilate better but then you have all the cables to look at.

So what I am suggesting here is, in addition to grounding and electrical issues already discussed, is that heat must be taken into consideration as well. Right now the only way to really turn one off is to unplug it, then you have to go through all of the rebooting and guide reloading stuff.

The VIP-622 & VIP-722's are much better than what you are going thru now. I have had mine for as long as they have been out at 1st the s/w was a little buggy but that mostly has been fixed. They still have occasionally quirks. But Dish usually fixes those problems overtime. I had to replace mine once in the time that I have had it but it was one of the series that had hardware problems and Dish replace all of those when they went bad for free. So I can highly recommend the Dish HD-DVR's. If by chance you decide to come over to the "dark side" (lol) get the new 722 unit. It has more HDD space and can get HD content via the internet from Dish. It also has outboard storage that allows you to use both the internal & external drives at the same time. So now if you can get out of contract by the fact that all the equipment being bad then maybe you want to try Dish. BTW these units can record 3 events at 1 time. 1 OTA & 2 sat while you can watch 2 events playing back. So this is your answer to the question of are the Dish units better. I think they are MUCH BETTER. And very soon Dish will again be the HD leader. Their new sat will be going up in just a couple of months and will have all the channels Directv has plus a few extras. The only reason to stay with them is if you are a Sunday Ticket sub. That is exclusive to Directv.

My HR20-700 is working just fine thank you. I am enjoy all the great HD programing from Direct.

I was replying to the person that started the thread. For those that came after I was just supplying the info related to the question asked about Dish. The question was ask if Dish was any better. So don't think it was directed to you just because it followed your statement.

I have had my HR20-700 since June and it has worked flawlessly. I have even attached an External 750gb eSATA drive to triple it's capacity. I too am enjoying all the HD channels that DirecTV provides.

Since my reply follows others already posted I want say I am replying to anyone who is interested in how well my HR20 performs.
Pete