DirecTV R22 DVR questions
Ted Edwards
DVR's and 2 receivers. Questions:
1. How large is the hard drive, and how many hours of HDTV can I store? Is
it worth adding an external 1TB hard drive? Will that add to the unit's
capacity, or replace the internal hard drive? Is there an information screen
with this data, showing the capacity and remaining room? I cannot find such
a screen
2. I see that the R22 can be purchased from Best Best or similar
electronics stores. What are the economics of buying vs leasing from
DirecTV? Which is more cost effective?
Bob Nielsen
The hard drive is 320 GB. This DVR is similar to the HR21, but HD is
not enabled. It will probably store over 200 hours of SD. The "list"
button on the remote will show the percentage of space available, as
well as a list of recorded programs.
It is available at some stores, but it will still be a lease. Often
Directv will have a better price. You can purchase units directly from
Directv, but unless it has a residual value greater than the difference
(which will probably be a few hundred dollars), there is no value in
doing so. The $4.99/month fee for units after the first applies to both
leased (lease fee) and owned units (mirroring fee).
Ted Edwards
"Bob Nielsen" <b...@dontspam.me> wrote in message
news:gfsbf8$no7$1...@aioe.org...
The full model number is HR22NC-100. You state the HD is not enabled, but my
unit certainly records HD. I don't watch anymore standard def television. I
previously had a DirecTV TiVo (which is still hooked up, but only to play
by backlog of existing recordings). I was informed by DirecTV that my
equipment would no longer record in the near future, because they are
switching to MPEG4 recording. They offered to replace all my equipment free.
That how I ended up the the HR22NC-100. I didn't request any particular
model number, I just ordered two HD DVR's and two HD receivers.
Interestingly, my DVR does not mention HD capacity anywhere. My TiVo DVR
stated (in the information screen) how many hours of SD and how many hours
of HD I could record. I had added a second hard drive to the TiVo DVR, since
I tend to fall behind and end up storing a lot of HD content. That's why I
was considering adding a 1TB (or even a 1.5TB, which is far less cost
effective) hard drive.
It is interesting that the monthly fee is the same regardless of whether I
lease the DVR from DirecTV or supply my own DVR. There is no point
whatsoever in purchasing my own equipment if I have to pay the same monthly
fee either way. I may as well avoid the capital investment and just lease.
Do you agree?
Oliver Costich
There another model, the R22 (no H) that is similar to the HR21 but is
SD only
http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-technical-discussions/134509-directvs-new-r22-sd-dvr-targeting-mpeg4-sd.html
In addition, there are different manufacturers for the HR series. The
-100 ones are made by Thompson (RCA), the -700 by Pace, and the -200
by Samsung. They are functionally the same but may have minor
differences like where the air vents are located.
Bob Nielsen
OK, R22 is SD, HR22 is HD.
>
> It is interesting that the monthly fee is the same regardless of whether
> I lease the DVR from DirecTV or supply my own DVR. There is no point
> whatsoever in purchasing my own equipment if I have to pay the same
> monthly fee either way. I may as well avoid the capital investment and
> just lease. Do you agree?
You can purchase the DVRs, but the price will be a few hundred dollars
more.
The HR22 comes with a 500 GB hard drive, which is twice the size of that
in the HR10-250. MPEG4 recordings take up less drive space than MPEG2
so you will have quite a bit more available than with your older DVR.
Since they are leased, exchanging the drive would be a violation of your
contract (although it is physically possible). There is capability to
add an external hard drive via the eSATA connector on the back panel,
however. An external drive will be used in place of the internal drive,
not in addition to it. The DVR will sense the external drive and
initialize it (it is not necessary to go through all the steps like you
needed to with the Tivo).
Ted Edwards
I called DirecTV today and ordered another HR22, which I will use to replace
one of my hi def receivers (they will send me a box to return the hi def
receiver). The DVR is $99, plus $20 shipping, plus sales tax, for a total of
about $126. My monthly cost will not change since I will have the same total
number of boxes, and I am already paying for HDTV and DVR service. The one
time charge of $126 is a reasonable amount to pay for the convenience of
having a DVR rather than a receiver, even though this particular unit is in
my guest room and will not be used much.
I might eventually add an external eSata hard drive to my main DVR. Ecost
had one a couple of days ago for $99, which is not much to pay for doubling
my capacity. There are even 1.5TG drives available, which will triple my
capacity.
One question - since the external will replace my internal 500GB hard drive,
what will happen to shows I have already recorded on the internal drive?
Will they be lost?
Oliver Costich
You can't just use any old eSATA external drive with the HR22. Google
for info on which one works. I prefer to build my own with the Antec
MX-1 enclosure. It has a virtually silent fan which is a good thing
since it should proabably be left on all the time. I have 2 of these
using Samsung drives, which are the best bargain out there for
performance, noise and heat. Most any drive out to work in this
enclosure. As for capacity, of the 500GB, about 100 are used for
Directv operating software and 400GB for recordings, so with 1.5TB,
you have 1.4TB for recordings. Og my two drives I find the 1TB one
overkill, and the 750GB more than enough.
>
>One question - since the external will replace my internal 500GB hard drive,
>what will happen to shows I have already recorded on the internal drive?
>Will they be lost?
No, they will still be there. You install the eSATA by connecting it
and rebooting, which I do by unplugging and replugging the receiver.
It replaces the internal drive so you have to set things up all over
again. If you want to see something on the internal drive, turn off
the eSATA drive and reboot. You can switch abck and forth all you want
but it is clumsy.
Ted Edwards
"Oliver Costich" <ocos...@NOSPAMcomcast.net> wrote in message
news:lspki4p7akvas6uqv...@4ax.com...
Thanks for the explanation. It is clumsy, but it is my only option until I
catch up with my backlog of shows recorded on the internal drive. Once
that's done, I will not need the internal drive again. I have read the
DirecTV forums and know it is hit or miss with external drives. I took a
chance and ordered a Cavalry from buy.com:
This drive can be configured as 2TB or 1TB mirrored. If it does not work on
my HR22, I'll use it on one of my computers.
Ken Maltby
"Ted Edwards" <ted.e...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xIydnW-wmsuN1rLU...@giganews.com...
>
>
> Thanks for the explanation. It is clumsy, but it is my only option until I
> catch up with my backlog of shows recorded on the internal drive. Once
> that's done, I will not need the internal drive again. I have read the
> DirecTV forums and know it is hit or miss with external drives. I took a
> chance and ordered a Cavalry from buy.com:
>
> http://www.buy.com/prod/cavalry-2tb-hard-drive-dual-interface-usb-2-0-esata-raid-external-hard/q/loc/101/206461304.html?adid=17653&dcaid=17653
>
> This drive can be configured as 2TB or 1TB mirrored. If it does not work
> on my HR22, I'll use it on one of my computers.
Here's something I am thinking of trying on my HR21-200:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=EN391-S2HC&cat=HDD
I've got a few 750 GB drives that I could use. Maybe I'll find
a way to extract the recorded shows for editing on a PC.
Luck,
Ken
Ted Edwards
"Ken Maltby" <kma...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:FtmdnYqRGLPNwrLU...@giganews.com...
Yeah, but that's too much trouble for me. I spend lots of time working on
computers, running my company's network, replacing drives, doing upgrades,
etc etc etc. When I finally get a chance to sit down and watch TV, and want
to.....watch TV, no strings attached :)