TiVo Downplays Threat of Networked DVR > price, usability, features

reply to morbo

Re: price, usability, features

I rather LAN then use a phone jack that's require which I never do plug my in.

I don't think a phone or Internet connection are required for the DirecTV DVR's to operate correctly. The only advantage a phone connection gets you is a callerid log, and an Internet connection gets you access to thousands of mostly free video on demand programs.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

reply to pandora
Pandora, I'd love to know more about this DirecTV service that you described as...

"record streams hosted on an Internet server by DirecTV. You can download content over internet by station, if you subscribe to the station you want to download the content from it is often available to you at no additional cost"

Wow that's great, thanks for the link and info rahlquist !

reply to miar70

Great thanks for the update Pandora. I saw in the forums that the 'broadcast networks' are not part of the On Demand, so you can't get ABC, NBC or CBS ? As you say it is very much dependent on what content is available. I'm sure DirecTV is working to add more, but I really like the look of this service and everyone's opinion of it seems very positive. Is there a way to see what TV content they currently have available without a DVR STB ?

Thanks miar

I wish there was more available on-line regarding DirecTV on Demand. It was beta tested as Video on Demand which I prefer as that is a better description.

NBC does offer content. However it is fee content. For example Season 1 and 2 of 30 Rock are available. Each episode costs 99 cents to download in SD, and $1.99 to download in HD. It is so far the only vendor to charge a premium for the HD version.

There was also free Olympic coverage, which provided highlights and was supplementary to the stuff broadcast.

As an example of the type of stuff offered, Comedy Central has a lot of stuff, and a special Daily Show / Colbert Report folder. In this are usually between 6-10 program segments from the two programs. Either highlighting funny skits or interesting interviews done recently. Comedy Central also keeps some South Parks up, in two streams. One seems to be going up by episode number independent of what was aired and is 3-4 episodes long. The other seems to be recently broadcast episodes and is 2-3 episodes long.

Adult Swim has its own channel, and offers a lot of content. Usually several episodes of most programs they air. For example several Aqua Teen Hunger force episodes are up, as are several Robot Chickens. They change the episodes over time.

There is also an Anime channel on DirecTV on Demand which has weird (to me) Japanese Anime which I have not seen broadcast. Some Anime fans may enjoy it.

The Cartoon Network is separate from Adult Swim which is different from the channel. Unfortunately Cartoon Network doesn't yet offer Naruto. Mostly oldies in DirecTV on demand.

CNN has mostly segments, as does the Science channel. The Smithsonian channel has ALL its recent weekly specials up in HD, in fact all Smithsonian content is in HD only.

There are differences apparent in each channel, and also in the choices and management of the channels. It would be nice if DirecTV gave us more insight into how and who manages each channel. Management IS active, and content regularly changes.

Unlike most DirecTV DVR recordings, DirecTV on Demand recordings come with a built in expiration date, and self expire. You can not change the date. After expiration they automatically delete. However you can play them as many times as you want when you have them, and can skip around. Often free content does has one or two commercials in it, usually short 30 second or less commercials. It is often more bother to skip than to just watch.

You can only download content from channels you subscribe to. For example if you can't receive the Smithsonian channel on satellite, you can't download Smithsonian channel content via Internet.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

Thanks for the detailed information Pandora, much appreciated ! How long is the built-in expiration ? Is it triggered from the time you download it or from the time you first watch it ?

Interesting that NBC charge for their shows and Sci-Fi and Discovery do not. I guess the charge is no different to a rental fee.

So if you remember to record it up front on your DVR you can watch it as many times as you like and keep it as long as you want. If you forget to record it up front, you can download it on demand, but will be time limited when you can watch it or have to pay a fee to watch it.

Would be really nice if the DVR figured out that you like a particular show enough to select it On Demand and then pro-actively records the rest of the series for you

Still this is the best sounding service I have heard of in a while...

I don't know if the NBC fee content expires. I've never downloaded any. It is billed to your DirecTV account. The NBC fee content may be a rental or may be a purchase, I do not know.

The expiration varies by channel and by program. It appears the expiration is set by the provider and is the same regardless of when downloaded.

DirecTV on Demand provides a nice supplementary service to DirecTV satellite. Often I'll find something which I never saw aired.

On free downloads, which is the only type I have done, there has never been one which didn't have an expiration. Usually within a few weeks to a month.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."

Excellent ! thanks for all the great info...