I'm not doing much with sat anymore but I have a customer with an RCA dolby digital receiver that wants to go to a two tuner Tivo powered unit. The only one that I see is the 35 hour Philips box. Any other options? what install pitfalls will I run into? This will be fed toslink and S-vid into an HK reciever controlled by and MX-700. Thanks

Hughes makes one as well. I have it and like it. You will need 2 sat feeds to it though if you want to use its 2 tuner option

The Philips DSR7000 and Hughes HDVR2 are internally identical dual-tuner DirecTV/TiVo units. You're not going to find much else on the market at this point in time, though Samsung is rumored to have one coming out this summer.

One option to consider would be a new-in-box unit which has been upgraded with additional storage capacity. For example, long-time TiVo upgrade house WeaKnees (http://www.weaknees.com) offers new DSR7k and HDVR2 units with 105, 140, 210, or 240 hours of storage.

The only pitfall, whether the TiVo has been upgraded or is factory-spec, is heat. Make sure the unit has adequate ventilation, and don't rack it directly above the 7x200W amp. :) One common trick is to add large rubber stick-on feet (inch-thick pyramids work well) to the underside of the unit to increase airflow.

Hope this helps.

Thanks. I've used the rubber feet trick a few times before. The Tivo is on hold. I've suggested that a move to Dishnetwork might make more sense than jumping into the Directivo unit. We're going to sit down next week and talk it through. Pros and Cons to either one but my money is on Dish right now.

does dish even have a 2 tuner PVR?

I looked into switching todish a while backand that was the primary reason I didnt do it. I love my Ultimate TV and could never go back toa traditional satellite system.

Dish has the 721 2 tuner UHF remote PVR. No monthly charge ever for the PVR service.

I hear there is an HD TiVo coming out soon....

If by "coming soon" you mean Q4/2003, then yes. This isn't a fixed date, either, it could slip. TiVo announced an NTSC+ATSC OTA-only device, as well as a DirecTV + ATSC-OTA device at Winter CES.

More information on this topic is readily available in the "HDTV Recorders" forum at http://www.avsforum.com/ as well as in multiple forums at http://www.tivocommunity.com/ including the DirecTV and Coffee House forums.

PVR 721 is what I personally want and a good part of the reason I'm suggesting a switch. Dual tuner and PIP is done in the receiver. I haven't layed my hands on one but it looks great on paper.

Where can you get the rubber stick on feet. I need that for my 2 TIVO's and my Denon. The dual tuners run hotter than the standalone units. I've got 160 hours on my HDR312 unit and 306 hours on my HDR612 unit.

For rubber feet, try here.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com