As an avid user and fan of integrated DirecTV / TiVo receivers, I've been following the thread over at tivocommunity.com about the upcoming Hughes HD-DVR250.
[Link: directv.com]
It's supposed to contain 2 DirecTV HD tuners, 2 ATSC tuners and a 250gb hard disk. That's the good news.
Word is, it's going to have a fixed output format, selectable from a hard toggle button on the unit itself. All channels will be converted the the selected format. "Vari" or "Native" is not an option. There's still spectulation as to whether the selector button will also be on the remote.
No discrete power, no discrete format, no discrete anything. And a non-variable output format. All the things necessary to properly integrate it into a system that our typical customer can easily use.
It was such a let-down. This box, to me at least, will be another milestone in HD... a must for anyone like myself who won't even consider HD because I have to watch it in real time. Every Sat-TiVo customer I have is the same way. Some of them have separate HD receivers, but they say they never watch them.
And the people releasing it have, once again, ignored us completely. I'm PISSED. But it's not out yet, so they may suprise us. But the status quo dictates we not count on it.
Anyone who's interested, the thread is at:
[Link: tivocommunity.com]Any thoughts? Flames?
- Doug
