I am finally going to cut the cable and get DirectTV. I have a choice between Hughes and RCA as far as equipment. Is there a big difference in brands and quality? I am considering the Hughes Executive Director Pack and the RCA 4250 systems, both have Dolby Digital.

Are those models PVRs?

No neither model is a PVR. I just don't think I would need that service.

Please don't buy a PVR then. They are more addictive than crack. I can't stop using my DirecTivo.

I tend to prefer the RCA over the Hughes, If you are using any type of high end remote or a control system RCA offers seperate power on and off codes that makes the control more reliable.

Tremelle,

I lived with 2 RCAs for about a year and I hated the menu and guide system. I particularly did not like the number of steps you had to take to setup recording a show (or just pre-selecting the shows you want to watch for that evening).

I now own 3 Hughes (1 real old, 1 silver edition and 1 "executive pack" 6th generation w/ DD). To pre-select a program to tape (via VCR-control mouse) you simply click SELECT once on the program in the guide and it is setup for recording. Click SELECT twice to "per-select" for future viewing. Nice and simple.

With the RCAs, you had to place your cursor on the program, click the INFO key, click RECORD PROGRAM, then tweak any of the variables from the record detail screen, then save the changes. To "pre-select" for future viewing, you performed the same steps but change the variable "record" to "view".

In all fairness to RCA though, by having record detail variables, you could tweak the start of recording to a few minutes before the show starts and the end of recording to a few minutes after. That is a nice touch that I wish the Hughes had.

Another difference was that the Hughes (at least the new ones) have a fast and highly readable program guide. The RCAs always seemed a little pokey. The RCA guide will sometimes go blank (no titles or descriptions) for a minute or two. A minor irritation that the Hughes does not share.

The statement about discrete codes (on and off) is correct. That is a drawback with Hughes, but I just decided to keep them on all the time and just eliminated that step within my remote macros (I have one of the original 1mb Prontos).

As a side note, the Executive Director series allows for some nice control from its remote. You can adjust contrast, color and tint. You have a instant record function (although you still have to answer yes or no to the decision screen that pops up.) Also, I have not experienced any DD-related sound problems with the Hughes, whereas I have heard of some problems with some of the RCAs.

The RCA provides for a "fetch" button that can be set to go to any given menu item which is nice I suppose.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope it helped.

David (in Houston)

I would definitely go with the Hughes. I have had nothing but problems with RCA. I am an independent installer in Las Vegas and have wasted much time replacing RCA boxes that go bad after a few months. I have a Hughes in a guest room at my house that is about 5 years old, and have never had any problem.

The Hughes may not have descrete codes, but they do have 8 adressable codes if you have multiple receicvers in the same room.