RCA DWD490RE DIRECTV/UltimateTV ReceiverSee Restrictions)
Good but has drawbacks for the sports fan
I think Tivo and Ultimatetv are both good products. However, Ultimatetv needs to improve in a few areas for the sports watcher. <br />First, there is always a TV picture on the screen - even when using the online-guide. At first, I thought this was a good feature. However, the drawback is that Ultimatetv will feed a live tv picture through this box when you first turn the unit on. So, if you had been recording two live sports events and turn the TV on to start watching one from the beginning, you might first be forced to watch one of the games in progress before starting the playback. Since so many sports now display a scoreboard all of the time, you'll know what has already happened before you start watching. With Tivo, I just press the Tivo central button; no tv picture is on the screen until I pick what I want to watch. <br />Second, Ultimatetv only allows you to extend the program by two hours. For a few 9 inning baseball games, this will not allow enough time; and with extra innings and rain delays, you are sure to miss some action. Tivo allows for three hours of extended time - this is better but could be longer still. <br />Third, both Tivo and Ultimatev need to get Directv to make their season ticket sports packages available in the program guide. Under the current set-up, I can't record a baseball game that starts tomorrow since Directv isn't releasing the guide in time. The fact that Ultimatetv has a huge ad in the Directv sports magazine is misleading advertising IMHO since you can only record sports events that are not part of the Diectv season passes, a pretty small percentage of the major professional sports available on Directv.