DIRECTV Plus DVR (Lease)
It's okay, until it BREAKS!
Good points, it was fine when it worked.  But I was a Dish customer and thought their service was fine as well.  And the DirectTV, in general, seemed to work better in the rain and never completely lost its signal (though I was in a different household when I owned the Dish, so that might be unfair of me to say)<br /><br />Oh, where do I begin with the problems?<br /><br />- My roommates had one and they gave me their DVR+ because it would flake out or something and not record their shows.  I had this personally happen to me once - but it wasnt a big issue.<br /><br />- One major dislike I had with it throughout my whole time of owning it was the fact that when you wanted to record something and something else was recorded at the same time.<br /><br />- It would also freeze up when you searched for things in the menu (is anyone seeing a pattern here?).  And it is generally slow while typing letters in the menu - froze up quite a bit during that too.<br /><br />When things REALLY started to go wrong<br /><br />- I would try to flip through channels and when I changed the channel, it would freeze.  I would have to wait MINUTES for the DVR+ to change channels.  VERY annoying bc I could not change channels during commercials and whatnot.  I couldnt even flip from one channel to two channels up.  Just to keep this short, I could turn my tv on and off.  And I could watch one channel of tv for a really long time.  When I tried to watch my recorded shows, they would only be recorded for a few minutes.  Or, you guessed it, the DVR+ would freeze up.  One time, I even turned on my TV while it should have been recording something and it wasnt even on the right channel.<br /><br />To use a DVR+ you HAVE to have a DirectTV account.  They made me restart and redownload all the software (which was fine).  But by the time DirectTV actually okayed to send me a replacement, the DVR+ got worse with each restart and download and I ended up with NO picture at all.  Just a black screen.  It would say \\"A few moments please . . . \\" and nothing would ever happen.  I was on the phone a lot with the techs and they told me since it was a new system that all the \\"kinks\\" werent out yet.<br /><br />I'm telling the rest of my story bc when you buy the DVR+ you HAVE to use the DirectTV service.  Thats the only way you can use it.<br /><br />DirectTV eventually told me that, indeed, my DVR+ needed to be replaced.  The FIRST time, I was supposed to have my DVR+ sent out about two weeks ago.  Never even left the DVR+ building place bc of some \\"computer error\\".  When I inquired a second time as to why my replacement DVR+ hadnt arrived they said - oops - and sent out an order for a second one that should arrive in 2-3 days (and if I wanted the FedEx number, Id have to call DirectTV yet again).  5 days later, I called and I find out that they cancelled the shipment.  No one even notified me!  I had to call them to find that out.  Meanwhile, I have NO TV.  And Im paying them for what?<br /><br />I DID give it two stars bc it was decent when it worked.  But my friends had a Dish service that could do the EXACT SAME thing.<br /><br />My advice:  If you INSIST on a DVR get an older model.  Or, get the new one and pray it works right.  Bc even the people at the DirectTV phone line were grumbling about how they had a lot of complaints about this model.  I should know, I have called them SIX times about this (and NO, Im not exaggerating).A few moments please . . . \\" and nothing would ever happen.  I was on the phone a lot with the techs and they told me since it was a new system that all the \\"kinks\\" werent out yet.   <br /> <br />I'm telling the rest of my story bc when you buy the DVR+ you HAVE to use the DirectTV service.  Thats the only way you can use it. <br />DirectTV eventually told me that, indeed, my DVR+ needed to be replaced.  The FIRST time, I was supposed to have my DVR+ sent out about two weeks ago.  Never even left the DVR+ building place bc of some \\"computer error\\".  When I inquired a second time as to why my replacement DVR+ hadnt arrived they said - oops - and sent out an order for a second one that should arrive in 2-3 days (and if I wanted the FedEx number, Id have to call DirectTV yet again).  5 days later, I called and I find out that they cancelled the shipment.  No one even notified me!  I had to call them to find that out.  Meanwhile, I have NO TV.  And Im paying them for what? <br /> <br />I DID give it two stars bc it was decent when it worked.  But my friends had a Dish service that could do the EXACT SAME thing. <br /> <br />My advice:  If you INSIST on a DVR get an older model.  Or, get the new one and pray it works right.  Bc even the people at the DirectTV phone line were grumbling about how they had a lot of complaints about this model.  I should know, I have called them SIX times about this (and NO, Im not exaggerating).