Got a DVR from DirecTV Friday. They say it is free. Good. Let's
hope it is. So far it seems kinda buggy. It's an R-15. At first the
guy set it up so the remote would turn the TV and the DVR on and off
at the same time. But he didn't set up the remote so that I could
change inputs on the TV, something I need to do when watching the
VCR. So I tried doing it. Now it's harder to turn on and off the TV.

- The software has frozen up once so far, when I was trying to move
around the menu while recording.

- The clock was a minute and half off when I first checked it. Now it
seems to be ok. It recorded at least one show after it started but I
am hoping the rest will be ok. The old set-top box was right on in
turning on EXACTLY when a show started and ended, the best
co-ordination I've seen with showtimes and the VCR. Let's hope the
DVR gets its act together.

Is it really free? That's what they said when they signed me up. I'd
only be charged if I break the 2 year contract. (Moving is ok.) I see
on their website that they charge $4.99/month for DVR service. Will I
charged for that? If so, I'm sending the DVR back...

- The forums say you can't record using the USB out. I will try. My
old setup, using the USB Vision $20 cable still works so I can still
do that. Wish it had a Firewire out.

- One show had some audio problems. Was that the DVR or did it
originate from the broadcaster? Could very well be from the
broadcaster.

- It has been handy to replay stuff. If you see something you want to
look at again, it is easy ot do so.

- How do you, when you are watching a program being replayed, go back
to the live version? The way I have figured out to do this is to
change channels. Seems kind of a stupid way to do things. There
doesn't seem to be any button to get you straight to the live
program. There should be. The Stop button doesn't do anything! (How
do you tell which version you are watching, the live or the replayed
version? You can go through lots of menus to tell but there might not
be a simple way. Maybe there is. I am still finding my way around the
menus and buttons.)

Somewhat related to DirecTV... WLIW Ch 21 on Long Island has been
broadcasting at a higher audio level than any other channel on
DirecTV for about a YEAR now. I've called DirecTV and written to both
DirecTV and WLIW about this and it's gotten nowhere. Will someone
please fix this? I'm watching Austin City Limits right now and as
usual, it is off balance as well, left lower than right by 2 db or
so. This too has gone on ever since 21 has been too hot, audio-wise.