Adventures in HD #11

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DirecTV HD DVR evaluated.

Welcome to "Adventures in HD." As I've indicated in previous editions of this column I'm not an HD expert (nor do I play one on TV); I'm just a guy who did a bunch of research on the Web and recently purchased an HDTV. Each week I'll run down what I've learned and experienced so far in my life as a new owner of an HD home theater.

On a personal note: my apologies for the lack of Adventures in HD columns lately, but around Thanksgiving-time I had a family emergency to attend to that has taken me away from home (and my HDTV) off and on ever since. I'm currently aiming for this to once again be a weekly column.

Previously, on "Adventures in HD"...

I bought a 50" plasma HDTV, got it hooked up with Time-Warner Cable, experienced increasing frustration with Time-Warner's HD DVR, bought a cheap HD-DVD player, and finally, in a season-ending cliffhanger, ditched Time-Warner for DirecTV.

The DirecTV DVR

The main reason I made the switch from Time-Warner was to get rid of their crappy DVR so I've been most interested in the capabilities and features of the DVR DirecTV installed for me.

The DVR model I received is an HR21, which is DirecTV's latest HD DVR receiver. From what I've read, the HR21 is very similar to its predecessor, the HR20, with a few differences. The biggest is that there's no way to add on an over-the-air antenna to the HR21 (unlike the HR20). For whatever reason, DirecTV removed that capability from their HD DVR, meaning you're stuck with whatever local HD channels DirecTV has on satellite. For me, that means I get my local HD affiliates for ABC, CBS and NBC, but not FOX, The CW, or PBS. While it would be nice to have the option to add on an antenna to get those channels, I can't say for sure I would've done it.

There are some elements and features of the DirecTV HD DVR that I totally love. The interface is very, very slick, at times surpassing what TiVo provides. Some of my favorite features include a screensaver that comes on after you pause too long (a great alternative to the image getting burned into your screen or the DVR switching you over to (usually loud) live TV instead, like TiVo and Scientific Atlanta boxes do), making full use of the HD screen size for the menus (as opposed to Scientific Atlanta's antiquated SD-size menus), and a very useful filter on the program guide that shows you just HD channels.

The DVR Playlist (known as "Now Playing" to TiVo users) is excellently laid out, with a great available space indicator always visible in the lower left (better than having to go into a Preferences menu on the Scientific Atlanta box, and much better than just totally guessing on a TiVo) and the ability to see episode titles & descriptions on the top of the screen as each item is highlighted in the list (without having to click another button on the remote and bring up a new screen with that information, like on other DVRs).

The program guide has some slick user interface features as well, such as being able to record an episode or an entire series with the click of just the record button (you can even change your default record settings so it'll record only new episodes of a series and keep them until you delete) and a quick way to see other upcoming episodes of a series (on all channels) after selecting any airing episode in the program guide.

Playback of programs is a big improvement over my old Scientific Atlanta box as well, with a very nice timeline indicator that shows up during rewinding, fast-forwarding, or pausing. The indicator also has marks set for every 15 minutes -- you can hold down the rewind or fast-forward buttons to skip to them -- and the ability to set "bookmarks" in a program to save your favorite spots. And perhaps my favorite feature is the ability to resume playback of multiple programs. Just like on a TiVo, the DirecTV HD DVR remembers where you left off on a show, so you can start watching multiple shows (or various people in your house can start watching different shows), go away, and come back at a different time knowing that your place isn't lost even if someone else started watching another program.

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