Just to revive a thread that I haven't paid enough attention to and don't quite know much about...

Could somebody explain to me in simple terms what the differences would be in these two units for a new DirecTV subscriber? Do both units works, or is one better for that than the other? I should be able to record multiple shows while I'm away, on multiple channels and have the DVR do the tuning (or controlling the receiver I have), right?

TIA

If you want to record 2 shows at one time off DirecTV, you can only do that with a DirecTiVo or Microsoft UltimateTV. Replay (like stand-alone TiVo) only has one tuner, so only one show can be recorded at a time.

DirecTiVo and UltimateTV save the DirecTV data streem to the hard drive instead of encoding the signal itself. Because of this, there is no picture degradation. BestBuy locations are selling Ultimate for $49. DirecTiVo is currently being redesigned and will not be back on the market until Thanksgiving as DirecTiVo Series II. Series I units are still available some places, but I would wait for Series II.

I should clarify..I'm actually just making sure whatever unit will be able to record off of two different channels..but not necessarily at the same time..without me having to intervene between the two. I'm looking at DVRs b/c my VCR comes after my DirecTV receiver in the loop, and can only record the channel that my receiver is on at that moment. I'm wishing for something that I can program for multiple channels while I'm gone.

Two shows at the *same* time would be a really nice feature, but not a dealmaker/breaker for me.

Can anyone tell me how the Replay models (4000,4500) fit in with this, and compare to the DirecTiVo and UltimateTV? I'm assuming they'll work with DirecTV as well.

yes, all PVRs will do this. The replay can change the channel on the DirecTV receiver by either IR or serial communications if supported by your receiver. Here's a pic of the back of the replay:


The IR Blaster port connects to IR diodes that you can place in front of your receiver. The serial port can connect directly to your DirecTV receiver.

Do the others work the same way? I get the impression that they come before the receiver (straight from dish) and capture the raw data stream. So..you wouldn't have to change the channel on the receiver..the PVR would do the tuning...or am I incorrect here?

I'm really a newbie at this, so forgive the newbie questions. I just recently had DirecTV installed.

What other considerations should I make when selecting the unit to get? Aside from the dual tuners / dual recording thing and picture quality degradation thing...is there much of a difference in functionality?

DirecTiVo and UltimateTV units have DirecTV receivers built in. Yes, the datastream is saved directly. There is no MPEG encoder on these units. Only the decoder.

I would urge you to get an integrated solution like directivo. The picture quality will be better, it can save audio in Dolby Digital, and dual tuners is important. I used to only have one tuner on my directivo. As good as Tivo is, dual tuner Tivo is that much better.