Pause - Read this review!!! DirecTV R15 DVR

About a year ago, we switched from Cable TV to Satelite TV.... After reviewing the different companies and packages, my husband decided to go with DirecTV. Originally we did not have the DVR option. About 3 months into our DirecTV contract my husband ended up getting a job installing DirecTV. It wasn't long after that we got our DVR's.... The R15 runs very much like the old style receiver, but with a lot more options..... Unfortunately I can't say that all the options are perfect. It can actually be quite frustrating at times.

I hope to be able to point out both the good and the bad points, even though what I'd really like to do is point out only the bad points. Lord knows I've had my fair share of disappointment with this unit. Don't get me wrong, it's great to be able to pause live TV, and to be able to record without having to deal with VCR's and Video tapes etc.

Some of the other features that are included with the R15 are the ability to search for a program either by title, channel, and even an actor's name. The menu is easy to navigate through, although I must admit that on a TV that is larger it's easier to see, We have a 36" in our living room and that is perfectly clear, but I have a 20" TV in my bedroom and I feel like I have to squint to read anything. There are also parental controls which will allow you to block certain channels, limit the number of viewing hours and even set parameters for ratings, and limits on spending for PPV. You can also put a 4 digit code to lock the settings. I have found that these features work great. My 11 year old son's bedroom is one place that I paid close attention to setting the TV properly, Otherwise who knows what he'd be watching at all hours of the night. Another feature that the R15 has to offer is the Caller ID. When I first saw that, it was sooooo cool. It was great not to have to even get up and look at your phone. (Talk about being lazy) The way that works is that if you are a subscriber to the Caller ID feature with your phone company, you will be able to see in a blue screen in the bottom corner of your TV what name/number is calling. Unfortunately this brings me to some of my complaints.

Complaint Number 1:
The Caller ID seems to have some sort of software glitch or something. In the beginning it worked great, of course just about the time I got very used to relying on it, it no longer showed up. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Of course my husband went on to test our phone lines, and everything else he could think of. NO GOOD... It just didn't work anymore. Nothing would show up when the phone rang. Strange!!! After messing with it some more, we found that by deleting the call log it suddenly began working again. WHO THINKS TO GO IN AND DELETE A CALL LOG???? Originally when the caller ID feature was there, you could select to delete the call log by selecting delete all. Suddenly the area that the numbers showed up on moved to the opposite side of the screen, and the log area was changed. Now you have to manually highlight each and every call, and select delete and then "are you sure?" Well duh, YES I'M SURE... And why can't I select ALL and delete them anymore? This has been a bothersome ordeal. Sometimes it picks up a call, and sometimes it doesn't. So I'm getting up to check my caller ID anyway, regardless. Which is WHY I choose to turn the caller ID option OFF.

Complaint Number 2:
Recording a series..... In my experience, setting it to record a series DOES NOT WORK..... Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn't, it has proven to be Unreliable..... I am addicted to my NBC Soap operas, and I started out with selecting to record the Series on NBC..... I was finding that I had Some shows, and not others..... Needless to say, that I was missing sections of the story, because of a day or two being skipped here or there..... I then did some testing, and spent a little bit of time with trial and error.... I have found that if you go to the search option (On Sunday night) and MANUALLY select to record lets say Days of Our Lives on Monday, then scroll down to Tuesday and then to Wednesday, it works just fine.... But that is what I have to do.... So it's become a habit of mine, that each Sunday night, this is my routine.... The option to select recording a series is there, but for our household it DOESN'T work..... I don't need to call a Tech to come look at it.... My husband IS the Tech.... He can't solve the problem either.... DirecTV definitely has quite a few issues to work out before they can call this a "Great DVR"

Complaint Number 3:
There is no way to set your TV to "Autotune". When we used to have the standard box, without DVR, we could search through the channels, find something we wanted to watch and hit "Select" an option was then given to select autotune. NOW with the R15 if you hit select, you are brought to the screen that allows you to set it to record. What if I don't want to record it, but I just want to watch it? No, it doesn't work that way, either you record it, OR you remember to change the channel at the time the TV show starts.

Complaint Number 4:
When pausing Live TV, I feel that this DVR should have a button to return to Live TV. Instead you have to press fast forward to catch up to live. Yes it will stop and play the TV Show when it does catch up, but shouldn't it be easier with just the push of one button? I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Dish Network has this feature, with being able to jump to live TV with just the push of one button, so then why doesn't DirecTV? Who wants to watch all the commercials and things that have gone on while your show has been paused? I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.
UPDATE:
I just found out that while pausing live Tv, and you want to go LIVE again meaning that you want to catch up to where the actual show is, then all you have to do is hit EXIT. Okay so my husband just told me that. But regardless, unless you are a person who reads every detail in a book, then I guess you wouldn't know this. My DirecTV installer didn't ever tell me this, but yet pointed out the way the remote worked. Hmmmm, that would be my Husband. He's irritated at me right now for writing anything negative about DirecTV or the R15 DVR receiver. A little sensitive isn't he? LOL

Have I given you all enough complaints? I'm sorry! I do enjoy having the R15 DVR - It's definitely better than using a VCR, and it's great to pause and replay live TV etc. No more having to wait for a commercial to go get a drink, or go to the bathroom, or miss your TV show, because the phone rings, and you are caught on the phone for part of your show. Not to mention that the picture quality of your recordings, are 1,000 times better than a tape recording from a VCR.

Overall, I think this unit is a good value offered by DirecTV - This comes as part of the new customer package when you request DVR. It's definitely not something I would want to ever go out and buy. You used to be able to KEEP your DVR, but recently they've changed it and they are leased. When we got ours, DirecTV hadn't yet started this "Leasing" Program. Now they do that, so that if and when you get rid of DirecTV then you have to give the box back. Why wouldn't you want to anyway? What good is it if you don't have DirecTV??? Only a thought!!!

With the R15 you get 100 hours of recording time. So far I have never used that many hours, because after I catch up on my shows, or movies, I delete them. You can also record 2 shows at a time, but you must have the channel set to at least ONE of those channels that you are recording. You can't record 2 channels at the same time, and then watch something completely different.

The bottom line here is that DirecTV has a great idea, but they need to work out the glitches. Lets hope it happens soon.