A mini review of FiOS TV and their new QIP-7232 DVR

[senorgregster]

FiOS TV picture quality is stunning. No compression artifacts at all from what I can tell.

The 7232 is pretty good but not excellent. I have the 7232 and a Tivo HD XL. IMHO the Tivo is considerably better but I see lots of room for improvement with the 7232.

Pros and Cons of the 7232.

Remote

Nice and responsive. Like that I can turn the TV on and off. Doesn't allow for channel changing just input changing. Not a massive issue but a shame as we need another remote.

It's probably difficult to update, but I find the remote a bit too complicated and the buttons poorly positioned. Shame more buttons don't light up to help find buttons when the room is dark.

Guide

I may have missed it but it would be great if it remembered your favorite settings. I see the favorite button but IMO the guide button should take you there directly.

Guide Titles

Almost excellent but unfortunately titles are cropped when they go beyond 30 or so characters. They should allow wrapping to a second line to allow 60 or so characters.

Extended Guide Titles

I'm noticing some weird information on some shows. English soccer is particularly bad. For example, today's showing of Arsenal versus Blackburn has a title of The Gunners (Arsenal) rallied for a 2-2 draw with West Ham on March 19. So the title describes Arsenal's previous result. Quite confusing.

Speed

Seems speedy enough. I was ready for some lagging but overall impressed.

Storage

Fine but IMHO not adequate for a whole house DVR recording in HD. Look forward to seeing the external hard drive capability.

Bugs

I'm seeing some issues viewing at the end of recordings. Seems that fast forward and next don't work at the end of the recording. A bit annoying. Hopefully a fix can be made.

No "wishlist". 

Not a deal breaker but would be nice to see in a software upgrade. Both the Tivo and DirecTV boxes have this feature and I find it very useful as I forget to check back in every few weeks for new shows.

No jump to mark/end.

I hear this is coming with 1.9.  That is great. Look forward to seeing it. I like the idea of pushing and holding the "next" button to skip to the end. 

Again the PQ is stunning. I'm blown away with it. I got used to DirecTV compressing some channels and it is great to see true uncompressed images. I love it. Very happy customer overall. If Verizon can continue to improve their DVR they are onto a major winner.

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but I'd be happy to beta test anything.

[Justin46]

Re: your comment about the Guide button. You can easily set the Guide button to display your choice of Favorites. Here is a link to a thread (from two years ago, but still accurate) that has a link to a document I wrote that will tell you how to set it up:

http://forums.verizon.com/t5/FiOS-TV-Technical-Assistance/Exploiting-FiOS-TV-Favorites/td-p/9935

Hope the above helps. And I think we will all be excited when we get the 1.9 level of the IMG, will have lots of new stuff.

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Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416-P1, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

[senorgregster]

Excellent information, thanks!

[Justin46]

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@senor123 wrote:

Excellent information, thanks!

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You are most welcome....

In looking back at your first post, I reread your comment under Bugs about FF and Next not working near the end of a recording. I am pretty sure that Verizon implemented this on purpose, people were complaining that when they hit those buttons when they were VERY NEAR the end of the recording it went directly to the end of the recording and then there was no way to easily get back to where they had been (had to start at the beginning and FF through, not fun with a long recording). Not absolutely sure about this, but I seem to remember a discussion about it quite some time back.

Oh, and about your desire to be a beta tester - welcome to the group!!!!! I wanted really, really badly to participate in the 1.9 Beta but Verizon chose the NJ/Eastern PA area to do that this time. Verizon actually asked publicly for people who wanted to participate to register - really good plan IMHO. It has apparently been a very productive beta, and hopefully the software will be high quality when it comes to the rest of us. Maybe next time......(I can at least hope)

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Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416-P1, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

[senorgregster]

Thanks for the headsup on the FF/next issue/feature

I'm amazed you are not considered as a beta tester. Seems you would be a perfect candidate given the few posts of yours I have seen.

[Justin46]

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@senor123 wrote:

Thanks for the headsup on the FF/next issue/feature

I'm amazed you are not considered as a beta tester. Seems you would be a perfect candidate given the few posts of yours I have seen.

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Well, actually I have participated in several beta tests for Verizon, once maybe 2 years ago for a part of their website (it didn't appear to have much effect based on what I currently see ) and a new function related to the TV service (about a year and a half ago, that function is now available). 1.9 has so many new and great features, and since I am retired and have the free time, and I have lots of experience testing new software before announcment/availability (in a mainframe environment), I had high hopes. But since I am in Texas and they chose NJ/PA, no chance this time. Oh well, life goes on.....

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Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416-P1, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

[Hubrisnxs]

Www.Verizon.com/testtrack

[senorgregster]

Signed up. Thanks.