I recently switched from DirecTV with TIVO, so I realize I'm used to different functionality. Bear with me.
With the TIVO remote, I could switch from one tuner to the other with a single button. From there, I could control that tuner (change channels, look at the guide from that place in the lineup) without affecting the other tuner. This was great - say I was watching a game on one tuner and wanted to roam for a movie on the other. I could keep the game buffered (not recorded, nothing to undo later) and check back in by switching tuners.
It seems that with FIOS, I can't do this. Each time I change channels, I am switching tuners and losing the buffer. There are only way to avoid this, and both are needlessly cumbersome. One is to be recording one channel, which means I then have to go to the added step of deleting the recording later. The other is to press LAST between each channel I want to investigate. This becomes very awkward if I'm just crusing, rather than having specific channels in mind. Example: I am watching something on channel 100. I want to see what movies are playing in the 500's. I scroll through the guide to find a movie on channel 500. Once I try it out, I now have to press LAST to avoid losing the buffer on channel 100, then open the guide again, and scroll through all those channels to find what is on channel 501. Hey, was that other movie on channel 502 or 503? I'll have to type in each number or scroll through the guide to see. Ugh. With the TIVO, I could leave channel 100 alone, navigate to 500 and then just press Chan UP ot DOWN. Or at least move through the guide from that location, the 500's.
The inability to "grab" a tuner and work with it is crushingly irritating. If you've gone to all that trouble to create a DVR with the buffer capability, assume that I, the customer, will want to make good use of it.
Is there any way to duplicate this convenience in FIOS? Or am I destined to regret the switch from DirecTV with TIVO?
I have had DirecTV and Dish and there are a lot of differences on FIOS, swapping tuners is one of them. The only work around I have found is like you describe, record the event and then tool around on the other tuner. Another function I miss is with Dish if I paused a tuner and swapped to the other the paused tuner stayed that way. I also discovered if you pause live TV it only holds for around 20 minutes and then jumps to the Live point, doesn't continue from where you paused it, yet the buffer is about an hour so you have to rewind back to the point where you paused.
But the picture on FIOS is much better and I finally get my local sports programming. Just have to remember FIOS is new to the TV market as opposed to the rest of the field, and it is only TV.
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