DishTV vs FiOs from a new FiOS subscriber

[diceman]

I had my FiOS installed just yesterday and am noticing some things that worked well with DishTV but aren't carried over (and I'm disappointed) in my FiOS service.

1. For one thing, it would be nice to have only MY Subscribed Channels appear in the main guide.

2. With DishTV my other DIGITAL TV's still had the capability to view "HD" channels (but no in HD, of course)

3. I can't pause LIVE TV.  This was pretty disturbing.  It was a great feature with DISH TV!!

4. No ability to SLOW-MO.  There is only a PAUSE, and one-speed Fast Forward.  Dish has frame by frame advance, and their fast forward stepped up speeds to 300x.  They also had a skip ahead 25secs button, great for moving past commercials!

5. It might be that I need to get acclimated to the FiOS guide, but I find the DishTV guide easier on the eyes and easier to program for recording.

Now, before I get blasted, I will say that FiOS DOES have some nice features that DishTV doesn't have, but it would be great to see some of the above incorporated into the FiOS service.

BTW, would also be nice if the POWER ON on the remote would power BOTH the TV And the FiOS box.

Dish has that feature, too.

Would also be nice of more of the buttons lit up.  (Dish had that problem too.)

[Justin46]

You can do a number of the things you asked for with FiOS:

1) You need to implement at least one Favorites list. While from casual reading it might appear that it will not do what you asked for, it ABSOLUTELY WILL. Here is a link to a thread here on the forum which will give you details on how to set it up so hitting the Guide button will give you ONLY the channels you want it to give you: Link

2) If you want to view HD channels on other TVs, you just need to have HD STBs on those TVs. It does not matter whether the TV attached to those STBs is HD or not, they would still be able to see the HD channels (but as you said, not in HD). Yes, everywhere but NY I think the HD boxes cost more per month, but the solution is available.

3) I pause live TV (and recordings) all the time. It should work. What happens when you hit the Pause button? Once paused you should be able to rewind back to the beginning of the buffer (of course if you just switched to the channel there might not be any current data in the buffer). 

4) You can move forward/backward frame by frame. Unfortunately it is not documented, and even more unfortunately I am not at home right now so I can't go through the process to document it for you. But I have used it and it does work. Hopefully someone else will chime in here with the procedure.

5) This is of course a preference item. I find the Guide easy to use, you don't, that is life. Hopefully you will get used to it. If there are specific issues you can identify that bug you, if you will post them maybe someone here can give you a solution.

The Power button on the remote most definitely can control both the TV and the STB at the same time. At one time Verizon was supplying the remotes set that way, but apparently they have changed, yours is not the first post I have seen asking for that. If you do not have the little instruction booklet that should have come with the remote where the procedure to do that is documented, here is a link to a web page for all of the possible Verizon FiOS remotes: Link

Hope the above helps. And by the way, welcome to FiOS. I have had it for almost 4 years, a very happy customer.

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416, IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

[prisaz]

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1. There is a very good sticky thread at the top of this board that was started by a user named Justin. Exploiting Favorites. The Favorites allows you to set up mutiple guides and also View the default guide. Favorites 1,2, and default guide. I started using the favorites button, and very seldomly used the guide button.

2. In order to view the HD channels on a SD TV you would need the HD box on the SD set. But it can be done from what I have heard.

3. You can pause live TV from the DVR box. I know of no none DVR that can pause live TV. All though if you are using the multiroom DVR I agree it would be nice if you could pause from the non DVR boxes. I think dish connects more then one TV to the same DVR to accomplish this. But then the two tuners in the DVR are shared.

4. Yes pause and frame by frame or "Slow motion" could be improved. Three fast forward speeds, speed changes faster each time you press the button. The skip ahead time on recorded programs can be adjusted in the settings menu.

5. Yes I agree with you and many others, the guide could be better. I have a Tivo now with a cable card from Verizon and I love it. Guide rules! It actually shows when the program or movie first aired. Yes I do lose some of the IP functions from Verizon, but I can do other things. $3.99 for cable card from Verizon, and $12.99 for Tivo subscription. Don't get me wrong the Verizon DVR worked great for me since day one, (Like three years) but I wanted more.

Power button can be programed to control the TV. My remote powers the TV and STB on and off at the same time. Depecding on how you point the remote and where the STB is located.

(Justins Post beat me by 47 seconds)

[CapnTrips]

Adding to Justin's fine responses:

(1) See Justin's "Favorites" guide;

(2) Not clear what you're referring to.  If you mean a second TV connected to a Dish 622, you're comparing apples and oranges.  FiOS doesn't offer separate outputs from one DVR to two separate TV sets.  Your second TV has its own box, and if it's not a HD box, then it won't receive HD channels.  Rent an HD box and you will;

(3) You should be able to.  What happens when you push the "Pause" button?  It absolutely pauses Live TV on a DVR.  It will not, of course, on a NON-DVR STB.

(4) There certainly is a Slo-Mo capability - poorly documented, but it's there.  Again ONLY on the DVR, NOT on the non-DVR STBs.  Press Pause.  While paused, press FF or RWD and the program will advance or reverse in Slo-Mo.  Multiple presses will provide varying speeds of each.  Similarly there are multiple FF and RWD speeds.  Just use multiple presses of the FF and RWD buttons and you will see the rate step up considerably;

(5) The Guide (IMG) sucks.  Everybody acknowledges that.  It is provided by contract to Verizon by a company called FYI and a great many of the posters in these fora anxiously await the day when the contract is up and FiOS gets a REAL program guide that is useful AND USABLE.

[Justin46]

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@CapnTrips wrote:

(4) There certainly is a Slo-Mo capability - poorly documented, but it's there.  Again ONLY on the DVR, NOT on the non-DVR STBs.  Press Pause.  While paused, press FF or RWD and the program will advance or reverse in Slo-Mo.  Multiple presses will provide varying speeds of each.  Similarly there are multiple FF and RWD speeds.  Just use multiple presses of the FF and RWD buttons and you will see the rate step up considerably;

(5) The Guide (IMG) sucks.  Everybody acknowledges that.  It is provided by contract to Verizon by a company called FYI and a great many of the posters in these fora anxiously await the day when the contract is up and FiOS gets a REAL program guide that is useful AND USABLE.

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4) Ah, there it is, thanks CapnTrips, I just could not remember it, and I wasn't at home to test. Using Pause and then FF or Rew give you slow motion forward or backward, at varying speeds. If you want frame by frame forward or backward, hit Pause then hit the Skip Forward or Skip Backward buttons.

5) I wasn't sure whether the OP was referring to the Guide format or the Guide data, but guessed it was Guide format. Big difference in my view: I do not mind the format, I hate the Guide data as provided by FYI. I keep hoping for change.....

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416, IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

[prisaz]

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@Justin wrote:

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@CapnTrips wrote:

(4) There certainly is a Slo-Mo capability - poorly documented, but it's there.  Again ONLY on the DVR, NOT on the non-DVR STBs.  Press Pause.  While paused, press FF or RWD and the program will advance or reverse in Slo-Mo.  Multiple presses will provide varying speeds of each.  Similarly there are multiple FF and RWD speeds.  Just use multiple presses of the FF and RWD buttons and you will see the rate step up considerably;

(5) The Guide (IMG) sucks.  Everybody acknowledges that.  It is provided by contract to Verizon by a company called FYI and a great many of the posters in these fora anxiously await the day when the contract is up and FiOS gets a REAL program guide that is useful AND USABLE.

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4) Ah, there it is, thanks CapnTrips, I just could not remember it, and I wasn't at home to test. Using Pause and then FF or Rew give you slow motion forward or backward, at varying speeds. If you want frame by frame forward or backward, hit Pause then hit the Skip Forward or Skip Backward buttons.

5) I wasn't sure whether the OP was referring to the Guide format or the Guide data, but guessed it was Guide format. Big difference in my view: I do not mind the format, I hate the Guide data as provided by FYI. I keep hoping for change.....

__________________________________
Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416, IMG 1.6.2, Build 08.58
Keller, TX 76248

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I agree 100% on the guide format. I was used to it, and now have a TIVO, I miss some of the items with the Verizon DVR. Like favorites button and multiple favorites. But I also agree that the guide data from FYI (SUCKS). Nice knowing when a show or movie aired. Not to mention other items that FYI leaves out.

[Shrish]

I would like to add few suggestions to FIOS ( I am happy with FIOS, but do miss some great features of Dish DVR., I am sure the technological ability of  wonderful FIOS engineers would make this happen and make customers happy). 

a. DVR : In dish I can edit the recorded program name.  It currently only shows the program name and does not allow me to edit

b. Caller Id  on TV.   ( I believe it is in the pipeline)

c. ability to stop the recording. What if I want to record only 10 minute snippet of 1 hour program? Dish allowed us to rewind 10 minutes, press record and press stop when I want to stop recording.

d. In On demand, only show the channels I am subscribed to. 

e. Ability to rewind/pause live tv//set recording a future program  from second TV which is connected to additional STB.

Some Nice to have features Include

a. Ability to watch streaming video from TV ( should be possible from FO network)

[tsauter1]

Although you can't rewind and record, you can hit record while watching and it will record everything in the buffer for that show. Then hit record again and choose stop. While not the same as you had before and depending on how long you have been watching the show it may record more than the snippet you want, it should work for you. The other option, which I use frequently, is to change the channel twice, then switch back to your program and hit record. If you know what you want to record is coming on next, this option works best as it wiil only record from when you switch back to when you tell it to stop.