HD Storage: FIOS vs DirecTV
ted809
Newbie
I am new to FIOS TV having been with DTV for 12 years. The weather in Florida is not kind to the satellite dish and finally put me over the edge so i switched to FIOS. Question: Has any other former/current DTV customer noticed that the amount of storage overall seems to fill up much faster on the Verizon DVR vs the DTV units? I have a 6416 and I know there is a 7216, but that shouldn't matter as they are both 160gb machines. Anyone have a good answer to this question? Thanks.
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Re: HD Storage: FIOS vs DirecTV
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@ted809 wrote:
I am new to FIOS TV having been with DTV for 12 years. The weather in Florida is not kind to the satellite dish and finally put me over the edge so i switched to FIOS. Question: Has any other former/current DTV customer noticed that the amount of storage overall seems to fill up much faster on the Verizon DVR vs the DTV units? I have a 6416 and I know there is a 7216, but that shouldn't matter as they are both 160gb machines. Anyone have a good answer to this question? Thanks.

The older DirecTV HR20/HR21 DVRs have 300-320GB storage.  The newer DirecTV HR22/HR23 DVRs have 500GB storage.

 

DirecTV also recompresses their HD with MPEG-4 AVC, so each hour of DirecTV HD consumes around half as much space with a slightly reduction in quality.  To summarize, the latest DirecTV DVRs offer about six times the capacity of the FiOS DVR, thanks to triple the drive space and extra compression with MPEG-4.

 

The "free" Motorola DVRs do not support internal or external expansion.  With FiOS, you do have the option of buying your own DVR (TivoHD or Moxi) with additional capacity.  The TivoHD and Moxi are dual-tuner DVRs that support all the same channels as the FiOS DVR, but they do not support FiOS VOD.  The Moxi includes a 500GB drive like the latest DirecTV DVRs; the TivoHD is available in 160GB and 1TB versions.  Both officially support external drive expansion which adds to the built-in capacity.

 

Youtube: Basic TiVo functionality (HD, 10min)
Youtube: Netflix, Youtube, Video Podcasts on TiVo (HD, 7min)
Youtube: Viewing Computer Videos on TiVo (HD, 9min)

 

Re: HD Storage: FIOS vs DirecTV
ted809
Newbie

Great reply Ken and thanks! So does anyone have an idea when Verizon will step up to the plate and match DTV's storage capability?

I like the switch so far-at least my picture does not go out or pixelize with the rains,  that was the main factor in switching. For now I guess we will have to monitor the amount of stuff we record. Sure would be nice to have more storage, and the picture quality looks pretty similar so far, FIOS might be a tad bit sharper but I would forego that for more storage. We like VOD as well so we will not be buying our own box(es) either.

Thanks again.

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Re: HD Storage: FIOS vs DirecTV
KenAF
Specialist - Level 2

@ted809 wrote:

Great reply Ken and thanks! So does anyone have an idea when Verizon will step up to the plate and match DTV's storage capability?


Verizon expects to offer more storage / capacity options before the end of the year.  Specific details should be released within a few months.
Message Edited by KenAF on 05-23-2009 09:22 PM
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