God DTV Ticks Me Off!

[The Avenger]

So no sooner do I leave for a week's vacation and check my TV via my Slingbox when I realize that yet again my wonderful DTV DVR has gone into a funk is is non-responsive. I'm not home to reset the damn thing and the Slingbox can only do what my remote can do, which in this case is absolutely nothing because the DVR won't respond to anything!

 

I call DTV to see if they can reset it - naturally, they can't because mine is a model that can't be reset remotely. I told the folks at DTV that the hunk of junk DVR has been doing this one a week or so and that they need to send me a new one - she says they will not until I can get home and troubleshoot it with them via the phone - what part of "it's a piece is S^%T that's been freezing up" don't they understand?

 

I'm so ticked - looks like I'm going to miss the game on Friday - I had planned to watch it on Slingbox but that's showing a whole lot of nothing right now....

[Dante]

So no sooner do I leave for a week's vacation and check my TV via my Slingbox when I realize that yet again my wonderful DTV DVR has gone into a funk is is non-responsive. I'm not home to reset the damn thing and the Slingbox can only do what my remote can do, which in this case is absolutely nothing because the DVR won't respond to anything!

 

I call DTV to see if they can reset it - naturally, they can't because mine is a model that can't be reset remotely. I told the folks at DTV that the hunk of junk DVR has been doing this one a week or so and that they need to send me a new one - she says they will not until I can get home and troubleshoot it with them via the phone - what part of "it's a piece is S^%T that's been freezing up" don't they understand?

 

I'm so ticked - looks like I'm going to miss the game on Friday - I had planned to watch it on Slingbox but that's showing a whole lot of nothing right now....

As much as I like Directv, I sympathize. I'm no fan of their DVR's. The HD versions all seem very laggy. It's gotten even worse since we had the multi room viewing installed. Very annoying. Have never had trouble with them locking up or unresponsive like you do. Slow, sluggish for sure though.

[Alaska Darin]

I can't wait until they finally release the new DirectTV Tivo box. Probably later this year. Dumping Tivo was probably the biggest mistake DTV ever made.

[b stein 22]

Ive never had a problem with my direct tv i dont know what u guys are talking about. It only lags if there is a storm outside with heavy rain or snow.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Ive never had a problem with my direct tv i dont know what u guys are talking about. It only lags if there is a storm outside with heavy rain or snow.

 

It's not the DTV itself. It's the receivers. The DVR on my SD TV is choppy and stuttery.

[DC Tom]

It's not the DTV itself. It's the receivers. The DVR on my SD TV is choppy and stuttery.

 

In my DVR's defense, I finally tracked down the issue to a co-ax cable problem (some dumbshit installer didn't crimp the connector properly - at all, actually).

 

But then...I'm also on my third DVR in two years, since the hard drives consistently crash. So it's a pretty indefensible piece of tech.

[Rubes]

I can't wait until they finally release the new DirectTV Tivo box. Probably later this year. Dumping Tivo was probably the biggest mistake DTV ever made.

 

+1

[Fezmid]

Ive never had a problem with my direct tv i dont know what u guys are talking about. It only lags if there is a storm outside with heavy rain or snow.

 

When he's talking about lags, he's talking about the delay between pressing a button on the remote and something happening on the screen. It seems like some firmware updates have made that a little better, but it's still pretty annoying overall -- TiVo never had that.

 

If I had to guess, it sounds like a bad harddrive on the DVR that keeps flaking out. I'm assuming by "lock up" you mean the remote doesn't do anything - no menus, no display, no nothing.

 

You can replace the internal harddrive yourself - although you're not supposed to. You can also add an external hard drive.

 

That said, you should've just played along and pretended you were doing the steps... Especially since you've probably done them in the past. You were talking to a front line person, no different than if your internet access wasn't working and your ISP told you to reboot your cable modem. It sucks, but that's what front line support people do.

[stuckincincy]

In my DVR's defense, I finally tracked down the issue to a co-ax cable problem (some dumbshit installer didn't crimp the connector properly - at all, actually).

 

But then...I'm also on my third DVR in two years, since the hard drives consistently crash. So it's a pretty indefensible piece of tech.

 

I'm on my 2nd T-W HD DVR, and before that 3 or so non-HD boxes. No problems with replacements - well not for me - I live a few miles away from a mall office they have. They do staff it - typical wait time is 5 minutes for the exchange. They tell you that the new one has been "checked out.' That check-out never seems to include cleaning off the accumulated grime from the former owner, however.

 

They are happy to have a serviceman replace anything, if you want to sit home on a particular day in a 4 hour window.

 

I used to clean my T-W box off before exchange, but I've stopped that. Give as you get, now. If you need a new remote, they are factory-fresh - they wouldn't dare hand over a used one with the filth that those things collect.