DirectTV/Tivo ?

[gulmer]

I have a freind that just bought a DirectTV/Tivo
receiver and needs help setting it up.I am not familar with DirectTV/Tivo,I have always delt with
DishNetwork DVR's.She was told by the sales person
to leave the unit on all the time and I know with
DishDVR,we turn the units off,to help extend the life of the harddrive,so, does the Tivo go into
an inactivity mode where it power downs the harddrive,a standbye mode,after a period of time
of no use? Thanks for any replys

 

[rad]

You can go into the menus and tell the box to go into standby but I don't think that many folks are doing it. Unlike the Dish PVR's there is no option in the menu to allow for the box to automatically go into standby mode.

Just so you know, you need two coax runs from the dish since the DirecTivo's are dual tuner boxes, like the 721 or 522. During the setup you need to tell the box how many coax are connected so it know to enable one or both receivers. You also should have the phone line connected since currently that's how the software upgrades get downloaded, not over the satellite downlink like E* does.

Hope that helps.

 

[silversurfer]

Putting the DirecTivo in standby will not turn off the Hard drive. It records constantly 24/7 unless you unplug it. All the standby mode does is turn off the video outputs and the lights on the front. That being said the unit is very reliable. I have had mine for almost 3 years with zero problems. I do recommend you put it on an UPS...

 

[gulmer]

Thank you for your answers,they helped alot,another
?,is all the video out jacks active at the same time,does the svideo out need to be turned on in the menu?

 

[silversurfer]

I believe they are all active....

 

[jimisham]

I've got two Directv units, one 3 1/2 years old and another almost 3 years old.
They'be been running 24/7 with no problems. I've read that powering down the hard drives frequently can shorten their lives.