Why You Can Trust CNET Dish Network DTVPal review: Dish Network DTVPal
Dish Network DTVPal
Dish Network DTVPal
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Editors' note: The Dish Network DTVPal DVR has been replaced by the virtually identical Channel Master CM-7000P.
The Dish Network DTVPal DVR ($250) looks to fill the niche for a budget HD DVR, offering the ability to record free over-the-air HDTV--including two programs at once from a single antenna--without any monthly fees. Unfortunately, the caveat list is long and ugly for the DTVPal DVR: there's no way to set up true season passes for a program or eliminate repeats on regular recordings, the user interface is bland and lacks polish, there's only a 90-day warranty from Dish and there are no returns allowed, and online forums are filled with horror stories about frequent crashes and reboots (although our experience was mostly glitch-free.) The DTVPal DVR is a great value if you only need basic recording functionality, and we really wanted to like its cheapskate style, but Dish's stingy return/warranty policy makes it really hard to recommend.
Design
The DTVPal DVR is clearly a utilitarian device. It makes no effort to dress itself up, sticking with a plain gray case with only the white DTVPal logo and some grating on the top to break the monotony. Up front there's a single green status light for power, and below that is a credit-card-like "DTV card." The manual makes absolutely no mention of it, and we were able to take it out without any effects.
The included remote is nearly identical to the clickers found on standard Dish Network DVRs. There are a lot of buttons, but the layout, colors, and sizing of the buttons make it easy to navigate. We especially appreciated the 30-second skip button, allowing us to easily blast by commercials with just a few button presses. While neophytes may prefer TiVo's simpler remote, Dish's clicker is better suited for the tweaky audience the DTVPal DVR will appeal to.
User interface
The menu system is bland, too. The electronic programming guide (EPG) has a boxy grid layout, and the blue-and-gray color scheme is in stark contrast to the colorful interface found on a TiVo. There are three text size options for viewing guide data; we preferred small text to see the most of channels at once.
The usefulness of the EPG is dependent on the quality of the over-the-air program guide data in your area. The DTVPal DVR can pull guide info from two sources, the standard, broadcaster-supplied info included with new digital TV broadcasts and also TV Guide On Screen data, where it's available. If your area has TV Guide data (like us), you'll get about a full week of program info; if you don't get TV Guide, expect just a few days of program info. Even with solid TV Guide data for most stations, we got absolutely no guide data for our local PBS station; those are the kinds of drawbacks you'll have to live with on the DTVPal DVR versus a more expensive cable-company-supplied DVR or TiVo HD.
If you know the show you want to watch but don't want to hunt for it in the EPG, you also have the option to search for it. If you have good guide data in your area and know the name of the program you want to record, this works pretty well. We had no problem finding every timeslot and channel that "Seinfeld" airs on (which is pretty much all day, every day.) Again, we didn't find this as useful as TiVo's searching capabilities, which enable you to set up "wishlists" for your favorite actors and directors, and the TiVo will automatically record any program they're in.
Recorded content shows up under My Recordings, which is easily accessible by hitting the DVR button. The layout for browsing recordings feels cramped, showing only six programs at a time. The lack of consistent program info is problematic here too; you won't always know who the guests are on late night shows or if the sitcom you're watching is a repeat or new.
There were other areas where the DTVPal DVR lacked polish compared with the TiVo HD. When you finish watching a program, the TiVo asks you if you'd like to delete it or keep it, while the DTVPal just sends you back to the main title screen. That's a nitpick, but it goes a long way toward making sure your DVR is free of programs you've already watched.
Features
The standout feature of the DTVPal DVR is something it doesn't have--a monthly fee. While TiVo charges a monthly fee for service and cable companies charge a monthly fee to rent the box, the DTVPal DVR costs nothing beyond the initial purchase price. This is definitely a trade-off--as we've mentioned, the free data quality clearly isn't as good--but for those that just want basic recording capability, it will do the job.
The DVTPal DVR includes a 250GB hard drive, which is capable of recording 30 hours of HD programs and 250 hours of standard-definition programs.
As with any DVR, in addition to recording programs, you can also pause and rewind live TV. The DTVPal DVR has a 60-minute live buffer; you can rewind up to 60 minutes of live TV, although if you opt to record the program you're watching in progress, it won't include that buffer in the recording. There's a 10-second "skip back" button to quickly replay what just happened. On recorded content, we also really appreciated the 30-second "skip forward" function, which makes it easy to blast through commercials. (TiVo doesn't technically have this feature, but it can be enabled with a simple remote hack.) Standard rewind and fast-forward isn't not quite as fluid as TiVo's (there's no "jump back" after fast-forwarding), but the ability to fast-forward at 300x is great for quickly scanning a program.
The DTVPal DVR contains two ATSC tuners, like the TiVo HD. This enables it to record two programs at the same time from a single antenna. You can even record two programs and watch one off the hard drive at the same time.
While the two-tuner functionality is great, the DTVPal DVR doesn't do a good job of handling recording conflicts. For example, if you go to make a recording and there are both tuners already scheduled to be in use, the DTVPal will just tell you the new recording conflicts with an existing event. It doesn't tell you which events it conflicts with or offer you options about which program you'd actually like to record--most DVRs, including TiVo and Dish's own ViP series of HD satellite DVRs, do.
Even worse, sometimes the scheduling conflict logic is askew (as discovered by AVS Forum members), so if you record two back-to-back shows on different networks, along with an hour-long show over that same time period, occasionally it will report a conflict error even though only two tuners are being used at any one time. A minor issue, but still a frustration.
To make a recording, the DTVPal DVR functions more like a high-def VCR than a modern DVR. The main reason for this is that it uses time-based recordings rather than name-based recordings. Most DVRs offer name-based recordings, so you can tell it to record all the new episodes of "30 Rock," and the DVR will adjust its recording schedule accordingly. With the DTVPal DVR, all you can tell it is to record every Thursday at 9:30 on NBC. It won't skip repeats, extend for hour-long special episodes, or adjust if the show changes its time slot. If you're accustomed to the "pick your programs and forget about them" mentality of a TiVo or standard Dish DVR, don't expect that with the DTVPal DVR--you'll probably still want to scan the TV Guide once a week to see what's worth recording.
The DVTPal DVR's connectivity is standard. There's an RF input to connect your antenna; remember, you only need to connect a single antenna to use both tuners. There's an HDMI output, capable of outputting high-definition video up to 1080i resolution and handling multichannel audio. There's also a component video output, which is also capable of 1080i output. Standard definition output is limited to a composite video output and an RF output; there's no S-Video. Audio connections include an optical digital audio output, as well as a stereo analog audio output. Rounding out the connections are a USB port and an Ethernet port, both of which are used only for firmware updates.
Despite the Ethernet port on the back, there are currently no Web services enabled on the DTVPal DVR. While there's a plethora of additional services on the TiVo HD (Netflix Instant Streaming, Rhapsody, YouTube, Amazon On Demand, to name a few), the DTVPal DVR is limited to what you can record over-the-air. That's unfortunate because one of the major downsides to the DTVPal DVR is being limited to over-the-air programming; online video would be a great way to supplement the over-the-air content. Dish's own DVRs allow access to pay-per-view movies and other content online via Ethernet; you'd think the company would at least want to enable such functionality on the DTVPal DVR.
Performance
If you're not used to watching over-the-air HDTV, you may be surprised by how good the image quality is. Over-the-air digital TV signals can broadcast in standard-definition or HD, and most of the major networks broadcast prime-time content in HD (either 1080i or 720p.) In our testing, the HD video quality is at least as good as the signals provided by pay services such as DirecTV, Dish Network, or a cable company, and occasionally we felt it even looked better, with fewer compression artifacts. Other than Blu-ray, over-the-air HDTV is one of the best HD video sources currently available.
A DVR is typically one of the most-used devices in a home theater, so stability and ease of use are magnified; the last thing you want when you sit down on the couch are crashes or a confusing interface. During our test period, encompassing about two weeks of constant use, the DTVPal DVR was remarkably stable, and we experienced only a few instances where it slowed down--but nothing requiring a reset. (For what it's worth, we were using the most recent F202TAKD-N firmware.)
While our experience was glitch-free, reports of freezing DTVPal DVRs are all over the Internet. At the time of this review, the majority of user opinions on CNET mention crashing units, and a (clearly unscientific) poll on AVS Forum estimates that 60 percent of the units crash or freeze. We'd guess that the actual percentage of problem units is lower (those with bad experiences are more likely to participate online), but there's no doubt that a significant portion of DTVPal DVR users are having major problems.
The online reports are troubling, but the problem is amplified by Dish Network's lousy return policy. The DTVPal DVR comes with a 90-day warranty, and all sales are final from Dish Network. That means you can't return the DTVPal DVR if you don't like it or it doesn't work well in your area. The 90-day warranty is also very short; the TiVo HD comes with a full year, and the Dish Network's ViP722 also covers a full year. With so many issues reported online, the lack of a return policy, and the short warranty, we can't help but feel like buying the DTVPal DVR is a gamble. (It's also currently impossible--the DTVPal DVR is currently sold out on the company's Web site.)