Which System to buy? Phillips or Sony?

[Hoochster]

Hello,

I am about to get started in the Tivo world with DTV. Curious to know which is the recommended system to get between the Sony and the Phillips? One better than the other??? I do want Dolby Digital if I can but it isn't necessary if one has it and one doesn't and it is the better one? I appreciate any advice you can give. Can't wait to get started playing! :)

[IWantMyDTV]

The hardware inside the fancy box is made by tivo. It is the same across all DTV brands. (sony, philips, hughes, etc.) The Sony one has a bit different remote, and can control sony VCRs for a dump to tape option. Other than that and price, they are identical.

[flipsoft]

The philips is cheaper though! 99 bucks at circuit city!

[TomCrazyCat]

I strongly prefer the Sony SAT-T60..

I think with a few mods, the Sony is an excellent unit.

Here's what I got going on it now:

Software version 2.5 w\dual-tuners enabled
H-card EMU system, running pitou 157.1 with a HU cam id\zkt
Fixup script, so it never has to call home
Bash (currently not working due to a bad cable...)
Dolby Digital Recording & Playback
Oval Dish, with 3 LNB's
200 Hrs recording space (1 100 GB drive, 1 120GB drive)

The only downside to the sony, is the overheating issue with bigger drives. To fix this I made my own vents on the side with the fan, and added a second smaller fan. Now it runs around 45-55 degrees Celsius (overheats above 77)

This effectively lets me get EVERY channel DTV broadcasts, record 2 programs at once, all in digital video & sound. Very nifty.

Once I get the selectlocals.tcl script tweaked & running consistently, I'll have a rock solid setup, with EVERYTHING =)

- Tom

[Hoochster]

I like this board already! quick replies! :) Thanks for the responses and keep em coming from anyone else. So does the Phillips do dolby digital? Or just the Sony? I like the price being cheap but if it wasn't that much of a difference would rather have Dolby. As far as the output or whatever to record to Sony devices, don't have any other's so that wouldn't be a plus for me but do want the best system for the deal. I will be using Pitou too, using it now on standard DTV. But obviously will want to switch it over to this. So any more ideas on which is the better system and easiest to hack or whatever is greatly appreciated. Once I get one will be definately asking more questions and reading all these posts on how to go about modding it! :)

Thanks

[pink]

They are both the same in terms of hacking, and they both do dolby digital. Other than the remote they really are almost identical.

The philips is currently $99 at Circuit City - an excellent deal imo - but it requires you to either open a new dtv sub or transfer the unit to an existing sub or they will charge you $200. (tivo sub is NOT required to meet CC obligation).

The t-60 was initially much more popular amongst dtivo hackers, but the philips dsr6k has been coming on strong in popularity due to its attractive price.

- pink

[Hoochster]

Ok, that helps too, just looked at a comparison. and saw they both did Dolby. I do like the $99 price can't beat that with a stick. Would they allow it to be added to an existing sub for the $5.00/month? As a 2nd ird? I think I still have a contract with my other Dolby IRD that I have to sub with so if I swap it that one will get charged I think hehe. Is there anything else magnificant with the Sony Remote besides working with other Sony devices? It isn't one of those universal Touch screen remotes is it hehe! If they can both be hacked the same, and besides working with other Sony features they are the same. Then I would think the Phillips is the way to go. Anyone suggest an Ultimate TV over the Tivo systems? I was told you could do a lot more with Tivo so that is why I am looking at that approach. Let me know. Don't care about WebTV but if it had something else to offer. Thanks for the replies. And will watch for a few more and see what I am gonna get. And then we will start hacking, looking forward to all your help with that!

Thanks

[IWantMyDTV]

Adding a DTiVo from CC to a sub is no problem. A buddy of mine did that. You don't even have to keep it subbed. The contract states only that it be activated within 90 days of purchase.

Again. All DTiVos are the same. TiVo made them, and licenses them to other companies. The software is a bit different for the remote and save to vcr between them. Other than that they are equal.

[Hoochster]

Well good to hear that CC will accept adding it to my account. Usually they require it to be running for a year or they bill your CreditCard. but I don't mind paying $5.00 a month to get free TIVO hehe! I am a tech geek and love stuff that does lots of neat things but if there really isn't anything better about the Sony unit over the Phillips then I think that is the route I am going to go especially due to the price. So I will be grabbing one this weekend probably, will be scamming through this board for tips so if anyone has anything else to say about the 2 about being better or anything I am all ears! I appreciate the help. I will start a new thread but also ask in this one, after I buy this what are my first steps on what to do. I assume since I have to activate the card I am going to have to hook it up briefly to the phone line etc. Anything I need to do first? Is there a beginners faq? I am sure if I just read the messages it will prob tell but I like to be told in steps hehe! Want the best of the best!

Thanks for any help.

[TomCrazyCat]

Take a look at:
www.dssforums.ca

Especially the Newbies forum, and the Tivo Forum faq's..

[Hoochster]

That link didn't go?? Is it incorrect? I appreciate the help!

Nevermind, I realized you fatfingered it! :) Manually entered www.dssforums.com.

Will check it out. Very familiar with HackHU site so hope it will give me some info. Thanks bud!

[TomCrazyCat]

I fixed my link.. :)

You misposted it too.. lol :cool:

But, it is a great site as well..

[pink]

as far as phone line .. if you only have one ird on your directv account and you tell them you want to remove that one completely and replace it with your new directivo, you do NOT need the phone line in at all. If you want to add it as a second unit in your home, the majority of the time they will insist you plug it into the phone line and go through some menu prompts with them. This is to ensure you arent giving a card/ird to your neighbor for $5 a month - they want to make sure the primary and secondary units in your house are on the same line. In any case, you only need it in long enough for directv to do their thing, you dont have to have it call in and update with tivo or anything.

[Hoochster]

Hehe link was right just forgot to put a space before my period hehe! Ohh well. Anyone know if I buy the Extended warranty from CC for $24.95 if I could get away with them fixing or replacing the unit if I screw it up?? hehe Just a thought, surely with all of the knowledge to help me I won't but hey a backup strategy doesn't hurt! A big magnet of course before taking it in for repair haha! Almost ordered it online from American Sattelite they had it with MultiSat dish for $199.00 including shipping, but they specify new customers only so don't think they would accept me activating it as a 2nd reciever. Ohh well would rather be able to pick it up and look at it in the store anyways, just won't be able to do anything I guess till I get me a serial cable.

[Hoochster]

Yeah Pink, you are right. I was trying to be semi honest with DTV awhile ago. I bought 4 recievers, selected the MAXXED package they had and added all the extras I could sucks that they didn't have an all you can watch PPV hehe, but anyways added all recievers to the bill and everything was going to pay them 100 something a month don't even remember anymore. 150 or something, anyways of course only 2 of the systems were in my house and 2 were at my farm house. No I am not going to run phone lines to all systems and they do a little check occasionally on the secondary systems to see if they have called in. And since those didn't they deactivated the cards. Tried being semi honest and they wouldn't budge, so fine I told them to cancel it all. Now I pay $31 a month only because 1 of my systems was a Dolby IRD that I bought with an agreement. As soon as that is up imagine I will cancel, except for the fact that I am going to add my tive to it so will have to keep the tivo and that bill for another year hehe. But that is ok. But I was more than willing to pay for most of what I watch not including ppv's. But they wouldn't let me so I told them bye! But yeah I figured I would have to hook the phone line up to activate it. When I do that it won't mess with the tivo yet will it unless I tell it I subscribed to it? Don't want any updates I am not supposed to get that will make it more difficult for me to hack??? Any help appreciated.

Thanks

[pink]

dont worry about it, do whatever it takes to get yourself square with CC (should take less than 30 mins) when you're done, hang up the phone, pull your card, crack open the tivo and join us crazies. (backup the drive in this state before you start hacking around, in case they blow us away and you want to use this thing again in legit mode) You can get the tivo hacks done no matter what version of tivo you are running, the steps are just a bit different along the way. Also, there is no length of service requirement with CC, so you can probably just cancel it after a month.

[Hoochster]

Thanks, thought on the website it mentioned the 12 month thing but either way doesn't bother me to pay them a little something every month for all I get from them hehe! Anyways, is it best to back my drive up right out of the box before even powering it up, or should I do it after activating the card? Or both? Didn't know if it writes anything to the drive after activating the card. And what would happen if I ever used the card in it again. No big deal either way was just going to make the backup and put it on a DAT tape..

Thanks

[IWantMyDTV]

When you buy it from CC, make sure you bug them for the $0.01 Terk dual LNB dish to go with it. Most of the time the salesman forgets (like with me). I just called them up a week later to ask, and they got me one. (And no the Terk is not just for new subs.)