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Just got FiOS installed today and was given a horrible DVR. Is this normal?

The box is a Motorola QIP6416-2. After an endless installation, I finally got to sit down and play with my new service and was shocked that:

The DVR guide was not in HD. It's pillarboxed, fuzzy and very hard to read.
The performance of the interface is glacial. It often chokes during usage, queuing up button presses then performing them all at once. Just flipping through the guide is painful.
The signal is limited to 1080i. I'm probably just mistaken, but I swear I read that FiOS was 1080p.
The picture is not particularly crisp despite what Verizon claims in its adverts. The HD channels I looked at had a softness to them (though no pixelation).
The guide itself is terribly designed, just an awful, awful user experience. I can't believe I'm saying that after coming from Time Warner Cable's DVR!
A quick Google search turned up complaints about this DVR from 2010; that's like 15 years in technology!

I spoke to a Verizon rep and he said that I can upgrade to a 7216 (He offered this VERY reluctanlty and insisted he had to justify it by saying my current DVR was defective. **bleep**?), but he swore up and down that all of the above issues would exist on all boxes. He also mentioned the ability to pay an upgrade fee for a 7232 500GB box, but said it would only buy more storage and not better performance.

Any suggestions or advice about the various models and which I should be looking to get?

So far, not a great experience with FiOS, I'm disappointed.

Comments

CRobGauth

What package did you buy?

Because I know Ultimate allows for free upgrade as some of the channels need the 72XX series DVRs.

And I beleive most the 7216s have been upgraded to 500Gb.

FIOS is not anything in resoltuon.

It all depends on the content.

And I don't think any content provider has 1080P content.

I assume you are using either component or HDMI to connect to your TV.

And you are only comparing it to HD content.

Try different settings on your TV to see how they work out.

Most people are pleased with the picture quality (I know I am).

All of that being said, I do agree that getting an older model is disheartening.

JohnCF

I would press to get the 7232 just for the added storage but you are ony now discovering what the rest of us had had to live with:

Obsolete dvr technology with a faint hint of a new system that may or may not rollout this fall. (VMS1100)

I use an external hard disk on my 7232 in order to record more than one week of hd programming.

Yes, the interface is slow and does not measure up to the calibre of Tivo/Dish/DirecTV offereings 5 years ago.

lem0nayde1

Sad, but not atypical for these conglomerate media companies. I'm surprised (not really) they don't realize that user experience is key in a world with Apple TV, Roku, Tivo and a host of mobile apps that are far more versatile and easier to use. Ironically, even Verizon's own mobile app is easier to use.

They're sending me the 7216 as a replacement. I'll bump up to the 7232 (which they charge for!) if need be, though I doubt it'll improve the awful interface.

You say you connect an external disk — I've heard mixed things about that working. I'd like to do that as well. Can you ellaborate on your setup?

Thanks much!

JohnCF

The 7232 is just a 7216 with the 500GB drive instead of the 160GB drive.

The external drive feature allows you to connect an external hard drive to your DVR. This uses eSATA as the connecting technology and requires you to use a 3.5" drive that uses an external power source.

It is somewhat sensitive aboout the eSATA cable that is used to connect the external drive to the DVR and I wen through 4 different cables until I found a heavey duty, insulated cable on Amazon that is working well for me.

When you activate the external drive feature on your dvr, it requires a reboot, which it should do itself. It then connects the drive, formats it, and then transfers all drive responsibility to the external drive. You can still access the internal drive if you have any recordings on it, but you will not be able to record to the internal drive while operating with an external drive active.

I use a 1.5TB Seagate drive and I am able to record 240 hours of HD programming. You can supposedly use a larger drive, but the DVR will split the drive into multiple partitions and only use one of those partitions. Either 1.5 or 2 TB is the maximum, I think.

The internal drive is more than sufficient if you record SD (non high definition) Programming. However, I prefer the HD programming and need more space than the internal drive can offer.

lem0nayde1

Yeah, I'm all about HD. This is great info, thanks a lot!

tns2

@JohnCF wrote:
The 7232 is just a 7216 with the 500GB drive instead of the 160GB drive.
...

Nope. The 7232 has more memory (although the same size drive), has a faster CPU and newer chipsets. It is also "greener" using less power.

Also most 7216's now going out have 500gb drives instead of the original 160bg. And probably all are refurbished rather than new.

lem0nayde1

Just wanted to chime in one last time to let everyone know the outcome.

After speaking with an intelligent customer service rep using Verizon's online chat, they happily returned my 6416 for a 7216. The process was painless, the new box came quickly and with a pre-paid UPS label to return the original at no charge.

The DVR is labeled: HD DVR QIP 7216 P2 500GB on a sticker on the front panel. The bottom of the box also has a UPC and several other stickets with: QIP7216P2. There doesn't seem to be any way in system info to verify the hard drive size, so I'll have to take it at its word.

Other benefits of the box that counter the claims of Verizon's poorly-informed rep:

The on-screen guide is 16:9 and in HD, making it far more useable
I find the performance smoother, quicker and without the prior's bugs
The picture feels crisper, though this may be in my head

Unfortunately, the interface is still a horribly-designed nightmare, but I can live with it now that I can at least read the text from my couch.

After all of this hullabaloo and Verizon's denial that I needed a box upgrade I realized, much to my chagrin, that there is a menu item in the onscreen menu (under Customer Service) that checks your DVR and—if you have the 6416—automatically sets up a replacement for you. You can find the menu here:

Thanks again for all of your feedback.

Joe

tns2

7216p2's are the refurbished 7216's with 500GB drives.

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