DVR Chatter

Please let us know the comparison after you get a chance to play with the new DVR.

OK.  Here are my first impressions after using this for 3 days.  Installation was a snap.  The software matches the Motorola exactly including 30 second skip.  No changes to remote control.  It just worked.  The first thing I noticed was a definite increase in picture quality.  I was not prepared for that.  This is on a standard definition TV.  The colors are much brighter and the picture is much sharper.  Higher contrast may be what makes it look sharper.  I am going to connect it to my 53 inch rear projection Sony to compare quality.  If it makes the same difference I will trade in my other 6412's for the Pace.  I think it is slightly quieter also.  I haven't had some of the quirky things of the 6412.  For example I can send a command to the 6412 and nothing will happen.  Then I can send it again (pause, FF, etc.) and all of a sudden it catches up to the remote and processes all commands at once.  This happens constantly on multiple 6412's so I know it isn't a remote problem.  Recording and playback so far have been without a hitch. 

Some specs.  The Pace has a 160GB drive so we get extra recording time.  I forgot to measure it but it seems about the same size as the 6412.  Front panel has 4 lights to show which tuner you are playing and which is recording.  The back panel has all the normal audio/video output jacks.  Also 1 USB, 2 firewire, 1 ethernet and 1 SATA for hard drive expansion.  I don't know yet if any of these ports are active.  The USB and ethernet ports are marked for future use but the firewire and SATA are not.  I read someplace that when an external hard drive is added that you just get one large storage space.  You can't tell or control where something is recorded.  There are also IR input and output ports with the output marked for future use.  Here is a link to the user manual if anyone is interested.  http://www.pace.com/media/americas/PDF/ … manual.pdf

After 3 days it gets a positive review.  I will let you know later if it stays that way.  I will also post picture quality comparisons on other TVs.  I would say picture quality was the biggest pleasant surprise.