No more TiVo in the Drucker Household...

Well that is bit of an overstatement since I still have 2 TiVos of the low definition variety, but I did upgrade (or side grade) my HD units to the new DirecTV proprietary HD DVR. So here is my review (basic review but review nonetheless).

The unit is a pretty solid unit. There are some very quality features and differences between the units. Here are the pros and cons.

Pro:
- faster, MUCH faster programming. You can program a season pass with 2 clicks of the record button while it sometimes took my old TiVo minutes to resolve everything.
- the menuing is great. Different from TiVo but pretty intuitive. There is a quick menu that comes up over the image and allows access to the list of recorded programs, and other menus.
- when you go to full menu mode you still are able to watch the video feed via a small PiP type box in the upper right corner.
- much better extended guide data than the old unit.
- most importantly local channels in HD off of the satellite
- built in ethernet port which will hopefully allow some great network functionality
- USB ports as well
- potential for the recording of 3 things at once using the 2 Sat tuners and 1 OTA tuner

Cons:
- buggy software. From what I have seen and read things are improving but the software is still a little quirky/buggy. Sometimes the remote buttons don't do what you think they will and other times they do. One of my units locked up and we had to reset it (losing no programming). Not that surprising.
- no 30 second skip functionality. This is a function that I rarely used (yet many others swear by it) so I am not really all that put out by it not existing.
- no jump-back after fast forwarding. TiVo has a great feature that when you are doing the fast forward through commercials or other things and when you jumped out of the fast forward to standard play it would jump-back a few seconds (the amount of the jump would depend on the speed of FF you were using). The lack of this frustrates me to no end right now. There is jerry-rigged work around but I am hopeful that a software update will improve this.
- no dual live TV buffers. There is 1 90 minute buffer but no ability to switch between tuners. Again not a huge loss to me but frustrating that there aren't 2 45 buffers instead of 1 90.

So there you have it... Really a good unit that all should have if they don't already have an HD TiVo and would rather not put an antenna on their roof.

Whoa Drucker Really Has a Blog?

Been quite a while since I have posted and think that because I am in the heart of the Fall TV Season and Cal Football Season is rolling along I might actually post more than once every 3 months. No guarantees (not that anyone really cares) but I might actually try.

So away we go....

What I Am Watching (and what I think of it):

Sunday (3 hours)-
The Wire - Simply some of the best television I have ever watched. Just a remarkable show in the way they show such complex social issues. Hard threshold of entry if you haven't seen much of it before but god it is remarkable.
The Amazing Race - Yes I am a sucker for reality TV in general but this is as good as network reality TV gets. Compelling things for the racers to have to do. Just good popcorn TV.
The Simpsons- Not nearly as funny as it used to be but still a sucker for the show. There is no way I can purge this out of my diet, ever.
The Family Guy - Funny, crass, well voiced, biting satire, and toilet humor. What more can you ask for?

Monday (3.5 hours)-
Prison Break - Really a silly premise but well produced and acted. Really simple popcorn drama but compelling nonetheless.
How I Met Your Mother - Silly title for a show but really funny. Definitely has its legs in its second season. All of the actors have improved timing. Neil Patrick Harris is just hilarious.
Heroes - Ummmm easily the best of the new shows across all networks. Just riveting. I love this show more than I can express in 3 sentences and look forward to its airing each week. So good! I just wish I really knew what the heck Ali Larter's 'power' is other than blacking out and killing people.
Studio 60 - My love of this show is slowly waining. I like it a lot and love the actors and writing but the show itself just isn't that compelling. I watch it but am not thrilled while doing so. To quote Lee: "meh."

Tuesday(5 hours)-
Gilmore Girls - So yes this makes me a bit of a girl but it is a good show to watch with the wife. Funny, but definitely losing steam in probably its last season.
Veronica Mars - So if GG makes me a girl this makes me a teenage girl? Probably not long for the CW but it is cute and a fill for the lack of funny teen dramas.
Friday Night Lights - I like it. Well produced and comes across more like a movie than TV. With that said, it is highly cliche and I cannot imagine several years of 22 episodes a season where this carries its load.
Law and Order CI and SVU - Yes, 2 shows but same franchise. I really enjoy them still. Both are really well acted so I cannot give them up. I am closer to dropping the original L&O than I am these 2.

Wednesday(3.5 hours)-
Jericho - For some reason because Skeet Ulrich is in this show I am almost embarassed to admit to watching it. But the show itself is good. Interesting backdrop of post apocolyptic US and a small town drama. I dropped it and then picked it back up and am enjoying it but expect that this is the first show to get purged when my TV diet gets too big.
30 Rock - Ok I don't like this show enough to remember to add it to my TiVo (soon to be DirecTV HD DVR) Season Pass list but I am enjoying it. Mostly because Tracy Morgan and Alec Baldwin are wry and funny. But only enough to watch it online, I guess.
Lost - So far what I think is the best season yet. Love how each of the 3 seasons have shown the crash from a different angle. Just remarkable television, ANNNNND with that said, I fear that this might be an X-Files scenario where it is great and interesting but confusing and annoying in that confusion.
The Nine - I like it but am not sold on it. Seems great but there are times where it just drrrraaaaaaggggggs. Not sure what happened in the bank and honestly I am not 100% sure I care.

Thursday(4 hours)-
Survivor - YES another reality show. This season is "meh" but I still come back for more.
My Name is Earl - Unique and quirky and just very funny.
The Office - Honestly I am not sure what I can type and not sound like and understatement or hyperbole. I think this is the best sitcom I have ever watched.
ER - Classic and maybe one of the best seasons in quite some time.
Grey's Anatomy - Maybe the best non-supernatural drama on TV. 'Nuff said.

Friday(1 hour) -
L&O Regular Edition - see above

So there you have it. Drucker reviewed more TV shows than necessary. Totalling 19.5 hours. then add in 1 hour for Top Chef and .5 hours for Real World/Road Rules Challenge, and we have a total of 21 hours of TV. Not that bad considering last year at this time I was watching 24.5 hours.

Stay tuned for a Cal post and a rant about stupid human college football polls.

Go Bears!

Drucker Has a Blog????

Drucker Has a Blog?

New House:
One of the primary reasons for the complete lack of a blog for the past several months is because of the fact that we bought and sold homes and are planning a move.  So that being said, on with the show.

AV Equipment:
In my last blog I had reported what equipment I was planning on buying.  Well of courts that all changed once I priced things and came down to earth.  The story begins with my figuring that I would get a TV that would require running proprietary cables through the wall, but this TV would allow me to just put the hook-ups for each device in the cabinet and only run one cable to the TV.  All-in-all a great idea until I talked to the previous owner of the house that set up the existing equipment.  He placed the existing Tv on a wall that is a dry-wall layer directly on top of cinderblock.  They grooved out an area for the cable to go, then ran the existing cable into the mantle making it next to impossible to run a new cable.  Thankfully the newer AV receivers have high definition video switching capabilities allowing me the single cable option, keeping the existing cable as the single cable and maintaining a media receiver.  So here is the equipment that I decided to get:

• Receiver:  Denon AVR 2807


• TV: Fujitsu P50XTA51US


• Power Conditioner: Monster HTS MKII


• DVD Player: Sony Progressive Scan player


• Game System: Brand new Xbox 360


• Media Streamer: Slingbox (duh)

So there we go.  All this is being installed and set up on the 4th.  Stay tuned.

Exercise:
Thanks to a herniated disc in my neck I am just starting my push-up and sit-up routine.  Again, stay tuned.

TV:
Gotta save something for tomorrow.