Sony SAT-T60 DirecTV Receiver With TiVo

By Grant Clauser
A short time ago, when hard disk recorders first hit the market, users were thrilled with the newfound power they had over TV viewing. However, the early hard disk recorders proved bulky to fit into a crowded entertainment center and sometimes time-consuming and difficult to connect and set up. Thankfully, new combination products have appeared to make life a little easier for TV addicts.

For folks who haven't been paying attention to the evolution in hard disk recorders, also called digital video recorders, a brief description is in order. Like VCRs, digital video recorders are devices designed for recording and playing back TV programs. But unlike VCRs, digital video recorders, such as products bearing the TiVo or Replay brand names, record programs digitally onto hard disk drives. Depending on the size of the hard disk and the compression level or video quality of the recording, they can store from just a few hours up to 60 hours of programs. Instead of programming recordings by entering start and stop times, the user selects shows from the on-screen program guide or searches for programs through saved program indexes and search features built into the unit. A very popular feature is the ability to stop live TV with the press of a button, much like pausing a DVD or VCR.

Previously, most digital video recorders needed to be hooked up to some signal source, such as a cable or satellite box, or directly to an antenna. The exception was the original Echostar DishPlayer, which combined a small hard drive with a DishNetwork satellite receiver. The DishPlayer was a good first attempt but poorly implemented.

Recently TiVo digital video recorders have been fused to DirecTV receivers by two companies, Sony and Philips (which introduced the first TiVo). A similar product, called UltimateTV, will also be available this year. For this review, we looked at the Sony SAT-T60 combination TiVo and DirecTV box.

The T60 has a more refined look and feel to it, in both design and function, than TiVo-only products of the recent past. Being a satellite receiver, it features more buttons on the front than plain TiVos, but there's nothing surprising there. The back panel, however, does sport a surprise or two. The first is the inclusion of a Dolby Digital output jack. This is the first time I've seen a Dolby Digital output on a TiVo, and it's a welcome inclusion. With stand-alone TiVos, owners of Dolby Digital satellite receivers were forced to revert back to their old stereo jacks if they wanted to record surround sound with their video. Part of the problem with the earlier products, I think, was the fact that they digitally compressed everything that came into them, and adding 5.1 audio tracks made tight compression difficult. Also, the fact that there were three quality or compression settings complicated matters. The T60 circumvents that problem by not compressing anything in the box. Rather, it records all audio and video signals at the compression rate at which DirecTV sends it. What that does for video and audio recording is maintain the quality of the program from dish to TV with no compromises.