Rewind capability is very limited for a six channel DVR

I got the new Contour 2 box installed at my house.  I realize that the buffering capabilities I had with the previous box are not present in the new box.. The old box could watch one channel, switch to another channel, watch it for a while, and switch back and use rewind to go back and watch what I had missed. With the new box you can only rewind to the point you switched back to the channel, so you cannot go back and watch what you missed. I was also told that if you are watching a channel and press record in the middle of a show, the recording will not include what has already aired. You could do this with the old box as well. 

Is there a setting I am missing or is Contour 2 a downgrade in this respect?