HD or SD receiver?

[Funwith4kids]

Considering returning to D*.......have had a few posts trying to understand the changes from last year - appreciate all the info as I figure this out.

For SD TV's should I purchase (lease) H20/H21s vs the R's? I have read the HD channels can be routed to SD TVs. This gives the SD TV all SD and HD channels, albeit not in High Def. Is this true?

If I went with the free SD receivers and purchase a new HD TV to replace a SD TV, will D* allow me to get rid of SD receiver and replace with HD receiver? At what cost? Also, will my 2 yr commitment start over?

TIA

[Ken984]

If you want only one HD receiver and it doesn't need to be a DVR, you can probably get that free, along with 2 or 3 SD receivers. If you want HD on all tvs then youo will get one free and the others will run $99 each. Yes the HD box has SD outputs that are live all the time.

[Stuart Sweet]

My advice, and it's nothing more than that...

I'd go ahead and get HD receivers, because it seems like HDTVs are just getting so darn affordable, that you'll really want to get one soon, and at that point you'll want HD receivers but won't be able to get as much of a deal.

[boba]

Current promotion is one HD receiver free after instant rebate. $99 for lease upgrade on all additional HD receivers or free basic receivers. Currently after 1 year as a customer you can upgrade your receivers at $99 for the HD receiver and $299 for the HD DVR. Upgrades may get special offers the longer you are a customer.

HD receivers have no RF (CH3/4) outputs, only composite, component and HDMI outs.

[JerryElbow]

My advice, and it's nothing more than that...

I'd go ahead and get HD receivers, because it seems like HDTVs are just getting so darn affordable, that you'll really want to get one soon, and at that point you'll want HD receivers but won't be able to get as much of a deal.

Ditto on that. I just made the switch from cable to DirecTV a couple of months ago. I bought one HD DVR and one SD DVR as I had one HDTV and one SDTV. I got home, thought about it and figured, "Why in the world am I spending anything at all at what amounts to an obsolete technology? I'll eventually replace the old SDTV with a cheap HDTV and then I'll have to buy a new DVR for it and have the upstairs rewired to pass the two cables that the HD DVR needs rather than the single one the SD DVR needs." So I took the unopened SD DVR back and swapped it for another HD DVR. And, a couple of weeks later, I bought a no-name, direct-view 32" CRT 1080i HDTV from Best Buy for $350. It's nowhere near as good as my 50" DLP with LED light engine Samsung set down in the home theater but it is WAY better than the 21" SDTV it replaced! And now I can kick my wife upstairs to watch her recorded Oprah and whatever up there while I get to watch some great HD movies on the big set! It's a win-win situation, baby!

[Doug Brott]

Yes, if you can get the HD receiver now, I'd do that .. If the cost of doing so seems too high then the SD receivers are a good alternative.