Newbie Questions

[theoldwizard]

Hi !

Please excuse me me if these questions have been answered in other places but after several hours of surfing around this excellent web site if have some questions that I would rather be answered by "knowledgeable" 3rd parties instead of DirecTV.

First, I getting tired of my cable company raising their price a couple of times a year and provide less programming on their analog service, so I looking at "alternatives".

I currently have 5 SD sets, but of course am looking to up grade at least one to HD :D

Looking at the DirecTV web site and their prices, their "Choice" package includes

"Free installation"
"No startup costs"
"Up to 4 standard receiver installed free"


So I walk through the menus and select 4 SD receivers, add "$9.99 HD upgrade" and the "Free after Rebate DirecTV Plus DVR" and get to the bottom line.

Why do I have do I have a monthly lease of $19.96 for my "free receivers" ?

Do they really charge $5.99 a month so you can actually use your DVR ?

What other discounts should I be looking for ?

[JDubbs413]

The receivers are free in the aspect that you are getting them for free. However you aren't actually buying them for free, you are leasing them. Thus the lease fee. I know it's complicated.

The $5.99 DVR fee is so you have access to the DVR service on all of your account receivers. If you don't select that your DVR boxes with show "Service Not Purchased" or something like if you were to try and use a DVR feature.

When I signed up, I got my primary leased receiver fee waived. So even though I have four DirecTV receivers, I only pay three $4.99 lease fees per month. Some deals can also get you the DVR access fee waived for a few months.

[Thaedron]

:welcome_s

- You will pay one $5.99 fee per account to get you DVR service, a portion of which certainly goes to support the detailed program data that is requried to support DVR functions.
- You will pay $4.99 fee per receiver (per box regardless of HD/SD/DVR) after your first as a lease fee. Note this used to be called a mirror fee.

[JLucPicard]

The receivers are free in the aspect that you are getting them for free. However you aren't actually buying them for free, you are leasing them. Thus the lease fee. I know it's complicated.

The $5.99 DVR fee is so you have access to the DVR service on all of your account receivers. If you don't select that your DVR boxes with show "Service Not Purchased" or something like if you were to try and use a DVR feature.

When I signed up, I got my primary leased receiver fee waived. So even though I have four DirecTV receivers, I only pay three $4.99 lease fees per month. Some deals can also get you the DVR access fee waived for a few months.
Not to pick on you, JDubbs, but I want to clarify a couple of things for the OP.

theoldwizard,

The free Standard receivers are as stated - you get the equipment at no charge - and they are leased from DirecTV. There are NO monthly equipment leasing charges. There is a fee charged on both leased and owned equipment that mirrors the programming from your primary receiver to all other receivers on your account. Thus there is no a fee "waived" on the primary receiver - that's all included in your package choice. For each additional receiver beyond your primary, there is a mirroring fee that shows as either "Leased Receiver" if mirroring on a leased receiver (which the yours would be) or "Additional Receiver" if mirroring on an owned receiver. These are programming, not equipment, charges.

If you have DVRs on your account (1, 4, 20 - doesn't matter), there is a monthly charge of $5.99 for DVR service that pays for the DVR functionality on your account. It does not allow DVR service on "all receivers", just all DVRs.

If none of your equipment is HD at this time, you do not need to pay the $9.99 HD Access fee. I'm not sure what it is you're referring to as the $9.99 HD upgrade. If that $9.99 is really an HD Upgrade for an HD Receiver instead of one of the SD Receivers, then you would have to pay an addition $9.99 per month for the HD Access package because you have HD equipment. I'm not sure which you were referring to.

[Rolando42]

Hi !

Please excuse me me if these questions have been answered in other places but after several hours of surfing around this excellent web site if have some questions that I would rather be answered by "knowledgeable" 3rd parties instead of DirecTV.

First, I getting tired of my cable company raising their price a couple of times a year and provide less programming on their analog service, so I looking at "alternatives".

I currently have 5 SD sets, but of course am looking to up grade at least one to HD :D

Looking at the DirecTV web site and their prices, their "Choice" package includes

"Free installation"
"No startup costs"
"Up to 4 standard receiver installed free"


So I walk through the menus and select 4 SD receivers, add "$9.99 HD upgrade" and the "Free after Rebate DirecTV Plus DVR" and get to the bottom line.

Why do I have do I have a monthly lease of $19.96 for my "free receivers" ?

Do they really charge $5.99 a month so you can actually use your DVR ?

What other discounts should I be looking for ?

If you go with Premier, the $5.99 DVR fee is waived (included).

If I am doing the math right, you ordered one DVR (e.g., HR21) and 4 SD receivers for your total of 5 TVs. Your Mirror Fee (Lease Fee) is therefore $19.96 ($4.99 x four SD receivers).

I'm not sure if you use all 5 TVs at once, but if you don't you may be able to share one receiver between two TVs as all outputs are active on the receivers.

[Thaedron]

If you go with Premier, the $5.99 DVR fee is waived (included).

Is that still the case? I thought I had read that Premier no longer includes the DVR fee. But I don't subscribe to that package so take my response with a grain of salt.

Edit: According to the Compare Package Features page (can't seem to get a direct link, but it's available off of the Packages page (http://directv.com/DTVAPP/global/comparePackages.jsp?tab=3&assetId=900042)), DVR fee does not appear to included in the Premier package.

[theoldwizard]

I don't what to sound like I'm whinning, but ... :rolleyes:

I get free "programming guide" service (OTA analog and digital as well as analog cable) with SnapStream Beyond TV, so $5.99/month sounds pretty steep !

The "bill of sale" running on the right hand side while adding options on the DirecTV website clearly said "lease", nothing about mirroring. Sounds like another "Watch my right hand while my left dips into your wallet !"

I don't understand the term "mirroring".

If I bought 4 D12-xxx (say from DirecTV dealer on eBay) would I still be charge the $19.96/month ?

[theoldwizard]

Attached is the "bill of sale"

[JLucPicard]

The "mirroring" is how they provide the programming that you have subscribed to to all the boxes beyond the primary box without you having an account for each box. If we assume your DVR is your primary box, then it will cost you $4.99 per month for each of the SD receivers to have the programming package you subscribed to 'mirrored' on those boxes. Because your boxes are all leased, the verbiage that shows up on your bill that represents this mirroring fee will be "Leased Receiver Fee" or as is noted on the Bill of Sale, "Lease Fee". As I mentioned before, this isn't really an equipment fee, but DirecTV decided to use the verbiage they did, even though it can be confusing.

If you happen to go and purchase used SD Receivers (anything new these days will be leased) such as on eBay, even though these would be "owned" instead of "leased", there would still be the $4.99 per month 'mirroring' charge to provide the programming to those boxes - on the bill it would be denoted as "Additional Receiver Fee" instead of "Leased Receiver Fee". No bait-and-switch, just an unfortunate naming convention.

There is more to the DVR service fee than strictly guide data, though the guide data is really what drives most of the recording functionality. The $5.99 is for the DVR functionality itself, as well as development/depolyment of upgrades, etc. For new/recent TiVo subscribers, this DVR service costs about $12 a month for the first unit, and maybe some discounted (about half) charge for each additional, so $5.99 for the entire account isn't really a bad price even if you only have one DVR.

And just a quick note building on a comment I made above, if you buy receivers off of eBay from what amounts to an on-line dealer, most likely these would be leased units the same as if you bought them from DirecTV or Best Buy or any other retailer. There are individuals on eBay who are selling units that they actually own, but many more of the units you will see there are leases as well.

I hope that helps answer some of your questions, and I see that I forgot the most important message that I wanted to get across -

Welcome to DBSTalk!!! :welcome_s

[CJTE]

The free Standard receivers are as stated - you get the equipment at no charge - and they are leased from DirecTV. There are NO monthly equipment leasing charges. There is a fee charged on both leased and owned equipment that mirrors the programming from your primary receiver to all other receivers on your account. Thus there is no a fee "waived" on the primary receiver - that's all included in your package choice. For each additional receiver beyond your primary, there is a mirroring fee that shows as either "Leased Receiver" if mirroring on a leased receiver (which the yours would be) or "Additional Receiver" if mirroring on an owned receiver. These are programming, not equipment, charges.


...
So am I special that my bill shows
Primary Leased Receiver fee 4.99 (0.35 tax)
Primary Leased Receiver credit -4.99

?

[JLucPicard]

There are states where they actually tax the "Leased Receiver" charges (accounting technicallity thing - something about the fact that DirecTV still technically owns the equipment and takes depreciation on it or something). In those cases, DirecTV will book the primary like that - actually show a charge so the tax will calculate on it, then credit the $4.99 charge back. Thank your state for that one.

If you happen to have any owned receivers on your account, if you take a look at the tax charge I would bet that it doesn't include 35 cents tax on those receivers that show "Additional Receiver" fees.

[ktk0117]

...
So am I special that my bill shows
Primary Leased Receiver fee 4.99 (0.35 tax)
Primary Leased Receiver credit -4.99

?

No I don't pay for my primary receiver either, he needs to call them and do this over the phone instead. I've had issues doing things online, so Ion;t bother anymore unless I'm canceling a premium channel.

[gargoyle8]

i am new to D* as well, maybe there should be a thread for people like us. i also have a question that has probably already been asked. i was a dish man and switched to D* this week because i like their programming packages. i miss my vip622. did i screw up? the HR21-600 is lacking in so many ways. i have never had a tivo but would consider getting one. what i miss most about the vip622 is (1) PIP, i like to watch 2 channels simultaniously (2) i need to scan the channel guide a lot faster and want more custom menus (3) no ATSC tuner, all my locals are in hd and i can recieve them all. is there any hope for me? i was wondering if tivo will work with D*, how much it will all cost (including any monthly fees) and if tivo has the options i am looking for. can anybody please help? also, would the tivo replace my HR21-600 or would it be an add-on ?

[Davenlr]

No HD Tivo available for Directv.
HR21 DVR has a OTA tuner in the works. Don't know the release date. All Series 1 and 2 Tivo's work with Directv receivers using the IR blaster, but SVideo is the best connection they can record.

[houskamp]

i am new to D* as well, maybe there should be a thread for people like us. i also have a question that has probably already been asked. i was a dish man and switched to D* this week because i like their programming packages. i miss my vip622. did i screw up? the HR21-600 is lacking in so many ways. i have never had a tivo but would consider getting one. what i miss most about the vip622 is (1) PIP, i like to watch 2 channels simultaniously (2) i need to scan the channel guide a lot faster and want more custom menus (3) no ATSC tuner, all my locals are in hd and i can recieve them all. is there any hope for me? i was wondering if tivo will work with D*, how much it will all cost (including any monthly fees) and if tivo has the options i am looking for. can anybody please help? also, would the tivo replace my HR21-600 or would it be an add-on ?
1st no tivo...
second no PIP.. but it some have tv's that can do this with 2 HRs connected
third, seach for AM21 here.. it's the ota tuners for the HR21 series.. coming soon..
fourth check that model#.. open the access card door and look at what it says there..

[cab2]

Hopefully, you folks wont beat up on me too bad, I'm in a similar place as the original poster. And a definate newbie here. I had Dish Network, about 8 to 10 years ago, and much has changed since then.

I'm currently using TWC in Austin, tx. I'm getting soooo ready to switch. My big gotcha is that I have the high end S3 tivo and love it. Thats the only thing holding me to cable. I even did the lifetime service. Ugh. But TWC is finally getting to me.

Some quick questions if I could.
If you buy the recievers out right, do you have to commit to a contract of some # of months or years? (If I switch, I'd like to not be tied to a contract. I do know about the mirror / lease fee)
Are the new Pro HDDVR Recievers (HR21?) 199 to buy, or what is the cost.
Anyone know how the interface of the pro dvr compares to the tivo s3? I know things like suggestions and what not don't exist. Not a big issue. I'm more concerned with the Season passes.
What do they charge a new customer to install now? e.g. wiring up the house.
I assume you still need to plug a phone line into the recievers? 1? or all?
Is it better to do the deal on-line, or with a local reseller / agent? Where's the best deal?
Anyone able to compare the HD quality of D* vs TWC?

As best as I can tell, I might break even cost wise between TWC and D* but would get more HD channels with D* than I can with TWC. IF I could, I'd only watch HD. I almost never watch live tv anymore. (tivo spoiled)

Appologies up front for rehashing what is prob often talked about, but I did spend a couple days scanning through the boards as a lurker and then joined to ask this questions.

thanks in advance
cab

[MIAMI1683]

Hopefully, you folks wont beat up on me too bad, I'm in a similar place as the original poster. And a definate newbie here. I had Dish Network, about 8 to 10 years ago, and much has changed since then.

I'm currently using TWC in Austin, tx. I'm getting soooo ready to switch. My big gotcha is that I have the high end S3 tivo and love it. Thats the only thing holding me to cable. I even did the lifetime service. Ugh. But TWC is finally getting to me.

Some quick questions if I could.
If you buy the recievers out right, do you have to commit to a contract of some # of months or years? (If I switch, I'd like to not be tied to a contract. I do know about the mirror / lease fee)
Are the new Pro HDDVR Recievers (HR21?) 199 to buy, or what is the cost.
Anyone know how the interface of the pro dvr compares to the tivo s3? I know things like suggestions and what not don't exist. Not a big issue. I'm more concerned with the Season passes.
What do they charge a new customer to install now? e.g. wiring up the house.
I assume you still need to plug a phone line into the recievers? 1? or all?
Is it better to do the deal on-line, or with a local reseller / agent? Where's the best deal?
Anyone able to compare the HD quality of D* vs TWC?

As best as I can tell, I might break even cost wise between TWC and D* but would get more HD channels with D* than I can with TWC. IF I could, I'd only watch HD. I almost never watch live tv anymore. (tivo spoiled)

Appologies up front for rehashing what is prob often talked about, but I did spend a couple days scanning through the boards as a lurker and then joined to ask this questions.

thanks in advance
cab

First if you buy your recievers I believe you will still have to have a contract, and there will still be a fee for every box on the acct. except the first one.

Second. The HR21 pro is out, but I am not sure on the price. I believe about $1000. That could be a little high. The HR21-700/200/100 are also out. You can get them for a fee of $199. It's still a lease though. So when your not a sub any longer it's still theirs. The season passes work well for me.

Installation should be free also, but it doesn't include wall drops. It includes the dish and etc. but if you need " a custom install : you will have to pay for the drops. You could always do that part your self if you are handy.

D*'s HD is awesome. There's also a new sat. going up on monday. Now is the time to get in so come on you won't be dissapointed. Have fun!

D-

[gregjones]

Is that still the case? I thought I had read that Premier no longer includes the DVR fee. But I don't subscribe to that package so take my response with a grain of salt.

Edit: According to the Compare Package Features page (can't seem to get a direct link, but it's available off of the Packages page (http://directv.com/DTVAPP/global/comparePackages.jsp?tab=3&assetId=900042)), DVR fee does not appear to included in the Premier package.

Just to make sure everyone knows, DirecTV says that they stopped including the DVR fee as part of Premier as of July 2007. I signed back up in September and do get this lovely fee in addition to Premier.

[JLucPicard]

Hopefully, you folks wont beat up on me too bad, I'm in a similar place as the original poster. And a definate newbie here. I had Dish Network, about 8 to 10 years ago, and much has changed since then.

I'm currently using TWC in Austin, tx. I'm getting soooo ready to switch. My big gotcha is that I have the high end S3 tivo and love it. Thats the only thing holding me to cable. I even did the lifetime service. Ugh. But TWC is finally getting to me.

Some quick questions if I could.
If you buy the recievers out right, do you have to commit to a contract of some # of months or years? (If I switch, I'd like to not be tied to a contract. I do know about the mirror / lease fee)
Are the new Pro HDDVR Recievers (HR21?) 199 to buy, or what is the cost.
Anyone know how the interface of the pro dvr compares to the tivo s3? I know things like suggestions and what not don't exist. Not a big issue. I'm more concerned with the Season passes.
What do they charge a new customer to install now? e.g. wiring up the house.
I assume you still need to plug a phone line into the recievers? 1? or all?
Is it better to do the deal on-line, or with a local reseller / agent? Where's the best deal?
Anyone able to compare the HD quality of D* vs TWC?

As best as I can tell, I might break even cost wise between TWC and D* but would get more HD channels with D* than I can with TWC. IF I could, I'd only watch HD. I almost never watch live tv anymore. (tivo spoiled)

Appologies up front for rehashing what is prob often talked about, but I did spend a couple days scanning through the boards as a lurker and then joined to ask this questions.

thanks in advance
cab
cab,

Welcome to DBSTalk!!! :welcome_s

If you do wind up making the switch, I think selling an S3 TiVo with lifetime service on it will get you an OK price. Still tough to just walk away from it.


To actually buy the receivers outright without the commitment attached, I believe you would have to pay somewhere between $500 and $750 for them (them being an HR20 or HR21). If I'm not mistaken, I don't think the HR21 Pros are meant to be for regular customers - maybe for commercial accounts(?), but I could certainly be wrong about that.

The commitments for DVRs are 24 months, but the early cancellation fee is pro-rated at $20 for each month remaining on your commitment. If you're thinking you may be around a year or so before you would be looking at a cancellation, it may be more cost effective to just lease instead of own and buy out the remainder of your commitment period. Just food for thought.

[HDTVsportsfan]

Here is a thread to the First Look for the HR21 Pro.


http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=120792

I believe it is available to anyone however it can only be obtained from a select few high end resellers is my understanding.

If you buy the receiver outright, there is no commit contract.

[Rich]

Hi !Please excuse me me if these questions have been answered in other places but after several hours of surfing around this excellent web site if have some questions that I would rather be answered by "knowledgeable" 3rd parties instead of DirecTV.

A few weeks ago I called Cablevision, Dish and FIOS and compared their price structures compared to what I pay for D*. At the time I had 12 DVRs active. Dish wouldn't give me that many DVRs no matter what. FIOS, same thing. Cablevision would be prohibitively expensive for what I wanted.

Bottom line: You get more bang for your buck with D*, especially if you have several DVRs.

I hated the HR20s when I got mine in late 2006. I am down to two TiVos in the house and six 20/21s and the 20/21s are my DVR of choice. I've been thru Ultimate TV DVRs, TiVos and now the 20/21s. I'm quite content with the 20/21s.

Just be aware, there is a rather steep and disturbing learning curve you have to go thru with the 20/21s, but they are worth it. Read the threads that interest you and pick out individuals who sound like they know enough to help you and PM them. Worked for me. Have patience.

Rich

[Rich]

...
So am I special that my bill shows
Primary Leased Receiver fee 4.99 (0.35 tax)
Primary Leased Receiver credit -4.99

?

Everybody gets that on their bill. That's an accounting thing. My wife's an accountant and they tend to make everything complicated to justify their existence. What it means is that they have to account for the primary receiver so first they charge you for it and then they credit you for it. Seem stupid to you? Seems that way to me, but what can you do?

What I find odd about the bill is that everything is listed under "Access Card". Receivers, program packages, protection plan, etc. And of course receivers.

Rich

[rudeney]

Everybody gets that on their bill. That's an accounting thing. My wife's an accountant and they tend to make everything complicated to justify their existence. What it means is that they have to account for the primary receiver so first they charge you for it and then they credit you for it. Seem stupid to you? Seems that way to me, but what can you do?


They do this so they can charge you tax on the fee. Sales and use taxes are actually very complex. Many jurisdictions have begun to charge tax on “discounts”. What this means is that they want the tax on the undiscounted price. This started with coupons and “instant rebates”, but is slowly being “tested” even on negotiated prices. I am Director of Financial Systems for a medium-sized vertical market software company and I spend hours each week working on sales tax issues because we deal with all 50 states. I actually had Tennessee tell me that I owed tax on the full retail price even though we negotiated a 35% discount to the customer. Getting audited for tax collections is not a pretty thing.

[Rich]

They do this so they can charge you tax on the fee.

That makes sense. My wife agreed with you, but added that it's commonly done for a number of reasons. I changed the subject before she had a chance to really get going. American English and Electrical English I have no problem speaking and comprehending, but Accountant English is really mind boggling. Surprisingly, you seem to have written this post so that it is easy to understand. Kudos.


Sales and use taxes are actually very complex. Many jurisdictions have begun to charge tax on “discounts”. What this means is that they want the tax on the undiscounted price. This started with coupons and “instant rebates”, but is slowly being “tested” even on negotiated prices.

Yeah, I knew that was happening. Jersey still bases it's sale tax on the final sales price. But, I'm sure that will change soon. Yet another reason to buy year old cars.

I am Director of Financial Systems for a medium-sized vertical market software company and I spend hours each week working on sales tax issues because we deal with all 50 states.

Have you noticed a tendency to reduce the number of people in most "financial departments" in companies and corporations? Seems as if the computers have finally made a really large impact on personnel in the last couple years. I expected that to happen in the mid '90s.

By the way, have you ever noticed that very few people understand the significance of the title, "Director"? For those of you who don't know, it's way up the food chain. My sister-in-law is a VP for a large financial company and makes half of what my wife does (my wife's a "Director" too).

Rich

[Rich]

Here is a thread to the First Look for the HR21 Pro.


http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=120792

I believe it is available to anyone however it can only be obtained from a select few high end resellers is my understanding.

If you buy the receiver outright, there is no commit contract.

I read that link when it was first posted, actually I went thru it rather quickly, just looked at the parts that interested me.

Aside from the larger HD and the ability to use it in a "rack", what is really different about it that justifies the rather high price I have seen quoted on various posts? I've seen posts that listed the price as $1000. Can that be right? What am I missing? Is that the price to "own" it or lease it? Can't be the lease price, can it?

Rich

[Ken S]

1. The receivers are not free. They charge $4.99/month to lease them in addition to a commitment on your part that you will remain a customer for at least 18 months. The lease fee on the first receiver is included in the programming charges. It's very difficult to actually BUY a DirecTV receiver and if you do they will still charge you $4.99/month and call it a "mirroring" fee (programming mirrored on all receivers).

2. If you get a DVR you must pay $5.99/month to use the DVR functions and the programming commitment is 24 months.

3. If you get an HD receiver you also must pay a $9.99/month HD Access fee and the programming commitment is 24 months.

If you cancel service at anytime DirecTV may require you to return all of the receivers.

If you cancel the service prior to finishing your programming commitment DirecTV will charge you an Early Termination fee.

All DirecTV receivers come with a 90 day warranty. After that you are responsible for any repairs/replacement. However, they have been doing swap outs after the 90 days with refurb receivers...this may restart your programming commitment.

There may be a charge for the install of the satellite dish if you require something more than what they consider "standard". The installer will let you know.




Hi !

Please excuse me me if these questions have been answered in other places but after several hours of surfing around this excellent web site if have some questions that I would rather be answered by "knowledgeable" 3rd parties instead of DirecTV.

First, I getting tired of my cable company raising their price a couple of times a year and provide less programming on their analog service, so I looking at "alternatives".

I currently have 5 SD sets, but of course am looking to up grade at least one to HD :D

Looking at the DirecTV web site and their prices, their "Choice" package includes

"Free installation"
"No startup costs"
"Up to 4 standard receiver installed free"


So I walk through the menus and select 4 SD receivers, add "$9.99 HD upgrade" and the "Free after Rebate DirecTV Plus DVR" and get to the bottom line.

Why do I have do I have a monthly lease of $19.96 for my "free receivers" ?

Do they really charge $5.99 a month so you can actually use your DVR ?

What other discounts should I be looking for ?

[DishCSR]

Hi !


I currently have 5 SD sets, but of course am looking to up grade at least one to HD :D

Looking at the DirecTV web site and their prices, their "Choice" package includes

"Free installation"
"No startup costs"
"Up to 4 standard receiver installed free"


So I walk through the menus and select 4 SD receivers, add "$9.99 HD upgrade" and the "Free after Rebate DirecTV Plus DVR" and get to the bottom line.

Why do I have do I have a monthly lease of $19.96 for my "free receivers" ?

Do they really charge $5.99 a month so you can actually use your DVR ?

What other discounts should I be looking for ?

first of all, welcome,,,did you choose an hd or hd-dvr recvr?, it's not really indicated in your post, just the reference to 9.99 hd upgrade, which is the hd programming not the recvr, an hd recvr would be 99.00 or free with an instant rebate, hd-dvr would be 199.00 or 99.00 with an instant rebate. either would give you a 2 yr committment, since you mentioned dvr service, i'm assuming you either ordered a sd dvr or hd-dvr, can you please clairify this. Just ordering the 9.99 hd upgrade (which is programming) does not automatically get you an hd recvr. Since you definately indicate you ordered 4 standard recvrs, i'm going to assume you ordered an hd-dvr , actually i really don't think the website would allow you to pick the hd programming without having and hd recvr in your order. Anyway, the 19.96 additional recvr fee is for the 4 additional leased recvrs you chose...the standard recvrs are free, (i.e. your're not paying 69.00 @ for the recvrs) but the programming on each add'l recvr is not, that's the 4.99 additional recvr fee , so many customers do not understand this. If the standard recvrs were not free , your cost of ordering 4 standard recvrs and an hd-dvr would be 69.00 x4 + 199.00 for the hd-dvr +tax. instead of just 199.00 +tax for the hd-dvr or 99.00 +tax with a 100.00 instant rebate,,,

If you don't like to lease equipment, you can choose to pay full price, with no committment, however the instant rebate is not available this way,,,full price to own 4 standards, 149.00 @ , hd-dvr 499.00 +tax (reduced on 01/10/08 from 749.00)
total to own 1095.00 +tax

you would still pay 4.99 for the 4 additional recvrs though, like jluc pointed out so well

[DishCSR]

1. The receivers are not free. They charge $4.99/month to lease them in addition to a commitment on your part that you will remain a customer for at least 18 months. The lease fee on the first receiver is included in the programming charges. It's very difficult to actually BUY a DirecTV receiver and if you do they will still charge you $4.99/month and call it a "mirroring" fee (programming mirrored on all receivers).

2. If you get a DVR you must pay $5.99/month to use the DVR functions and the programming commitment is 24 months.

3. If you get an HD receiver you also must pay a $9.99/month HD Access fee and the programming commitment is 24 months.

If you cancel service at anytime DirecTV may require you to return all of the receivers.

If you cancel the service prior to finishing your programming commitment DirecTV will charge you an Early Termination fee.

All DirecTV receivers come with a 90 day warranty. After that you are responsible for any repairs/replacement. However, they have been doing swap outs after the 90 days with refurb receivers...this may restart your programming commitment.

There may be a charge for the install of the satellite dish if you require something more than what they consider "standard". The installer will let you know.


leased recvrs are always covered, and replacement will not renew your committment,,what's not covered after 90 days is the 19.95 shipping fee to ship the replacement, unless you have the pro plan.

[DishCSR]

If you go with Premier, the $5.99 DVR fee is waived (included).

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not anymore, i believe either july 07 or oct 07 the dvr fee is no longer included with the prmr