Am I Doing The Right Thing?

[scoobybri]

I was a dedicated dtv customer from 2000-2006. I had 2 hacked DirecTivos and 2 regular boxes and was happy with the equipment and customer service. But at the end of 2006, I decided I wanted to go HD (and was not willing to give up DVR service) so I called dtv to see what they could do for me. $300 upfront for the privilege of leasing an HR20. As a person who was used to owning my equipment, I was appalled. I would have paid $300 for an HD DVR, but to spend that kind of money for something I had to give back to dtv if I cancelled service wasn't gonna happen. So C* got my business. Yeah, their HD DVR is junk, but it cost me nothing upfront.

Fast forward to present. C*'s HD lineup is dragging way behind dtv (for my programming package, about 25 channels vs. 50 channels.) While C* spends most of their budget on pushing digital telephone, dtv had added a ton of HD channels. So I call dtv and see what they can do for me since I would be a returning customer. To get 2 HD DVRs (and reusing my DirecTivo boxes for the other 2 rooms), after service rebates, it's going to cost me about $90 out of pocket...and it's going to cost me about $20 less a month for the programming than C*.

Seems like a win-win, huh? I get dtv back (and out from under the thumb of C*) and get my HD DVRs for a decent price. BUT!!!! I am looking at these forums and you guys are scaring the heck out of me with all of the issues with the hardware and customer service. Glitches galore, dead replacement boxes, brick-headed customer service reps. I know, you might be tempted to move this thread to another forum, but I think it's applicable here because I am specifically worried about committing my 2 main viewing tvs to these HD boxes which seem to be randomly flaky and have bad customer service backing them up. I am tech saavy and have never had to have someone other than me install my dtv service (until now) and I am used to the occasional glitch from every DVR I have ever had. But to commit to this for 2 years? I am having second thoughts.

Installation is tomorrow. Am I doing the right thing or should I be sticking with C* or should I go to the other D*? Help...quickly!

Scooby

[tcusta00]

Stick with it - I recently came back to DirecTV after a short stint with Comcast and couldn't be happier. I have two HR21s and haven't had a major issue with either one, except for a couple of blank recordings months ago, which they seem to have fixed (At least with my boxes). I'm also actively participating in the CE program, which is great for a technophile like yourself - check out the Cutting Edge section of these forums for more info.

Remember, the people with the problems tend to be the loudest. Good luck in whatever you decide, and welcome!

:welcome_s

[davring]

Two HR20's, one almost two years old and the other closing in on a year. No major issues. I think I have had to reboot one and the other missed one recording. I don't consider that to be troublesome. Make certain the sat strengths are good before the installer leaves, poor dish alignment accounts for most problems customers have, IMHO. Sat 103c(national HD) make certain signal strengths are upper 80's at the very least and you will be good to go. Enjoy and Welcome to DBSTalk!

[Thaedron]

IMO, you are doing the right thing. There are issues, yes. However I think the majority of users are mostly happy.

Are my DirecTV HD DVRs perfect, no, they are not. Do they generally do what they are supposed to and server their purpose in life, yes.

The HR2Xs are NOT a DirecTivo. However, I've come to prefer them overall to my Tivo units. They have access to all the HD programming and also have some nice features that Tivo does not. The Tivo is IMO still the "gold standard" for always recording what you want, when you want it. However, the HR2Xs are close and the issues that I have experienced are with highly repetitive shows (older shows in syndication or kids shows).

[GregLee]

But I suggest you keep the installers there until you're satisfied it's all really working. They're going to want to get your signature and leave as fast as possible ...

[Bevostein]

Remember you are reading a forum where people come when they are having a problem. Think of how many HR2x's are in service compared to the activity on this board. Pretty insignificant % I suspect. Not saying that someone's problem with their unit is insignificant, its just that happy customers don't seek these forums out just to post things like "hey my unit is working fine".

I personally have three HR21-100s. Got them in March (all for free). For the most part they have been trouble free. I have had them all freeze up twice (wouldn't power on or respond to the front panel buttons). Both times it was after severe thunderstorms rolling thru the are. I had a service tech tell me if they loose signal for a long time they power down. I don't know if that is correct and it sounds a bit fishy to me. Regardless a red button reboot restored the units.

I have had one missed recording and that was a recording I scheduled over the internet. That feature is still "beta" and they discloses that sometimes that will not work.

My only complaints are the remote response time is sometimes a little slow and there is no DLB.

Other than that, no problems. I use the VOD and Mediashare. Picture is great and as you know the HD channel offering is great and getting better.

Go for it....

[Sirshagg]

The HR2x receivers are fine. There are occasional issues but they are fairly rare. For the most part I think these units still have a bit of a bad reputation from when they were first released years ago.

As for customer service - it sucks, but I can't imagine it's any better/worse than any other mega huge company including C*.

Do keep in mind that unlike cable you need to have two sat runs to the receiver to use both tuners... But you probably knew that already. (Note: This is without a SWM which is not generally available yet.)

[jsmuga]

I left Comcast 1/2008; I have 5 HR21 DVR's . I would never go back. I have so much more HD than with Comcast. The sports with Comcast is a joke compared to D*.

[Jon J]

Who is C*. Is that now shorthand for Comcast? :confused:

[scoobybri]

Thanks for the quick replies. You guys are making me feel better about moving back to dtv. To answer specific comments...

>>The HR2Xs are NOT a DirecTivo.

Nothing else is. But anything is got to be better than the crappy SA8300HD that Cox is giving out. Moving from Tivo to that junk is like going from Vista back to Windows 3.1.

>>Do keep in mind that unlike cable you need to have two sat runs to the receiver to use both tuners.

I had 2 coax runs put in to each "media area" of the house when I had it built, just for the express purpose of my DirecTivos.

>>But I suggest you keep the installers there until you're satisfied it's all really working. They're going to want to get your signature and leave as fast as possible.

Heck yeah. The installers are not leaving until I see the signal strength on all 4 boxes.

>>Who is C*. Is that now shorthand for Comcast?

In my case it's a cable provider that rhymes with "Sox." I just noticed that alot of posts have the names of different providers asterisked out. I figured it was to keep possible slander suits in check.

One other question that you guys can probably answer. DirecTv and Tivo have said they will support the old Tivo boxes until 2010. Does that mean "tech support and updates" until then or will the guide data and DVR functionality disappear in 2010? I don't see replacing the TVs that these these old DVRs will be hooked up to for several years so I would like to have them continue to work indefinately (with the occasional hard drive replacement, of course) Any insights into this?

Thanks again,
Scooby

[Elephanthead]

Sounds like your getting a good deal, two HD DVRs, you also might get lucky and qualify for a free upgrade on the tivos to HD DVRs, hey I can dream for you, heh. Did you get them to throw in free lifetime DVR service?

[Redlinetire]

Remember you are reading a forum where people come when they are having a problem. Think of how many HR2x's are in service compared to the activity on this board. Pretty insignificant % I suspect. Not saying that someone's problem with their unit is insignificant, its just that happy customers don't seek these forums out just to post things like "hey my unit is working fine".


And by that same line of reasoning, notice how the number of complaints about the Dish HD DVR is FAR fewer than HR20 complaints, even though the number of subscribers is pretty close (within 10%).

So the number of problems is very significant, and DirecTV knows this. But don't use that tired (and false) 'the number of complaints isn't that significant' because compared to their competitors it certainly is.

Having said that, I'm happy enough with the HR20. But I had to buy a TiVo S3 to record locals reliably via an antenna.

[bpratt]

I also have had no problems with my two HR21-700s since they were installed in February of this year. I kept my two HR10-250s because I record mostly OTA and the HR21s don't have an off air antenna connection, also I was concerned with reliability of the new box. DirecTV finally came out with the AM21 which is an additional 1 inch thick box that connects to the HR21 using a USB connection in the back and allows you to record HD from an off air antenna.

Since I can now record from an off air antenna as well as many HD satellite channels, and I can depend on the HR21s, I am about ready to retire my two HR10-250s.

One suggestion I would make is to remove the RG6 cable that currently runs to where your old dish was installed. The new 5 LNB dish requires a higher quality RG6 cable than the 3 LNB dish and I believe many of the problems being reported in these forums are a result of using RG6 cable that is rated at less than the 2.5 Ghz that DirecTV requires. The new cable installed on my dish has 3.0 Ghz printed right on the cable. The old cable that I removed was rated a 1.0 Ghz.

Good luck with your new toy.

[Bronco70]

D* customer since 1995 and have had very few issues.

Go for it. I have the Premier package and the HD signals are looking pretty good.

[rustynails]

I have had no problems with my HR21. I used to have the VIP 722 with E and it was a lot better dvr but both do the same job of recording programs. I just don't like the lack of functionality with the D receivers.