Installation/Upgrade Questions

[chris83]

Hello All,

Hoping you can help with a couple questions I have. My wife and I are looking to purchase a HD set for the bedroom. We currently have HD service cabled into our living room with a 5 LNB dish. We'd like to get a new line run to the bedroom, move the current HD receiver we have in there and then get a new HD DVR for the living room.

Any idea as to the cost of putting in a new line to existing service?
Would I need a multi-switch installed to fully utilize the HD DVR?
Ordering the HD DVR thru DTV, does one have any choice as to model?


Thank you!

[jodyguercio]

Hello All,

Hoping you can help with a couple questions I have. My wife and I are looking to purchase a HD set for the bedroom. We currently have HD service cabled into our living room with a 5 LNB dish. We'd like to get a new line run to the bedroom, move the current HD receiver we have in there and then get a new HD DVR for the living room.

Any idea as to the cost of putting in a new line to existing service?
Would I need a multi-switch installed to fully utilize the HD DVR?
Ordering the HD DVR thru DTV, does one have any choice as to model?


Thank you!

1) No clue
2) Only if you are going to have more than 4 tuners running
3) YMMV when asking that question, I have a HR20 and HR21 and both are working fine for me, others will have different answers.

[Clemsole]

Hello All,

Hoping you can help with a couple questions I have. My wife and I are looking to purchase a HD set for the bedroom. We currently have HD service cabled into our living room with a 5 LNB dish. We'd like to get a new line run to the bedroom, move the current HD receiver we have in there and then get a new HD DVR for the living room.

Any idea as to the cost of putting in a new line to existing service?
Would I need a multi-switch installed to fully utilize the HD DVR?
Ordering the HD DVR thru DTV, does one have any choice as to model?


Thank you!

Me did the same thing you are trying to do. We had Directv move the old receiver (old directv/tivo unit) from the kitchen to a bedroom. Required two lines run to the new location and a larger spliter, or what ever it is called, to give us 6 lines coming in to the house. The cost was $50.00 for the move. We then went to Costco and purchesed a HR21-700 to put into the kitchen where the old receiver was before. You will get what ever model they have at that time, it could be a HR22 or HR21 or HR20.

[chris83]

We're most likely going to get the TV at Best Buy, probably one for my son and his girlfriend as well. Perhaps if DO get TWO HD sets they'll give us a price break on one of the HD DVR's they have in stock. I'm not willing to spend $200 on a "leased" HD DVR, so if I can't find some kind of deal I'm willing to wait.

Thank you for the feedback!

[rudeney]

Do you already have “cable” going to the bedroom? As long as it’s RG6 (not RG59) and you can get to the other end of it to connect it to the dish, then you wouldn’t need any cabling work. Your 5-LNB dish already has a multiswitch built-in. It can serve up to 4 tuners without installing a multiswitch. The DVR will need two cables run to it from the dish in order to be able to use both of its tuners (although it will work with just one). So, as long as you only have the one existing HD receiver, you have three outputs available on your 5 LNB dish.

As for ordering the DVR, yes, D* charge $199. Sometimes you can get a better deal depending on your account standing (always pay on-time, no recent “credits” or other concessions, not recently re-committed to two years of service). Costco sells (i.e. “leases with an up-front fee”) the HR2x for $169 and that’s about the least expensive retail price. If you do need some cabling done, you might be better off getting it from D* with professional installation (usually included in the price) because then the installer can help run the cables. Generally, as long as they don’t have to climb around an attic or crawl space or fish wire through walls, they adding a cable from the dish is included in the D* price.

[chris83]

If I purchase the HD DVR from Best Buy, do I keep it down the road if I cancel my DirecTV service?

[Smuuth]

If I purchase the HD DVR from Best Buy, do I keep it down the road if I cancel my DirecTV service?No, the price you pay Best Buy is a "lease acquistion fee." You are still leasing the HD DVR from DIRECTV, and it must be returned to DIRECTV if you cancel your service. Activating it will also incur a 2 year contract which will mean you cannot cancel for 2 years without a fee.

[joshjr]

How many lines are you currently using? If you are going to be using at least five then some are getting the new dish that runs one line to the recieivers instead of two. That might be a way to go. They could change out your dish and bring the equipment with them. Do you have any other standard recievers?

[chris83]

How many lines are you currently using? If you are going to be using at least five then some are getting the new dish that runs one line to the recieivers instead of two. That might be a way to go. They could change out your dish and bring the equipment with them. Do you have any other standard recievers?

We currently have two lines: one to the living room and the other to the family room on the lower level. We'd just be adding the one line to the bedroom, so we really don't need a new dish.

If we can't get a deal from Best Buy OR DirecTV regarding the DVR we'll definitely just wait. I can't justify spending $199+ on a "lease fee" for a HD DVR, installation costs and then $5.99 per month just to record shows.

Thanks to everyone for all the information and advice.

[joshjr]

If we can't get a deal from Best Buy OR DirecTV regarding the DVR we'll definitely just wait. I can't justify spending $199+ on a "lease fee" for a HD DVR, installation costs and then $5.99 per month just to record shows.

Thanks to everyone for all the information and advice.

Try logging into your account online and see what they would charge to add a DVR. It might be better then you think.

[chris83]

Try logging into your account online and see what they would charge to add a DVR. It might be better then you think.

I did that. It said "$100.00" off of a HD DVR. So I moved along and when it pulled up my shopping cart it had free shipping and free installation, but the price was back to $199 again. Maybe I will give them a call before completing the order online.

Thanks!

[joshjr]

I did that. It said "$100.00" off of a HD DVR. So I moved along and when it pulled up my shopping cart it had free shipping and free installation, but the price was back to $199 again. Maybe I will give them a call before completing the order online.

Thanks!

Yeah I would. If you are nice enough they may give you the DVR for free. I would just call and say that you know others have been able to get another HD DVR for free and say that you were interested to see if you could get the same offer. Kill em with kindness.

[chris83]

Yeah I would. If you are nice enough they may give you the DVR for free. I would just call and say that you know others have been able to get another HD DVR for free and say that you were interested to see if you could get the same offer. Kill em with kindness.

Thank you! I will give them a call and see what they say.