looking at getting a spare/back-up receiver

[Quattro]

I was one of the many whose HR-20 was dead today and needed a reboot. I had not gone online to find out it was a widespread problem. I thought my unit was dead, and I started thinking, "crap, now I'm out of TV watching for days until DirecTv can replace this thing....I wish I had a spare receiver."

So, that is my question, has anyone else out there bought a spare unit out on ebay or craigslist? I'm thinking a H20 would be a good spare.

thanks,

[NR4P]

careful buying from craigslist or ebay.
If you buy a leased unit from someone, its activated in that person's name and account. Directv won't activate it under your account.

I tried giving one to my kid, they won't allow it. Even a family transfer.
They prefer I send it back to them, and he order a new one from them.
That way he's bound to a new contract.

[bobnielsen]

I had the same thought. I have been wondering what to do with my old HDVR2. Maybe I'll keep it.

[tcusta00]

Have you met: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=141748

[carl6]

Unless you can somehow find a receiver that you can own, any leased unit you get will have to be active on your account, or will have to be returned to DirecTV.

I've got four receivers (all DVRs) active on my account. Two are regularly used, one is infrequently used, and one is just for playing and testing with. Lots of built in spares there should one totally die. I've also got one inactive SD DVR, one inactive HD receiver, and two inactive SD receivers (all owned).

So my suggestion would be to add a unit to your account - put it on a spare TV someplace in a guest room or kitchen or wherever - or have two units feeding your main TV (then you can swap back and forth or have PIP). But you do have to pay $4.99 a month for that "benefit".

Carl

[Quattro]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping that by swapping the plastic card from unit to unit, that would work. Apparently, not.

I think I "own" my HR20, if that's the case I guess when I update to a new unit, I'll mothball this unit as a back-up.

thanks.

[NotOneofYou]

I was one of the many whose HR-20 was dead today and needed a reboot. I had not gone online to find out it was a widespread problem. I thought my unit was dead, and I started thinking, "crap, now I'm out of TV watching for days until DirecTv can replace this thing....I wish I had a spare receiver."

So, that is my question, has anyone else out there bought a spare unit out on ebay or craigslist? I'm thinking a H20 would be a good spare.

thanks,

If you find a new/used toy on one of these sites, you can req the receiver ID from the seller & call DTV. They will tell you if it is available. If the acct it came from is in "good " relationship, whether open or closed you can add it to your acct with a NEW access card. If the acct it came from is NOT in "good " relationship, it won't be possible.

[LarryFlowers]

I had the same thought as the original poster many years back... had a bunch of SD tuners around the house then and thought it would be a good idea to have a backup unit on hand so I went out and bought one at, I think, Best Buy. Brought it home and stuck in the closet.

Couple of months went by and I got a letter from DirecTV about failure to activate a unit I had purchased.

Called the person who wrote the letter and we went round and round about it for a while, friendly, but he was pretty much insisting I activate the unit and I was insisting I just wanted a back up. Like I said it never got into a heated exchange or any of that but he finally put me on hold and was gone a few minutes. When he came back, he said it was ok and left it at that.

I figured they just decided since I had so many receivers it wasn't unreasonable... but maybe they just decided it wasn't worth the cost of the receiver to argue it out.

Today, I wouldn't even attempt it. If I had a receiver fail, I would go out and buy a replacement wherever and then negotiate something with DirecTV retention over the telephone.

[David MacLeod]

I was wondering how the time limit until activation would play out. has anyone tried activating one then shortly after deactivating to set aside?

[paulman182]

I have some spares that are not currently activated because DirecTV did not ask for them to be returned.

Of course, they could ask for them at any time.

[MartyS]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping that by swapping the plastic card from unit to unit, that would work. Apparently, not.

I think I "own" my HR20, if that's the case I guess when I update to a new unit, I'll mothball this unit as a back-up.

thanks.

I seriously doubt that you "own" the HR20... virtually all of the HR series are leased form DirecTV and most likely will ask to be returned when you either terminate service or change receivers.

If you are thinking of buying a "spare", I would suggest going to Costco and picking up an HRXX that they have in stock. It's about $30 cheaper than D*, you can leave it sit in a box until you need it. It comes with a new access card, so when you do hook it up, all you have to do is call D* and it'll be active on your account in a few minutes.

[carl6]

I was wondering how the time limit until activation would play out. has anyone tried activating one then shortly after deactivating to set aside?

When you deactivate the unit, they will send you a recovery kit to ship it back to them.

Carl

[David MacLeod]

so you might as well activate it and set it aside, most plans (presently) only charge 1dvr fee so you're not losing money.

[MartyS]

so you might as well activate it and set it aside, most plans (presently) only charge 1dvr fee so you're not losing money.

However, you most likely will incur a $4.99 mirroring fee for the newly activated receiver... that applies to each receiver activated on any account. If you de-activate a receiver, they'll most likely want it sent back...

So, picking one up at Costco and holding on to it until you really need it may be the best bet.

[David MacLeod]

I have no mirroring fees and only 1 dvr fee per month for the 2 I presently have. also, buying one like that has to be activated in a certain time frame or you have to deal with other crap about it.
weren't mirroring fees due to older packages? I haven't had one on my bill since 2005 so I don't remember.

[rudeney]

However, you most likely will incur a $4.99 mirroring fee for the newly activated receiver... that applies to each receiver activated on any account. If you de-activate a receiver, they'll most likely want it sent back...

So, picking one up at Costco and holding on to it until you really need it may be the best bet.

Yeah, but then when you do activate it, you’d have to keep it on the account or risk having to return it when canceled. For ‘emergency” situations, I’d think the best thing would be to buy an old used SD receiver that was never a leased model (RCA, Sony, Hughes, etc.). That way, you can activate and deactivate at will. In my case, I have a spare H20. It is leased, but I keep it activated on the account. The extra $5/mo isn’t going to kill me, plus we do use it occasionally as a third live tuner when both tuners on the living room DVR are busy.

[David MacLeod]

these extra fees you're both mentioning, do you not have an hd dvr package and is that what causes them?

[rudeney]

I have no mirroring fees and only 1 dvr fee per month for the 2 I presently have. also, buying one like that has to be activated in a certain time frame or you have to deal with other crap about it.
weren't mirroring fees due to older packages? I haven't had one on my bill since 2005 so I don't remember.

They no longer call it a “mirror fee”. It’s now called either an “Additional Receiver” fee or “Leased Receiver” fee. The only difference is whether the receiver is owned (noted as “Additional”) or leased (noted as “Leased”). Also, you will have a “Primary Receiver” or “Primary Leased Receiver” fee that will be credited as that is include din your package price. See this:

[David MacLeod]

all mine are leased and I have the hd dvr plus package and none of these fees.

[rudeney]

all mine are leased and I have the hd dvr plus package and none of these fees.

David, do you do paperless billing? If so, there is a bug in D*’s website that prevents you from seeing the details of your bill when you select “view bill”. To get around this, you can select another date from the pull-down once you are viewing a bill. Once you do this, then selecting any other date from the pull-down will work correctly, allowing you to see the entire bill. Generally, your first receiver is included with the price of your package, and each additional receiver, whether leased or owned, has a $4.99/mo fee. This is the way it’s bene sicne day one.

[David MacLeod]

only fee I have is one $ 4.99 primary lease dvr fee and no other receiver fees. $78 monthly for PLUS HD DVR (at 1 time 3 dvr's) and that includes bunch of taxes. state gets like $2 a month out of that :(
I'll be adding a third again soon and I'll see what happens then.

[Steve615]

all mine are leased and I have the hd dvr plus package and none of these fees.

You may want to take a closer look into that.
We have the HD DVR Plus package too,with 3 HD DVR's.The first HD DVR is included in the cost of that particular package.
We are getting the $4.99 monthly "lease" fee charged on the other 2 HD DVR's.

[David MacLeod]

You may want to take a closer look into that.
We have the HD DVR Plus package too,with 3 HD DVR's.The first HD DVR is included in the cost of that particular package.
We are getting the $4.99 monthly "lease" fee charged on the other 2 HD DVR's.
I had 3 at one time and still had just the 1 fee (I was talking about mirroring\additional when I said none) for 4.99. I'll know more in next week or so when I add a third again.
but still, monthly bill is $ 78 with PLUS HD DVR.

[rahlquist]

FWIW you may not want to buy a receiver and have it sit. D* requires activation within 30 days of purchase.
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=P500014

CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR FAILURE TO ACTIVATE PROGRAMMING OR SATISFY YOUR

PROGRAMMING COMMITMENT. If you fail to activate all of your DIRECTV equipment in accordance with this Equipment Lease Addendum, you agree that DIRECTV or an authorized DIRECTV Retailer may charge you a fee, as liquidated damages, of $150 for each receiver that is not activated. If you fail to maintain your minimum programming commitment, you agree that DIRECTV may charge you a prorated fee of up to $360 for standard receivers and up to $480 for advanced products/receivers (e.g., DVR, HD, HD DVR, etc.).

[rahlquist]

They no longer call it a “mirror fee”.

Actually as of training provided around May this year it was indeed still called a mirroring fee.

[rudeney]

Actually as of training provided around May this year it was indeed still called a mirroring fee.

Oh, it may be, but on the bill, it’s called an “Additional Receiver” fee.

[rahlquist]

Oh, it may be, but on the bill, it’s called an “Additional Receiver” fee.

Internally inconsistent? Surely you jest! :lol::lol::lol:

[rudeney]

Internally inconsistent? Surely you jest! :lol::lol::lol:

Just more Carousel of Policy.:p

[mx6bfast]

When you deactivate the unit, they will send you a recovery kit to ship it back to them.
This might be on leased units only. I have an owned H20 that I activate/deactivate quite often and they never ask to return it. Of course if they did I would tell them to send me money for it. :grin:

[carl6]

This might be on leased units only. I have an owned H20 that I activate/deactivate quite often and they never ask to return it. Of course if they did I would tell them to send me money for it. :grin:

Very true. In the context of my reply that you quoted from, the person was considering obtaining a new DVR and activating it, then de-activating it. Any new DVR you acquire today (at "normal" pricing) will be leased.

Carl

[cartrivision]

I have no mirroring fees and only 1 dvr fee per month for the 2 I presently have. also, buying one like that has to be activated in a certain time frame or you have to deal with other crap about it.
weren't mirroring fees due to older packages? I haven't had one on my bill since 2005 so I don't remember.

On leased units, the mirroring fee is called a lease fee and just like the mirroring fee, is waved for the first receiver, so if you have 2 leased DVRs, you will have no mirroring fees, one $4.99 lease fee, and one $5.99 DVR fee.

If you deactivate (and return) one of your DVRs, you will have no lease fees, and only the DVR fee.

[David MacLeod]

On leased units, the mirroring fee is called a lease fee and just like the mirroring fee, is waved for the first receiver, so if you have 2 leased DVRs, you will have no mirroring fees, one $4.99 lease fee, and one $5.99 DVR fee.

If you deactivate (and return) one of your DVRs, you will have no lease fees, and only the DVR fee.

but I had 3 dvr's running and only the one 4.99 fee, no dvr fee due to dvr package. guess I better not question it huh?
the only time I have ever paid more than one 4.99 fee was with the premeir package which had two (not sure why 2) dvr fees and three receiver fees.

[cartrivision]

but I had 3 dvr's running and only the one 4.99 fee, no dvr fee due to dvr package. guess I better not question it huh?
the only time I have ever paid more than one 4.99 fee was with the premeir package which had two (not sure why 2) dvr fees and three receiver fees.

That's really strange. It sounds like you have at various times either had too many DVR service fees and too many receiver mirror or lease fees, or too few receiver fees.

[David MacLeod]

That's really strange. It sounds like you have at various times either had too many DVR service fees and too many receiver mirror or lease fees, or too few receiver fees.
exactly, and right now I'm on the plus side so I'm just letting it ride :)

[Shades228]

Mirror fee=internal jargon / old line item name that old customers understand

Additional receiver fee=Owned receiver bill line item name

Leased Additional Receiver Fee= Leased receiver bill line item name

Just like saying IRD and Receiver or ODU and Dish

We could probably make a whole thread about the different terminology and then break that down into regions of the country as well.


To the OP. You can buy a spare receiver from a D* rep, only available through the phone, but it's going to be expensive. The place to start would be by asking is HD required for your "backup" box? If not you can pickup a D10, Hughes HBH, Phillips 5500 cheap used and buy an access card for $20. This would get you standard programming while you waited for a replacement or service call. If you go this route though make sure that you buy something that has a RID number or it will take just as long to get it activated as it would for the replacement. Old Tivo units are good as well but some early ones lack the RID's. Phillips 704 and R10's are good units for backups if you can find them in good condition.

[JLucPicard]

To do what you're suggesting is certainly possible. But the person would need to activate the receiver with the new card, then if they didn't want to be paying the $4.99 a month for their "emergency spare", they'd deactivate it. New access cards need to be actiavted within a short amount of time (9 days?) or they don't work. And sitting on the spare and then ordering the card once you need the spare will still take several days before you're up and running - probably about the same amount of time it would take to get a replacement receiver anyway.

[Shades228]

To do what you're suggesting is certainly possible. But the person would need to activate the receiver with the new card, then if they didn't want to be paying the $4.99 a month for their "emergency spare", they'd deactivate it. New access cards need to be actiavted within a short amount of time (9 days?) or they don't work. And sitting on the spare and then ordering the card once you need the spare will still take several days before you're up and running - probably about the same amount of time it would take to get a replacement receiver anyway.

Cards must be activated within 72 hours of being shipped. Once you get it you just activate it and then deactivate it. Since you would own this receiver you would not have to keep it active. So basically you get the card in the mail. Call in and activate the receiver and verify programming. Then you deactivate it on the same call.