New to DBS... Hardware woes?

[chrisgrant]

I am finally cutting the unbilical cord to comcast after they charged me $350 for losing a motorola cable box (stolen during our move). Since they were so unreasonable, I decided to ditch them, and DirecTV appears to be cheaper anyways!
My problems, I don't want a DVR system, since I have a standalone Tivo thats lifetime registered etc. Will any of the receivers work with my Tivo's serial controL? I am looking at a 2 room, 3 LNB setup, but am not sure about which manufacturer to choose. Best Buy has a RCA system (DSM635RH) for free, but Orbitsat.com has a Philips system for free also (DSX5540C), both with 3 LNB dishes. There are also Hughes, Samsung, and Sony systems out there but I couldn't find any free after rebate deals.
Are all these systems pretty similar? Amazon seemed to have alot of bad reviews concerning RCAs offerings. What are the opinions of the members here for someone who doenst want DVR, or HD, but just something that will work well, quickly (the motorola cable box was SO slow.) with my existing Tivo?

thanks so much in advance.

-c. grant

[Mark Holtz]

:welcome_s to DBSTalk, chrisgrant.

You may want to reconsider your TiVo decision. Right now, DirecTV is having a promotion which basically gives away a DirecTivo Series 2 with 35 Hours capacity (but is easily upgradable to a larger size). Unlike the standalones, the DirecTivo has two tuners to record stuff, and basically takes the digital feed that is already pre-compressed by DirecTV using more expensive equipment than the MPEG encoder on the standalone. Unfortunately, the lifetime fee is not transferrable. All three DirecTivos are the same functionally, just different cosmetically. (I believe that DirecTV has a promo for existing customers that allows you to get a DirecTivo for $99).

Can't give you my opinion about other DirecTV receivers, but the Hughes HBH-SAs are quite good.

A triple LNB Dish is highly recommended.

[boba]

The Phillips receiver is discontinued, but has a good warranty and component output. I believe the RCA is a model for Best Buy only so they don't have to price match, I believe it is a DRD435 for other resellers. It is a base model with a missleading feature, it has an optical output but it is not Dolby Digital even though it looks it. Directv has a promotion currently running till Feb. 28,2004 called 3 X FREE under it any dealer can offer 3 base receivers free installed free.

[chrisgrant]

The offer from directtv i think is contingent on getting the NFl ticket, and seeing as how I dont like football much, this isnt a great plan. I was going to get the middle package, not the highend, so it wouldnt be advantageous to get this deal.

Otherwise, is the RCA unit any good, optical issue aside? I saw some reviews that said it was slow and buggy. I had an RCA television once, and it was terrible, and I generally dont associate them with quality. Any other suggestions or comments. Thanks!

[bonscott87]

DirecTV changes their promotions all the time. Just started a new one but they are now always something like 3 receivers installed for free. NFL ST really has nothing to do with it, that's on the programming side of things. What that promotion really was is that you got the Premier package for $60 a month and ST thrown in for free. Don't have to watch it if you don't want to.

Now, on to your question.
I had a Sony Sat-B55 and a stand alone tivo connected via serial. Pretty quick channels changes. What you want to look for is a receiver that has a serial connector. Check out the Tivo web site or the Tivocommunity and you can get a list of what receivers are able to do serial channel switching.

But as Mark says, you *really* need to go with a DirecTivo (or two). They are dirt cheap, $99 at most, free with some install packages for new subs. If your stand alone has lifetime then you can sell it on EBay or to a friend for at least $400 if not more. The lifetime alone is worth $300. You can buy 4 DirecTivo's for that!

So really consider selling your Stand alone Tivo, get a couple DirecTivo's and have money left over to do with as you please.

[Mark Holtz]

The offer from directtv i think is contingent on getting the NFl ticket, and seeing as how I dont like football much, this isnt a great plan. I was going to get the middle package, not the highend, so it wouldnt be advantageous to get this deal.

Don't forget, you also get Total Choice Premium for free, which is normally $89 per month. So, if you don't like or watch football (like me), it's still a bargain at $59 per month.