Why did they realese this thing?

[Vin496]

I was excited to hook it up this morning. Worked ok during the day, has been a nightmare since primetime. More than 5 freezes, that required reboots. Completely ruined all recordings and todo items. Caller ID worked this morning, doesn't anymore. I just don't get how bad it is. I know they are new and I expect a few bugs/quirks, but this thing is unusable. Let me get this straight, this unit is made to get the new HD feeds, but if you use it for HD it can't handle it. At least I am aware of these forums and at least know what to expect, what about the poor customer who thinks they are just getting a new system, they are in for a headache and a half.

I have been reading more of the post here and I see people are getting this unit then not using it to record HD for fear of issues, whats thepoint then. As someone stated in another post, I didn't pay to be a Beta tester, which is what we are it looks like. I mean shouldn't these things at least be able to do basic viewing and recording, without croaking everytime HD is present.I could understand the caller ID and the DD problems, but you can't even use it to watch/record HD. That is just plain wrong of them to realease it in this state of lack of function.

[Jeremy W]

If I were a brand new customer who got the HR20, and didn't know about this forum, I would tell DirecTV exactly where they could stick this receiver.

Now I bought it, knowing full well that it was buggy, but I like to live on the edge. DirecTV clearly does a sub-par job with the beta testing, because there are consistent problems with the unit that would show up in 5 minutes of informal testing. It's pretty pathetic, but I can sleep easier knowing that DirecTV has to fix these problems, and they have to fix them quickly. They can't afford to have their flagship receiver be so shoddy when working with the very content it's specifically designed for.

In my opinion, allowing this receiver to go out for new installs was a very bad move. They should have done a limited launch, only giving it out to people who specifically ask for it. I can't imagine a customer sticking around for very long if the HR20 with 0xBE is their first taste of DirecTV.

[Herdfan]

They should have done a limited launch, only giving it out to people who specifically ask for it.
Someone needs to teach them how to do real Beta testing. Giving to a bunch of employees doesn't count. Anyone who has talked to a CSR knows how clueless they can be. Find some members of forums like this, write a rock solid NDA and let them have it for a couple of months. Fix the bugs they find and repeat the process until the bugs are gone.

[Jeremy W]

Find some members of forums like this, write a rock solid NDA and let them have it for a couple of months. Fix the bugs they find and repeat the process until the bugs are gone.
That would be an incredibly smart thing to do. I would gladly beta test for DirecTV, and I wouldn't even expect anything in return. Making a future product better is a good enough "payment" for me!

[OrlandoJoe]

I'd sign up for beta testing, too, but I'm not sure that I have enough hours in the day to begin with. I still have episodes of Invasion I haven't gotten to watching yet, since the rest of the family gave up on the show in January.

[celticpride]

I wouldn't mind being a beta tester for D* if they gave me the receiver for free and no commitment for at least 90 days!