I need a new HD sat receiver - which one should I get?

[Garyunc]

My sony sat-hd100 died and I need to replace it to watch the NFL games. Should I get the H20 or one of the name brands - zenith, rca, samsung. I will not buy another sony as I have a beef with them.

Are their other receivers that do MPEG4? Even though I don't plan to use that feature right now it seems like I might want to get a receiver with this so that I will be ready when I do decide to use it.

Also, will the H20 work with the 3 lnb dish that I have? Will it allow for custom chanels or a favorite list?

I plan to buy used to save money and and the numerous choices on ebay are confusing. Any help would be appreciated.

[DWBJ]

I plan to buy used to save money and and the numerous choices on ebay are confusing. Any help would be appreciated.

I bought 3 h20 HR20-600 's off ebay for around $80 each. No contract. no lease and it was very easy. What is the confusion?


Also, will the H20 work with the 3 lnb dish that I have? Will it allow for custom chanels or a favorite list?

Yes

[litzdog911]

The H20 HD Receiver and HR20 HD DVR are the only receivers capable of receiving your local HDTV channels from the new Ka-band MPEG4 satellites. While they will work with the 3-LNB dish, they will not receive the new Ka-band satellites unless you upgrade to the new 5-LNB AT9 Ka/Ku-band dish.

[JLucPicard]

Did the H20s hit the market before March 1st?

Garyunc, be careful on eBay and such places that the units you are buying are not actually leased units. The only receivers that do MPEG4 are the H20 receiver and the HR20 DVR.

[Garyunc]

Thanks guys. I am going to make sure the H20 is not leased. I just wanted to be sure that it would work with my existing equipment and that is a good unit. I only need it to watch NFL games in HD with super fan for now.

[DWBJ]

If you would like I think I still have the name and phone number of the company I got mine thru. (3 h20's) off ebay. They were great. They will talk to you if you call them, authorized dealer, no contracts and D* knows I own them so no lease BS. They are located in CA. All units worked great and were brand new. BTW, once I got my units I called D* for an A9 dish which they came out within a week to install for no charge. They will not touch your H20 but installing them yourself is as easy as making as easy as startng your car. A 2 year contract for the dish is the only downside but if you are a SF customer so what. Also it is not an added two years but the new contract starts after the install and the old contract is void. That way you get that contract over sooner even if you don't need it now.

[randyk47]

My only comment is that you're going to pay the lease or the mirroring charge whether it's leased or owned. (No charge, lease or mirroring, for your primary unit so no difference there either.) The upside of owning is that you could sell the unit(s) some day down the line. The downside is that an owned unit has a very short warranty. I own my H20 and now that I'm 40 days away from having a silver doorstop if it breaks wish I'd registered it as a leased piece of equipment. In retrospect I now consider "buying" my H20 a big mistake. Should add I have two older units stuffed away in storage so it's not like I sell the old stuff as it is so why bother.

PS - When I got an H10 several months ago I asked about Samsung and the Circuit City salesperson told me they no longer made receivers. In fact, as I recall, he said only D* (Hughes???) equipment was available now. Is that true? Over the years I've had Sony and Samsung besides my Hughes receivers and have liked them.

[carl6]

Today, regardless of where you "buy" a new unit it will be leased.

As others have noted, be very careful if you buy a used H20 or HR20. Get the receiver ID number (RID) and access card number and call D* and have them confirm that the unit is owned by the seller and that the account is in good standing, otherwise you will not be able to activate the unit.

Carl

[randyk47]

Carl - Actually you can "buy" a unit. D* clearly shows my H20 as owned. So much so that I tried, after I realized it was stupid (speaking for myself only) to own the unit, to convert it back to a leased unit. D* said I was too deep into the warranty period for them to convert. It's to their advantage not to have to cover my H20 and my mistake for buying it in the first place.

[DWBJ]

Carl - Actually you can "buy" a unit. D* clearly shows my H20 as owned. So much so that I tried, after I realized it was stupid (speaking for myself only) to own the unit, to convert it back to a leased unit. D* said I was too deep into the warranty period for them to convert. It's to their advantage not to have to cover my H20 and my mistake for buying it in the first place.

Wow 6 months in with no problems at all for me. Knock on wood. The reason I bought it was they would not do an install until Seattle went live then there was going to be a 1 month waiting period. I am one of those impatient people.

[Proc]

I bought 3 h20 HR20-600 's off ebay for around $80 each. No contract. ..

You may want to check on the "No contract" status. Activating HD equipment automatically puts you on a 2-year contract.

[DWBJ]

You may want to check on the "No contract" status. Activating HD equipment automatically puts you on a 2-year contract.

It does not matter anyway because I agreed to a 2 year commitment for the A9 and the HR20. As per my early post there was a 1 week difference between the purchase of the h20's and th A9 so I do not know how they handled the H20 purchase. However I know I own them and I got an install before my locals went live. They would not do that on the lease program. Which was pretty silly.

[Garyunc]

Decided to get a used Toshiba DST-3000 on ebay for $30 including shipping. It is working great and I have no contract worries :)

I am waiting for Raleigh-Durham to get ALL of their locals in HD before I return to Direct TV. Maybe someday.....

[reubenray]

Is a lease agreement required for the H10? My Sony died also.

[bobnielsen]

No, as the only H10s you will find will be used. Directv stopped selling them before switching in March to leasing.

[reubenray]

Hmmm, I found a location that has several new ones for sale.

[bobnielsen]

Could be some dealers still have them around. If new, you will probably have a 2 year commitment after activating. They have been out of production for over a year (and won't be usable for HD too much longer since they don't do MPEG4). But, if the price is right....

[reubenray]

I got it for $78 including S/H and it is brand new. I will always have Directv, so the 2 year commitment is no big deal.