I need some help. My Samsung TS360, which I purchased, is on the fritz. I've read that some of you have been able to purchase an H20. It was my understanding that the H20 could only be leased. Can someone shed some light on what I need to do so that I don't have to make lease payments. I only use D* for Sunday Ticket, so it's hard to justify the expense. How does customer service allow a subscriber to activate the H20 as a purchase when the are pushing this lease program.
Can I Buy an H20?
- Status
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Ok. Let me back up for a minute. As I understand it, D* STB's can no longer be purchased as was possible in the past. I just purchased an H20 STB from BB for $99.00 , but as I understood it there would be a fee of $10.00 per month charged from D* as a lease fee. Is this incorrect as long as I am replacing my owned TS360 that is failing?
Joined
·
3,985 Posts
JoeKoz,
Welcome to DBSTalk! :welcome_s
If you have just the H20 HD receiver and no others, the only fee that would be $10 would be for what they call the "HD Package", which is certain channels in high-definition that are not part of their other packages. Those include channels like ESPNHD, ESPN2HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies and others. Check their web site for the HD package and what it includes. As noted below, I do not believe you are reuired to subscribe to this.
The only "lease fee" you would be paying is the $99 you already paid for the H20. If you have more than one receiver or DVR on your account, each additional receiver beyond the primary one is charged $4.99 a month, and on leased receivers it shows as a "lease fee", though it is really just a fee to mirror the programming on the additional boxes.
You've already paid the upfront fee for the receiver ($99) and it's your only receiver, so the additional $4.99 a month does NOT apply.
Quoting from the ordering page on D*s web site - "Offer for existing residential customers only and requires a two-year programming commitment to any TOTAL CHOICE® or DIRECTV PARA TODOS® package. Offer Details
The DIRECTV® HD Package ($9.99/mo.) contains ESPNHD, Discovery HD Theater, Universal HD, HDNet, TNT in HD and HDNet Movies. HD special events are also available. And the DIRECTV HD System makes all these channels available to you."
I take this to mean that the HD package is available and includes additional channels that the regular programming packages do not, however the only REQUIRED programming is Total Choice or better - it doesn't look to me like you are required to get the HD pack at all. So for you, other than the $99 you already paid, you are not required to pay for any additional other than what you are currently paying - as long as you are subscribing at least to Total Choice. And you need to maintain that level of programming for two years from the date you activate the H20.
If you are also getting your locals in SD from D* already, your HD locals (if available in your area) are included at no additional charge.
Welcome to DBSTalk! :welcome_s
If you have just the H20 HD receiver and no others, the only fee that would be $10 would be for what they call the "HD Package", which is certain channels in high-definition that are not part of their other packages. Those include channels like ESPNHD, ESPN2HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies and others. Check their web site for the HD package and what it includes. As noted below, I do not believe you are reuired to subscribe to this.
The only "lease fee" you would be paying is the $99 you already paid for the H20. If you have more than one receiver or DVR on your account, each additional receiver beyond the primary one is charged $4.99 a month, and on leased receivers it shows as a "lease fee", though it is really just a fee to mirror the programming on the additional boxes.
You've already paid the upfront fee for the receiver ($99) and it's your only receiver, so the additional $4.99 a month does NOT apply.
Quoting from the ordering page on D*s web site - "Offer for existing residential customers only and requires a two-year programming commitment to any TOTAL CHOICE® or DIRECTV PARA TODOS® package. Offer Details
The DIRECTV® HD Package ($9.99/mo.) contains ESPNHD, Discovery HD Theater, Universal HD, HDNet, TNT in HD and HDNet Movies. HD special events are also available. And the DIRECTV HD System makes all these channels available to you."
I take this to mean that the HD package is available and includes additional channels that the regular programming packages do not, however the only REQUIRED programming is Total Choice or better - it doesn't look to me like you are required to get the HD pack at all. So for you, other than the $99 you already paid, you are not required to pay for any additional other than what you are currently paying - as long as you are subscribing at least to Total Choice. And you need to maintain that level of programming for two years from the date you activate the H20.
If you are also getting your locals in SD from D* already, your HD locals (if available in your area) are included at no additional charge.
Joined
·
8,457 Posts
If you ask when you activate the H20, DirecTV will usually give you four months of the HD package for free.
Joined
·
545 Posts
If you want to buy one that is owned http://www.thesatelliteshop.net but I don't see any advantage to "owning" as opposed to "leasing"! If you own and it craps out on you after the warenty, you buy a new one! If you lease then D* replaces it for S/H. There is no dif in monthly fee, and in the case of the link above, no dif in upfront cost!JoeKoz said:
Joined
·
3,985 Posts
JoeKoz,
Don't know if this will make any difference or not. What iceman2a says about the receiver being covered under the lease is true. However, under the lease, the only thing covered is the receiver itself.
Some people opt for the D* Protection Plan which covers everything from the dish to the receiver - dish, LNBs, cabling, any multi-switches that are needed, repair related service calls (including, I believe, realigning the dish if a something knocks it out of alignment), and the receiver. If that is something you would be interested in, owning the receiver could be beneficial as it would be yours to sell if you so desired at some point.
All a matter of what you need and are comfortable with.
And I am not affiliated with D* in any way other than being a long-time customer.
Don't know if this will make any difference or not. What iceman2a says about the receiver being covered under the lease is true. However, under the lease, the only thing covered is the receiver itself.
Some people opt for the D* Protection Plan which covers everything from the dish to the receiver - dish, LNBs, cabling, any multi-switches that are needed, repair related service calls (including, I believe, realigning the dish if a something knocks it out of alignment), and the receiver. If that is something you would be interested in, owning the receiver could be beneficial as it would be yours to sell if you so desired at some point.
All a matter of what you need and are comfortable with.
And I am not affiliated with D* in any way other than being a long-time customer.
Are any of you familiar with commercial service for a business? I am signing up for a "Private Office Viewing" account for personal use at my business office with 2 rooms. The only thing they offered me was a package "Office Choice", 2 free standard receivers, free 5LNB dish, and free installation. I wanted to upgrade to HD on both and they said they couldn't lease them to me but would have to sell me 2 HD boxes (assuming H20) for $200 each, plus tax/handling ($452). I then asked about HD DVR service and they quoted me $760 plus tax/handling for each box. Even if I bought HR20's on my own for $300-$400, from what I hear it sounds like they are too buggy to purchase outright. I would only be willing to lease one.
So I can live without the DVR's, but since I have to buy the boxes, can I just get 2 new H20's on my own for $100 each? If so, should I have them here when they install, or order the 2 standard boxes and switch them out later?
One more question. I plan on adding the HD package to the deal, but will I be receiving my locals in HD regardless? I am in the Los Angeles area.
I've asked some of these questions to the directv operator/order takers, but they don't seem to be confident with their answers. Thanks in advance.
So I can live without the DVR's, but since I have to buy the boxes, can I just get 2 new H20's on my own for $100 each? If so, should I have them here when they install, or order the 2 standard boxes and switch them out later?
One more question. I plan on adding the HD package to the deal, but will I be receiving my locals in HD regardless? I am in the Los Angeles area.
I've asked some of these questions to the directv operator/order takers, but they don't seem to be confident with their answers. Thanks in advance.
Joined
·
3,985 Posts
If you buy new H20s for $100 each, those are actually leased units - that's a subsidized price. I don't know what your experience would be when you went to activate them. If your programming package includes locals, that should include both SD and HD. At least that's how it works with a consumer account. I am really not familiar at all with commercial accounts and how they work, though.
Joined
·
545 Posts
You can actualy buy "owned" units for $99 [email protected] the linked site in my previous post.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
- Status
Join the discussion
