Is there a difference in HR21-xxx submodels?

770 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by Grentz, Sep 1, 2008

dacin

Discussion Starter · Sep 1, 2008

Long story short, I ordered another HR-21 through DirecTV. The technician called before he came. I politely asked him which HR-21 he has for me, and to my surprise he said I could choose between a 200 and 700 (I was his first install of the day). I said 700 since it is the higher number. So he came, and there was some issue with the HD DVR that he brought, so I have to reschedule again. So I just want to ask, is there any difference between the different HR21-xxx models? From looking up on the forum, these are the makers:

-100 = Thomson / RCA
-200 = Samsung
-300 = Philips
-400 = Hughes
-500 = Humax
-600 = LG
-700 = Pace Micro Technology
-800 = NEC

I see some big names like Samsung, LG, NEC, etc. But does the higher number = later release and therefore better stability? I wasn't thinking about this before because I never thought the tech would actually give me a choice

. If you had a choice, which would you pick? He did say the submodels may be different on the day he comes to my house, but I figured it can't hurt to prepare beforehand and be able to pick the best out of the lot if I have a choice again. As always, I appreciate the responses of everyone in this forum.

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mcbeevee

· #2 · Sep 1, 2008

Those numbers have nothing to do with the age of the current set of receivers. They were assigned to the various builders several years ago. In fact, the first (oldest) mpeg4 HD-DVR is the HR20-700, then came the HR20-100.

dacin

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 1, 2008

I see, thank you mcbeevee. But are there any differences in terms of quality/stability between the different submodels? For example, on the surface I see more people having problems with HR21-100 than any other on DBStalk, but that is just anecdotal and may not be the truth.

harsh

· #4 · Sep 1, 2008

Each manufacturer does their own designs. Some issues seem to follow a particular model, but other than some issues with a model of the HR21 and certain external storage devices, they're all about the same in terms of your chances of getting a flakey or DOA one.

Grentz

· #5 · Sep 1, 2008

From an outside, usage/feature basis they are all very similar. The main number is the bigger importance in different features:

HR20 = OTA tuner
HR21 = no OTA tuner, needs AM21 if you want OTA
HR22 = HR21 with 500gb (vs. 320gb) hard drive

There are some small things in some cases though, like the HR20-100 has an external RF remote antenna and digital coax out while the HR20-700 has an integrated RF antenna and no digital coax out (only optical).

Also some are a bit cooler running than others some have reported, depending on how each manufacture designs them.

Overall though they will all do the same thing, give you the same content, and should work just fine. I have used a HR20-100 and HR21-700 a lot and the differences are not apparent at all in usage (besides the OTA on the HR20 obviously).

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