[jym]

I have been a DirecTV customer for about three months. I have followed the forums and the lease unhappiness.

I thought it was weird when I purchased my HR10-250 in October that the retailer did not ask about my DirecTV account and the retailer assured me I owned the box.

Well what I discovered is that DirecTV bases the lease on how you explain you got the box when you activate it. If you explain that you got it off ebay or it was given to you from your brother you own it. If you explained that you purchased it from a store it is a lease.

Yesterday I purchased a demo HR10-250 unit. I am now torn between it being a lease or do I want to own it. I believe I can control this with my explaination on activation. Emotionally the lease sounds like crap. Of course you want to own it. But when I think of the pluses and minuses with my situation here are the key questions:

If I lease it:

1) If it breaks can I more easily get a replacement cheaply? This is assuming that the HR20 issues are resolved and becomes a decent unit. I have hacked Tivos since the first series 1 units. So if it is a HD (harddisk) that breaks (95% of the problems) I can fix it myself. But if it is beyond this then I will have problems. This seems like a real plus for a lease.

2) If I want to disconnect service and reconnect later then I have to return the HR10. I doubt I will do this but this would really suck. Would DirecTV really want the HR10 unit back? Be interesting to hear others experience here.

3) If I want a HR20 at some point then leasing the HR10 gets me there with less money. I absoutely love the HR10. I get all local HD channels OTA without problem. But the future is Mpeg4 and HR20. I wonder what the difference will be between getting a HR20 by replacing a HR10 versus just getting one. I think so far there has not been any difference in cost. I think in either case you are commiting to 2 years of service.

Love to hear thoughts. Thoughts that don't include how ridiculous the DirecTV lease is.

 

[JLucPicard]

As I was reading your post, your point #3 is pretty much what I was thinking about. I have three HR10-250s and really like them.

A couple of things. I have read but am not quite sure on this point, but can the serial number of the unit be used to determine if it is a leased unit? In other words, if this was a demo from BB, for example, does D* have a record of that serial # being supplied to BB to be a leased unit, or do they strictly go by what you tell them (and would you need to possibly provide a receipt to support your contention of it being an "owned" unit). By the way, BB, CC some of those brick-and-mortors are really bad about being up front about or notifying people about the lease apsect. Even that demo could be a "lease" unit and you wouldn't maybe know that until you go to activate it.

Are you currently covered under the Protection Plan? If so, leased versus owned really doesn't matter. Also, if you do experience problems with the HR10 and it needs to be replaced - either as covered under a lease or if owned, as covered under the protection plan - you most likely will get an HR20 for a replacement anyway. If you are not covered under the protection plan, at least the HR10 will be covered under the lease agreement.

Point 1. If you get it as a lease, you cannot hack it. Violates the terms of the lease. If you do have a problem/failure, it should be replaced for free (or maybe shipping?) under the lease.

Point 2. If you obtain the HR10 as a leased unit and later deactivate it, D* will want it returned. In fact, you would be charged a fee it you don't return it. Not so if it's owned.

Is most of your viewing OTA locals anyway? Once the new birds are up and the number of national HD channels increases, you may find the HR10 still great for OTA and SD recording and add an HR20 to take advantage of the additional HD stuff.

The only benefit I see to owning right now is that you may be able to sell the HR10 if you move on from it and it still functions well. If you plan on keeping the HR10 until it dies (no longer re-sellable anyway), you might as well just get it as a lease at this point.

 

[captain_video]

If you have an HR10 then it's better to own it, IMHO. You can upgrade and hack it any way you like or you can sell it on ebay (they're selling for top dollar at the moment). The HR20 is basically like a cable box. It does what you need it to do and there's not much else you can do with it so why bother with ownership? If you ever have a problem with it then you can always get a replacement for free. Leasing basically includes the service agreement for free that you would otherwise have to pay a monthly fee to cover any equipment you own.

The serial number of an HDTivo cannot determine if a unit is leased or owned since so many of them have been recirculated as refurbished units. I doubt that you'll get much of anything in the way of a straight answer from any retailer about DTV's leasing agreement since most of them aren't educated enough about it.

 

[jym]

I plan on going the ownership route. Thanks for the opinions.

 

[ansky]

I have no interest in leasing or owning. Why can't we just "rent" the receivers like the cable companies do? When I cancel the service I should be able to just give the receiver back. No contracts or committments. If the receiver breaks they just give you a new one.
Leasing makes no sense at all. You have to pay an upfront fee + a monthly lease fee. You really get screwed doing that.

 

[Dbadone]

You have to pay an upfront fee + a monthly lease fee. You really get screwed doing that.

Your not paying a monthly lease fee. It's an additional receiver fee that would be charged wheather you own the receiver or not. The upfront fee is the lease fee. The only difference is how the receiver fee appears on your bill. It only states wheather you own (ADDITIONAL RECEIVER FEE) or lease (LEASED RECEIVER FEE) it's all the $4.99 fee you would be charged for any receiver past your primary receiver.

 

[ansky]

Your not paying a monthly lease fee. It's an additional receiver fee that would be charged wheather you own the receiver or not. The upfront fee is the lease fee. The only difference is how the receiver fee appears on your bill. It only states wheather you own (ADDITIONAL RECEIVER FEE) or lease (LEASED RECEIVER FEE) it's all the $4.99 fee you would be charged for any receiver past your primary receiver.

OK, but my point was just that the upfront cost makes no sense. For example, why would anyone pay $299 just to lease the HR20 when you would still have to return the unit if you leave DTV or change to different equipment in the future.

 

[Dbadone]

OK, but my point was just that the upfront cost makes no sense. For example, why would anyone pay $299 just to lease the HR20 when you would still have to return the unit if you leave DTV or change to different equipment in the future.

I do understand your point you could own it for $849 if you choose to, you wouldn't have to return it and could sell it on ebay or whatever you choose. I think they are trying to allow customers that can not afford the "TECHNOLOGY" a chance to have it if they choose. Just my opinion of course, I could be way off as usual. :lol:

 

[bobnielsen]

Considering that most of the owned receivers were bought for a price which was heavily subsidized by Directv, I'm surprised they didn't go to leasing much earlier.

 

[FavreJL04]

I like the old way myself. That way the equipment becomes yours once the committment time ends. You would be able to absorb some of the cost by selling them on ebay or something like that if you ever wanted the newest technology. There are always people looking to buy straight up, me being one of them.