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What should I expect?

772 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  ThomasM
I currently have 6 D11 standard def receivers in my home. I have a 3 LNB dish. All the receivers are leased, but I get one of the lease fees taken off each month due to it being the "primary receiver". I have the Choice package plus Showtime. All 6 of my TVs are standard def, but I plan on buying a 26" or 32" HD LCD sometime in the next two weeks to replace the TV in my bedroom. Anyway, I read about existing customers in good standing being able to squeeze out some free/reduced cost equipment and programming discounts from DirecTV's customer retention. I called, threatened (nicely) to switch to my local cable company (something I would never do in a million years, as the local cable company is very small and very expensive), and was given what I thought was a decent deal. I'm getting two SD DVRs for $50 plus $20 "handling fee". But, they're also giving me a $10 credit on my bill for the next 6 months so it's basically getting two DVRs for $10. I didn't elect to upgrade my programming package to Plus DVR ($63), so I'm going to continue to pay $53 for Choice in addition to the $5.99 DVR service fee. I'd love to have HD service on the new TV I'm going to get and I'm sure I would have been able to squeeze an HD receiver out of the CSR, but my bill is already high enough and I can't afford the $10 HD access fee right at this moment. I live in Central PA (Union County, specifically, for people who know the area) which is on the far western edge of the Scranton/Wilkes Barre market. I doubt I'm going to be able to get any digital signals out here (AntennaWeb says to not even bother as I'll I get out here is analog and the other OTA signal testing site--I forgot the URL--says I may be able to get my OTA digital channels if I stick a high power antenna on the roof that would probably run me $100), so it's looking like OTA high def is out of the question. If I was going to spend $100 on an antenna, why not just pay the HD access fee with DirecTV? Anyway, to the point, I'm wondering how my installation (on August 8th) is going to work.
*What DVR will I get? I've heard horror stories about the R15 so I'm hoping I won't get that. Is the R16 in regular circulation with installers yet? My market isn't one of the select few that get SD locals in MPEG-4, but will I still be able to get R22s?
*If I get lucky and snag an R22, will I be able to keep the same unit and use it as an HD DVR when I am able to pay the HD access fee in the future? Or will I need to order a new unit?
*Will I be able to watch my standard def content in widescreen on the HDTV (even if it is slightly stretched)? That would be great if I could.
*If I manage to get an R16 or R22 (both are have SWM), will the installer still have to run additional lines? Do installers carry SWM switches with them so they don't have to do this? A more important question, is my 3 LNB dish able to work with the SWM switches (I don't think it is, but you guys probably know much better)? Which of these scenarios should I expect on installation day:
-SWM switch added to existing 3 LNB dish. No additional lines.
-New 5 LNB dish installed with SWM switch. No additional lines.
-No SWM involved at all. Existing 3 LNB dish kept. Additional lines added to run to the two rooms w/ DVR.
I'm really hoping it's not the third.
I know I gave a lot of information, but I wanted to make my situation clear. You guys seem to be experts on dealing with DirecTV and its equipment. I know I'm probably labeled some sort of freak for not wanting HD, but the $120 a year just doesn't seem practical if I'm only going to have one HDTV out of 6. Thanks so much in advance for helping me make sense of all of this.
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hardcase said:
How many miles are you from the towers?
Around 60 mi, give or take. But our part of PA is VERY mountainous, so you have to take that into account.
malan89 said:
*What DVR will I get? I've heard horror stories about the R15 so I'm hoping I won't get that. Is the R16 in regular circulation with installers yet? My market isn't one of the select few that get SD locals in MPEG-4, but will I still be able to get R22s?
First of all, HELLO and welcome to DBSTALK.COM!! :welcome_s

The R15 is a wonderful DVR. Thanks to a bunch of dedicated members of this system who test new software for it and offer feedback (known as "CE'er's" for the Cutting Edge program), almost all the "horror story" problems you've heard are now baseless. You'll LOVE it compared to your D11 receivers (which I used to have).

malan89 said:
*If I get lucky and snag an R22, will I be able to keep the same unit and use it as an HD DVR when I am able to pay the HD access fee in the future? Or will I need to order a new unit?
Good question. I think that was the original concept, but it quickly disappeared. I honestly don't know if the R22 can be "upgraded" to HD, and I don't think anyone else knows either.

malan89 said:
*Will I be able to watch my standard def content in widescreen on the HDTV (even if it is slightly stretched)? That would be great if I could.
Maybe if the TV itself has an adjustment. The R22 is "locked" at 4:3 output. BUT if you get an R15 you can change it's output to 16:9 just like your D11's.

malan89 said:
*If I manage to get an R16 or R22 (both are have SWM), will the installer still have to run additional lines? Do installers carry SWM switches with them so they don't have to do this? A more important question, is my 3 LNB dish able to work with the SWM switches (I don't think it is, but you guys probably know much better)?
Can't help you here. I have a 3-LNB (phase III) dish like you with an old non-SWM multiswitch. Each of my DVR's has 2 lines run to it to support both tuners (all of this including the dish & multiswitch installed by yours truly). I would suspect that you will get a couple R15's and the installer will run an additional line to each new DVR using your existing multiswitch or installing a larger one if more ports are needed.

malan89 said:
I know I gave a lot of information, but I wanted to make my situation clear. You guys seem to be experts on dealing with DirecTV and its equipment. I know I'm probably labeled some sort of freak for not wanting HD, but the $120 a year just doesn't seem practical if I'm only going to have one HDTV out of 6. Thanks so much in advance for helping me make sense of all of this.
Oh, yes, you will probably find more DirecTV experts here on DBSTALK.COM than many actual employees/CSR's who work for DirecTV!! :D

And no, you aren't a freak at all for shunning HDTV. I don't have it. And I have no intention of getting it until my ancient TV sets break down. It's nice, it's impressive, but it's also very EXPENSIVE and being retired and on a fixed income, I enjoy SD programming just fine!!
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Thanks for clearing some of that up. I guess I should just deal with the fact that they're going to have to run a second line to each room. It shouldn't be a problem, it just wasn't the ideal situation. I'm also glad I got a second opinion on the R15, as I'm guessing that's the one I'll get as well. A lot of the problems were probably cleared up in testing and with software updates. I talked to a friend who had the R15 from the beginning and he said basically the same thing. I'm also pretty happy about it being able to output in 16:9. I couldn't imagine watching a 3:2 image on a 16:9 TV. I have exactly two open outputs on the multiswtich (just the amount I need), so it's just a matter of running the lines when the installer gets here. Again, thanks for all the help :) .
malan89 said:
Thanks for clearing some of that up. I guess I should just deal with the fact that they're going to have to run a second line to each room. It shouldn't be a problem, it just wasn't the ideal situation. I'm also glad I got a second opinion on the R15, as I'm guessing that's the one I'll get as well. A lot of the problems were probably cleared up in testing and with software updates. I talked to a friend who had the R15 from the beginning and he said basically the same thing. I'm also pretty happy about it being able to output in 16:9. I couldn't imagine watching a 3:2 image on a 16:9 TV. I have exactly two open outputs on the multiswtich (just the amount I need), so it's just a matter of running the lines when the installer gets here. Again, thanks for all the help :) .
Glad to give you the information! It won't be long before you become frazzled with your D11's when you keep hitting the special DVR keys on the remote and then you remember that you have to suffer through commercials and can't do the "trickplay" functions as they are known on the DVR's. Ha ha!

Send us another message after your upgrade and let everyone know how it went and what kind of equipment the installer gave you.
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