PacMan2006

I am thinking about getting HD since I have DirecTV. I've done some research on it a little, but still am a little confused, too.

I have the correct satellite dish to get HD feeds. But there just seems to be to many things that are uncertain.

For example, I've checked a couple sites like Best Buy or Circuit City. It says you can buy an HD receiver with Tivo (and I would want it with Tivo since I currently have a non-HD Tivo receiver) for $499.99. I feel like I've read/heard that when you buy the HD receiver, you have to pay a monthly fee of $4.99 just for simply owning/using the receiver...is this true?

Another thing that seems confusing is the situation with local channels. I've read up on this, and it seems that along with my satellite dish, I will need to pay for an off-air attenna JUST to get local channels in HD? Is that also true?

And then we aren't even talking about getting actual HD packages. For example, for 10 bucks a month, you can get a variety of channels (ESPN, Universal Channel, Discovery Channel, etc) in HD.

But it seems that after the dust has settled, you are paying a TON of $$ to get only a few channels in HD. And then--I think--you have to worry about whether or not certain channels will even air their programs in HD, right?

Can anyone who has DirecTV and High-definition fill me in on whats true/false, the pricing, equipment, etc? Thanks in advance!

SuperBatMan

IMO, the price is way too steep for the number of channels available right now. I'm holding out until alot more channels are available, and supposedly that won't be coming until next year as they are currently focused on local channels. Of course, they probably won't roll out a monster number of HD channels until they switch everything over to MPEG4.

About the local channels, if your HDTV already comes with a HD tuner card, you don't need to worry about an OTA attenna.

aktick

PacMan - I just got the HD-Tivo in January, things may have changed a bit, so I can't guarantee that prices and offers are still the same...

While the advertised price is a few hundred $$$, you can generally get them to come down on the price via credits to your account or even instant discounts. Of course, it helps if you've been a customer a long time, but I got a $200 credit to my account, a $100 discount on the price, the $100 mail-in-rebate, free Showtime for 6 months, free HD package for 3 months, $10 off HBO for 6 months, and a $5 account credit per month for 12 months. Counting my credits, I think I came out $10 ahead.

The HD package, at (I think) $10 a month, is just barely worth it now. But if they add channels without raising the price, it will be a good deal.

If you are near the city with the TV stations, a simple indoor antenna will work fine. I'm 45 miles from my stations, in a valley with a big hill in the sight line of the towers, and a simple roof mounted antenna gets me great signals. DTV is offering HD locals in a lot more areas beginning this summer, so if you're near a large city, you probably don't have to worry.

Gambit

The fee is for the Tivo service, not for the HD receiver.

I think this depends on where you are located. I have HD for DirecTV and it includes the local channels. Since you already have DirecTV, do you get the SD local stations? If you do, then I would think you would also qualify to get the HD locals. What SuperBatMan isn't exactly true. If your TV has a HD tuner, you still need an antenna to hook up to the TV.

Yeah, you don't get a whole bunch of channels, so it is really up to you to decide whether it is a lot of money or not. The picture quality of HD is so much better than SD, that's primarily all I watch.
As for what gets aired in HD, most of the primetime shows on the network channels are pretty much HD now. What's really nice is being able to watch sports (like NBA on TNT) in HD.

Dr_Evil

If he wants to record the locals he is going to need to attach an antenna to the HDTivo.

Also, I don't know how hardcore you are about your HD, but a lot of people complain about the HDLite on DirecTV. More info here and you can search at AVSforum and other locations for more discussion on it. It shouldn't be a problem once they switch to MPEG4, but until then you may want to hold off if it is a problem for you.

I have almost the exact setup the op is talking about. DirecTV with an HR10-250 and locals over atenna. I pay the $5.99 Tivo fee, which is standard for any Tivo on directv. The HD package is $9.99 a month. So the total additional cost for an HDTivo and HD package is $15.98 a month. It's kind of steep, but I enjoy it. I watch ESPN all the time.

The situation with locals is more complex. If you are able to receive an HD signal with an OTA atenna, then you will not receive locals from DirecTV. This is assuming you are not in a market that gets HD locals through DirecTV. I get SD locals but not HD locals through DirecTV, so just because you get SD doesn't mean you'll get HD. You can check here to see what you'll get. If you can't receive HD locals with an OTA atenna then you have to go through a waiver process to get them through DirecTV. This can be quite difficult.

Right now, I'm not getting NBC in HD because the local station isn't broadcasting in HD yet. I can't get a waiver though because the station has some type of waiver that allows them to not sign off on waivers for people. It gets pretty complicated, but in the end it is tough to get waivers. To get the locals I do get, I bought the cheapest antenna I could find ($10 I think) and I can pick everything up fine on them. Your OTA channels will depend a lot on your location and the strenght and location of where the locals broadcast from.

Jeremy517

You don't have to subscribe to the HD package to use an HD-Tivo. I bought the HD Tivo last year, and my monthly cost didn't increase at all (we already had an SD DTivo).

We moved the SD DTivo to our second room and got rid of the non-DTivo receiver that used to be there. So now we have an HD Tivo in our main room and an SD Tivo in our second room. We record HD locals OTA. Our monthly bill didn't increase at all. The only cost to us was the $200 that we paid for the HDTivo when they were running the special price last summer.

To us, it was well worth it just to be able to record HD locals OTA. We also get HBO HD since we subscribe to HBO, even though we don't subscribe to the HD package.

Chew

I've had the DirecTV HD TiVo for two years and don't subscribe to their package. I use it for OTA only and have never regretted the money I spent.

And, yeah, the monthly TiVo fee is up to $5.99 now.

kenbuzz

I'm in virtually the same boat. I have two non-HD Tivo units, am getting local channels through the dish (since I cannot get Indianapolis channels OTA from Bloomington), and want to step up to HD. I called DirecTV up to find out what the upgrade path was and what their plans were for the coming year.

DirecTV will be rolling out a new HD lineup, including HD local channels, later this summer. They haven't published a schedule yet (that I'm aware of), but the Indy HD locals are supposed to be online in early July. Unfortunately for owners of some current DirecTV boxes, the encoding standard for the new channels (MPEG-4) isn't compatible with all of the decoding hardware (MPEG-2). This means that some folks will have to replace their receivers to see the new channels, and I believe this includes all current DirecTivo HD DVRs.

For me, I'll wait for the new service rollout and then pickup a next-gen DirecTivo HD DVR when they becomre available. I want my NFL in HD this fall.

guildda

Exactly.. I'd seriously consider DISH if you're not staying w/ Directv for the NFL package.

Chew

Given the reviews of the software of their new DVRs, I'm happy to stick with my HD TiVo. It'll still work perfectly fine with OTA HD and I can live without their HD package.

rfduncan

This is kind of why I'm in a hold pattern in general. I have two DirecTivos non-HD. Do the current HD DirecTivos have dual tuners?

Also I have read about this new signal encoding on the horizon. When DirecTV makes this switch don't they have to accommodate their existing customers who purchase their equipment? Because I want to be able to use my current stuff at least until the next series of "general use" Tivos with dual-tuners come out.

Jeremy517

Yes. You can record any combination of OTA or satellite shows in HD or non-HD.

The only thing that MPEG-4 is being used for right now is local HDs over the satellite. Non HD locals, all other HD channels, and all SD channels are still MPEG2. It is going to be a LONG time, and possibly never, that every user will be required to have an MPEG-4 box. They'd have to swap out every single dish and receiver, even for people without HD. That would be tons of money and time. They might eventually require it to get some non-local HD channels that they add to the HD package, but that will almost assuredly be a long ways off, since they're still taking their sweet time getting HD locals in MPEG-4.

If you want to record OTA HD, I wouldn't be concerned at all about the MPEG-4 conversion. It won't affect you at all.

kenbuzz

Replacement receivers I understand, but replacement dish?? Why?I believe the rollout is starting in 4-6 weeks.Except for folks like me who can't get OTA HD. I'm 45 miles from the Indy Beltway, and it's a 60-70 mile radius to capture all of the Indy HD towers.

Jeremy517

You are pointing at new satellites. It is a 5-lnb dish.

The next phase. The phase is scheduled for summer this time, but that still won't be all the locals. It will only be the Big Four channels in the Top 50 markets. Still no CW or markets out of the top 50. And there are still no plans to add non-locals in MPEG4.

Chew

That I wasn't aware of. Even more reason for me to hold onto what I have.

My market is scheduled to get HD locals in September.

Shoveler

Also, be aware that as of a month or two ago (I believe the starting date was March 1, but I may be mistaken), you are no longer purchasing the DTV TIVO HD receiver, you are leasing it, and the equipment remains the property of DTV. As far as I can tell, all rates and fees have remained the same, you just don't own the equipment. The only benefit I can see is if you have repair issues, they would now be DTV's problem. However, with the MPEG-4 upgrade coming up, I pressed a DTV CSR for info on whether the leased receiver would be swapped out for a new receiver at no cost to me, and she replied "That's entirely possible." I then said "So it's possible that you won't swap receivers for me and I'll have to lease a new receiver, paying another $499 (or higher) lease fee?" and she said that yes, that may be, but that it would still be to my benefit to lease one now just in case they swap them out in the future.

That was enough to keep me away for now. I think this new leasing scheme sucks, and as people start to become aware of how it is setup, new customers will decline and they'll be forced to reconsider.

Chew

The last I read, any repair issues outside of the warranty are still yours. I don't see any advantages for the typical customer under the current DTV leasing model compared to buying.