I'm in search of a HDTV/Directv receiver and looking for recommendations/experience/price/ease of use, etc. I'm going to be making the big jump to an HDTV Rear-Projection TV in the next couple of weeks and want to have my bases covered - I've looked at the TV's with the integrated tuner, but they don't seem to be as good as some of the other HDTV systems that don't have them.

I know that Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony and RCA make an HDTV/Directv receivers, but I don't know much about them - can anyone help me out?

Have you ever considered Digital Cable? I used to have DirecTV but I found that it costs too much to upgrade -- new receiver along with a new oval dish. I looked into digital cable and found out that Time Warner offers HDTV programming with no additional upfront costs of buying the HDTV receiver, it is part of the subscription + no increase in subscription costs. Furthermore, I get all my local stations that broadcast HDTV content plus HBO HD and Showtime HD. With DirecTV, you would probably get HBO HD and Showtime HD (if you subscribe) and the wonderful HDNet (which I don't get with cable). You won't get local stations in HD unless you use an antenna. So, programming is limited with DirecTV and you don't want to find that out after buying that HDTV receiver.

I'm not trying to talk you out of DirecTV since I think that satellite reception/sound is much better than cable. But, if you're interested in HD and do not want to spend a ton of $$$, digital cable is also another alternative.

Once those HDTV receivers go down in price and DirecTV gets more HDTV programs, I might switch back. But for now, Time Warner Cable is my preference.