rfduncan

I realize that DirecTV is going back to TiVo next year, but I'd like to get HD DirecTV sooner than that and refuse to use their crappy DVR.

Is there any disadvantage to picking one up on eBay? I understand they only hold 30 hours, but I can live with that. Thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks in advance.

Phod

Well, you won't be able to get any of their HD channels with the HR10-250 so it might not work out for you very well.

rfduncan

I thought it was just locals that couldn't be seen with this unit. So now that they've switched to MPEG-4 encoding, that unit cannot display any HD programming?

Phod

To my knowledge most if not all of their HD channels are MPEG-4.

What do you have against their DVR? I was a Tivo fanboy too and thought I would hate it, but I like it now.

mugwump

If you hate the interface on their DVRs but happen to have an iPhone or iPod Touch you can download the DirecTV app that makes interfacing with the box a breeze. I pretty much do all of my scheduling through it as it's much faster and easier to use.

Grandie

I have the HR10. It only gets over-the-air HD now. All the DirecTV channels are SD only. So it's great for local network HDTV, but that's about it.

BravesMG

Another random DTV HD-DVR question to throw on the pile. When you cancel your account, do you get the ridiculous lease fee back that you pay up front for the DVR? Or is that ~$200 added on top of the monthly receiver fee?

BASISON

I had a DirecTivo 10-250 that was modded to have a 750Gb HDD, and an additional fan. This was great and it held hundreds of hours of HD programming. The only problem was that it was not compatible for all the new HD channels that DirecTV released a couple years back. And recently since almost all of the programming comes through as MPEG-4, the Tivo is obsolete. It does work well for an off air receiver though if you don't want to pay the extra fee for another TV.