PacMan2006

I have the DTV satellite needed, but I researched the new DirecTV HD Receiver (with Tivo) that I need to get high definiton. I went to Circuit City's website and this is what I found:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/produ..._n=3&WT.mc_t=U

Is this the norm, or is this just exceptionally high for DirecTV? I can see paying 1,000 for a new TV, Satellite, and HD Receiver...but JUST for the receiver? Wow. I have no idea how everyone seems to have HD unless everyone is just rich.

Deftones

No.

You don't have to pay that to get HD on DirecTV. You can buy an HD receiver for about $199.99 or so.

If you want an HDTivo that's considerably more, though.

If you can wait, DirecTV will be releasing their own HD boxes at the end of this year and should be much, much less than an HDTivo.

uli2000

Dish network will sell me a hd dvr box for 300 or a 34in ws tube hd ready tv with a hd dvr or 1000. I dont know if that is for existing customers only, though.

chrisih8u

Will it be a DVR? Any word on price or time of availability. I am getting desperate for HD and I dont want to give up my tivo. Comcast is taking over here and I was thinking about ditching directv. The reason I got directv over cable was picture quality. But now just about everything I watch is available in HD on Comcast.

Big Worms

Right now this is the only option to get HD-Tivo with DirecTV built in. This is price is crazy to say the least.

Chew

Worth every penny I spent on getting one.

Deftones

Yes, they will have a DVR, but there's no timetable on DVRs yet. Best guess is by the end of the year or early next year, but they may not be available to everyone. They will be rolled out in waves since DirecTV will need to upgrade everyone's boxes to be MPEG-4 capable.

Phil L.

We have be VERY happy with our HD service complete with two tuner DVR from Comcast. They probably cover 95% of our TV viewing. The only thing I wasn't getting in HD was UPN network for Enterprise but that will soon cease to be an issue.

Red Dog

Keep in that mind that Comcast and TIVO recently signed a deal so at some point down the road, the Comcast DVRs will be TIVOs. I assume that will also be the case with the HDDVRs ---> HDTIVOs.

raven56706

I have directv and i have lived without a DVR. Directv has awesome service. No complaints here

wiz

If Comcast goes the Tivo route, does that mean that as a customer and getting an HDTivo unit from Comcast I will be required to pay the subscription fee to Tivo to get the guide information that I currently get for free from Comcast with their DVR?

rabbit77

With all due respect, you don't know what you're missing. I've lived without a DVR either until just a few months ago when I had to ditch Dish Network for Comcast and their HD DVR for the following reasons:

1) Dish didn't offer an HD DVR with their package
2) Dish didn't offer comcast sports net (in HD, no less) with their 60 channel package
3) I was already paying Comast for their broadband internet, and their promotional deal was about to run out.

Now, the picture presented by Comcast's HD is a step down from Dish's HD, but I can live with it, since having a DVR trumps that.

Josh H

DVR is great, but it does depend on how much TV you watch.

I had a Tivo, didn't have one again for 5 years or so, and have one now.

It's nice, but if you don't watch much TV like me, then a VCR will suit you ok.

Don't get me wrong, I love my directTivo because it is easier to use than a VCR, but it's not leaps and bounds for someone who only has 4 or 5 shows they regularly watch.

Tommy Ceez

Satelliteguys.us and dbstalk.com have threads about customer retention giving a $200 rebate to current customers who buy DirecTivo...

..now keep in mind that DTV will be switching to MPEG4 for thier HD transmissions soon, and they will have to switch your box for thier in-house HDDVR. So, in best case scenario, your paying $800 for the use of a HDTivo that will HAVE to be replaced by a product no one has seen yet in MOST two years (what if its DishNet 921 quality!?!?)

Of course, thats still better than what existing customers can get from DishNet, so Im going back to Cablevision.

You also could keep your current Tivo, hook up the standard DTV HD box in addition, and ONLY timeshift SD programming for an economical soution.

rabbit77

That's true, and I only have about 4 or 5 shows that I watch as well, but they all fell on Tuesday. Before I would just watch one and then wait till it showed up as a torrent, encode it and burn to a DVD-RW. The DVR saves me from doing all that.

PacMan, find out if Comcast offers you local channels in HD, and if they offer an HD DVR with their package. It's only $9.99 a month for me.

Chew

It's still going to work with OTA HD. That's 95% of what I record anyway. It's hardly going to be a paperweight. I'll suffer that 5% if the new product isn't better than the HDTiVo (and that's going to take a lot of doing).

Deftones

Nobody knows exactly what will happen with the HD DirecTivos. A better forum for that type of talk is AVS Forum. There are tons of threads over there that cover news and rumors.

Tommy Ceez

BUT if DirecTv adds any new HD content, including HD Locals, you will have to swich to a new box to recieve them.

Chew

Looks like doing so won't cost me anything. This is what Robert (bigwig at ValueElectronics, about as close to an insider with DirecTV as there is) posted over at TiVocommunity two days ago:

I can live with that.

Michael T Hudson

I saw Circuit City had the HD TIVO DVR for 699 last week.

aktick

Yeah, they are cheaper now, BB has it for that as well. Probably just bringing down the price because they want to get rid of them since they'll be useless before long?

Jeremy517

The MSRP was lowered to $699, so you should be able to get it for that price everywhere. Also, check out the Hot Deals forum, and find the thread on how you might be able to get it for $350.

Tommy Ceez

go to sateliteguys.us , where they have a rumor that DTV will be giving thier own in-house MPEG-4 DVR's away for free with a 2 year commitment...but its just a rumor.

Jeremy517

I would be surprised if we don't see something like this eventually. However, the first phase of DTV DVRs (non-Tivo) that have been announced so far don't include an HD model. It might still be a while longer...

It isn't quite as important yet, though, but once the three new satellites are up, and HD locals are available to just about everyone, you know they'll be ready with something.