DirecTV subscribers interested in the HR20-700(new HD-DVR)
 

Sign up here: http://hr20-offer.dbstalk.com/

You will be contacted by DirecTV when before it rolls out nationally, sometime in the next month in a half or so.

[edit]wrote the wrong model # in thread title.

Thanks! Any news on price yet?

A word of warning, however. This DVR is available in LA and many people have reported serious software bugs (such as skipped recordings, unwanted deleted recordings, no dual buffer, etc).

If you're looking to replace the super-slow response times of the current HR10, you may want to take that into consideration.

In reading DBSTalk, in the bugs thread, I didn't see anything that was too worrisome. Someone there said there is going to be a big software update upon national roll out, too.

That's good to know. But, I still trust TiVo software update success ability a whole lot more than DirecTV. ;)

Absolutely. Don't get me wrong, Tivo is the bomb. But, this has the ability to record more hours w/ MPEG-4 (50 hrs. vs. 30 hrs. w/ MPEG-2). And, getting locals for me is spotty. I get outages and pixelization since I'm so far away. This will allow me to do everything via one dish and not have to mess w/ my OTA antenna anymore.

I did read that people are loving the speed of the unit. They seem to say it's at least twice as fast as Tivo in regards to menu loading times.

If I get this it's for my kitchen, and then I'll use it there, and have the hr10-250 in the living room still. as I have a hard time letting go of the Tivo.

I got sick of waiting for this and switched to the Dish 622. Best choice I ever made.

As much as I love the Tivo, the menu speeds irk the hell out of me. Plus, I think this new DVR has a slot to add an additional external drive. 30 hours of HD content sucks. Having 50 is much nicer.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1155071079972

Must be coming pretty soon.

Is this true though? "2 satellite tuners and 1 ATSC tuner."

I guess it wouldn't make a difference if you were receiving your locals via satellite.

So locals OTA are NOT MPEG4, right? But they will be once offered via satellite?

Locals over the satellite are offered in many markets now and are indeed MPEG4. I'd still use OTA if you get good reception, though, since the picture quality will be better. Note that the new DVR currently does NOT have the OTA tuners enabled, but presumably will with a software update in the future.

This is what I gather from DBSTalk. The manual of the new unit states that same thing. Unfortunately the OTA tuners are disabled in the test units for people in Cali right now. But, if all the information is correct, you should be able to record 3 programs at once. That's a huge plus, as there were times last year where I often had a 3 way conflict (L&O, Lost and Criminal Minds was one such situation).

Yes, locals via sat are MPEG-4, OTA locals aren't. Remember, though, that MPEG-2 doesn't have the same compression, so you'll get less recording programs when you go OTA. 50 hours all MPEG-4 or 30 hours MPEG-2.

Also, people are reporting they are getting smoking deals (i.e. free units) when calling DirecTV. So, if you've been a fairly decent customer w/ them, have the Premiere package, or are out of contract, you might be able to get the unit for a song and a dance.

Will you still be able to record 2 programs at once OTA?

pretty soon??.. best buy is shipping it "Usually ships in 3-4 business days"

For me, no dual buffers=no sale though. The lack of it is what caused me to get rid of the directv dvr and replace it with a tivo unit a few months ago.

Well, the national rollout isn't supposed to be until the end of this month. Not sure if their assessment on the site is accurate.

Also, according to the DirecTV booklet that came w/ the unit, there's 2 OTA tuners.

Unforunately, apparently, tivo has a patent on the dual live buffers. You can't pause one tuner, switch to the other, watch something, then go back and watch the first tuner where you left off.

So basically you'd have to be recording the other channel?

yeah that's about it. Tivo have a lot of patents.

that can't be true, as i can do this with my Comcast DVR.

And Comcast is switching to tivo dvrs I believe. So most likely tivo allowed comcast to use the feature in their existing dvrs.

It may not be a patent issue. I have read at dbstalk that Directv, for whatever reason, just decided not to incorporate that funtion in their dvr. Stupid really.

Is it something that can be updated with a software d/l at some point down the road?

Yes. There's a huge discussion about it at DBSTalk. I'm not so sure that Tivo has a patent on dual buffers.

My dad was given the new 5-LNB dish last month after storms knocked out his old rig. It is nice that he can get locals w/out the OTA antenna, but he doesn't get all of them. As of right now he receives the four major networks, but not the multiple PBS stations and not The WB. I'm wondering if the latter will change next week when they switch over to The CW. Does this occur in any other markets?

He wants to get his tv calibrated so I am trying to convince to add the antenna anyway for the pq.

they as far as I know are only pushing out the big ones, so no local pbs, or local small channels. I imagine the CW will be along soon thougg.

AFAIK, there are no plans to add HD CW for any market yet.

This apparently just got rolled out nationally today. I got mine today, got to keep my HR10-250 (HD Tivo) and got to swap out another HD box to the new H20 for $99 + tax. Installation is free.

Installation isn't until Oct. 6th, though. :(

i am just waiting for some reviews to see if this one is less buggy. i am on my 2nd HR10-250 and it's starting to have the same slowness that plagued the last one. :mad:

Yeah, mine is pretty slow too now. That's why it's going to be a secondary one in my bedroom. The new machine has some issues, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt right now.

Apparently a lot of people with a HR10-250 are getting the new unit for $20+tax and keeping their old box. Don't necessarily take the first offer they give you.

There's new software coming down the pipeline that should help out the sluggishness of the HR10-250. Not only will it speed things up, it will also give you folders in your NP list.

I'd bet you should get it within a week or so, provided your HR10 is connected to a phone line.

Does anyone know if there are any deals for people who just have regular D*Tivos?

I have been holding off upgrading to HD until the new boxes come out. I would only want it in one room and keep the analog D*Tivos in the other rooms.

I haven't heard of any deals for regular DTiVo owners, but you could always call up and threaten to cancel just to see what they'd offer you.

I called to ask about an upgrade from the HD Tivo HR10-250 box to the HR20-250, and the service rep said that they don't have it yet.

She suggested I go to Best Buy to buy it for $299 with free installation. :hairpull:

I would love to get rid of my OTA antenna to pull in all the local signals in DFW, but I refuse to pay that much for something that really should be low in cost.

If you call customer retention, they know about this and will help you out. Supposedly the new DVR is on DirecTVs website too.

Anyone know DirecTV's retention number?

My wife is reluctant to change from the HD Tivo, but I am tired of messing with the OTA antenna myself.

I was wondering if I could haggle with DirecTV to come and install an OTA antenna for free instead of paying the $50 for one.

1-800-824-9081

I just called for it. Got it for $119, and they're giving me $120 in service credits ($10 off my bill for a year). I'll take it.

I'm curious to know: what drives people to get the new HR20?

Do you have a HR10?
Is it perhaps because you can't get channels OTA?

After the 6.3 software update to the HR10 allowing for faster navigation, I don't see the upside of the new one. Plus, I get all my channels OTA. :shrug:

Well, if you can get it for free, why not? That gives you more than double the recording capacity for HD content.

Well, free doesn't mean better. ;)