CES 2013: Engadget Hands On with the Directv HR44!

[Scott Greczkowski]

The HR44 receives IR & RF at the same time - a big win for slingbox users.

I like this... a lot!

I was told that the guts inside the box are basically the same size as the HR34, but they were able to shrink the size of it down by removing the power supply and making the power supply external.

I was also told the reason why DIRECTV will not let you have 2 HR34's or 44's (or a mix) is due to the fact that you would need a new switch, and the cost of changing the switch to a SWM 16 or 32 is too high.

 

[mdram]

what if you provide your own switch?
ive seen the swm16 on ebay for @ 70

 

[Rey]

so that doesn't entirely rule out having two of those on one account as long as you're willing to pick up the costs..... no?

 

[zim2dive]

Really shocked they felt a need to redesign so quickly after the HR34...

 

[jcrandall]

Directv cost on the swm16 is about double what the resell market is, $150 or so, too many fallen off the truck.

I don't know that the swm16 cost is entirely the reason, but it sure can be part of it.

Bottom line is right now they will not activate a second HR34 regardless of how you got it.
If they treat the HR44 the same, as a WH Genie Server, I would expect it to be one HR34/HR44 per account.

 

[superiorman01]

It was no surprise to me that they updated the hr34 so fast. If you are an installer you would notice that the clients are slow as hell. I knew from the first install that they would need to upgrade the processor immediately if this was going to be their flag ship receiver

 

[detroit_fan]

I like this... a lot!

I was told that the guts inside the box are basically the same size as the HR34, but they were able to shrink the size of it down by removing the power supply and making the power supply external.

I was also told the reason why DIRECTV will not let you have 2 HR34's or 44's (or a mix) is due to the fact that you would need a new switch, and the cost of changing the switch to a SWM 16 or 32 is too high.

well that stinks. i got a swm 16 installed when they did my HR34 install, so I could hook up a 44 and not need any extra equipment. hopefully this policy changes

 

[Neutron]

Will they allow someone with an HR34 to upgrade to the HR44? We love the set up we have now but I concur the slowness of the C31 clients can get annoying.

 

[whitewolf8214]

Will they allow someone with an HR34 to upgrade to the HR44? We love the set up we have now but I concur the slowness of the C31 clients can get annoying.

I talked to a CES last night about this and she said that they are going to let people upgrade to the HR44 and also have an HR34 and HR44 on your account and they didn't have pricing or release date yet.But we will see when it gets here as we know CSR can tell us wrong things

 

[JerryVolunteer]

So can the HR44 replace the 34 as your genie client?

 

[Mr Tony]

So can the HR44 replace the 34 as your genie client?

should be able to

 

[Neutron]

Would we be able to upgrade the clients to the C41s as well?

I wonder what the upgrade fee will be and how much for a customer who just returned?

 

[whitewolf8214]

Anyone heard of rumoured release date and price for it? Thanks for help Same here Neutron but so far I plan to upgrade my HR24 to and HR44 and keep the HR34 Jerry the CSR on the phone told me yes but we will find out when it comes out as CSR's can tell us wrong things

 

[zim2dive]

It was no surprise to me that they updated the hr34 so fast. If you are an installer you would notice that the clients are slow as hell. I knew from the first install that they would need to upgrade the processor immediately if this was going to be their flag ship receiver

So the HR34 will be the DTV version of the Dish 922?

 

[jcrandall]

I've been using a HR34 since about a month after it was released and have never felt it is any slower than my other Directv HDDVRs, including the HR20 and HR24. I have noticed the HR24 is sometimes faster, but at other times it isn't, I think it just depends on the software and what all is happening in the background.

Faster would definitely be nice, but I have never felt the HR34 was deficient.

 

[Mr Tony]

I've been using a HR34 since about a month after it was released and have never felt it is any slower than my other Directv HDDVRs, including the HR20 and HR24. I have noticed the HR24 is sometimes faster, but at other times it isn't, I think it just depends on the software and what all is happening in the background.

Faster would definitely be nice, but I have never felt the HR34 was deficient.

agreed. The HR34 although at the beginning had some major flaws is smoother than my R22's I used for HD

 

[texasbrit]

The C31 clients won't necessarily be much faster on the HR44 than they are on the HR34.

 

[taveanator]

Wow. I'm new to both DirecTV and this forum and I like you guys already. I just called up and postponed my install date (new customer) in anticipation of this being released. My cousin has the 34 and while it's impressive, the overall menu navigation speed was lacking and I wasn't looking forward to loosing my TOS link.
Thanks for the great coverage and keep up the good work!

 

[jcrandall]

Please know it could be months before the HR44 is available for installs.

Most likely a couple months to build inventory, then a market or two to test rollout, then full launch.

 

[taveanator]

Please know it could be months before the HR44 is available for installs.

Most likely a couple months to build inventory, then a market or two to test rollout, then full launch.

Totally understand; but if the preliminary reviews are even remotely accurate it sounds like it'll be worth the wait. I'm in no big rush to move over to DirecTV, I'd much rather wait and be a happy customer in a few months rather than have (what will soon be) a sub-par HR34 installed now.

Can't wait to read this post after I have the HR44 installed only to see the HR54 announced!

I do have a question for those of you that have been around the DirectTV block: Is this release timeline normal? IE- have new boxes been announced after only a year of the previous version being in the market?