DTV HD receiver

[svrider]

I am getting ready to shell out close to 3grand for a tv and I am wrestling with the additional $300 to get a DTV HD receiver. It sounds silly but this additional $300 just doesn't want to leave the warmth of my wallet. So do I have any other options? I want DTV although I would consider Dish. Assuming I go with DTV i am hoping somebody can answer two simple questions:

Can I user the DTV HD receiver to pick up OTA channels even if I would cancel DTV? Basically is the receiver I am spending $300 on useless if I decide to drop DTV.

Do I have any other options as far as receivers go? If I had an HD TV with the built in receiver could I just subscribe to the DTV HD package and get the DTV HD channels? If the answer is yes the conceivably I could buy a cheaper HD receiver (not the DTV one), right?

thanks in advance
Larry

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

Larry, we offer SatelliteGuys members and additional 10% courtesy discount so your cost drops to $269.99 for the DTC210, triple LNB 18x20 dish and up to 2 additional receivers installed. If you add an OTA antenna, DIRECTV receivers also decode ATSC OTA HD programing.

If you do not want to commit to a subscription service, I love the LG LST-4200A, which is an excellent ATSC/NTSC and QAM cable set top box.

-Robert

 

[svrider]

Robert,
Based on your response I take it that I have more choices when subscribing to DTV than the receiver they offer for $300? I am also taking from your repsonse that if I choose to buy the DTV receiver that it is not useless if I cease to remain a DTV customer. I can still use it to OTA channels?

If I want to order DTV from you how would I go about doing this? Just visit your website I suppose?

thanks
Larry

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

Larry,

Yes, yes and yes (or call me.)

-Robert

 

[DIRECTV_Mole]

SV, another question you need to ask yourself, given the investment you are about to make on that TV, is whether the device which will actually be powering that TV is the place to get cheap. Do you really think a receiver that E* can afford to give away to new customers could possibly be the same as a receiver that D* charges $299 (MSRP about $700) for? Consider this same comparison between E* and D* applied to any other product in the universe: "Porsche makes a Red Car. Hyundai makes a Red Car. Therefore Hyundai is equal to Porsche."

Bottom line: You get what you pay for. If you pay nothing, don't expect anything. just take a look at the myriad of postings on this site alone. On the E* side, there is actually a dedicated forum for postings about the DISH 522/811 tech problems / equipment failures.

 

[Neutron]

svrider, welcome to Satelliteguys!!

I can attest to having DISH's HD receiver and currently owning Directv's HD receiver. The DISH 811 was buggy at best, I had to constantly reboot it, and my wife was close to chunking it out the window.

We switched to Directv and I will tell you that the receiver I have (Hughes HTL-HD) is rock solid. I wouldn't get rid of it unless it was for an HD DTivo. Trust me, you will love the HD receiver you get from Directv.

Robert will take good care of you, trust me. Value Electronics is a great company to deal with. I'm not just saying that as a staff member either. I have ordered from Value Electronics personally.

 

[branchbouncer]

svrider;
We also have the Hughes stb and for the year that we have had it,it has been flawless.I think that in the 10 months that i have had it I needed to reboot it once.Good Luck

 

[alta]

svrider, welcome to Satelliteguys!!

We switched to Directv and I will tell you that the receiver I have (Hughes HTL-HD) is rock solid. I wouldn't get rid of it unless it was for an HD DTivo. Trust me, you will love the HD receiver you get from Directv.

I have the Hughes HTL-HD and I find that channels that I remove from my custom surf magically reappear. Does this happen to you as well?

ALTA

 

[ToddHealy]

I have the Hughes HTL-HD and I find that channels that I remove from my custom surf magically reappear. Does this happen to you as well?

ALTA

It's not specific to your model. My HR10-250s do the same thing. I've learned that removing the Sunday Ticket channels is futile. They're back in less than a week.

I think this happens when DirecTV moves channels around to different satellites (or maybe even just different transponders). Your receiver sees a channel go away and another channel appears. Unfortunately they lack the smarts to see it is really the same channel. DirecTV seems to move the HD channels around a lot.

 

[Neutron]

Haven't had a single issue with my receiver yet.

 

[jdspencer]

DirecTV may still have the unannounced deal where if you are a long time subscriber in good standing they will credit your account against the price of an HD receiver. It's been a year for my, but they credited $300 to me when I bought the HTL-HD. No harm in calling and asking.

Both of my DVRs do that channels popping back thing. Just the way DirecTV does it. They don't want you to miss out on new channels. Especially the shopping channels.