Equipment Upgrade Question

[scots]

I currently have one Genie HR34-700 and two H25-100's that I've had for 3 years, plus one H25-500 that was added 2 years ago when we moved into our new house. I called DIRECTV this afternoon to remove Showtime, and the young lady mentioned that I was eligible for an equipment upgrade because of having the protection plan. She said I could upgrade the 3 H25 boxes to Genie Mini boxes at no cost to me. The only "advantages" she mentioned were that the Genie Mini boxes were much smaller, and that it would give me "DVR functionality" (which she later elaborated on and said that meant I could fast forward and rewind through recordings) in all rooms. I asked if I would keep the same main Genie box, and she said yes - only the H25 boxes would be swapped out.

I really don't have any issues with my current setup and declined the offer, but then I started thinking about it again this evening. To the best of my knowledge I have "DVR functionality" on the H25 boxes. I can schedule recordings, play recordings, and fast forward/rewind through recordings from the H25 boxes. The only thing I can't do is view/manage the scheduled recording list from the H25 boxes. Is there some other functionality that she failed to explain/mention? If not, I don't see what the advantage would be other than the boxes being smaller. Would there really be much of an advantage to upgrading to the Genie Mini boxes, or should I wait for "the next big thing" to come along? Any disadvantages to Genie Mini vs H25? If I did the upgrade would they send the boxes to me and I hook them up myself, or would it require a visit from an installer? Would it put me under a new 2-year contract?

 

[Drucifer]

Bull

 

[scots]

Bull?

 

[Drucifer]

Bull?

Except for not stopping and starting live programing, A H25 can do everything a Genie mini can do. And a H25 can work when the Genie is recording several programs. Unlike a mini whch is no better then a paper weight without a working Genie.

You currently have 7 tuners. Turn in the H25 for minis and you will have a total of five tuners.

Tell me again, where the hell is the upgrade?

 

[peds48]

TS has 8 tuners. I agree, If I would upgrade anything, it would be an H25 to an HR24

 

[scots]

Ah...OK.

We've never had a need (or even tried, that I'm aware of) to stop/start live programming in any room - including the room with the HR34. We record what *I* think is a lot of stuff (although it's probably not much compared to a lot of people), and it's rare that we have more than one TV going at a time (except when our nephew is staying with us) - so I doubt going from 7 to 5 tuners would be an issue for us.

Overall, it doesn't sound like the "upgrade" would do much of anything for us.

 

[mdram]

i agree an h25 to a mini is a downgrade

only upgrade would be to an hr24, or a second genie, which isnt allowed

 

[Jimbo]

Yes, D* continues to PUSH the genie minis to any sub they can.
Not sure why that is if you clearly already have a SWM set up with the original Genie.

 

[rtkirton]

I agree with everyone here...going from H25 to Mini Genies is definitely not an upgrade.

I have two H24s and one HR34 Genie in my house. DirecTV said to me on one of my calls to them that I was eligible for an upgrade to the Mini Genies. The problem I saw is that each H24 has its own independent tuner (I have a total of seven). Mini Genies pull from one of the five that I have on the Genie, so if I was recording five shows at once (rare, but it has happened) and I had changed the HR24s to the Minis, then either the Minis would not be able to watch channels from the satellite dish or two of my recording would be sacrificed. To me, it felt like I would be losing functionality.

As for Whole Home DVR, the H24s and H25s can do that without sacrificing your tuners.

Stick with your H25s. You've got a better deal with those.

Ah...OK.

We've never had a need (or even tried, that I'm aware of) to stop/start live programming in any room - including the room with the HR34. We record what *I* think is a lot of stuff (although it's probably not much compared to a lot of people), and it's rare that we have more than one TV going at a time (except when our nephew is staying with us) - so I doubt going from 7 to 5 tuners would be an issue for us.

Overall, it doesn't sound like the "upgrade" would do much of anything for us.

 

[Jimbo]

I agree with everyone here...going from H25 to Mini Genies is definitely not an upgrade.

I have two H24s and one HR34 Genie in my house. DirecTV said to me on one of my calls to them that I was eligible for an upgrade to the Mini Genies. The problem I saw is that each H24 has its own independent tuner (I have a total of seven). Mini Genies pull from one of the five that I have on the Genie, so if I was recording five shows at once (rare, but it has happened) and I had changed the HR24s to the Minis, then either the Minis would not be able to watch channels from the satellite dish or two of my recording would be sacrificed. To me, it felt like I would be losing functionality.

As for Whole Home DVR, the H24s and H25s can do that without sacrificing your tuners.

Stick with your H25s. You've got a better deal with those.

Well put !

 

[robjlevin]

There are some benefits to the minis, especially the wireless ones.

I've got two of them and must say that I'm very impressed with them. I was a bit hesitant to go with them but the house we moved to was only prewired for two locations. I put the two wireless minis into an office and a spare bedroom, but I can easily take one outside on a nice evening if I want to watch a ball game on the patio, or if I'm working the garage.

I'm not saying there are no trade offs (yes, you're giving up tuners), but having turned in two very slow older DVRs (HR 22 and HR 21) I find the wireless minis a major upgrade in speed and the Genie itself is blazing fast.