this is correct and it's what i've been trying to explain too.i think D right now is giving an hd receiver free for new customers but you still don't own it and never will. in my case when i signed up d was offering me an hd dvr for 199 and the hd receiver free. i went to ebay and found the same dvr for $80 and i still got the free hd receiver from D. so i saved $120 but i knew at the time that D still owned the unit. i just payed less through ebay. this is like with E when you lease a unit. you pay a upfront fee of what ever let's say $99 and you pay monthly lease fees.
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this is correct and it's what i've been trying to explain too.i think D right now is giving an hd receiver free for new customers but you still don't own it and never will. in my case when i signed up d was offering me an hd dvr for 199 and the hd receiver free. i went to ebay and found the same dvr for $80 and i still got the free hd receiver from D. so i saved $120 but i knew at the time that D still owned the unit. i just payed less through ebay. this is like with E when you lease a unit. you pay a upfront fee of what ever let's say $99 and you pay monthly lease fees.
this is also accurate quantum. no matter what you still would have to pay a $5 fee whether you own the unit or not. the good thing though is that D waives the 1st lease fee depending on the package you choose.
Which is why I wonder why take the chance that it ISNT owned? If the fees are the same, and they are, what advantage does the OP think he will get with owning the box? Why not just get it for free?
Maybe we can clear up the misconception, if there is one.
In your case Rey, I see the advantage. You paid less for a lease. In this case, I simply dont see it, when several posters are saying it probably wont be owned. Even then I wouldnt. Quantum?
exactly. i don't see the advantage of owning when you still have to pay a fee even if they waive the 1st lease fee. there is no real advantage. the upfront costs for a lease will always be cheaper than trying to own it which would be a lot more. with E i actually found it to be worth owning a unit or units but not with D. Go through ebay if it's less. if not just go directly with D. again from what i understand quantum you're a new customer. you should be able to get the offer for a free hd receiver(s) through directv. have you checked it out?
And the only way that you would know for sure would be if he provided you the receiver ID and serial number. Then you could call DirecTV for yourself and verify that they would be owned.
OK, if I have to pay the monthly fee whether I lease or own, right there's no advantage to buying even if I do actually own the receiver. I'd understood the cost to be paying the lease upfront. Yes new subscriber, so I should get at least one free.
Glad we could clarify for you Quantum. Hopefully you will have a good experience with D* if you decide to sub to them
There is an atvantage of buying. Your not required to commit to 24 months of programming., and lease fee and Mirroring fee is the same thing. They call it a lease fee when your under a programming commitment,($4.99 per month, on your 2nd receiver, and all addtional receivers) its a mirror fee when your not under a programming commitment. That still doesn't mean you own the equipment. You don't!
The only way to OWN your equipment ,is to pay full price for the receiver right from D*. about $400-800 depending on what HD receiver you are buying, and that means the person your buying your receiver from ,Would have had to pay full price from D* for it to be sold to you, without a required programming commitment. And no Ebayer in their right mind is going to pay over $400 for an HD receiver new in box, just sell it to you for $50. These are leased!
Ya know, even with no commitment, there might not be an advantage to buying. If you pay FULL PRICE for the box to keep from getting a commitment, you are actually paying more than it would cost to cancel early.
Agree! Its good for people who have vacation homes and RV's that don't use D* other wise. I know quite a few that take their OWNED $450 H-20 to their vacation homes that only use D* because there is no cable there. They don't have to pay for service except when the use it.
I think you finally got it but to clarify.
No matter if you own or lease you pay nothing monthly for your first receiver.
No matter if you own or lease you pay $5 per month for every receiver after the first one.
As it appears on your bill:
Leased receiver - "Lease fee"
Owned receiver - "Additional receiver fee"
Same 5 bucks no matter what.
I still don't understand why you want to pay $50 for a non DVR receiver when DirecTV will give them do you for free when you sign up. And it will be leased in either case.
And I can almost guarantee you that the guy selling it for $42 buck telling you it's owned is blowing a whole lot of smoke up your pipe.
Here is what you do to make sure if it's owned or not: Get the receivers id number from the seller. Then call DirecTV, tell them you found a receiver on eBay and want to know if it's owned or not and they can check in their computer. For that price 99% chance it's leased, but but sure to check first before you buy if you want it owned. Again, you can get it free from DirecTV but hey, whatever you want to do!
Oh, FYI...only get an H21 or later. Do *not* get an H20 as they are much older, much slower, doesn't support SWM and does not have an ethernet port. I would only take an H20 if I got it for free and even then I probably wouldn't. They quit making them a couple years ago.
If that is what is being used for the MPEG 4 HD then all of them (H20 and up, HR20 and up).
Quantum,
There is NOTHING wrong with a H20/ HR20 series , yes they are older, but I have them and they work fine.
Mine have OTA tuners in them where the newer H21 and up series do not, so if OTA is important to you, you might want to consider them as well.
D* has since brought out an add on box to pick up OTA signals with teh H21 and up series.
Jimbo
I agree, they are as good as the others IF you can find them. Honestly, Shibby is the first I have seen say to not get the 20 when compared to the others.
I've had a H20 and HR20 since when they first came out and don't any problems with them. I would try to not go with a H20 since it doesn't have an ethernet connection on it which might limit it from being able to use some future offerings that D* might come up with.
A couple of other things about the H20 which I had one for a couple of years. For one despite what was previously said, the H20 does indeed support SWM. Secondly, the H20-600 has a better OTA tuner in it than either the HR20 box or the AM21 OTA add on that can be used with the HR21 and HR22. Also the H20 become a very fast box after some software upgrades. I find the H20-600 I used to have to be faster than either the HR20 and HR22 boxes I have now.
Good to know about the H20; increases flexibility for me.
After a good bit of research I believe that for OTA I'll go with the Hauppauge HVR-1250. I won't be recording alot of OTA, so one should suit. And it'll work with MythTV.
For sat I won't need any of the HR series, as recording will be in my HTPC with two HD-PVRs. I want complete control over my programming, and with the HRs you will always, always lose everything sooner or later.
So I am pretty free to choose whatever H-series is available. I have requested the receiver and card# for one of those eBay H23's, and will then check it with DirecTV. I expect to get a response that it is leased, so will likely go with one from the company, whatever H- model that happens to be. Sounds like any would work.
After a good bit of research I believe that for OTA I'll go with the Hauppauge HVR-1250. I won't be recording alot of OTA, so one should suit. And it'll work with MythTV.
For sat I won't need any of the HR series, as recording will be in my HTPC with two HD-PVRs. I want complete control over my programming, and with the HRs you will always, always lose everything sooner or later.
So I am pretty free to choose whatever H-series is available. I have requested the receiver and card# for one of those eBay H23's, and will then check it with DirecTV. I expect to get a response that it is leased, so will likely go with one from the company, whatever H- model that happens to be. Sounds like any would work.
The main reason I recommend against the H20 is because it doesn't have an ethernet port. Thus it can't do MRV and media share which the H21 and up can. Who know what else might come in over the network to the receivers in the future. I guess if that is no concern then it doesn't matter.
Also it is much slower then the H21, at least in my experience and various Internet postings around the time the H21 came out a couple years ago.
uncrules, sorry if I mispoke on SWM support on the H20. I know they had a lot of trouble trying to get SWM support into the H20 and the forums all recommeneded getting an H21 because it supported it out of the box. Sounds like they solved the problem then. But if SWM isn't needed then no issue either way.
I'd guess just much rather have the newest receiver with the latest chipsets and features then an old receiver that is no longer produced.
As for OTA, you can get an AM21 add-on if you need OTA.
Quantum...no, I'm not a Mason.
What you get from DirecTV will be whatever is in stock, probably an H21 or higher. You can't specify a model. If you want a specific model then you'll need to get one at retail and I'd much rather get one at a place like Solid Signal then off eBay, but that's just me, I don't trust anything on eBay.
Also it is much slower then the H21, at least in my experience and various Internet postings around the time the H21 came out a couple years ago.
uncrules, sorry if I mispoke on SWM support on the H20. I know they had a lot of trouble trying to get SWM support into the H20 and the forums all recommeneded getting an H21 because it supported it out of the box. Sounds like they solved the problem then. But if SWM isn't needed then no issue either way.
I'd guess just much rather have the newest receiver with the latest chipsets and features then an old receiver that is no longer produced.
As for OTA, you can get an AM21 add-on if you need OTA.
Quantum...no, I'm not a Mason.
What you get from DirecTV will be whatever is in stock, probably an H21 or higher. You can't specify a model. If you want a specific model then you'll need to get one at retail and I'd much rather get one at a place like Solid Signal then off eBay, but that's just me, I don't trust anything on eBay.
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