HR-20 purchase

[Brewer4]

Buying yourself out costs money. i.e, you lose on the deal even if that means going to cable who will want you to make a commitment.

So does reselling. I also didnt add in the risk factors that we would also normally use in a cost benefit analysis. They are hard to quantify so I excluded them. I tried to keep it simple for folks to understand. Its like reinvestment risk of holding stocks and other investments. Can get very complicated.

 

[vurbano]

So does reselling.

Lets see.

1. Joe blow buys it for 700, decides to he doesnt like the HDlite and sells it for 700. total cost zero.

2. Joe blow leases it and plunks down 199 (or 299 if he leased earlier) , pays a 300 dollar termination fee after 2 months and is out 500 or even 600 bucks less the 25 dollars prorated(2*12.50) and is left with nothing to show for his troubles.

3. Joe blow leases for $199 or $299, quits and doesnt return the equipment , is fined $800 for the equipment and $300 or early termination for a total cost of 1300 or $1400 dollars (all just to watch TV mind you), then sells for $700. In this case he is out 700 bucks.

now you may spin away

Its like reinvestment risk of holding stocks and other investments. Can get very complicated.

:haha :haha :haha

 

[Brewer4]

Not biting Vurbano. You would get destroyed in a business room with your math. I am not even going to dig in since you will no matter what rebound with an answer. But needless to say folks, dont trust his numbers.

 

[vurbano]

Not biting Vurbano. You would get destroyed in a business room with your math. I am not even going to dig in since you will no matter what rebound with an answer. But needless to say folks, dont trust his numbers.

I dont know how to make it any simpler for you to understand. :haha :haha :haha

 

[Brewer4]

I dont know how to make it any simpler for you to understand. :haha :haha :haha

I got it. Hope you dont do your own taxes.

 

[Sandy222]

I bought a HR-!00 off of ebay for 185 + 30 shipping. Phoned DTV and had it activated in minutes no problem. Yes it goes as a leasing fee but hey either way it is $4.99 a month extra. The only thing you have to make sure of on ebay is that the receiver is eligible to be activated and that will apply to used receivers not the brand new ones that have never been activated. If you decide to bid on a used receiver make sure you get the RID number and call and ask if it can be activated before bidding.

 

[Brewer4]

Thats the danger of getting ones off ebay. If Directv has it as leased in your bill, then they dont see it as owned. You have to fight to make them recognize it as owned. To them you got a lease fee one.

 

[vurbano]

I got it. Hope you dont do your own taxes.

I do them very well and please feel free to enlighten us with the TRUTH.

 

[bonscott87]

DO you generate an income somehow directly or indirectly from D*? Because Ive heard similar crap like that on a used car lot



Buying yourself out costs money. i.e, you lose on the deal even if that means going to cable who will want you to make a commitment.

No, I just don't understand why some people get so hung up an the 2 year commitment? If it scares you then simply go somewhere else.

What I mean, which I've already said, is that it doesn't matter is that it's so easy to get out of it including no money out of your pocket that I don't get why people are worried about it. I mean if you're going to leave early it's most likely to cable and they will buy out your contract. It doesn't cost you anything to make the 2 yr commitment so why worry about it?

But that's just my perspective. Obviously you don't have a problem with it since you got a couple HR20's on their way. If you are soooooo unhappy after a year then either suck up the $150 or have cable buy you out. You're obviously ok with either senario.

 

[harshness]

1. Joe blow buys it for 700, decides to he doesnt like the HDlite and sells it for 700. total cost zero.

You're making a invalid assumption about selling something for what you paid for it. Locating a buyer and handling the financial transaction aren't likely to come out of the buyer's pocket if they can order a NIB unit for the same dollars.

2. Joe blow leases it and plunks down 199 (or 299 if he leased earlier) , pays a 300 dollar termination fee after 2 months and is out 500 or even 600 bucks less the 25 dollars prorated(2*12.50) and is left with nothing to show for his troubles.

This presumes that Mr. Blow cancels his DIRECTV service altogether. As many openly proclaim, that isn't likely in many cases. Certainly he would be out whatever drive off fee was paid (unlikely to pay $299), but that's the way life is with those kinds of fees.

While the HR20 appears to have improved in build quality with time, have you factored in what happens in the event that your purchased unit croaks out of warranty?

 

[vurbano]

No, I just don't understand why some people get so hung up an the 2 year commitment? If it scares you then simply go somewhere else.

What I mean, which I've already said, is that it doesn't matter is that it's so easy to get out of it including no money out of your pocket that I don't get why people are worried about it. I mean if you're going to leave early it's most likely to cable and they will buy out your contract. It doesn't cost you anything to make the 2 yr commitment so why worry about it?

But that's just my perspective. Obviously you don't have a problem with it since you got a couple HR20's on their way. If you are soooooo unhappy after a year then either suck up the $150 or have cable buy you out. You're obviously ok with either senario.

Who said I was unhappy? This debate started from one of your inaccurate posts which was that " there was absolutely no reason to buy at all, NONE". IMO, if you have 700 dollars laying around its probably safer to buy it. At this point though, I will not buy until its completely hacked for extraction and unencryption or at least the eSATA is and D* has ended HDlite.. But thats just me. Once those two things are in place I'll go looking for one sold with a warranty like the HR10-250 I have. But in no case do I go cable, Verizon FIOS would be the fallback plan.

 

[bonscott87]

Ok, so if I said there is 99% reason to not buy it, would that make you happy? Good lord...

 

[vurbano]

Ok, so if I said there is 99% reason to not buy it, would that make you happy? Good lord...

If you can get some sort of warranty there is good reason TO buy if you have the money laying around. I disagree with your percentage. What D* is counting on by pushing the lease is that most people will not leave and suffer a termination fee if they continue their poor PQ. D* knows this, so they have doubled the fee and length of commitment to 300 dollars and 2 years.. They will stay the two years suffering bad PQ just to save the fee.

 

[builder75]

Just gotta love ebay sometimes....here it is the 26th and still no hr20. I used "buy it now" on the 15th!! Finally got a response from the seller and of course it was the standard "well my spouse handles these things and she is out of town" reply. Its all good though...we always use paypal so its a no lose situtation. If i have no confirmable tracking # by sunday i will request a refund. I have been waiting for two things to pull the trigger on directv...the close of our new house and that dvr. We closed the new house three hours ago. I think i'll probably bite the bullet and try to schmooze a free one from d* to reactivate. What the heck...its only two years.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

If you can get some sort of warranty there is good reason TO buy if you have the money laying around. I disagree with your percentage. What D* is counting on by pushing the lease is that most people will not leave and suffer a termination fee if they continue their poor PQ. D* knows this, so they have doubled the fee and length of commitment to 300 dollars and 2 years.. They will stay the two years suffering bad PQ just to save the fee.

The commitment length for "advanced" receivers went to two years several months before leasing was introduced (although it was probably already in their plans).