If I purchase HR10-250 now... what happens when new HD-DVR is released??

[VettePilot]

Hey Everyone,

I have a question for all of you.

I am a current SD DirecTV customer and I live in the Dallas Texas area. I am considering purchasing an HR10-250 before the rebate ends on the 28th.

I was curious if the official word was out yet about how people will be upgraded to the new HD-DVR when it is released? If I subscribe to HDTV now what will it cost me to upgrade to the new HD-DVR when it is available?

Also, will the new HD-DVR's be lease only as I have been reading about or will we have to purchase them?

Thanks

 

[lostlife]

everything after march 1 should be lease. however i'm sure you'll still be able to purchase your hardware from retailers at their discretion. d* won't give the retailer commission on purchases. my guess is if you get a mpeg2 hd-dvr now you will have to pay some money to upgrade to the mpeg4 hd-dvr in the future. probably an additional $300 and there may possibly be a rebate for current hd and hd-dvr customers.

 

[sprog68]

I just ordered one today. Install's on Wednesday. Spoke to several csrs about the Mpeg 4 upgrade and having to pay again for another receiver. I was told by three different people that when the switchover happens, they will swap out receivers for free.

 

[VettePilot]

Thanks LostLife,

I am worried that I will have to pay out the butt when the new receivers come out Only time will tell I guess

sprog68,

I ordered one today as well from a retailer and should have it next week sometime. I have been told the same thing by two CSR's but you know how accurate they can be

I guess I will find out when the switch over takes place.... for now I will just enjoy my new HDTV

Thanks for the replies :up

 

[Hogarth]

DirecTV has a long history of swapouts for free, or, absolutely worst case, a nominal fee.

I would expect having to outlay no more than $99 when the HR20-250 comes out -- maybe less with the new lease scenarios.

H

 

[VettePilot]

Hogarth,

I hope you are right

I guess I could always call the retention department and start crying over the phone until they feel sorry for me and then upgrade me for free

 

[dcwebman]

I was considering getting the HR10-250 now but didn't really see where I was going to get any benefit from it especially since I can't watch my locals in HD on it. The rest of the HD channels are okay but certainly not a lot to choose from. I opted for a free H20 and will take my chances on getting the new DVR when it comes out and moving the H20 to another room.

 

[VettePilot]

Luckily I will get a slew of OTA HD channels here (In Dallas) on the HR10-250.

We also have the HD Locals available over the dish but they only have three channels right now Channels 4 (FOX), 5 (NBC) and 11 (CBS).

For some reason channel 8 (ABC) doesn't want to allow DirecTV to broadcast their station over the dish

 

[dcwebman]

Yeah, I'm starting to rethink my decision about not getting the HR10-250. I have an R15 at the same place as the H20 but since my wife loves to walk out of the room during live TV, I'm forced to use the R15 as my main receiver just for the pausing and the H20 sits unused. In the meantime I have been able to get my locals in HD OTA except for one station that's giving me problems. I'm thinking I may try to find the best deal on an HR10-250 now and just take my chances on how much, if any, the upgrade to the HD DVR will be whenever it may be released.

Now I just have to find the best deal!

 

[Mike500]

DirecTV has a long history of swapouts for free, or, absolutely worst case, a nominal fee.

I would expect having to outlay no more than $99 when the HR20-250 comes out -- maybe less with the new lease scenarios.

H

Yeah,

They might swap out for free, but after March 1, 2006, they may swap out, but for a leased receiver. After March 1, they will no longer sell "user owned" receivers.

They may have a history of providing free or cheap upgrades, but they will be changing their business model to almost all leased receivers on March 1.

By leasing receivers, they can change the fees at any time and are under no .obligation to provide additional upgrades, although they may, if it is in THEIR best interest

 

[Plywodstatebum]

This question has been answered about 20 times, please do a search next time.

 

[Buckett]

During previous upgrading processes, have they required an actual equipment swap?

For instance, I own a HR10-250 and want to upgrade to the new HR20. Will they require that I give them the determined upgrade fee, plus my old box?

I am considering adding a 2nd drive to my HR10, but don't want to ruin any chances of upgrading to the HR20.

Advice?

Thanks

 

[hdtvtechno]

Most people - including me reported that they got to keep they old HD receiver with the H20 upgrade

 

[stevesmall]

Yeah,

They might swap out for free, but after March 1, 2006, they may swap out, but for a leased receiver. After March 1, they will no longer sell "user owned" receivers.

They may have a history of providing free or cheap upgrades, but they will be changing their business model to almost all leased receivers on March 1.

By leasing receivers, they can change the fees at any time and are under no .obligation to provide additional upgrades, although they may, if it is in THEIR best interest

if directv swaps them out for free who care wether you own or lease, the fee is the same call it lease or mirror fee as for the machine they sold me in september they cant take it as i own it, when i say swap out i think they will swap out just as they are the boxes now(ordered before march 1) they swapped out a rca dtc 100 and a samsung ts 160 with w/ at9 dish 2 new h20's and i still have the rca and samsung boxes. now i will sell those on ebay. i dont think directv will screw the hd dvr owner although i think the fees for new users will hurt

 

[stevesmall]

Most people - including me reported that they got to keep they old HD receiver with the H20 upgrade

2 boxes here, and yes i kept the old boxes. im told that they are not taking the old boxes from anyone, in fact tech told me that this is a directv making this decsion. directv wants the boxes to stay active