New to DirecTV...

[7thton]

I'm currently with Dish Network and have their 510 PVR. I like it a lot....except that it does not have dual tuners and no name based recording. For those two reasons, and because D* seems to be more customer friendly (free Tivo upgrades, incentives to remain with D*) I am thinking about switching to D* later this year when my contract with Dish is over.

One thing am I curious about...I know the D* is coming out with it's own PVR, supposedly later this year. If I, for example, get D* in October or November, and the D* PVR comes out in, say, December or January of 2006, do you think D* would let me "upgrade" to it for a reasonable fee? (Of course, I don't know that I would even want to....after all, D* Tivo's are the best thing going as far a PVRs....but just in case I wanted to, do you think D* would allow me to do so for something like 50 bucks? I'm trying to think long term here.)

Also, sticking with the long term motif, how will the D* conversion to MPEG 4 impact me as a D* patron in one year, or even 4 years? Will I need a new satellite, or new receivers? (I assume D* would foot the bill if new equipment is needed.)

Also, many people have noted on this board that they often get discounts (5, 10 bucks off per month for 6 months or so) if they call and extend their contracts. Has D* done this for a long time? Or is this a new thing?

 

[slacker9876]

Once you have a DirecTiVo you will gladly kiss that 501 goodbye. In order to know what your specific impact will be we would need to know which DMA you are in for locals. Either way, when your DMA is migrated to MPEG4, D* will replace your equipment for a 1 year contract extension ... that is a much better deal than you are likely to get from E*. The discounts are from Customer Retention. I have dubbed myself the king of D* credit, they do take care of their own.

 

[lee espinoza]

2# for sd subs to go to mpeg4 5-6 years out, most likely directv will foot the bill
1# nobody know yet
3# directv as done that for ever, at start they use to give out free ppv every month

 

[reddice]

For me it is the opposite. I am ditching the Tivo which I hate for a 510. The Tivo has too many annoying problems with it. If you really want to switch to DirecTV wait until they come out with their own pvr since they stop the Tivo anyway.

 

[lee espinoza]

For me it is the opposite. I am ditching the Tivo which I hate for a 510. The Tivo has too many annoying problems with it. If you really want to switch to DirecTV wait until they come out with their own pvr since they stop the Tivo anyway.

Like what?

 

[camachinist]

For me it is the opposite. I am ditching the Tivo which I hate for a 510. The Tivo has too many annoying problems with it. If you really want to switch to DirecTV wait until they come out with their own pvr since they stop the Tivo anyway.

Which model DTV TiVo do you have? Is it an R10 with the new software? I'm interested because I have heard of problems with the R10's over on the TiVo board but they don't seem intractable for our use.

Pat

 

[reddice]

We just switched back to Dish on March 7th so you won't hear me complain about DirecTV anymore.

 

[Loric]

Also, sticking with the long term motif, how will the D* conversion to MPEG 4 impact me as a D* patron in one year, or even 4 years?

You'll have to get a new receiver. The hardware you will buy at the end of the year will not be able to decode MPEG4. That generation of products are build on chips which are made to decode MPEG2 (and DSS) programs.