Newest generation of hd dvr

[aespillers]

Since I dont have directv but want it. Dont want to pay dtv prices for two receivers. What is the name for the purposes of ebay searching of the newest receiver? What is the hierarchy of hd dvr used? I will pay up to $100 for a used new generation hd dvr but don't want to buy something that was replaced by something better. I see a lot of TIVO type dvrs; so I guess this is a second question: If you bought one of these would you be subscribing to to dtv and tivo?
Thanks

 

[iceturkee]

first, all of the new dvr's (hr20, hr21, r15) are leased which means you shouldn't be seeing people trying to sell them on ebay. now, there are sanctioned directv dealers on ebay who will charge you the going lease upgrade ($199) for a box. since it sounds like you would be a new sub, you would probably get the first box for $99.

second, if you bought an older dvr on ebay, you would still get the tivo service. one of my older boxes is still hooked up and i can still use the tivo functions. not sure if that nswered your questions or not.

 

[atp1313]

Right now, the only real difference between the HR20 and the HR21 is the lack of ATSC Dual tuners in the -21. Though there is an external ATSC tuner device that can be purchased from D* within the coming weeks that makes up for that lack of OTA capture. Also, about that same time frame, the HR21 will be getting ATSC tuners built back into them. It seems kind of silly to discontinue the OTA input on the newer receiver - only to reintroduce the "Ant In" - but there is/was logic involved.

And the HR20 is silver...the HR21 is black...aside from these two differences, there is nothing remarkably different about either HD DVR. If you live in a DMA that gets HD-LIL, it won't really matter TOO much which box you get. If you require OTA for local HD, you may want to wait to order until the AM21 (OTA tuner add-on) is available or until the HR21 gets the ATSC built-in. Unfortunately, there is no absolute guarantee that if you requested the HR20 that your installer would bring an HR20.

 

[raoul5788]

Right now, the only real difference between the HR20 and the HR21 is the lack of ATSC Dual tuners in the -21. Though there is an external ATSC tuner device that can be purchased from D* within the coming weeks that makes up for that lack of OTA capture. Also, about that same time frame, the HR21 will be getting ATSC tuners built back into them. It seems kind of silly to discontinue the OTA input on the newer receiver - only to reintroduce the "Ant In" - but there is/was logic involved.

And the HR20 is silver...the HR21 is black...aside from these two differences, there is nothing remarkably different about either HD DVR. If you live in a DMA that gets HD-LIL, it won't really matter TOO much which box you get. If you require OTA for local HD, you may want to wait to order until the AM21 (OTA tuner add-on) is available or until the HR21 gets the ATSC built-in. Unfortunately, there is no absolute guarantee that if you requested the HR20 that your installer would bring an HR20.

I hadn't heard that there will be ATSC tuners in the HR21 series. Where did you hear that?

 

[atp1313]

First, let me hand you this grain of salt....now that that is out of the way, this info came from a Tech Support Dept CSR answering the question of when the AM21 will be available. A buddy of mine just had D* installed on Monday and they brought the HR21, but we don't have HD-LIL in the Charleston DMA, so he will need an ant. for HD locals...at least until Mid-08. And the AM21 and HR21 (with ATSC built-in) were scheduled to hit the market at about the same time in mid May.

So please allow me to offer yet another grain of salt in case the first grain wasn't big enough.

 

[joed32]

Since I dont have directv but want it. Dont want to pay dtv prices for two receivers. What is the name for the purposes of ebay searching of the newest receiver? What is the hierarchy of hd dvr used? I will pay up to $100 for a used new generation hd dvr but don't want to buy something that was replaced by something better. I see a lot of TIVO type dvrs; so I guess this is a second question: If you bought one of these would you be subscribing to to dtv and tivo?
Thanks

The Tivo types get only a few HD channels and those channels will be discontinued eventually. I am only speaking of the HD DVRs, the Sd DVRs will be good for a long time.

 

[rad]

First, let me hand you this grain of salt....now that that is out of the way, this info came from a Tech Support Dept CSR answering the question of when the AM21 will be available. A buddy of mine just had D* installed on Monday and they brought the HR21, but we don't have HD-LIL in the Charleston DMA, so he will need an ant. for HD locals...at least until Mid-08. And the AM21 and HR21 (with ATSC built-in) were scheduled to hit the market at about the same time in mid May.

So please allow me to offer yet another grain of salt in case the first grain wasn't big enough.

The usual thing needs to be said about CSR's they usually don't know as much as the folks that visit these types of sites.

As for HR21's with built in ATSC tuners, that's not going to be happening. Then whole idea of the add on AM21 is to reduce costs since D* feels that the majority of their customers don't require/want ATSC capability so remove the two tuners and reduce costs. For folks that do want the capability then for $60 more they can get the feature added back.

 

[atp1313]

I absolutely understand the "CSR comments" issue. And I have no problem with D* making an HD DVR that has no Ant In for OTA as most of their DMA coverage (so far about 70-75%) includes the capability for HD-LIL. But if you are going to "force" the non-ATSC version on people, don't require them to pay for this additional piece of hardware. There is an alternative: the HR20. If a market does not have HD-LIL, then don't ship the HR21 (by default) to that market. Once that market/DMA has HD-LIL, then you can install those HR21's by default. I just think this is a bad business practice on D*'s part. Again, I don't begrudge them saving money by making a DVR that doesn't have dual ATSC tuners, but just don't "punish" those people in a non-HDLIL market by making them pay more for a box that is capable of receiving FTA signals and integrating those signals with the EPG.

In my buddy's case, he called and they said they couldn't ship him a replacement HR20 unit and allow him to send the HR21 back. Instead he must wait until the AM21 is available and then he has to pay $50 for it. For a small shipping/RMA fee, they could fix his problem in a matter of three days for shipping, not have to send a technician, and everyone would be happy...well maybe not everyone - D* would be out $50.

He has the antenna because we in the Charleston, SC DMA are #100 on the list. Last I checked, that would put us in the HD-LIL game sometime mid- to late-2008. So he now has to wait until summer/fall before he can fully utilize his HD-DVR capability to record network programming. Not only that, but for those of us who integrate the antenna into our system get an additional 3-5 channels and sub-channels that may never be offered by D*.

Sorry for the rant, but this seems like a joke to me that they would even stock the HR21 in non-HD-LIL areas, on the off chance that maybe some of those customers might need an alternative method of getting their local network coverage.

 

[rad]

I do agree and have said that the decision to roll out the HR21 without the AM21 being available or a way to make sure a HR20 is available was a really bad one on D*'s part. Hopefully in a month it won't be an issue anymore.

About the paying more part, I guess the way I looked at it was while folks that want/need ATSC pay for it, it's still cheaper then what the HR20 was, so yea they're paying but less then what I had to pay for my two HR20's.

 

[charper1]

I as well like the integrated OTA into the EPG, BUT I can see why this exclusion was likely thought of; that said its surely the loss of the ability of OTA DVR'ing that caused the largest shock.

1. OTA is NOT the business, nor the responsibility, of your DBS provider.

2. Most people's HD sets will already have said ATSC tuner built-in.

3. Cost saving due to the above.

 

[Jimbo]

The usual thing needs to be said about CSR's they usually don't know as much as the folks that visit these types of sites.

As for HR21's with built in ATSC tuners, that's not going to be happening. Then whole idea of the add on AM21 is to reduce costs since D* feels that the majority of their customers don't require/want ATSC capability so remove the two tuners and reduce costs. For folks that do want the capability then for $60 more they can get the feature added back.

MAYBE D* realized that they had made a mistake by removing the OTA tuner from the new H21 series.
I personally would really like to see them go back and put one in the next generation,I will ALWAYS need a rec. with OTA inputs, I use an antenna and get MORE channels with it, D* will never have all the channels available to an antenna.

Jimbo

 

[bratboy]

Has anyone looked into or asked DTV if they will honor those coupons the government is offering people to use towards OTA tuners because of the switch to all digital in 2009? Just curious

 

[atp1313]

I may be WAY off the mark here, but I am pretty sure that all D* receiver's have the ATSC tuner built-in (or the AM21 for the HR21). So why would they honor a coupon for something that they already have been providing? You are not having to purchase anything additional from D* to get digital network OTA, so where's the incentive?

 

[bratboy]

yes the 21 will have the addon equip to enable OTA soon but it will be an additional cost not FREE so the coupon might make sense

 

[Bob Nielsen]

The coupons are only good on converters which only output SD, so they won't be valid for the AM21.

 

[swampman]

MAYBE

D* realized that they had made a mistake by removing the OTA tuner from the new H21 series.

They also made a mistake in leaving out the scanning feature on the HR2* series that the HR10-250 had.