r10 questions (yet another)

[ForgetRegret]

Hi, everyone,

I'm a complete newbie. I've tried searching through the forums but still had to ask a question. Please excuse my redundance.

I'm looking into getting Directv. I would really prefer to not have to get a land line. I understand that, with some non-directv dvr's, they are internet-ready and initial setup can be done over a neigbor's phone line.

I'm wondering how difficult it is to get around that with the r10. I'm not that technologically-savvy. I would love to be able to enable the usb port on the r10 so that I don't have to shell out $15/month for a phone line that I'm not going to use otherwise. It's essentially forcing me to pay $20/month for Tivo. (Though, I have found this to still be $20/month cheaper than the same setup with Comcast.)

I've read different things as to whether or not it is possible to enable the USB port, so my questions are:

1) Is the r10 able to be hacked?

2) Can someone like me do it?

3) I read something about using a serial port to establish a connection. Can this be done in place of a land line? Could someone elaborate on this a little more? Also, I'm working off of a Mac. Would that be a problem in this scenario?


Sorry for the lengthy questions, I'm just trying to get my footing here to figure out how I could save $15/month.

Thanks,

Tim~

 

[minorthr]

The phone line is only needed for the initial setup. The box will nag you after 30 days to do a call but you do not have to. Also D* may require the phone line to subscribe to certain packages but many people have been able to subscribe to them without a phone line.

 

[ForgetRegret]

What kind of packages? Like Pay per view type things? Also, how does the box get information about the television lineup? Does it do that through the satellite feed or the phone line? Please excuse my ignorance, I'm really lost on things like this.

 

[kbohip]

The R-10 is the least hackable of all Directivo's right now. You'd be better off getting one of the others (maybe off Ebay?) if you want to hack it.

 

[ebonovic]

For your #3 question:
Do a search for PPP Serial on this forum, or over at the TivoCommunity forum.

That is how you can use the Serial connections, and your PC to make the call.

But as Minorthr said, if you can deal with the daily nag screen... You only need to make the initial calls (and that can be done on any analog phone line).


For your second set of questins:
1) PayPerView can be purchased via remote, or online. Without a phone line, you will have to do it via the WebSite... The unit will eventually stop allowing you to purchase PPV via remote, if it can't make the call.
2) TV Lineup comes over the SAT feed

And regarding your ignorance: Hardly.
You are at least asking before you purchase, instead of complaing after the fact...
So ThumbsUp to you...

 

[ForgetRegret]

Thank you everyone for your advice! I've never actually read/posted to a tech-type forum before. It was a big help and I placed my order today!

In case anyone is looking to get Directv with Tivo... Direc4u is offering the r10 for $50 + $50 mail in rebate for a total price of $0! Not bad...


Tim~