HR10-250 - Should I....

[Tom Snyder]

I didn't want to hijack the HR20-700 thread....

I called to schedule my DTV install for my Oct 3rd move in to the new house, and was concerned about two things:

1.) The soonest they can come is Oct 13th. I won't have cable, so I'll be limited to only the OTA channels I can pick up with my old RCA DTC-100... so no DVR, no non-local stations and no TV in the Bedroom. Ugh...

2.) The HR20-700 only passes through 3 of the 10 Local HD channels, and currently doesn't support picking up any OTA channels. While that may change, I don't want to have to count on that.


I went to Best Buy to see if they could schedule a sooner date, and while they were checking, I saw that they had 1 last HR10-250 (HD DVR with Tivo). I thought about it, and wondered if I bought it, found a cheap or free 3 LNB dish, and installed it myself (like I did my last one), I would have the TIVO software (which I prefer to either TWC or DTV's knockoff), all the Locals OTA, and HD DVR by my move in date. I don't mind the smaller hard drive, and if/when DTV decides to pass through ALL the local digital channels, I can upgrade then.

So I bought it, but I'm hanging on to the recipt.

Please feel free to shoot holes in this...

[jimbop99]

I know we are all TV junkies on this thread but if I were you, and I'm not, I would live with out D* for a whole ten days. I don't think the DTs will set in until about day 7, but I think you can handle it. Put up a small indoor antenna and go to the library and get a few books to read. I have no clue how much the HD Directivo cost or how much D* is charging for their box but I would keep the least expensive of the two. If you are craving the HD for 10 days I have an old LG LSS-3200A you could use until the install. Good luck.

[Tom Snyder]

No D* for 10 DAYS? What are you... crazy? Oh wait.. that would be me. :)

Actually as much of a TV junkie as I am, my DVR has gotten me my life back. I watch more programs, but spend less TIME watching TV (skipping comercials, boring or unimportant parts, news stories I've already seen, and halftime)... and I can go about my life without ever having to get home so I don't miss a show.

[Bebop]

Keep the Hr10-250. It will be good for at least another year.

[Steve Mann]

Yes, keep it. D* is just now rolling out a new software upgrade 6.3a. They wouldn't be going thru the trouble if this box was going away anytime soon.

[Tom Snyder]

Cool.. so the challenge will be finding a 3 LNB dish. Does anyone in town sell them? I've found a couple online, everyone wants 30 bucks to ship it.

[Bebop]

I'm sure couple of people here are getting the HR20-270, which means they will need the new 5 LNB dish and have an extra 3 LNB to give away. :)

[Tom Snyder]

That's what I'm hoping. :)

[jf3233]

Did anyone notice that D* sent out a message on 9/27/06 to owners of the H10-250 about the upcoming 6.3 upgrade. Could it really be happenening soon! I'm not holding my breath.

[borghe]

just a quick update tom. you wanted a hole shot in your thinking and here it is. supposedly Murdoch is claiming that DirecTV will have an additional 100 HD channels up by the end of the year. Now of course it is to be taken with a grain of salt, but there IS proof he said this (at an investor meeting) and there are numbers to support that they can do this from the existing single spaceway sat.
of course the question remains what channels they will be (locals, nationals, RSNs, etc) and if he was in fact accurate on his dates, but just something to think about. The Tivo will definitely be good to record the current HD channels on D* for quite some time yet and OTA forever, but virtually everyone has resigned to the fact that D* will not put out another single MPEG2 HD channel and that D* will likely have additional MPEG4 nationals within the next few months. If you got the HR10 for a song, then it might not matter, but if you paid $300 for it I would hate to see you pay $300 for a DVR only to not be able to record, say, 20 new national channels launched only 2 or 3 months later.

[Bebop]

Did anyone notice that D* sent out a message on 9/27/06 to owners of the H10-250 about the upcoming 6.3 upgrade. Could it really be happenening soon! I'm not holding my breath.

Where have you been? Some already have gotten it.


DirecTV is slowly rolling it out, still haven't gotten mine.