Which receiver am I getting?

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JINXR

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jun 30, 2008
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I just ordered DirecTV after having Dish for about 5 years. The guy told me my HD DVR was new and was the first he's ever sold. He said it has 400 hours of SD and an additional 100 hours of HD recording time. But I can't find it on their website anywhere. Anyone know what I'll be getting?
 
The H23 has been rumored from what I have been reading (maybe HR23 too?). I would find it odd that it is officially released without anyone here saying anything; but would find it just as odd that your installer had never done any of the current released units; my guess is however that you will be getting a HR21.
 
Unless something has changed, I don't believe it's possible to record a certain number of SD hours in addition to a number of HD hours. There is a certain amount of drive space, no matter what you're recording. HD just chews up more than SD, so the hours would be fewer.
 
Unless something has changed, I don't believe it's possible to record a certain number of SD hours in addition to a number of HD hours. There is a certain amount of drive space, no matter what you're recording. HD just chews up more than SD, so the hours would be fewer.


I asked him about that because I thought the same thing. But he said they are in fact separate, unlike other DVRs. He specifically said that it was 500 hours of total recording time. I quized him about it quite a bit because it didn't make any sense to me. But the guy sounded like he knew his stuff and even said he had been working for DTV for years.

I don't know. But I'll be pissed if it get half of that recording time. It was the sole reason I went with DTV.
 
Well, are you paying $700 for it since AFAIK this is a purchase only receiver.
 
Well this isn't starting off too well. I called D* and asked for a run down of the equipment and services I was getting. She read it off and I asked her if that HD DVR had 400 of SD and 100 of HD and she said, "that sounds right." So I asked her for the model number and she told me I would be getting either the HR20 or HR21. So I quizzed her some more about the recording time and she looked the specs up and found that they are 200/50 & 200/80, respectively. Then she backtracked and said, "yeah that sounded high the first time you told me." So I went back and forth with her for a little bit, but she just kept saying "I really apologize for the inconvenience, but that's still quite a bit of recording time." No it's not, it's half of what you said it would be.

So basically I was blatantly lied to when I signed up and she's saying they can't do anything about it. I finally just told her I would just wait to see what equipment showed up before I pursued it any further.

Anybody got any tips for me? It's pretty crappy that they promised me 500 hours, but I won't even get half of that. I think the least they can do is buy me an external hard drive to get it up to 500 hours. Is that unreasonable?
 
Anybody got any tips for me? It's pretty crappy that they promised me 500 hours, but I won't even get half of that. I think the least they can do is buy me an external hard drive to get it up to 500 hours. Is that unreasonable?
I'll just say, best of luck to you. :D I'd say at best you'll get "I'm sorry you were misinformed."

I'd hate to accuse them of outright lying. But reading through these threads on a daily basis, it sure seems like there are some completely clueless CSRs... (clueless ranks slightly better than liar :) )
 
Well I called back and got another CSR. He tried telling me that the HR21 DOES have 400/100 SD/HD recording time and that the lady I talked to before him was giving me the specs for the HR20. lol, it never ends. I told him I was looking at the HR21 specs online and it shows 200or50 SD/HD. So he connected me to a tech support guy who told me I was misinformed... twice.

The tech guy was cool though and put some notes on my account saying I was told I would be getting a 400/100 SD/HD receiver upon agreeing to the service and talked to a sales guy for me. They said I should wait to see what I end up getting because they have no way of knowing what that will be until I get it. Then, if it's not the 400/100, that I need to call back, have them read the notes, and they should hook me up with a HR21PRO, which has the 400/100 recording time.


What a cluster. I'd be happy if they just credited me for an external hard drive that would be equivalent to the 400/100. We'll see what happens.
 
I will promise you that you will get an HR 21 with 200 hours of SD programming, up to 50 hours of HD programming and nothing else.

Whatever CSR tells you take it with a grain of salt or as they say for entertainmet purposes only.
 
REMINDER 1001

CSRs are not tech savvy or in any way on a knowledgeable spec level. Should they be? Maybe. Are there a few? Yes. Should they try to talk over what they know? No. But these ARE NOT the folks to quiz on these topics.
 
Just to amuse myself, I went and pulled a box out of my van, that has an HR21NC-200 in it. It's marked on the box and in the owners manual that comes with it, that it records 200 hours of Standard Def programming or 50 hours of HD programming.

If a residential technician is doing your install, which is what 99.9% of us are, this is what he will have with him. Or possibly an HR20 if it's a refurb. I don't know what the capacity on the HR23 is, but even if it was higher, our warehouses won't issue them until the current stock is depleted. First in, First out.

Understand, like someone else said, when you call up D*, the first CSR you talk to is reading down a script. They may or may not know the in's and outs of every single nook and cranny of each piece of equipment. They're simply following their script of what-to-do for each call. You can request a different model reciever all you want, til you're blue in the face, but until that tech actually shows up there is NO GUARANTEE of what you will get. Plain and simple. You MAY get lucky and that tech has an HR23 or HR21, whatever with him that day. He may not.

I understand you feel like you were lied to, I really do. Even if the CSR was misinformed on something I can see how that would make you feel misled. But don't blame them entirely. Some of them simply don't know any better, ESPECIALLY someone new or someone being trained. On that note, you're not entitled to anything, be it an add-on hard-drive or w/e just because someone was misinformed. It happens, that's life. That's somebody wanting something for nothing and it's one of the things that pisses me off more than anything with customers.

"Oh I didn't know there was a charge for wall-fishing, I still want you to do it but I'm not going to pay for it..." I will turn around and walk out the door. Had that happen a few times.

Or someone wants a polemount because it would "look better behind this bush, where I can't see it 100ft from the house, but I'm not paying for it" when it would be easier and faster and more efficient to mount it on the roof, a wall, a deckpost, w/e.

They see/hear/read "FREE INSTALL" and they get this idea that the tech is at their mercy to do exactly what they want, whatever they want, at no extra cost to them.
 
i ordered directv yesterday and was also wondering what HD DVR i'm getting. i hope it's the black hr21-100 but D couldn't tell me.
 
I had a HR21-200 and now a HR21-100, as far as I can tell there is no difference in the operation of them at all, like one isn't faster/slower then the other. The only thing I noticed is the -100 is a tad louder then the -200 was.
 
I had a HR21-200 and now a HR21-100, as far as I can tell there is no difference in the operation of them at all, like one isn't faster/slower then the other. The only thing I noticed is the -100 is a tad louder then the -200 was.

i'm also very interested that it be black. by the way rad you've been very helpful. i appreciate it.
 
i'm also very interested that it be black. by the way rad you've been very helpful. i appreciate it.

NP, hope you're going to be happy with the switch. While you're waiting you might want to check out Undocumented HD DVR PLUS Tips & Tricks - DBSTalk.Com so you're ready to go. And don't forget to check out the CE process, help D* test out their DVR software and provide input to them on how to make things better.
 
excellent. i will definitely participate in the CE program. glad to be part if this group. :up
 
Just to amuse myself, I went and pulled a box out of my van, that has an HR21NC-200 in it. It's marked on the box and in the owners manual that comes with it, that it records 200 hours of Standard Def programming or 50 hours of HD programming.

If a residential technician is doing your install, which is what 99.9% of us are, this is what he will have with him. Or possibly an HR20 if it's a refurb. I don't know what the capacity on the HR23 is, but even if it was higher, our warehouses won't issue them until the current stock is depleted. First in, First out.

Understand, like someone else said, when you call up D*, the first CSR you talk to is reading down a script. They may or may not know the in's and outs of every single nook and cranny of each piece of equipment. They're simply following their script of what-to-do for each call. You can request a different model reciever all you want, til you're blue in the face, but until that tech actually shows up there is NO GUARANTEE of what you will get. Plain and simple. You MAY get lucky and that tech has an HR23 or HR21, whatever with him that day. He may not.

I understand you feel like you were lied to, I really do. Even if the CSR was misinformed on something I can see how that would make you feel misled. But don't blame them entirely. Some of them simply don't know any better, ESPECIALLY someone new or someone being trained. On that note, you're not entitled to anything, be it an add-on hard-drive or w/e just because someone was misinformed. It happens, that's life. That's somebody wanting something for nothing and it's one of the things that pisses me off more than anything with customers.

"Oh I didn't know there was a charge for wall-fishing, I still want you to do it but I'm not going to pay for it..." I will turn around and walk out the door. Had that happen a few times.

Or someone wants a polemount because it would "look better behind this bush, where I can't see it 100ft from the house, but I'm not paying for it" when it would be easier and faster and more efficient to mount it on the roof, a wall, a deckpost, w/e.

They see/hear/read "FREE INSTALL" and they get this idea that the tech is at their mercy to do exactly what they want, whatever they want, at no extra cost to them.

So it's just OK if they completely lie (knowingly or unknowingly) to a customer when ordering service AND the customer is supposed to know everything because the Customer Service Representative isn't expected to know their own products and services??????

I've only been on this board for not even a week, but I've noticed that it's the general consensus that this is acceptable. It either makes me think most users on here are actually DTV reps or people are just pushovers. Either way, it's no wonder satellite companies get away with it.

And yes, I am entitled to what they told me I was buying. Otherwise it is blatant fraud. It's not my fault that the CSR's don't know their own product.

I ordered a 500 hr HD DVR. That's what they told me I was getting. In fact, me an the agent talked about this sole topic for over 10 minutes. He assured me that it was 500 hours total and that it was a new receiver (his first time to even sale it). I even had two CSRs tell me that it is 500 hours. If it's not what I end up getting, then they can either make it right or I'll cancel my service. But for someone to think I'm not entitled to what they sold me is asinine.

If that's your biggest complaint about your customers, then it sounds like there is either a breakdown of communication between the subs and DTV, or there is a constant influx of misinformation from the CSRs trying to make a sale.
 
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