D* Installation Questions

[JSobon]

Hi:

I'm new to this forum. I have some questions about the installation of D* HDTV service in my home.

I am currently a D* subscriber and have been for years. I currently have a dual LNB dish. I am upgrading my A/V world to HDTV programming. I am an avid football nut so I subscribe to the NFL package and have for the past few years. I am thinking of going for the HR22-100 DVR or the HR21-700. Here are my questions:

1) Is it better to purchase the equipment myself and then call D* to install or have the installer take care of everything?

2) What exactly is the lease vs. buy debate I keep reading about? I thought if I bought something myself (say from BBY) I owned it outright. Is that not true anymore?

3) What dish does someone recommend for D* HDTV? I have read about the Slimline dish and was wondering if that was the way to go. Again, do I purchase the dish ahead of time or have the installer bring one over?

I'm sorry if these are "beginners" questions but I have never had HD service before and want to get my facts straight before I buy.

Thanks...

 

[blakex]

2) What exactly is the lease vs. buy debate I keep reading about? I thought if I bought something myself (say from BBY) I owned it outright. Is that not true anymore?

I'm getting my items installed Saturday (cannot wait), but I just bought 2 HR22's from Best Buy and in big letters across the front of the box it tells you that you are leasing the box and they must be returned to DirecTV when you cancel service. I'm not aware of any way to purchase new boxes outright.

 

[NutFlush920]

Hi:

I'm new to this forum. I have some questions about the installation of D* HDTV service in my home.

I am currently a D* subscriber and have been for years. I currently have a dual LNB dish. I am upgrading my A/V world to HDTV programming. I am an avid football nut so I subscribe to the NFL package and have for the past few years. I am thinking of going for the HR22-100 DVR or the HR21-700. Here are my questions:

1) Is it better to purchase the equipment myself and then call D* to install or have the installer take care of everything?

2) What exactly is the lease vs. buy debate I keep reading about? I thought if I bought something myself (say from BBY) I owned it outright. Is that not true anymore?

3) What dish does someone recommend for D* HDTV? I have read about the Slimline dish and was wondering if that was the way to go. Again, do I purchase the dish ahead of time or have the installer bring one over?

I'm sorry if these are "beginners" questions but I have never had HD service before and want to get my facts straight before I buy.

Thanks...

Welcome to the forum!

1. I personally would call DirecTV and get the equipment from them directly. They may be able to offer you a better price then a retailer.

2. All recievers are now leased equipment from DirecTV meaning you have to return them when you are done. When you go to a local retailer the price you pay is not a "purchase" price but rather a "lease" fee unlike in the past where you owned the equipment. The purchase prices are much higher. Around $700 I believe for HD DVR. That is why I suggest going through DirecTV as they might work with you on the lease price of the reciever(s) wanted. I personally don't see why you would want to purchase because when/if you cancel service, you won't be able to use the reciever for anything anyways.

3. For the dish you will need the Slimline dish (5 LNB) to see all the satellites. Again, if you order from DirecTV directly, they should provide the dish for you at no additional cost.

 

[blakex]

Welcome to the forum!

1. I personally would call DirecTV and get the equipment from them directly. They may be able to offer you a better price then a retailer.

Correct - I would call them first to see what they can offer.

I ordered 4 HD DVRs for my install on Saturday. They gave one to me free and they gave me $100 off the second one (AAA discount). The third and fourth receivers were $200 each - no discounts available.

Since they told me they are currently using HR-21's, I canceled the third and fourth receivers and went to Best Buy to pick up the HR-22's for the same price ($200 each). Since the HR-22 has a larger capacity for the same exact price, it made sense for me to go to Best Buy to pick those up.

So yes, it's probably cheaper to get one or two receivers from DirecTV directly, any more, it's probably better to go to Best Buy if you can get a superior receiver for the same price.

 

[rad]

I'm curious what they're going to install for you. I see people post that when they place a new order with D* the installer gets a print out that says exactly what to install. Since you ordered from them two HD DVR's (four tuners) that would put you under the 5 tuner requirement to get a SWM Slimline dish, so a regular Slimline would work. Wonder how they're going to handle it when he sees two extra HD DVR's not on the work order?

 

[NutFlush920]

I'm curious what they're going to install for you. I see people post that when they place a new order with D* the installer gets a print out that says exactly what to install. Since you ordered from them two HD DVR's (four tuners) that would put you under the 5 tuner requirement to get a SWM Slimline dish, so a regular Slimline would work. Wonder how they're going to handle it when he sees two extra HD DVR's not on the work order?

Good point Rad. The installer may choose not to install the other 2 DVR's if they aren't on the work order. He gets paid for only what is on the work order. Of course, there's always the option of paying him cash if he has the time for the additional lines to be ran but, there goes your chances of geting SWM.

 

[fanquon]

In my opinon, either lease or purchase is not a good deal for the HD receiver. customer are at loss for buy and lease price plus lease the equipment, plus the programs in the higher price. and I don't think the lease price will be return to customer when you drop the service.

 

[rad]

In my opinon, either lease or purchase is not a good deal for the HD receiver. customer are at loss for buy and lease price plus lease the equipment, plus the programs in the higher price. and I don't think the lease price will be return to customer when you drop the service.

You really need to look at it as an upgraded equipment fee. D* will give you a standard def receiver for no upfront fee. If you want a receiver with more features/functions like a SD DVR or HD receiver it's a $99 upgrade fee, for a HD DVR it's a $199 upgrade fee.

 

[NutFlush920]

You get what you pay for...

If you are going to spend a ton of money on a new HD TV, whats another $100 or $200 to get the most out of the TV?

 

[JSobon]

You get what you pay for...

If you are going to spend a ton of money on a new HD TV, whats another $100 or $200 to get the most out of the TV?

NutFlush920:

I couldn't agree with you more. I just dropped $5000 on a whole new A/V setup. I'm not going to argue for an extra 1 to 2 hundred dollars to get the best I can get.

Thanks to everyone for replying to my questions!

 

[littlebill]

I'm curious what they're going to install for you. I see people post that when they place a new order with D* the installer gets a print out that says exactly what to install. Since you ordered from them two HD DVR's (four tuners) that would put you under the 5 tuner requirement to get a SWM Slimline dish, so a regular Slimline would work. Wonder how they're going to handle it when he sees two extra HD DVR's not on the work order?

question? what is the difference between a SWM slimline dish and a regular slimline dish? regards..

 

[rad]

question? what is the difference between a SWM slimline dish and a regular slimline dish? regards..

A Slimline dish has the non-SWM LNB which has four cables running from it to either four tuners (2 DVR's or 1 DVR and 2 regular boxes or 4 regular boxes) or a multi switch if more then 4 connections are needed.

The SWM Slimline has the SWM LNB on it which has one wire coming out. You then use splitters to connect up to 8 tuners to the LNB. The nice thing about the SWM is that you need only 1 cable to a DVR vs. 2 if you don't use a SWM. Plus you can usually reuse just about any coax that's in the walls already.

 

[Q-14]

AT9 settings

New to this forum, been around since 10' C band days.
Sending an AT9 dish to father in Florida, land of Geezers.
Anybody know where to find the El, AZ & tilt setting for an AT9?
Zip is 33542

Thanks

 

[jcrandall]

Q14 - WELCOME.

The D* receier will show all those when he puts in the zip code and tells the receiver he is using a slimline dish.