Dish 921 to Directv HD-DVR is it worth it?

[kluken]

I was with D* from 95-00 then Dish since then. Recenlty got 921 and nothing but bugs. I am tired of E* and their bad customer service. I am thinking about switching to D* with their HD-DVR. Has anyone else goen from a 921 to Directv? How does it compare? Does the OTA receiver in the D* work as nice as the 921? I get over a dozen OTA on my 921 and don;t want to loose them? How does the D* HD-PVR compare to the 921 in stability?, features? I see the D* can only rewind 30 min, the 921 is 60. How is the PQ comparison? Channel content for HD? Any advice would be helpful, thanks!

 

[rad]

Since D* also announced today that the new Spaceway sats used for LIL HD channels would be MPEG4 you might want to wait for some more details since the announcement also said we'd need new set top boxes (no mention of upgrading existing STB's).

 

[dturturro]

I was with D* from 95-00 then Dish since then. Recenlty got 921 and nothing but bugs. I am tired of E* and their bad customer service. I am thinking about switching to D* with their HD-DVR. Has anyone else goen from a 921 to Directv? How does it compare? Do a search for my user name. I've posted some thoughts in a recent post. Does the OTA receiver in the D* work as nice as the 921? Yes. But with MUCH better guide data. I get over a dozen OTA on my 921 and don;t want to loose them? How does the D* HD-PVR compare to the 921 in stability?MUCH more stable. 921 is very buggy. , features? I see the D* can only rewind 30 min, the 921 is 60. Yes, but the TiVo caches on both tuners so you can flip between the 2two without recording. How is the PQ comparison? Unfortunately, D*s PQ is a LITTLE less than E*. Channel content for HD?Pretty much the same. Universal HD instead of TNT-HD. ESPN2HD??? Any advice would be helpful, thanks!

All in all I like the features and reliability of the HD TiVo over the 921s edge in PQ. The larger cache is cancelled by the 2-tuner switching. People have reported mechanical problems with the HD TiVo (mostly the DVI port). Once working their aren't many problems.

 

[mini1]

yes, get the best HD DVR on the market. when DirecTV upgrades national HD to MPEG4, your receiver will be replaced at no cost to receive the new channels. At this point if you care about multi-room HD DVR, you may want to weight until the new Ucentric DirecTV HD DVR comes out. If you don't care then go with the HD DirecTivo now, don't worry it will be much, MUCH better then the terrible discontined 921.

 

[mammothskier]

yes, get the best HD DVR on the market. when DirecTV upgrades national HD to MPEG4, your receiver will be replaced at no cost to receive the new channels.

Are you willing to bet on the no cost replacement? If the OP installs D* now, he/she will not get ANY replacement until 1 year commitment is over. Afterwards he'l likely end up paying $$ to replace the box.

 

[mini1]

why would D* suddenly start making customers pay to upgrade obsolete receivers, which they made obsolete? Look back at their history, every single time in the past they having given the valued customer a free upgade. most recently, the new locals. I haven't heard of a single person yet who has been charged to receive their local channels off of the new satellite. All you have to do is commit to a 1 year or less contract for everything that needs replacing to be replaced. beleive me, they are not going to make a $1k MSRP receiver obsolete and not replace it free of charge. DirecTV has already figured in the cost of replacing out all the needed receivers for the MPEG4 upgrade.

 

[CsrLiz344]

I totally agree. Could you imagine what the repercussions would be to try and make people pay for equipment? The lawsuits for breach of contract would bankrupt them( and that's a perfectly legal thing for D* customers to do, after spending $1000 on a box).

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

Are you willing to bet on the no cost replacement? If the OP installs D* now, he/she will not get ANY replacement until 1 year commitment is over. Afterwards he'l likely end up paying $$ to replace the box.

DIRECTV will take care of the equipment upgrade for all of it's HD customers at no cost. New one day to ten year loyal customers every HD MPEG-2 box and antenna dish will be replaced.

I just came back from the CES Show and had several high level DIRECTV meetings where we discussed this subject. DIRECTV may ask for $14.99 shipping at most.

-Robert

 

[dturturro]

DIRECTV will take care of the equipment upgrade for all of it's HD customers at no cost. New one day to ten year loyal customers every HD MPEG-2 box and antenna dish will be replaced.

Does this apply to SD as well? What do the new antennas look like?

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

SD equipment is not effected as it will stay MPEG-2.

The new antennas will have a quintuplet LNB head so they can see 5 satellites at 99/101/103/110/119 orbital slots.

-Robert

 

[MikeD-C05]

How many tuners can you run with this new 5 head lnb? I mean can you imagine the switch needed to run more than one or two tuners?

 

[dturturro]

SD equipment is not effected as it will stay MPEG-2.

The new antennas will have a quintuplet LNB head so they can see 5 satellites at 99/101/103/110/119 orbital slots.

-Robert

Great. I suppose if you don't need your locals via sat you wouldn't need the new equipment? 99/103 are lil birds aren't they?

 

[kluken]

I guess the thread got off track a bit. I had a horribel expierience with the 921, 2 bad ones and horrible or was that non-existent support from E*. So I am going through OTA DTA DVR withdrawal and was thinking of jumoing to D*. Yeah I might wait 6 minths, but then I miss the rest of 24, Lost and West Wing in HD, What good is HD for summer season and I am not a sports nut. So Is the DirecTV HD DVR solid, how does it compare to the 921? I see some complaining that D* is down rezzing their HD? That the D* HD PQ is not as good as E*? Anyone had both care to give their assesment?

Thanks!

 

[kluken]

I guess one other note, if anyone has had both whihc has better OTA capabilities? Witht he 921 PBS, CBS and TBS are barely good for me so if the D* HD DVR OTA tuner is not as good as the 921 then I might loose channels. Woudl totally defeat the purpose.

 

[dishrich]

I guess one other note, if anyone has had both whihc has better OTA capabilities? Witht he 921 PBS, CBS and TBS are barely good for me so if the D* HD DVR OTA tuner is not as good as the 921 then I might loose channels. Woudl totally defeat the purpose.

Well, I can't speak for the OTA compared to a 921, but it DOES have TWO OTA tuners vs ONE in the 921, so that should acount for something right there.

 

[dturturro]

Well, I can't speak for the OTA compared to a 921, but it DOES have TWO OTA tuners vs ONE in the 921, so that should acount for something right there.

I have both the HD TiVo and the 921. HD-TiVo hooked up with DVI and 921 using component. The HD TiVo appears crisper but the 921 seems to have better color. I haven't bothered switching the inputs to see if it makes a difference because they are both just fine, IMHO.

 

[TEN89]

Well, I can't speak for the OTA compared to a 921, but it DOES have TWO OTA tuners vs ONE in the 921, so that should acount for something right there.

Thats one of the reasons I switched. There were to many show that i liked to watch in OTA HD that where on at the same time and could only recored one in HD. plus they had a few more channels that i wanted and i was with E* long enough.