HR54 or HS17

[kenmichelle]

My HR44 is on its last legs. DirecTV will replace it with either an HR54 or an HS17. My choice. No charge for either one but the HS17 will require a 2 year contract while the HR54 needs no contract. We currently have 1 UHD TV connected to the 44 and 2 HD TVs connected to Genie minis. The consensus seems to be that the 54 is a mature and reliable product. I’ve seen many very old messages about the 17 being buggy but is that still the case? Trying to decide if I should replace the HR44 with the HR54 or the HS17. Eager to read your opinions.

 

[robjlevin]

I've had an HS17 for more than three years with no complaints. That said, for your purpose it seems like you'd want to go with the 54 but I would inquire about getting a C61K for the 4K TV. If they're going to ding you with a new contract over that, you might want to do some negotiating before accepting.

 

[JohnL]

My HR44 is on its last legs. DirecTV will replace it with either an HR54 or an HS17. My choice. No charge for either one but the HS17 will require a 2 year contract while the HR54 needs no contract. We currently have 1 UHD TV connected to the 44 and 2 HD TVs connected to Genie minis. The consensus seems to be that the 54 is a mature and reliable product. I’ve seen many very old messages about the 17 being buggy but is that still the case? Trying to decide if I should replace the HR44 with the HR54 or the HS17. Eager to read your opinions.

One consideration would be if you plan on using an OTA antenna, the HS17 doesn't work well with the LCC (Local Channel Connector), where the HR54 will work just fine with the LCC.

John

 

[rad]

The HS17 doesn't support OTA (as mentioned above), the ESPN app or PIP on the clients. That said I've had the same HS17 from the early customer test program and it's going strong.

 

[kenmichelle]

Not planning on OTA in the near future. Maybe when we decide to go totally streaming but then there are some "streaming local channels" options which would keep things simple for everyone living here if you know what I mean.

I should have said that we will be getting a UHD TV very soon, once the Panasonic plasma bites the dust. So even though we don't currently have a UHD set I want to make sure that I'm ready for it once we get one before the end of the year.

 

[Jimbo]

Not planning on OTA in the near future. Maybe when we decide to go totally streaming but then there are some "streaming local channels" options which would keep things simple for everyone living here if you know what I mean.

I should have said that we will be getting a UHD TV very soon, once the Panasonic plasma bites the dust. So even though we don't currently have a UHD set I want to make sure that I'm ready for it once we get one before the end of the year.

If you plan to have more than 1 stream 4k shows at the same time, you'll want the HS17 ....
All other things, the HR54 does very well.
I've had one for quite some time now and have never had any issues with it.

 

[odbrv]

The HR54 has Picture in Picture but no 4K to the TV it is connected. The HS17 has no PIP and would require 3 Genies for your set up. With either one put a C61 where you plan to put the 4K TV.

 

[Jimbo]

The HR54 has Picture in Picture but no 4K to the TV it is connected. The HS17 has no PIP and would require 3 Genies for your set up. With either one put a C61 where you plan to put the 4K TV.

3 Genies ?
Only 1 Genie allowed per account.
The HR54 needs the C61k client for 4k, but the HS17 does as well ... The HS17 doesn't do 4k to the TV either.