New Customer Direct TV Setup Question? Tv at each box?

[trckn4life]

Ok, so I signed up for Direct Tv. They are coming out Sat to set it up. I have two HD tv's and ordered the following:
Choice Xtra
Premiums included free 3 months
rest of NFL Season Ticket Included free
free HD programming, $100 referral credits
2 HD DVRs
2 HD Receivers

The two HD Receivers are rooms that I will probably add tv's too (maybe after Black Friday or if I find some good deals). One is a spare bedroom and the other is the computer room, which I think I want to upgrade the monitor and get a new tv and mount on the wall for it.

1. Do I need to have a tv available in each room to make sure the two HD Receivers are working?
2. Should I pickup a cheap tv to move to the two spare rooms to make sure they work ok?
3. Lastly, I have TimeWarnerCable Internet; will they run a new line at least to the living room where I have my TWC internet setup?
4. Anything I should do before they come?

Thanks.

 

[Hutch1814]

They'll run a new line to the living room. As far as the 2 HD's go, directv started a new deal for the installers if you don't have tv's in all the rooms we can refuse the install however if you're willing to move a tv then shouldn't be a problem (besides I've yet to EVER see a tech refuse for that). And everything else, just be helpful and make sure the tech has room to get behind the tvs where the receivers are going. Little things like that makes the job so much smoother. If you don't have a router get one. In order to have your on demand you have to have a router.

 

[coinmaster32]

Why would you install a receiver if you have nothing to watch it on???

 

[Hutch1814]

Why would you install a receiver if you have nothing to watch it on???

Because he said "in the future" why pay for the upgrade later when it's a free install now? I personally would do the same

 

[cave1376]

Why would you install a receiver if you have nothing to watch it on???

And in the future, the op won't have to sign a new two year contract.

 

[bbixler]

Why would you install a receiver if you have nothing to watch it on???

Many, many reasons...some of which have been posted.

 

[trckn4life]

Yeah that is pretty much it. I though worst case scenario if I don't get tv's for those rooms in the next 6 months I imagine I can send one or two of those boxes back and I am just out the 6 a box a month. But I am pretty sure I want to keep both long term and will not need to sign another 2 yrs. Worst case it is $72 more a yr.

Also on the HD receivers (I have a sceptre x20g-nagaiii monitor and it has strange resolutions that it accepts via dvi). I was wondering if I will be able to use my dvi to hdmi adapter to validate these hd receivers working in the two extra rooms? It says it does 1080i but I don't know if that is accurate. Here are the resolutions is accepts:[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Sans-serif]
Ultra High [/FONT] WSXGA+ 1680x1050/60Hz,
1280x720/60Hz, 1024x768/75Hz

 

[JerseyMatt]

No LCD 'monitor' will do 1080i. LCDs only do progressive natively, and support for interlace resolution is added to LCD TVs to support 480i/1080i. But monitors don't do this, basically because there's no reason for them to - even old CRT VGA monitors were progressive scan. SOME 1680x1050 panels can do 1080p, but not 1080i.

That said, It IS possible to use it in 720p mode with an HDMI to DVI-D adapter. I am using an Acer 20" monitor in the exact same way in my bedroom. You just have to remember that DVI does not carry audio, so you will still have to run the RCA-1/8" Y cable from the receiver to the monitor for sound. You also have to remember that the monitor does NOT have an IR sensor, so you will not be able to adjust the volume with the remote. This was not an issue for me, as I just hooked the receiver to the stereo instead and use that to control the volume (sounds better than the tiny speakers in the monitor anyway )

Once you have it hooked up, the Directv box will tell you if the monitor is capable of 1080p. In my case, it is not (same resolution as yours, 1680x1050). But as I said, SOME are. You should also lock out all resolutions except 720p (and 1080p if supported) and disable NATIVE mode, so you don't accidentally change to an unsupported resolution.

 

[andrewj0781]

No LCD 'monitor' will do 1080i. LCDs only do progressive natively, and support for interlace resolution is added to LCD TVs to support 480i/1080i. But monitors don't do this, basically because there's no reason for them to - even old CRT VGA monitors were progressive scan. SOME 1680x1050 panels can do 1080p, but not 1080i.

That said, It IS possible to use it in 720p mode with an HDMI to DVI-D adapter. I am using an Acer 20" monitor in the exact same way in my bedroom. You just have to remember that DVI does not carry audio, so you will still have to run the RCA-1/8" Y cable from the receiver to the monitor for sound. You also have to remember that the monitor does NOT have an IR sensor, so you will not be able to adjust the volume with the remote. This was not an issue for me, as I just hooked the receiver to the stereo instead and use that to control the volume (sounds better than the tiny speakers in the monitor anyway )

Once you have it hooked up, the Directv box will tell you if the monitor is capable of 1080p. In my case, it is not (same resolution as yours, 1680x1050). But as I said, SOME are. You should also lock out all resolutions except 720p (and 1080p if supported) and disable NATIVE mode, so you don't accidentally change to an unsupported resolution.

What do you mean no LCD will do 1080i? Mine does. The TV onscreen display say 1080i and my receiver res is set to 1080i.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[generix]

Yeah that is pretty much it. I though worst case scenario if I don't get tv's for those rooms in the next 6 months I imagine I can send one or two of those boxes back and I am just out the 6 a box a month. But I am pretty sure I want to keep both long term and will not need to sign another 2 yrs. Worst case it is $72 more a yr.

Something that worked for me (suggested by my installer) was to call and suspend the boxes I didn't want to use right away. That way, I didn't have to send it back, nor do I have to pay for it. He said that often customers will say something like "My kid is going to college or moving out", etc. and the CSR can suspend the box without reclaiming it. I have a SD receiver in my closet that I am not being charged for, because I had a room where my cable internet enters and I didn't have an extra coax feed to there.

I'd assume you have to make sure not to activate it first. I'm pretty certain he didn't activate mine before he left.

 

[JerseyMatt]

What do you mean no LCD will do 1080i? Mine does. The TV onscreen display say 1080i and my receiver res is set to 1080i.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

That's a TV, not a monitor. Read the entire first line, not just the first six words before arguing please.

 

[trckn4life]

Thanks, I may need to ask the installer about that. So I take it the hd receiver will run in one of the resolutions that my monitor will handle like 1680x1050? Thanks.

Something that worked for me (suggested by my installer) was to call and suspend the boxes I didn't want to use right away. That way, I didn't have to send it back, nor do I have to pay for it. He said that often customers will say something like "My kid is going to college or moving out", etc. and the CSR can suspend the box without reclaiming it. I have a SD receiver in my closet that I am not being charged for, because I had a room where my cable internet enters and I didn't have an extra coax feed to there.I'd assume you have to make sure not to activate it first. I'm pretty certain he didn't activate mine before he left.

P

 

[JerseyMatt]

It won't run in 1680x1050 unless the monitor is able to 'fake' 1080p (1080p is 1920x1080 - the 1680x1050 physically does not have enough pixels for true 1080p). 720p is 1280x720, which the monitor CAN handle.

 

[trckn4life]

Thanks JerseyMatt, I couldn't remember what res was 720p.

 

[TheTechGuru]

No LCD 'monitor' will do 1080i. LCDs only do progressive natively, and support for interlace resolution is added to LCD TVs to support 480i/1080i. But monitors don't do this, basically because there's no reason for them to - even old CRT VGA monitors were progressive scan. SOME 1680x1050 panels can do 1080p, but not 1080i.

That said, It IS possible to use it in 720p mode with an HDMI to DVI-D adapter. I am using an Acer 20" monitor in the exact same way in my bedroom. You just have to remember that DVI does not carry audio, so you will still have to run the RCA-1/8" Y cable from the receiver to the monitor for sound. You also have to remember that the monitor does NOT have an IR sensor, so you will not be able to adjust the volume with the remote. This was not an issue for me, as I just hooked the receiver to the stereo instead and use that to control the volume (sounds better than the tiny speakers in the monitor anyway )

Once you have it hooked up, the Directv box will tell you if the monitor is capable of 1080p. In my case, it is not (same resolution as yours, 1680x1050). But as I said, SOME are. You should also lock out all resolutions except 720p (and 1080p if supported) and disable NATIVE mode, so you don't accidentally change to an unsupported resolution.

I have a 20" Acer 1680x1050 LCD that does 1080i just fine directly from a DirecTV receiver plugged into it's DVI port with a HDMI to DVI adapter. When running it the LCD OSD says the current resolution is 1920?x540.