Receiver reccomendation please

[sunblock90]

I am currently using three RCA DRD435RH receivers, made by Thomson that came with the Direct TV triple LNB package. I find most of the Direct TV standard receivers to be cumbersome and "clunky" to navigate with. I had a hughes Para Todos unit that was more user freindly, with a quick button for your favorite 9 stations. It died. Is their an easy way to program the RCA receivers for favorites? Can someone reccomend something more modern with some decent features. I am not intersted in recording stuff.

Thanks.

 

[DTV TiVo Dealer]

We have a promotion on the new D10 DIRECTV receivers for $24.99 each. The D10 is a great basic receiver withal of the latest features with a excellent advanced electronic program guide.

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-Robert

 

[dishrich]

I had a hughes Para Todos unit that was more user freindly, with a quick button for your favorite 9 stations. It died.

I totally agree with you - the Hughes receivers were the BEST around. Unfortunately, they are no longer made. (unless you can still find any somewhere) I bought a couple (1 HAH & 1 HBH) so I could keep 1 as a spare in case 1 died. I like the one-touch favs as well - did you know the newest Hughes units actually increased this to 27. They gave you 3 groups of 9 stations that you could switch between just by pressing the turbo button - great for the Music Choice stations.

Check some of the other satellite websites & see if they might have some left.

NOW, that being said - you REALLY, REALLY should consider getting a D-Tivo now. While I know you said you weren't interested in recording stuff, you would find it would make your D* experience SO much better. Do you know that when you get a D-Tivo box, you actually are getting TWO receivers in one, to allow you to record 1 show while watching another one. (or you can record TWO different shows at once while watching a pre-recorded one) It is well worth the extra $5 month that the Tivo service costs.

 

[sunblock90]

OK. I am open to suggestions. I get 101 and 119. Do I need 110 to get D-Tivo? If this is the future, which box should I get? Does Sony or Panasonic make a good one? The BestBuy website doesn't offer anything?

 

[dishrich]

D-Tivo's will work on any of the satellite positions, so it makes no difference the dish that you have. But, you DO need to have 2 feedlines from your dish to the receiver to make BOTH tuners work. But since you are already using 3 standard receivers, you should have 1 extra port available on your dish/switch for this - you just need to run the coax. And, if for some reason you CANNOT get another coax to the Tivo, it'll still work fine with only 1 feed, but you won't be able to watch/record 2 different shows at once. (But you'll want to do this anyway, I guarantee it...)

Besides the fact that the only D-Tivo unit's currently made are the D* made R10 units, any of the previous brands that may still be out there are EXACTLY the same. (ONLY difference is the shape of the receiver itself) You can buy strictly on price, but they are pretty much going for $99. (although, I did decide to pick up one of the last Hughes HDVR-2 units that was left at my local BB last night - I had a 10% coupon, as well as a $10 rewards coupon, & since you can do feature hacks easier on these, thought what the helll, I'd get it) My two series ones are NOT going to be updated with the newer features & I thought I'd go for the speedier one.

For your purposes, the R10 will work just fine for you.

 

[dishrich]

Oh, something else I thought I might add. If after you get your first Tivo & you really like it, you could replace the other receivers with Tivo units as well. BUT, to let you know some good news/bad news:

Your monthly cost for the 2nd+ Tivo units would NOT be any higher, since with D* you ONLY pay ONE $5 Tivo charge per D* account, regardless of how many Tivo boxes you have. You still, of course, have to pay the $5 additional receiver charge just like you are doing now, but you actually still get a 2nd tuner on each one for free.

If you go above 4 tuners (2 standard receivers & 1 Tivo count as 4 tuners) you would need to get a larger multiswitch, assuming you would want the additional tuners on the additional Tivos to work. But, if you call D* & ask them for the upgrade, they'll usually install the larger switch for free, as well as any additional wiring. You actually might want to call them for your first one & see what kind of deal you can get out of them, since obviously you've been a long-time customer.