Should I update equipment ?

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lefatman

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Nov 10, 2008
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Selbyville DE
I have 3 HD receivers and all are HD. I am pretty uneducated when it comes to these things ,so I have a simple question. I do not tape shows for future viewing so I wonder if it would do me any good to update to new receivers or the Genie type setup.
 
My initial recommendation is to not change whatever works for you.

The Genie DVR buys you the capability of recording shows from multiple channels simultaneously. If you're not into DVRing, then that would be a bunch of wasted capacity that you simply wouldn't use. Further, if that Genie DVR were to ever go out on you, you'd be relegated to one of your other HD receivers anyway (most folks here are recommended to always keep a stand-alone receiver of some type alongside their Genie DVR just for this reason).

Further, there is a topological reason for questioning getting the Genie DVR -- you have to upgrade your back-end networking. That means that you'd have to have a SWiM device (Google "SWiM" (sans quotes) to better understand) in order to work with a Genie DVR, so unless you have a DirecTV-branded SWiM (which is, incidentally, backwards-compatible with existing receivers/DVRs), you're talking about having additional hardware also added. On the flip side, the beauty of a SWiM network topology is that you only ever have to run one coaxial cable to each receiver, even if it's a Genie DVR 5-channel receiver (due to multiplexing five logical channels over one physical cable).

Based on the announced new hardware from DirecTV, it would appear that ATT/DirecTV definitely has you in mind. Their new receiver -- a slightly scaled down version of the Genie -- "turns into" a DVR by virtue of having a DirecTV-branded hard drive attached to the device. Otherwise, without the hard drive, it's in "lite" mode.

As a final note, DirecTV is now solely into leasing equipment, even if you buy the devices outright. Therefore, you're going to pay that receiver lease fee no matter what device you have; a Genie DVR is no more or less expensive to lease than any other receiver.
 
i do not believe D* will allow existing customers to get the H44 Genie Lite, unless its through a 3rd party retailer. if you were to call up and ask for it they'd probably just say you already have HD then try to sell you on the HR44 Genie system. since you do not currently have DVR service, keep in mind as well there will be a $15/mo increase on your bill as well. however, being able to record shows is quite handy. if you do alot of steaming via netflix, hulu, and other on-demand type services then i'd say you're probably fine how you are.
 
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I have 3 HD receivers and all are HD. I am pretty uneducated when it comes to these things ,so I have a simple question. I do not tape shows for future viewing so I wonder if it would do me any good to update to new receivers or the Genie type setup.
All upgrades to date have been for boxes that record. I think it will be a few years before there is a non-record 4K box.
 
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