Upgrading to a 2nd HD receiver

[RickFox]

Hopefully this is the right place to post my question.

I currently have 1 h20 and 1 D11 receivers. I wish to upgrade the D11 to another HD receiver - don't care abour DVR. My DTV contract is up at the end of this month.

What is the least expensive way to do this?

1) Purchase a used H20/21?
2) Try to get another HD leased receiver at no cost with a 1 or 2 year commitment (is that possible)?
3) Go to Dish?
4) Some other great idea?

 

[scottie_h]

Call D* and see what they offer you. You don't have to take it. I've gotten 3 free HD-DVRs over the years without ever threatening to leave or mentioning any competitors. I just called and said I wanted to inquire about upgrading a receiver, and if they didn't give me the answer I was looking for just said "thank you, I'll think about it".

As long as you're upgrading, you might as well get the HD-DVR. It's nice to be able to pause or rewind, even if you don't schedule routine recordings. And once MRV comes, you could even use it just for extra storage space.

 

[randyk47]

My comments:

1) Not impossible but very hard to find an H20/H21 for sale as an owned receiver. Since DirecTV went to the leased receiver model, about the same time that the H20 came out, the vast majority of receivers are leased and can't be sold. Beware of "owners" trying to sell their receivers on eBay, etc.

2) Anything seems to be possible with DirecTV depending on the time of day, temperature, wind direction.....OK only joking....but you'd have to call to see what kind of deal you could get. Too much variation to say you could or could not get a specific deal.

3) Dish? Beats me. One neighbor has Dish and he's been looking at my DirecTV programming and equipment with a notion he'll switch. I've been with DirecTV since '99 and see no reason to try Dish.

4) I'd agree that since you're upgrading you might want to give an HD DVR a go. We really like having the capability, more than we thought we would when we got our first HR20. The second was a mistake on DirecTV's part when they upgraded my H10 but now that I have it I don't mind having the flexibility.

 

[Jimbo]

My comments:

1) Not impossible but very hard to find an H20/H21 for sale as an owned receiver. Since DirecTV went to the leased receiver model, about the same time that the H20 came out, the vast majority of receivers are leased and can't be sold. Beware of "owners" trying to sell their receivers on eBay, etc.

2) Anything seems to be possible with DirecTV depending on the time of day, temperature, wind direction.....OK only joking....but you'd have to call to see what kind of deal you could get. Too much variation to say you could or could not get a specific deal.

3) Dish? Beats me. One neighbor has Dish and he's been looking at my DirecTV programming and equipment with a notion he'll switch. I've been with DirecTV since '99 and see no reason to try Dish.

4) I'd agree that since you're upgrading you might want to give an HD DVR a go. We really like having the capability, more than we thought we would when we got our first HR20. The second was a mistake on DirecTV's part when they upgraded my H10 but now that I have it I don't mind having the flexibility.

Good points Randy :up

OP, You may also want to look at the D* website and pull up your account, there is a place that you can look at your equipment and a place to upgrade it, look at that option before you call D*, this way you'll know what they are offering ahead of time ... then , usually you can talk to them about what you may want and they will work with you.

As Randy said, you should not find a OWNED H/HR rec., they are leased.

Jimbo

 

[Bob Nielsen]

The H20 came out a few months before leasing began, so there should be some owned boxes available. If you find one, get the receiver ID number and call Directv to make sure it isn't leased.

 

[Jimbo]

The H20 came out a few months before leasing began, so there should be some owned boxes available. If you find one, get the receiver ID number and call Directv to make sure it isn't leased.

Bob,
I knew it was close to the same time, just to be safe I figured you can't go wrong if you presume that it is leased.

Jimbo

 

[randyk47]

It was indeed close, to the point where I barely made it under the wire in April 2006 and my H20 is owned. In fact, and I'd have to dig back through my posts here, there actually was some discussion at the time about whether or not my H20 was bought or leased. Luckily I bought the receiver from an authorized DirecTV dealer and he talked me through the process of getting the receiver registered as owned which included giving his dealer number to DirecTV. Back then I was having trouble with the notion of not owning my equipment and there were some pretty "heated" discussions going on here about the merits of owned versus leased.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

My RCA SD receiver died in Feb, 2006. I considered getting a H20 to replace it, but when I called Directv, they had a $100 rebate on the R15, making it free so I got that (there still was a commitment, of course). Leasing started in March.

 

[Zynergi]

It didnt seem that this was posted, but keep in mind you will have 24 month commitment whether you own or lease it and the lease fee will still apply.

If you want to upgrade a D11 to a Hxx D* will more than likely do it free, and you might even convince them to send it to you verses sending a tech. Just make sure that if you get a H20/21 they also send the BBC's.