Well, I'm taking the jump!

[bimplebean]

I've been doing 'stealth upgrades' for the past year (Definition: Buying HD equipment piece by piece so my wife doesn't notice!) and now I've ordered D* HD service.

I was in a good position with an expired account; my upgrade was given to me free on the first try! New sat dish, new HR20 DVR.

I'm in LA and already get a lot of good stuff OTA, but I'm hoping this will give me even more. I'm also jazzed about the MPEG4 stuff taking up less hard drive space than the MPEG2 shows; the rep I talked to said 20hrs of MPEG4, or 50 hours of MPEG2. Woo hoo!

So I'm off and running, or at least I will be in mid November, when I've scheduled my installation.

Can't wait! :

 

[joed32]

It's all good!

 

[chazcbh]

I tried the Stealth upgrade but somehow my wife noticed when put 3 plasma tv's on the walls.

 

[DFWHD]

I tried the Stealth upgrade but somehow my wife noticed when put 3 plasma tv's on the walls.

I got lucky I guess - maybe, maybe not... a few years ago I conned my wife into the 5.1 AV receiver first. She went with it and then loved the sound on movies. Next I tried the HD TV thing last fall and her only words were "oh my god - that is an awesome picture". She approved another HD set for the master bedroom shortly after, along with an upconverting DVD for the living room. The downside is she felt that watching the Cowboy games in HD was better than going to the games, so I had to give up my season tickets. Frankly, she has a point. Better picture, more comfortable seats, instant replay and cheaper beer. Plus, she let me keep my my slush fund that paid for the tickets. That got me an Xbox 360 so far. Maybe a PS3 next. It's all good, I guess...

 

[stevesmall]

I got lucky I guess - maybe, maybe not... a few years ago I conned my wife into the 5.1 AV receiver first. She went with it and then loved the sound on movies. Next I tried the HD TV thing last fall and her only words were "oh my god - that is an awesome picture". She approved another HD set for the master bedroom shortly after, along with an upconverting DVD for the living room. The downside is she felt that watching the Cowboy games in HD was better than going to the games, so I had to give up my season tickets. Frankly, she has a point. Better picture, more comfortable seats, instant replay and cheaper beer. Plus, she let me keep my my slush fund that paid for the tickets. That got me an Xbox 360 so far. Maybe a PS3 next. It's all good, I guess...

Hate them cowboys ! lol but your wife sounds cool. you made the right choice to keep her and not the cowboys tickets

 

[Matt9876]

I tried the Stealth upgrade but somehow my wife noticed when put 3 plasma tv's on the walls.

Yeah it's hard to hide a 96" screen in the living room.

She still can't run the system but likes the Big HD.

 

[bimplebean]

All these comments on 'stealth upgrades' are hilarious. It's a balancing act, keeping your spouse AND getting your gadgets. I remember seeing a t-shirt with a picture of a hand holding a remote control, and the caption "It's a guy thing -- you wouldn't understand." LOL!

My wife isn't that clued into the picture quality or sound, but she's happy enough, and so am I.... Got the 36" CRT from a local warehouse retailer who evidently took a lot of 'em in trade, the speakers on CraigsList.... it's good so far.

I'm gonna miss the TiVo -- at least it'll still be downstairs on the SD TV. :-(

The next step -- getting a REAL TV once the lottery tickets pay off. (Redneck retirement plan.)

 

[bimplebean]

Well, color me disappointed. The installer showed up with an HR-21, which as we all know has no OTA, which I want for local PBS stations. My HR10-250 gets those.

I can't get D*TV to send me an HR-20 for love or money. I literally talked to nine different reps and got the same runaround. One said I could get one from a retailer and they would 'give' me the receiver for 99 bux. Sorry, that's not "GIVING" me anything.

Grr.

I canceled. Perhaps Verizon FIOS will be available soon. Heck, we're in Manhattan Beach, could be soon.

 

[ONUOsFan]

That's a little surprising to me... that you threatened to cancel and they didn't figure out a way to get you an HR-20... goes against some things I have read in other places (i.e. that they were still making the 20 and it would still be available if someone really wanted it).

 

[digiblur]

Well, color me disappointed. The installer showed up with an HR-21, which as we all know has no OTA, which I want for local PBS stations. My HR10-250 gets those.

I can't get D*TV to send me an HR-20 for love or money. I literally talked to nine different reps and got the same runaround. One said I could get one from a retailer and they would 'give' me the receiver for 99 bux. Sorry, that's not "GIVING" me anything.

Grr.

I canceled. Perhaps Verizon FIOS will be available soon. Heck, we're in Manhattan Beach, could be soon.

Big hand of applause... :clap:clap I'm glad folks are not standing up to the HR21 non-OTA nonsense. By far the worst thing is they are rolling them out to areas where D* is missing one of the big four networks or even areas without HD LiL!

 

[bimplebean]

Well darnit, I dunno if I merit that applause. I canceled the upgrade, not the service. I did it in a fit of pique but now am thinking of rescheduling.

I still want D*TV HD. Verizon FIOS is slow to appear on my side of Manhattan Beach and I won't ever go back to cable. I'm thinking I'll keep my HR10-250 for OTA and keep the R-10 downstairs on the SDTV in the bedroom. (Shades of Rube Goldberg.)

Does anyone know if DTV charges more for three DVRs than they do for two? I ask here because I'm tired of calling DTV and telling them my name and phone number. I swear I've spoken to eleven people today from that company...

 

[chazcbh]

Well darnit, I dunno if I merit that applause. I canceled the upgrade, not the service. I did it in a fit of pique but now am thinking of rescheduling.

I still want D*TV HD. Verizon FIOS is slow to appear on my side of Manhattan Beach and I won't ever go back to cable. I'm thinking I'll keep my HR10-250 for OTA and keep the R-10 downstairs on the SDTV in the bedroom. (Shades of Rube Goldberg.)

Does anyone know if DTV charges more for three DVRs than they do for two? I ask here because I'm tired of calling DTV and telling them my name and phone number. I swear I've spoken to eleven people today from that company...

They only charge 1 DVR fee per account. I have three HR20's & 1 R15 DVR. I don't pay the fee because it is included in the package I have but they only charge it once.

 

[bimplebean]

Well, I guess that's something.... :-\

 

[Ronnie-]

; the rep I talked to said 20hrs of MPEG4, or 50 hours of MPEG2. Woo hoo!

:

dont you have that backwards?

 

[Kikkenit2]

I still want D*TV HD. Verizon FIOS is slow to appear on my side of Manhattan Beach and I won't ever go back to cable. I'm thinking I'll keep my HR10-250 for OTA and keep the R-10 downstairs on the SDTV in the bedroom. (Shades of Rube Goldberg.)

Does anyone know if DTV charges more for three DVRs than they do for two? I ask here because I'm tired of calling DTV and telling them my name and phone number. I swear I've spoken to eleven people today from that company...

I'm surprised you don't have Verizon there yet. We've had it here in Redondo for 6 months. It's $5 a month for each box. If you can afford MB that's nothin.

 

[Tyralak]

I've been doing 'stealth upgrades' for the past year (Definition: Buying HD equipment piece by piece so my wife doesn't notice!) and now I've ordered D* HD service.

I was in a good position with an expired account; my upgrade was given to me free on the first try! New sat dish, new HR20 DVR.

I'm in LA and already get a lot of good stuff OTA, but I'm hoping this will give me even more. I'm also jazzed about the MPEG4 stuff taking up less hard drive space than the MPEG2 shows; the rep I talked to said 20hrs of MPEG4, or 50 hours of MPEG2. Woo hoo!

So I'm off and running, or at least I will be in mid November, when I've scheduled my installation.

Can't wait! :

Good job. However, I think you may have it backwards. MPEG4 takes less space than MPEG2, so it's probably 50 MPEG4 and 20 MPEG2

 

[Cranked]

Big hand of applause... :clap:clap I'm glad folks are not standing up to the HR21 non-OTA nonsense. By far the worst thing is they are rolling them out to areas where D* is missing one of the big four networks or even areas without HD LiL!

Too bad he didnt stand up to them. More people should....It's ridiculous to not incolude OTA. I was thinking of switching to D* next year for the ticket but that would definetly deter me.

 

[bimplebean]

Well, it's nice to say "too bad he didn't stand up to them," but the simple fact remains it's the best alternative available to me now.

Actually, I'm going to the old Zen concept of "it is what you make of it." I have decided to go for the upgrade, but to think differently about it.

I'm going to keep the HR10-250 as the primary DVR. My family and I can continue to enjoy the nice TiVo user interface and the OTA locals in HD. The kids can still watch their cartoons in SD.

I will add the HR-21 as a supplemental DVR. I will use it only to record the HD content the HR10-250 can't get. It will be a little more complicated to switch to that unit for viewing, but I'm the only one who cares anyway so it'll be OK.

So I'm not upgrading, I'm adding hardware for specific functions.

Once I think of it that way it's not so bad. :

 

[bimplebean]

Good job. However, I think you may have it backwards. MPEG4 takes less space than MPEG2, so it's probably 50 MPEG4 and 20 MPEG2

Oh yeah, I mistyped. But I do understand that MPEG4 takes up less HD space than MPEG2. Bottom line, I'll have a LOT of recording time now that I'm keeping both units online.

 

[bimplebean]

Well, the installer came yesterday and did a bang-up job. New sat dish on the roof, added cables and cleaned up the ones I had installed myself, everything went great. Kudos to Connect Television of Los Angeles - they know their stuff.

Picture quality looks outstanding to me, so that part is good.

I even discovered my A/V receiver has a third digital audio in, so I have digital audio for *both* DVRs and my DVD player. Sweet!

The HR21 is another matter. It freezes up a lot. I'm VERY glad I kept my HR10-250 as my primary DVR, otherwise I'd be majorly torqued off instead of only mildly annoyed. I'll browse the forums to see what I can learn about that.