Considering coming back to D* from E*...Help!

[tekone2k]

I had D* for 6 years and loved it. About 16 months ago I decided to try E* because their 921 HD DVR was only $200. I was always happy with one receiver split to 2 rooms when I had D* but was forced to get 2 seperate DVR's from E* because their HD DVR would fail to record for no reason. Anyway I am completely disgusted with E* and wish to try D* but quite a few threads in this forum scare me. I am considering an HD10-250 and an R10 which I can get for $230 after rebates. I own an HDVR2 and wish to do some mods but I want to make sure that my 1 year committment will not leave me with more problems than with E* as well as obsolete equipment and a high dollar upgrade fee when this happens as E* wants approx $700 for their new HD DVR.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[LostCluster]

Well, the HD TiVo DVR currently offered by DirecTV is already legacy equipment, unable to understand the HD Locals being offered, and it's non-TiVo replacement isn't ready yet. So, it doesn't look like D*'s HD DVR house is any more in order than E*'s or cable's at the moment.

[JimSpence]

Well, I'd say the HR10-250 is only getting obsolete if you are in an area where DirecTV is offering HD locals. If you can get OTA HD locals, it will still work along with the DirecTV HD package. In my case, I have the DNS HD networks. My locals are in a dismal state.

[Mr2sday]

Let me preface this by saying no one knows for sure because D* hasn't explicitly said most of what I'm about to write. It's just what I've read.

If everything happens on time, it will be years before they turn off the mpeg-2 signal. A H10-250 would be fine until then.

The new HD channels will be offered soon in mpeg-4 and those particular channels won't work with the H10-250. There will be 2 HD packages to purchase, with and without mpeg-4 signals so you don't have to pay for what you can't get.

D* should either switch out for free the H10-250 for the new HDDVR when the change over happens or it will cost around $99. There seems to be less certainty with this section, and there may be a minimum price you had to pay for the H10-250 for that to work. Some paid $999 from D* and I would think they could upgrade for free. I paid $500 ish after rebate and I think some even paid as low as $100. I don't know how they would keep track of receivers sold at a retail store. But that's what I've heard.

Please correct me if I have anything wrong here.

[GaryGnu]

What I have to keep reminding myself as I ponder the move to HD is that this board is very well informed, but the rest of the country is clueless. Most people buying the HD DTivo have no idea of this problem. And I don't think its in DTV's best interest to screw over everybody on this. I first read about this problem (MPEG-2 vs. MPEG-4) last year when the boxes were still $999, and there was a bit of a panic, but a year later, it still doesn't seem that bad.