Should I stay or should I go?

[viruseater]

I'm not sure what to do. maybe i can get some help.

I've had terrible service with DirectTV. i have 2 DVR's and i can't get the 100.00 rebate on either. Anyway... enough of that..

I originally jumped into this whole tivo thing not knowing of this forum (i wish I had known). I purchased two dvrs and the free standard unit from dtv. but my whole goal was to be able to network this stuff. It's ridiculous to have to record shows on both dvrs. I was hoping to record it on the TV that may not be used at the time, then be able to view saved shows through a central pool.

I cannot do this through DirectTV.

If you had to make a choice and were in my situation, would you stick with the Direct TV stuff or make the dump and get tivo's?

[viruseater]

Fortunately I have my Cable still hooked up here. I had to keep it becuase I have cable internet (No DSL here but the cable modem and service here are pretty good).

I've had nothing but trouble with DTV so far. not the unit or the service, just the billing department and the confrontational 'customer service'.

When is the 3s coming out?

I had to sign a year contract for the special I got (the 100.00 rebate on the dvr) but since they never sent the rebate, and I literally had to pay for the same dvr twice I can't imagine I'll have any trouble leaving early.

[ChuckyBox]

I had to sign a year contract for the special I got (the 100.00 rebate on the dvr) but since they never sent the rebate, and I literally had to pay for the same dvr twice I can't imagine I'll have any trouble leaving early.
I believe you can get out of the 1-year committment if you return the hardware to DTV, but you should check in the DirecTV forum here at tivocommunity to make sure.

Anyway, whether you stick with DTV or go with cable, it sounds like a good option for you would be to return the DirecTV DVRs, and get a couple of the standalone boxes from TiVo. They're dirt cheap right now. You can network them and use the other broadband features. Just keep in mind that they are single-tuner (which is less of a problem for you because you'll have a couple of them), and you'll be on the hook for a 1-year service committment with TiVo (which is less of an issue if you buy the lifetime service for the boxes, because you can sell them on ebay and get your money back).

[Aquatic]

Older D* PVRs can be hacked to include networking and web interfaces and all manner of neat things--Caller ID too. Check the UNDERGROUND forum there, especially posts by Gunnyman and Rbautch.. Between them, they've made the job of "hacking" a whole lot easier and cheaper.

OTHERWISE, you can sit tight and wait to see what D* is going to come out with to compete in the S3 arena, Moxi, etc arena. My personal opinion is that they need to set the new machines up to be able to network, between themselves at a minimum, allow external tools (web interfaces, etc) would be nice, allowing downloads (even watermarked or something like that) would be very useful as well.

[viruseater]

This is strange. My dvr's are R10.s when I first starting playing with it I saw the CallerID come up. Once. BUt that was the only time I saw it. I have no idea why it worked then and only then. But that's what happened.

Mine both have USB ports but the last time I checked, they weren't just disabled, they weren't even hooked up internally. So I don't think they'll be of any use (there is no RJ45 that I've seen).

Basic networking would be wonderful. External would be nice, like Replay TV where you can request shows, and download them from other users in your area. But I don't even need that. Here's what i want:

Network, to be able to share recordings between boxes.

Web configuration, so I could schedule recordings, set up season passes and otherwise manage my boxes from the web.

they could all be in the LAN here and blocked from external access, but if I could get those two options I'd be thrilled.`

[g8wayrebel]

You can go to the website and download the rebate form and send any bill that shows the 4.95 charge for DVR service and the charge for the DVR monthly on it to get your rebate. You will only get one though. The agreement specifically says only one rebate per household if I recall correctly.
I had the same problem with them. I requested the rebate form four times. Twice after I had already sent it in. I called them repeatedly , telling them to note my account for the call ,so they couldn't deadline me on the date and not give me my rebate. It is still active aqt this point , so I would do it soon.

[viruseater]

Are we talking about the same rebate? I'm referring to the 100.00 rebate for purchasing the dvr. I was told I could also get the rebate on the second one. But it wouldn't surprise me if the person that said that had no idea what they're talking about.

When I first registered and got set up i bought one dvr. a month later I decided to get another one. I paid the 176.50 online. But i kept getting a message saying they couldn't schedule my installation. After a couple days of that I got irritated and called support. They said there was something wrong with the system and it wouldn't let them schedule. So she told me she would add another DVR to my account, do the install then cancel the dvr charge so I wouldn't have to pay.

You guessed it, they never gave me that credit, and my service got disconnected for non-payment. Even after 10 phone calls (no exageration) and many hours on hold. I had to pay it AGAIN to get my units turned back on.

So not only did I not get the rebates, I got completely robbed, and the reps were EXTREMELY inconsiderate, accusing me of lying.

Where do you see the form for download (if we're talking about the same rebate)?

[HDTiVo]

Your desire to network seems to trump all other issues. If that's the case and you can't hack the DTiVoes, get whatever money back and get out of whatever commitments you can and get some S2s.

Consider a switch to cableTV based on getting a deal for cheaper internet service.

If you are not going HD for a while, two 40hr S2s will cost like $370 including a year of service, $12.95/mo for about another 11 months and $19.90/mo thereafter. The S2s will have some resale value, and two S3s will probably drop in price faster than the $19.90/mo for a while - after whenever it is introduced.

Plus you'll get a ton of features with the S2 beyond video networking.

The money decision is up to you, obviously.

[g8wayrebel]

Are we talking about the same rebate? I'm referring to the 100.00 rebate for purchasing the dvr. I was told I could also get the rebate on the second one. But it wouldn't surprise me if the person that said that had no idea what they're talking about.

When I first registered and got set up i bought one dvr. a month later I decided to get another one. I paid the 176.50 online. But i kept getting a message saying they couldn't schedule my installation. After a couple days of that I got irritated and called support. They said there was something wrong with the system and it wouldn't let them schedule. So she told me she would add another DVR to my account, do the install then cancel the dvr charge so I wouldn't have to pay.

You guessed it, they never gave me that credit, and my service got disconnected for non-payment. Even after 10 phone calls (no exageration) and many hours on hold. I had to pay it AGAIN to get my units turned back on.

So not only did I not get the rebates, I got completely robbed, and the reps were EXTREMELY inconsiderate, accusing me of lying.

Where do you see the form for download (if we're talking about the same rebate)?

Yes, to my knowledge , we are talkng about the same rebate. I had to sign up and log in to DirectTV and dig to find it , but it is there. It is a PDF. I printed it out then filled in the necessaries and included my second bill after having it enabled. This way , I sent them a bill showing the mandatory 4.95 DVR subscription and the 4.95 charge for having the unit active and billed ,without giving up my original bill for the equipment charges.
You could also make a copy of the bill , but I prefer always to deal with originals when I do rebates.
I have in fact since confirmed that the rebate form was received and my rebate is scheduled to be issued.
For the record , I actually got the rebate form in the mail about an hour after posting a response to you the first time, 5 weeks after the first of four requests for it.
You should have your bills to verify what was charged.
I have found that keeping a pad near the phone at all times to document who I speak to , what they say ,and the time, date, and operator number is a REALLY good idea.
As far as your current situation goes , call them , ask for a supervisor and tell them you are recording the conversation for legal purposes on your lawyers advice. Then , explain what you were told to expect by whom and what you got.
They usually stumble and mumble for a few then come up with a resolution.

[megazone]

I'd dump the DirecTiVos and get standalone boxes.