Will HR10-250 be extinct?

[High Maintenance]

Sorry for the layman question, but I'm a mere novice at this stuff, and have some specific questions in mind. I'm sure it's been addressed before in this forum, but some of it goes right above my head. I currenlty own the hr10-250--I absolutely love this box!!!!! And I don't want to get rid of it, and I don't want to get a Direct TV DVR, hearing the comments on this board.
Q1: How long will the Direct TV partnership with Tivo go for? What year? Once it ends, is the box worthless?
Q2: If I buy another HR 10-250 (not lease), can it be used with Direct TV, past their end of the contract?
Q3: I love this box so much, that I don't want to use any other box besides Tivo.
Q4: I get OTA locals hd, but not consistent. I like recieving them via Direct TV (I know the quality probably isn't as good as tru OTA).

Bottom line, I'm sure there's bigger global or general questions as to whether Tivo even makes it, gets absorbed by another co. etc...--but I just think knowing what's out there today, Tivo is what I want to stay with, and so is Direct TV (nfl package). But if I had to, I can do w/out nfl package to stay with TIVO (Series 3?)!!!!

APPRECIATE ANY FEEDBACK OR ADVICE YOU MAY HAVE!. THANKS.

[stevel]

1) The agreement is through 2007 but DirecTV can continue to support DTiVos indefinitely.
2) Yes, unless DirecTV decides to obsolete millions of boxes
3) Good
4) What's the question?

As far as "TiVo" is concerned, you should not care. The service is operated by DirecTV.

[High Maintenance]

If I buy another HR 10-250 today, and it still is functioning 3 years from now, will it still work with Direct TV? I keep on hearing about MPEG 4 conversion, but will HD work with the HR 10-250 today?
Again sorry to ask stupid questions, but this board has helped me so much!!!

[cheer]

For OTA broadcasts and MPEG2 satellite broadcasts, your HR10-250 will work until and unless DirecTV decides to "make" them stop working. Given that people who have UltimateTV boxes are still getting service, I wouldn't worry about this. However, you will never get MPEG4 broadcasts with the HR10-250.

For now, that just means locals. It seems logical to assume that as new national HD channels are added, they may be/will be MPEG4. At some point D* may start converting existing national HD stuff to MPEG4, but that's not likely for years.

--chris

[Mark Lopez]

...and I don't want to get a Direct TV DVR, hearing the comments on this board.

Seeing how discussions of it aren't allowed here, you couldn't have heard much. :)

From the 'unbiased' reports I've read elsewhere it's not nearly the POS that the 'Tivo army' would like everyone to believe.

[newsposter]

I pretty sure i read on this board that the tivo contract is through 2009 but that's if you have already activitated a unit on your account. I think someone said that tivos couldn't be activated on a new account after 2007 without another contract though. You'd have to search to confirm this. Mind is rusty

just ordered my 2nd hdtivo last night. if you like the unit, there's really no reason not to get another one. Even in a few years, after mpeg2 is turned off, i'm gonna pay 5 bucks /month for an OTA HD recorder. Heck I have so many HD conflicts now, another unit can't hurt.

[HogarthNH]

From the 'unbiased' reports I've read elsewhere it's not nearly the POS that the 'Tivo army' would like everyone to believe.

It does, however, need a lot of work.

First generation product. :)

[kmp14]

I don't think anyone has even had a HR10-250 last for more than 2 years, they will die before Directv stops supporitng them! Hard drive killer!

[rminsk]

Plenty of people have had the HR10-250 last since they have been released. Remember no one ever posts anything if everything is going alright.

[Chris Blount]

For me, it's really going to depend how well the next generation box functions. I don't plan on giving up my HR10-250 anytime soon. The next box is going to have to rock before I leap.

The only thing that seems to have a high failure rate on the HR10-250 is the hard drive. As long as you have a way to re-image a new drive each time it fails, you can keep the HR10-250 running indefinitely or when DirecTV shuts them all off.

[newsposter]

Chris can you see any reason for them not to still mirror the OTA data even if they shut off all mpeg2 tomorrow? I haven't seen any definitive posts confirming this is technologically possible as I 've just assumed guide data is guide data and there is no difference with mpeg4 vs 2.

[bclasen]

As long as you have a way to re-image a new drive each time it fails, you can keep the HR10-250 running indefinitely or when DirecTV shuts them all off.
Hey Chris,

As you can see from the number of posts, I'm new to the forum. And here I sit, waiting for the D* install company to come & install my new Dish. No bets on whether they'll make it before in their window.

Anyhow, are there instructions for re-imaging a new HD for my new HR10? I am familiar with 'ghosting' PC hard drives, but am not sure how/if I have access to do the same thing with the H10.

Thanks,
Bob

[Chris Blount]

Hey Chris,

As you can see from the number of posts, I'm new to the forum. And here I sit, waiting for the D* install company to come & install my new Dish. No bets on whether they'll make it before in their window.

Anyhow, are there instructions for re-imaging a new HD for my new HR10? I am familiar with 'ghosting' PC hard drives, but am not sure how/if I have access to do the same thing with the H10.

Thanks,
BobThis should work and is very easy:

http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/instantcake/

[gsslug]

From the 'unbiased' reports I've read elsewhere it's not nearly the POS that the 'Tivo army' would like everyone to believe.

My only other experience with DVRs was with COMCAST. We lived with my father in law for a couple of months while our house was being finished. The COMCAST DVR was truely a POS when compared with TIVO. I hope DTV will do a much better job than COMCAST has done with their software.

[ethune]

My only other experience with DVRs was with COMCAST. We lived with my father in law for a couple of months while our house was being finished. The COMCAST DVR was truely a POS when compared with TIVO. I hope DTV will do a much better job than COMCAST has done with their software.

While not perfect the comcast unit gets the job done very nicely. I have had Tivo units before and to call the comcast box a POS is just biased crap. I have never had one crash or have any real problems with it in almost 2 yrs. And at 9.95/month its a steal!

Eric

[cheer]

And at 9.95/month its a steal!
From one's wallet, perhaps. But it's a whole lot more than I'm paying D*, given that I have four DVRs in service.

--chris

[mcaplan]

Again, another question that may seem simple to the rest of you, but I'm pretty darn confused and would love some clarification on:

I have a Directv box with TIVO built in. Just bought a new HD TV and need to upgrade to a HD box. I LOVE TIVO and hate the Directv DVR. But as I understand it, at this point in time I can not use TIVO as my DVR unless I want to watch recorded programs in a non-HD format (using a Directv HD box and separate TIVO box.

So here's my question: Is there any way, today, of having a Directv HD box and using TIVO as your DVR?

Thanks in advance for the help everyone!!

[newsposter]

Again, another question that may seem simple to the rest of you, but I'm pretty darn confused and would love some clarification on:

I have a Directv box with TIVO built in. Just bought a new HD TV and need to upgrade to a HD box. I LOVE TIVO and hate the Directv DVR. But as I understand it, at this point in time I can not use TIVO as my DVR unless I want to watch recorded programs in a non-HD format (using a Directv HD box and separate TIVO box.

So here's my question: Is there any way, today, of having a Directv HD box and using TIVO as your DVR?

Thanks in advance for the help everyone!!

As of today, you can use the HDtivo (400 for lease from DTV or 398 from newegg to own) to receive all the programming you receive now plus everything you can receiver OTA plus the HD pack which is stuff like ESPN/discovery etc. (also if you get HBO and SHO, those have HD also and you only need to sub to them, not the HD pack to get them)

You cannot and never will be able to receive directv HD locals with the HDtivo as it's mpeg2. If you need locals in HD, and cant get a signal with a vhf/uhf antenna, you must

1. just watch live tv with the mpeg4 receiver
2. wait for the hd dvr coming out ..oh ..in the next year is probably safe to say

You cannot use a HD box with a standalone tivo as tivo doesn't do HD. Until the series 3 comes out that is. Even then i dont think you can use a directv HD box and the standalone tivo together.

[nitsudima]

While not perfect the comcast unit gets the job done very nicely. I have had Tivo units before and to call the comcast box a POS is just biased crap. I have never had one crash or have any real problems with it in almost 2 yrs. And at 9.95/month its a steal!

Eric

Keep in mind that Comcast (and other cable providers) uses different DVRs in different regions. Even customers with the same box might have one of several different firmware versions, again based on their city or state. Depending on the firmware, customers could have fairly different feature sets -- and reliability.

So, you might very well be using the same box as the person who previously complained about their Comcast DVR. Personal preference is obviously subjective. But unless the two of you are in the same city, it's possible you're using different DVRs, or maybe different versions of the same DVR. Therefore, yours could very well be great and the other guy's really could be a piece of crap -- and you're both right!

[newsposter]

there's the beauty in satellite. maybe a handful of options out there...not hundreds like cable :)