kiranna
09-16-2006, 08:14 AM
Hello,
I am new to this forum so first a bit about my situation: a) I have DirecTV and a Sony SAT-T60 DVR with Tivo. b) I am using all Std. Def. in our house but am considering a fancy new HD television; c) I already got a HD dish installed for when I move to HD; and d) I LOVE Tivo and so does my family, and we are horrified at how DirecTV is slowly strangling its Tivo offerings (and therefore customer relationships).
OK, here's my problem: my trusty (till now) Sony SAT-T60 DVR is dead. It says "powering up" endlessly but once in a while says "Cannot load kernel". I am assuming I must replace the unit. I am therefore turning to you kind folks because I need some guidance, since (as expected) I called DirecTV and they recommended an "upgrade" to their non-Tivo DVR (which from what I've seen at friends' houses does not cut the mustard).
I have 3 questions:
1. I am considering an upgrade to HD with DirecTV by purchasing the Tivo DirecTV HD DVR, because as it was explained to me, I can record in SD with that box and simply start capturing programs in HD once I get my new TV. However: the DirecTV person on the phone said that "you could buy the Tivo HD recorder (HD10-250) but we're moving to MPEG 4 and the box won't work after that" (which clearly gives me no warm fuzzies). Is this true, or are they just trying to "scare" me into getting their inferior product? If I go with that device will I really be left in the lurch in a few months with no ability to receive HD programming?
2. If the answer to #1 above is "it's true, stay away from the Tivo HD DirecTV DVR", then I will stick with SD. To that end, I have read some other posts indicating that *some* DirecTV DVRs with Tivo support some Series 2 features (moving shows to a laptop, Ethernet, better organizaton of recorded programs, etc.). If I wanted to buy a replacement SD DirecTV Tivo on eBay for example, which manufacturers and models should I look at to get maximum Tivo features while staying with the DirecTV service?
3. Or should I just give up the dream of an integrated unit, buy Cable (we have Comcast in our area) and my own independent Tivo box? Incidentally I have done some top-of-napkin calculations and the costs for cable plus Tivo's new $16/month service makes it more expensive for similar programming than DirecTV. Yuck.
I am very sad to have reached this state because everything was working so swimmingly. I could really benefit from the expertise of the people in this forum.
Thank you.
I am new to this forum so first a bit about my situation: a) I have DirecTV and a Sony SAT-T60 DVR with Tivo. b) I am using all Std. Def. in our house but am considering a fancy new HD television; c) I already got a HD dish installed for when I move to HD; and d) I LOVE Tivo and so does my family, and we are horrified at how DirecTV is slowly strangling its Tivo offerings (and therefore customer relationships).
OK, here's my problem: my trusty (till now) Sony SAT-T60 DVR is dead. It says "powering up" endlessly but once in a while says "Cannot load kernel". I am assuming I must replace the unit. I am therefore turning to you kind folks because I need some guidance, since (as expected) I called DirecTV and they recommended an "upgrade" to their non-Tivo DVR (which from what I've seen at friends' houses does not cut the mustard).
I have 3 questions:
1. I am considering an upgrade to HD with DirecTV by purchasing the Tivo DirecTV HD DVR, because as it was explained to me, I can record in SD with that box and simply start capturing programs in HD once I get my new TV. However: the DirecTV person on the phone said that "you could buy the Tivo HD recorder (HD10-250) but we're moving to MPEG 4 and the box won't work after that" (which clearly gives me no warm fuzzies). Is this true, or are they just trying to "scare" me into getting their inferior product? If I go with that device will I really be left in the lurch in a few months with no ability to receive HD programming?
2. If the answer to #1 above is "it's true, stay away from the Tivo HD DirecTV DVR", then I will stick with SD. To that end, I have read some other posts indicating that *some* DirecTV DVRs with Tivo support some Series 2 features (moving shows to a laptop, Ethernet, better organizaton of recorded programs, etc.). If I wanted to buy a replacement SD DirecTV Tivo on eBay for example, which manufacturers and models should I look at to get maximum Tivo features while staying with the DirecTV service?
3. Or should I just give up the dream of an integrated unit, buy Cable (we have Comcast in our area) and my own independent Tivo box? Incidentally I have done some top-of-napkin calculations and the costs for cable plus Tivo's new $16/month service makes it more expensive for similar programming than DirecTV. Yuck.
I am very sad to have reached this state because everything was working so swimmingly. I could really benefit from the expertise of the people in this forum.
Thank you.