Just bought a HR10 from CompUSA. Is it a lease?

[jym]

I just purchase the last HR10-250 at CompUSA. Is this actually a lease? I did not sign anything that it was a lease. They don't have any of my account information at DirecTV. How can it be tied to a lease?

Is the $100 rebate somehow where the paper work is done for a lease? Is the $100 rebate good for both leases and purchases?

Thanks for any help

[vMAC]

If you bought it then it isn't a lease. It's typically only a lease if you got it directly from D*

[RunnerFL]

Actually D* will still consider it a lease unit.

[henryld]

The rebate form states "for leased equipment only". The purchase price was probably a lease upgrade fee of some sort.

[stevel]

Right - unless you pay $800 or so, it's a "lease upgrade".

My local CompUSA has three HR10s on the shelf.

[jwelser]

So what actually determines if it is a lease? I just bought an HR10-250 off of eBay, never dreaming that it would be considered a lease, but will it be considered a lease by DTV?

[Charles R]

As long as the unit was originally purchased it will never be considered a leased unit. Now if it is replaced at some point down the road (out of warranty) it will be replaced by a leased unit. Be sure to check the Receiver's ID out with DirecTV to ensure it's not leased and the unit is clear... the current owner doesn't owe them anything. If it's not clear they won't activate it!

[tombet]

Actually, I am curious what difference it actually makes if its a lease or if you "own" it. It doesn't do you any good with Directv service, so "owning" it without paying them some monthly charge is never really an option. And they dont charge some extra lease fee. And if it breaks, and its leased, they say they will replace it (even without paying the monthly maintenace charge), at least thats what I was told on the phone. So I don't really see the downside of the lease that people are concerned with. Can someone point out the drawback to me if I am missing or overlooking something ? Thanks.

[Runch Machine]

I have the same question, why is the lease versus own issue such a big hairy deal for some people. Two years from now when your commitment is up if you own it you could put it on Ebay and try to get a few bucks for it, but odds are by then Directv will have upgraded you to something else. I don't get it.

[Charles R]

The only advantage I see in owning the unit is being able to sell it. I'm selling two on eBay myself. Now since you had to pay a lot more to purchase them (in most cases) in the first place how much of an advantage is open to debate. I think in most cases they will replace an owned unit without having the monthly maintenance... I know in the past they offered such to me.

[TyroneShoes]

As long as the unit was originally purchased it will never be considered a leased unit...
Not necessarily true, especially if DTV subsidizes it. They have a policy of paying up to $299 in credit if you buy the unit yourself from a 3rd party, but of course that also means you accept a 2-year agreement. But then who would go to the trouble of buying a PVR that they didn't expect to use for at least 2 years, anyway? Especially one that can't be used by competing vendors.

It's not really leasing, in the sense of leasing a car or an apartment, because at the end of the lease the product is worth less than it costs to ship and refurb it, and has a tiny amount of shelf-life left in it. It's pseudo-leasing...simply a ploy to get you serious about not jumping ship.

[kbohip]

What I hate about the way Directv is trying to lease their new HD-DVR's is the upfront cost of $300. Not only that but they STILL hit you with the $4.99 a month "lease fee" This is ridiculous! Over the course of 2 years, that adds another $120 to Directv's coffers, thereby making the real cost of the HR20 $420, and of course after 2 years and $420 you're left with a box that belongs to Directv. It's the equivalent of going to lease a $20,000 car and the lessor wanting the full $20,000 upfront fully knowing he'll get the car back when the lease is up. You'd also still have to pay half what the normal monthly lease fees would be. The worst part is not knowing how long you'll have the HR20 and when Directv comes out with another HD-DVR how much that one will be and if you'll have to spend another $300 or more to aquire it.

If I was going to lease a box and spend $300 upfront for it, I'd never agree to pay a normal lease fee on top of that. I'd be happier with a rental type system like the cable cos. have with their HD-DVRs. They charge anywhere from $10-20 a month to rent the DVR's, but with $0 upfront cost. Even if you're spending the upper limit of $20 a month, you'll still come out ahead of Directv's lease plan to the tune of $180 after only 2 years.

I paid $200 for my HR10-250 a year ago through the awesome retention deal that someone posted about here back then. I actually paid less than that as I sold my previous R-10 on Ebay for $75. I only paid $50 originally for the R-10 so I actually MADE $25 off the R-10 after 6 months or so of use. So let me run some numbers:

Cost to own my HR10-250 for two years:

Original price $220 shipped - $75 from sale from old R-10 = $145
Monthly lease fee for 2 years - $0
Total cost to own for 2 years or even 10 years $145

Cost to own...err lease HR20-700
Original lease cost $299 (as seen at Best Buy)
Monthly lease fees for 2 years - $120
Total cost to own for 2 years - $420
3 years - $480
4 years - $540, etc

The best part is that even a year from now I can probably STILL get $100 for my HD-Tivo on Ebay effectively making my total ownership cost for 2 years a whopping $45 or the cost of just 9 of the HR20's monthly lease fees. Leasing has and always will be a great deal...for the lessor. :)

[Mark Lopez]

Cost to own my HR10-250 for two years:

Original price $220 shipped - $75 from sale from old R-10 = $145
Monthly lease fee for 2 years - $0
Total cost to own for 2 years or even 10 years $145

Cost to own...err lease HR20-700
Original lease cost $299 (as seen at Best Buy)
Monthly lease fees for 2 years - $120
Total cost to own for 2 years - $420
3 years - $480
4 years - $540, etc



First of all, I don't think it's fair to include a $75 deduction from the sale of the R-10. If you are going to do that, then you should also deduct some amount from the cost of the HR20 (i.e. from sale of old HR10).

Also, you have not factored in the cost of an extended warranty or maintenance charge for your HR10 which would make a more equitable comparison.

[aaronwt]

You also forgot the $5 a month receiver fee. It's the same price as the lease fee.

[jwelser]

I have the same question, why is the lease versus own issue such a big hairy deal for some people. Two years from now when your commitment is up if you own it you could put it on Ebay and try to get a few bucks for it, but odds are by then Directv will have upgraded you to something else. I don't get it.
It's a big deal if you need to break a committment. For owned units, you can just return the unit and walk away from the committment (no penalty.) For leased units, you must BOTH return the unit to DTV and pay the penalty.

[Runch Machine]

I am not aware that you have to return the unit and pay a penalty if it is leased. That would not be reasonable since you paid for the unit if bought at a store. I don't think you are right about that. Do you have any documentation on this?

[MisterEd]

If you are referring to getting (or buying as you state) one since March (when their lease program started) then you didn't BUY it at a BB or CC you paid the up-front lease cost at that store (just like the "down payment" on a leased vehicle). Unfortunately he is correct. It belongs to D*. Actually if you look around BB or CC where they have the HD rx's and DVRs it usually says "lease" on the price card or on the D* displays. If you bought it from a retaill store before March (probably in ther $600 range) you still own it and can either return it to escape your lease or sell it yourself. A lease unit early return will not satisfy the penalty just as turning in a leased vehicle early will not. I am not aware that you have to return the unit and pay a penalty if it is leased. That would not be reasonable since you paid for the unit if bought at a store. I don't think you are right about that. Do you have any documentation on this?

[MisterEd]

Any D* box sold after March (whatever date it was) at retail outlets such as C-USA, BB, CC etc are leased. We have our customers buy them at Best Buy and the "sales" rep tells them it was "owned" but when they called D* they found out they were leased. Funny thing is, we (no, we are NOT a retail company but we contract with MDU properties) still sell them for $600+$100 install but the customer does own them. That will soon change as well.
So what actually determines if it is a lease? I just bought an HR10-250 off of eBay, never dreaming that it would be considered a lease, but will it be considered a lease by DTV?

[kbohip]

First of all, I don't think it's fair to include a $75 deduction from the sale of the R-10. If you are going to do that, then you should also deduct some amount from the cost of the HR20 (i.e. from sale of old HR10).

Also, you have not factored in the cost of an extended warranty or maintenance charge for your HR10 which would make a more equitable comparison.

I should have included the $75 towards the HR20, my bad. I never buy extended warranties on anything. If the Tivo breaks, 99% of the time it's the hard drive anyway, which I can replace myself. Actually, I already did replace the drive to go for a bigger 400gb drive. It's a Seagate so I'm set with a 5 year warranty there.