Think DirecTV or TiVo Will Provide Upgrade for Current HD TIVO's?

[agarcia3]

Not sure if this should be posted here or in the HD Tivo forum, but when the new DirecTV Tivos come out next year, do you think the current HD Tivo's will be compatible with DirecTV? Maybe through some sort of download? Or is it a hardware issue? We just got our HD Tivo within the last 6 months (we currently only use antenna) and are now considering getting cable or satellite. Would prefer DirecTV but then we can't use our brand new Tivo! Will probably go with cable but was wondering what others thought about this.

[litzdog911]

The current (old) DirecTV/Tivos will never be compatible with the new MPEG4 HD channels. It's a hardware issue. They will, however, continue to receive/record the MPEG2 SD channels, and the HR10-250 HD Tivo will continue to receive/record your local digital TV channels using an off-air antenna.

[appleye1]

What kind of HD Tivo do you have right now? A standalone HD Tivo from Tivo the company (the Tivo HD or HD XL) or a DirectTv Tivo from DirectTv (the HR10-250)?

I'm not sure litzdog, but I think he was talking about the standalone Tivo HD. If true then no, it wouldn't be possible to "upgrade" the Tivo. It just doesn't have the hardware to decode the satellite signal. The Tivo HD models only have hardware for OTA or cable.

If you want HD and Tivo on DirecTv you're going have to wait until next year and you'll have to ditch the Tivo HD you have now. I hate cable myself, but in your case you'll probably just want to go with cable.

[litzdog911]

Good catch, appleye1. The current standalone HD Tivo's won't ever be directly compatible with DirecTV, either.

[agarcia3]

Yes, I have a stand alone HD Tivo. Thanks for your input. It will be helpful in deciding which we'll go with.

[HiDefGator]

There are so few active HD DirecTivo's I'd be surprised if they even keep updating the software on them. At this point it would be cheaper for them to offer to replace them instead of updating them at all.