Interested in a buying an HR10-250

[ck42]

I've got a situation where I think I might be interested in getting my hands on one of these. But, where best to look for one?

...and before I even begin to look, what sort of price range should I expect to pay for one right now? If it's too much, I'll go with plan B.

[mr.unnatural]

Check ebay. You could probably pick one up for about $50 or less. I'm curious as to why you'd want one, though. You need a DirecTV subscription with the DVR service to record anything. You could use it as an OTA ATSC tuner without a subscription, but that's about all it's good for with paying a premium for the service. Even with a DirecTV subscription you'd be limited to standard definition satellite programming and OTA HD locals. You'll need a DirecTV mpeg4 DVR to record any DirecTV HD programming.

[rbtravis]

Look on Ebay, there are plenty of them

[ck42]

Check ebay. You could probably pick one up for about $50 or less. I'm curious as to why you'd want one, though. You need a DirecTV subscription with the DVR service to record anything. You could use it as an OTA ATSC tuner without a subscription, but that's about all it's good for with paying a premium for the service. Even with a DirecTV subscription you'd be limited to standard definition satellite programming and OTA HD locals. You'll need a DirecTV mpeg4 DVR to record any DirecTV HD programming.

:)
Just need it for SD signal, DVR, and OTA antenna input.
My OTA antenna is specifically for OTA HD for my main HDTV setup (for situations where rain fade during a storm kill the sat signal.
Would the OTA antenna HD signal be compatible with what the HR10 is even looking for for HD signal? (HD is NOT a requirement for this particular TV)

[JimSpence]

The HR10 has the ATSC tuner to receive OTA digital channels.

But you knew that, right?

[ck42]

I've gone straight from a DirecTivo Series1 to the new HD DVR....never did keep up with the stuff in between much...so I wasn't really sure if it was capable or not. Sounds like it is :)

Looks like varying prices on Ebay. Thanks everyone.

[markis]

Or try craigslist.

The HR10 is still my only HD DVR and I never had HD service even when there were a few MPEG2 channels available. I use it for a lot of OTA HD and SD for the rest of the channels. It's mirrored with another SD DTiVo.

I called about an upgrade and had a serviceman come out, but he said he couldn't mount the new bigger dish where the old one was and there was really no where else to put it.

Anyway, I'm happy with the HR10. It's still going strong and I've definitely gotten a good value out of it since I picked it up used a few years ago.

[iwantmyhdmitv]

Check ebay. You could probably pick one up for about $50 or less. I'm curious as to why you'd want one, though. You need a DirecTV subscription with the DVR service to record anything. You could use it as an OTA ATSC tuner without a subscription, but that's about all it's good for with paying a premium for the service. Even with a DirecTV subscription you'd be limited to standard definition satellite programming and OTA HD locals. You'll need a DirecTV mpeg4 DVR to record any DirecTV HD programming.

Actually, there are still several HD channels on the MPEG2 birds. I don't know what D* plans are for migrating these channels over to MPEG4, but they're there for now. I get my local HD content OTA.

As for buying HR10-250 on eBay or anywhere, be very careful! Lots of them are leased units, and you probably won't be able to activate it. Very often, the seller isn't the owner or simply doesn't know about this rule. Also, the best unit to find would be a non-leased unit with a lifetime TiVo sub. I found one like that last year (for $40), and it has worked perfectly! It ain't easy, though, cause the verification process is hit and miss. You call D* one day, give them the receiver ID, they say it's not leased. Then you call back another time, and they say it is leased. Keep in mind that TiVo lifetime subs are tied to the hardware, so if the receiver dies and it can't be fixed with something simple like a hard drive replacement, you lose the sub.

Good Luck!
Rick

[Bob Lee]

Keep in mind that TiVo lifetime subs are tied to the hardware, so if the receiver dies and it can't be fixed with something simple like a hard drive replacement, you lose the sub.


I purchased a lifetime sub many years back, when Tivo and DirecTV still had a strong partnership. I own an HR10-250, but I actually removed this from my account a year or so ago. However, when I look at my DirecTV bill it still states that I have "DVR lifetime service". This seems to contradict what you say above.

[paul_w_downing]

Have one for sale if you want it let me know we can chat.

[jimisham]

I purchased a lifetime sub many years back, when Tivo and DirecTV still had a strong partnership. I own an HR10-250, but I actually removed this from my account a year or so ago. However, when I look at my DirecTV bill it still states that I have "DVR lifetime service". This seems to contradict what you say above.
This is in the Directv Customer Service Agreement:
"If you paid a "lifetime service fee," you will not be charged a fee for your DIRECTV DVR Service as long as you maintain television programming service from DIRECTV on the same account. If you disconnect your DIRECTV television programming service and later reconnect on the same account, your DIRECTV DVR service will be reconnected and you will not be charged a fee for DIRECTV DVR Service."
We're getting upgraded from the HR10-250, which has a lifetime, on Thursday. This is one of the things I'll be checking after it's done..

[Bob Lee]

Thanks for pointing out the info in their service agreement. If I read this correctly, even if disconnect DirecTV service and decide to come back later on that would still benefit from their "lifetime DVR service". That's pretty cool, as I have several other options at this point and I may try something else for awhile.

[edkut]

Does anyone know exactly what MPEG-2 channels are still available on the older HR10-250 and what satellite are they coming from?