What is a Hughes SD-DVR40 (240 GB) HD DVR?

[swmaven]

Hello,

One of my beloved DirecTivos is dying, so I'm shopping for a replacement.

On Ebay, there are lots of listings for this model of receiver:
Hughes SD-DVR40 (240 GB) HD DVR

In the descriptions, sellers claim this is an HD receiver, and will record up to 35 hours HD. In photographs, it looks like a SD-DVR40, and not an HR10, which has a slightly different front panel. Photographs of the rear panel clearly show "SD-DVR40".

According to research on the web (weeKnees, tivopedia.com), a HD-capable, 240 GB, SD-DVR40 does not exist. Does anyone know anything about this model? Are the sellers confused that it is an HD receiver? Or is it really just HR10 guts in an SD-DVR40 box? Was an HR10 in a SD-DVR40 box ever sold by DTV?

Thanks

[litzdog911]

There's no such thing. Can you post the eBay link?

The only HD DirecTV/Tivo is the HR10-250. It has a 250GB standard drive. It's possible that you're looking at a regular SD DirecTV/Tivo that was upgraded to a 240GB drive, but it won't be HiDef. And even the HR10-250 isn't really suitable for DirecTV's HD channels since they've moved to new satellites.

[swmaven]

Hello,

Sorry, to be able to post links my post count must be 5 or greater, and it is not, so I cannot post links.

Here are some examples, but you'll have to go to ebay.com and enter one of these item numbers into the search box. Each item number is a different "240 GB SD-DVR40" unit for sale in the past week or so. These cannot all be user-upgraded units.

130329976170
120467022392
290341351585
330358322019
330356068297
150369304378
260471155758
130329976170
290347542920

Thanks

[stevel]

This is an eBay error. The sellers are using eBay's product information, which is wrong. Curiously, epinions.com has the exact same text. What's more, the 240GB part is also an eBay error.

[litzdog911]

Crazy. Totally wrong information, and very misleading.

We always caution folks buying DirecTV Receivers or DVRs from eBay, Craigslist, etc. Be sure to get the "Receiver ID Number" for the seller so that you can its status with DirecTV yourself. That's the only way to protect yourself from getting equipment that was stolen with outstanding account balances. DirecTV will not activate those.

[stevel]

I reported the problem to eBay - not sure what they'll do about it.

[swmaven]

Hello,

Thanks for the help and advice.

Yes, EBay is confused. When a seller enters an SD-DVR40 for sale, EBay offers the seller the pre-packaged title and description, all of which is wrong.

As a buyer, when I see one of the these for sale with the bogus description, I know the seller is clueless about the receiver. It's wonderfully funny, though (or perhaps just sad), when sellers claim they are the original owner and their 240-hr tivo was working perfectly when taken out of service. Maybe they just never noticed they were missing 200 hours of space (or any HD programming)...

I bid on and bought an SD-DVR40. It's been connected, activated, 500GB'ed, and is working fine. That's my first EBay experience. Ebay is a jungle. I also ordered a power supply on EBay, and I'll see if I can get the 2nd tuner back on my dying receiver.

Thanks

[swmaven]

P.S.

EBay is weird. I thought there were enough users and receivers that prices would be predictable, but they are not at all.

In the two weeks I've been watching, I've seen the same SD-DVR40/HDVR2 model receiver (same reported condition) sell for as low as $11.50 and as high as $105. One of these receivers sells every day for less than $30, I don't know why anyone would pay $105.

I've seen two identical HR10-250s sell for a $70 difference in price within an hour of each other.

Also, receivers that include an access card seem to sell for $20 more than receivers that do not. The cards are not transferable at all, so there must be a separate market of people who are bidding just for the card.

[stevel]

I never did get a reply from eBay on my report of the error, despite their claim I would within a couple of days.

[Duffycoug]

Originally Posted by swmaven

P.S.

EBay is weird. I thought there were enough users and receivers that prices would be predictable, but they are not at all.

In the two weeks I've been watching, I've seen the same SD-DVR40/HDVR2 model receiver (same reported condition) sell for as low as $11.50 and as high as $105. One of these receivers sells every day for less than $30, I don't know why anyone would pay $105.

I've seen two identical HR10-250s sell for a $70 difference in price within an hour of each other.

Also, receivers that include an access card seem to sell for $20 more than receivers that do not. The cards are not transferable at all, so there must be a separate market of people who are bidding just for the card.

I've transfered cards between accounts and receivers many times without any problems.

[John T Smith]

Transferring a card is known as CSR - Customer Service Roulette

Sometimes you win and get an operator who will transfer... sometimes you don't