Hi robbyD - great question on whether or not the HR20 will support the Panny EDTV. I do know it supports 480i and 480p, but not sure how that will look on your plasma.
You might have to work a bit to get DirecTV to give you a deal on 2 HR20s. Since you're an old-timer, I'd guess your chances are pretty good that they'll offer you the HR20 and 5-LNB dish for free and you just pay for shipping, but not sure on the second one. They'll probably want to charge you $99 for the second one. You should call DirecTV, say "cancel service" when the voice response system asks you (which should forward you directly to their Retention department), and see what they'll offer you.
Having said that, though, if you're main goal for getting two receivers is for additional diskspace, you can actually plug any eSATA drive to the eSATA port on the back of the receiver, and it should use it just fine. Just remember that it cannot use both the internal and the external drive, but rather just the external drive if you have one plugged into the back. You can get a 750GB drive for pretty cheap these days.
If, on the other hand, your goal for getting two receivers is to get four total tuners, then you're right, getting two HR20s is your only option.
Also, since you're asking specifically about the HR20, you should visit http://dbstalk.com. There is an HR20 forum over there where you can ask this question.
Good luck!
You might have to work a bit to get DirecTV to give you a deal on 2 HR20s. Since you're an old-timer, I'd guess your chances are pretty good that they'll offer you the HR20 and 5-LNB dish for free and you just pay for shipping, but not sure on the second one. They'll probably want to charge you $99 for the second one. You should call DirecTV, say "cancel service" when the voice response system asks you (which should forward you directly to their Retention department), and see what they'll offer you.
Having said that, though, if you're main goal for getting two receivers is for additional diskspace, you can actually plug any eSATA drive to the eSATA port on the back of the receiver, and it should use it just fine. Just remember that it cannot use both the internal and the external drive, but rather just the external drive if you have one plugged into the back. You can get a 750GB drive for pretty cheap these days.
If, on the other hand, your goal for getting two receivers is to get four total tuners, then you're right, getting two HR20s is your only option.
Also, since you're asking specifically about the HR20, you should visit http://dbstalk.com. There is an HR20 forum over there where you can ask this question.
Good luck!
