Hi all,
I got a call from a telemarketer last night claiming to be from DirecTV telling me that they would upgrade all my equipment for free to get the MPEG-4 channels. I currently have a HD-TiVo DVR, the agent swore that they would give me the newer MPEG 4 HD-DVR for free, and upgrade my other receivers (non-HD) as well. I thought this fell into the "too good to be true" category and took down their number and told them I'd call them back.

Every time I've called DirecTV in the past they wanted $200 to upgrade the TiVo DVR to the new HD20/21. Is this offer legitimate (before I spend 30 minutes on-hold calling them tomorrow)?

Tell them you want an HR20 for free since they own them now. It's a lease, not an ownership deal nowadays.

Hi all,
I got a call from a telemarketer last night claiming to be from DirecTV telling me that they would upgrade all my equipment for free to get the MPEG-4 channels. I currently have a HD-TiVo DVR, the agent swore that they would give me the newer MPEG 4 HD-DVR for free, and upgrade my other receivers (non-HD) as well. I thought this fell into the "too good to be true" category and took down their number and told them I'd call them back.

Every time I've called DirecTV in the past they wanted $200 to upgrade the TiVo DVR to the new HD20/21. Is this offer legitimate (before I spend 30 minutes on-hold calling them tomorrow)?
==================
I know they have been calling about a "Swap-out" (not to be confused with a "upgrade"....if you have a sports subscription I.E. NFL Sunday ticket etc.
they are trying to get rid of MPEG2 gear especially S.T., which will be all MPEG4 this coming season...You want to call 888-763-7772. That number would push you to an agent that can take a HD swap order, but if someone without NFL, NHL, NBA tries that number and is not eligible for a swap, the agent will not be able to process it.
One caveat: If you have already swapped but chose to keep your MPEG2 receiver active (i.e. HR10-250 TIVO) then they would show up in the system as "already swapped" even though you have an active MPEG2 HD receiver on the account.
They do that so as not to constantly be swapping that receiver out. They will note in the system that the customer has chosen to keep it on their account even though it was swapped and therefore can't be swapped again.
This is the only offer I am aware of...have gotten several calls from 602 area code...how about you?

Hi all,
I got a call from a telemarketer last night claiming to be from DirecTV telling me that they would upgrade all my equipment for free to get the MPEG-4 channels. I currently have a HD-TiVo DVR, the agent swore that they would give me the newer MPEG 4 HD-DVR for free, and upgrade my other receivers (non-HD) as well. I thought this fell into the "too good to be true" category and took down their number and told them I'd call them back.

Every time I've called DirecTV in the past they wanted $200 to upgrade the TiVo DVR to the new HD20/21. Is this offer legitimate (before I spend 30 minutes on-hold calling them tomorrow)?

I already had 3 HR20s and 2 HR10 Tivos when I got the call. They gave me 2 HR21s and I had to return 1 of the HR10s because it was leased. The other one was owned and I kept it, but it is flagged so it can't be "swapped" again. I think they are doing that for people with sports programming and people in areas where they are going to shut down the Mpeg2 locals soon. I live in SoCal.

I had heard D* was calling people about this, so figured it was time to see about getting upgraded from my HR10 to HR20/21. Along with the HR10, I have an HD receiver (non-DVR). But the catch is that I wanted to keep my HR10 and swap out the non-DVR HD receiver.

When I called, I was told I was somehow ineligible for the swap out and they were going to charge me $199 for the upgrade. After I complained, they knocked off $75. Not satisfied, I asked for customer retention. After being on hold, and explaining my situation to customer retention, I got:

-Swap out of my HD receiver with a new HD-DVR free
-Free installation
-$60 credit (because I complained that I hadn't been able to enjoy all the HD channels since the bird went up, and had been stuck with the MPEG-2 HD channels, even though I was paying $10 for HD.)

So they basically paid me for the upgrade/swap out. Not sure why I wasn't technically eligible for the swapout, but I got what I wanted, and then some.

Moral of the story - always talk to customer retention. Don't mess with the CSRs.

Hi all,
I got a call from a telemarketer last night claiming to be from DirecTV telling me that they would upgrade all my equipment for free to get the MPEG-4 channels. I currently have a HD-TiVo DVR, the agent swore that they would give me the newer MPEG 4 HD-DVR for free

I got exactly this call last weekend. I also have the HD-TiVo and one of my concerns is the 30 or 40 hours of programs and movies (HD and SD) that are currently on the Now Playing list and which I don't want to lose. The CSR assured me that saved programs could transferred to the new DirecTV HD-DVR via a USB port. He said the technician who came to do the installation would probably have the necessary cable, but that I could get it from Radio Shack or Circuit City otherwise. I have been told that there's no way to transfer saved programs, which is one of the reasons I haven't switched. Was the CSR right, can programs be transferred that easily? Is only a USB cable necessary? How is this done, i.e., how do I tell the box what it's supposed to do?

I got exactly this call last weekend. I also have the HD-TiVo and one of my concerns is the 30 or 40 hours of programs and movies (HD and SD) that are currently on the Now Playing list and which I don't want to lose. The CSR assured me that saved programs could transferred to the new DirecTV HD-DVR via a USB port. He said the technician who came to do the installation would probably have the necessary cable, but that I could get it from Radio Shack or Circuit City otherwise. I have been told that there's no way to transfer saved programs, which is one of the reasons I haven't switched. Was the CSR right, can programs be transferred that easily? Is only a USB cable necessary? How is this done, i.e., how do I tell the box what it's supposed to do?

I do not believe this is possible, but I suppose they may have found a way to do it.

Ted

I got exactly this call last weekend. I also have the HD-TiVo and one of my concerns is the 30 or 40 hours of programs and movies (HD and SD) that are currently on the Now Playing list and which I don't want to lose. The CSR assured me that saved programs could transferred to the new DirecTV HD-DVR via a USB port. He said the technician who came to do the installation would probably have the necessary cable, but that I could get it from Radio Shack or Circuit City otherwise. I have been told that there's no way to transfer saved programs, which is one of the reasons I haven't switched. Was the CSR right, can programs be transferred that easily? Is only a USB cable necessary? How is this done, i.e., how do I tell the box what it's supposed to do?

That's amazing! How could they tell you that? If transferring programs were possible all of the DBS forums would know about it. Your only choices would be to transfer to a VCR or DVD recorder or keep your Tivo active.

Yeah, I too got the call and I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. The call on my answering machine was specifically targeting me because I got the Superfan NFL package. They said without the new HD receiver I couldn't get Superfan games this year. So I called and sure enough: new dish install, new HDDVR. I've been told I can keep the HR10 Tivo that I own. But I don't want it relocated. I'm hoping to keep the HR10 Tivo in the living room and just add the new DVR there too. Thus 4 channels of recording on one TV. :D It sure will save my hide come football season, when all I hear is "there are 2 games taping and I couldn't watch anything else." If I need and HDMI switcher so be it. I don't really care if I get and HR20 or HR21 as I already get OTA in the HR10 and as an added bonus, then I don't need to resetup all the season passes too.

Yeah, I too got the call and I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. The call on my answering machine was specifically targeting me because I got the Superfan NFL package. They said without the new HD receiver I couldn't get Superfan games this year. So I called and sure enough: new dish install, new HDDVR. I've been told I can keep the HR10 Tivo that I own. But I don't want it relocated. I'm hoping to keep the HR10 Tivo in the living room and just add the new DVR there too. Thus 4 channels of recording on one TV. :D It sure will save my hide come football season, when all I hear is "there are 2 games taping and I couldn't watch anything else." If I need and HDMI switcher so be it. I don't really care if I get and HR20 or HR21 as I already get OTA in the HR10 and as an added bonus, then I don't need to resetup all the season passes too.

Shouldn't be any problem keeping both hooked up to the same TV, you can run one of them on component.

The New Direct TV HD-DVR is a piece of crap. It's not working right...I'm not getting all the HD channels as the pic is frozen with just sound. You reboot and it works for about 7 days then is freezes the pic again. Direct TV is doing nothing to help me with this problem. My TIVO HD--DVR was great compared to this junk of Direct TV. Don't buy it!!! Keep your TIVO!!

I had heard D* was calling people about this, so figured it was time to see about getting upgraded from my HR10 to HR20/21. Along with the HR10, I have an HD receiver (non-DVR). But the catch is that I wanted to keep my HR10 and swap out the non-DVR HD receiver.

When I called, I was told I was somehow ineligible for the swap out and they were going to charge me $199 for the upgrade. After I complained, they knocked off $75. Not satisfied, I asked for customer retention. After being on hold, and explaining my situation to customer retention, I got:

-Swap out of my HD receiver with a new HD-DVR free
-Free installation
-$60 credit (because I complained that I hadn't been able to enjoy all the HD channels since the bird went up, and had been stuck with the MPEG-2 HD channels, even though I was paying $10 for HD.)

So they basically paid me for the upgrade/swap out. Not sure why I wasn't technically eligible for the swapout, but I got what I wanted, and then some.

Moral of the story - always talk to customer retention. Don't mess with the CSRs.

Just had my first bad experience with D*. The installer showed up with the installataion of the HD Receiver (not the HD DVR), and when I said this is not what I ordered, they spent 20 minutes on the phone with their supervisor and told me they could install my HD DVR for $199. I immediately cancelled the order and called D*, where I got a CSR, who told me they could do what I wanted for $99. I then got to customer retention (again) and went through my entire issue with them, very upset, of course, that they screwed it up but then even moreso that they now wanted to "change" their deal with me.

Spoke to customer retention, and they got me what I wanted, but now I have to wait another week for install (and I took the day off work today for them, and they didn't arrive until I would have arrived home from work anyway (the weather in our area was terrible today, so I do not begrudge them that).)

I could have probably asked for even more of a credit because of this, but I decided to just get what I originally had asked for and leave it at that.

EDIT: They told me they would have to include the $199 upgrade fee on my account but that they were crediting me that amount (and paused on the phone so he could apply the credit). Just checked my bill online, and while the 199 is there, the credit is not. Will wait until tomorrow to see if the credit appears... :(

Just had my first bad experience with D*. The installer showed up with the installataion of the HD Receiver (not the HD DVR), and when I said this is not what I ordered, they spent 20 minutes on the phone with their supervisor and told me they could install my HD DVR for $199. I immediately cancelled the order and called D*, where I got a CSR, who told me they could do what I wanted for $99. I then got to customer retention (again) and went through my entire issue with them, very upset, of course, that they screwed it up but then even moreso that they now wanted to "change" their deal with me.

Spoke to customer retention, and they got me what I wanted, but now I have to wait another week for install (and I took the day off work today for them, and they didn't arrive until I would have arrived home from work anyway (the weather in our area was terrible today, so I do not begrudge them that).)

I could have probably asked for even more of a credit because of this, but I decided to just get what I originally had asked for and leave it at that.

EDIT: They told me they would have to include the $199 upgrade fee on my account but that they were crediting me that amount (and paused on the phone so he could apply the credit). Just checked my bill online, and while the 199 is there, the credit is not. Will wait until tomorrow to see if the credit appears... :(

Nice to see it isn't just the Cablecos and Dish screwing customers. At least Dish does it a little at a time. My HD-DVR was free, but there are all sorts of little fees they apply here and there. Still, my bill with Dish is still less than it was with TWC or DirecTV, and the equipment is better than anything I have had since my DVR40 Tivo unit, and better than that in someways.

Ted

I do not believe this is possible, but I suppose they may have found a way to do it.

Ted

Actually, a quick google search of "directivo hacking" shows that it is possible to get content off these units pretty easily. Perhaps the good folks at D* have institutionalized the hacks for this purpose? Unlikely, but anything is possible.

Ted

Actually, a quick google search of "directivo hacking" shows that it is possible to get content off these units pretty easily. Perhaps the good folks at D* have institutionalized the hacks for this purpose? Unlikely, but anything is possible.

Ted

These are not "directivo" they're a whole new breed with no hacks, at least not yet.

These are not "directivo" they're a whole new breed with no hacks, at least not yet.

I was writing about getting recordings off Bob's HR10-250, not anything to do with the HR2x.

Ted

I was writing about getting recordings off Bob's HR10-250, not anything to do with the HR2x.

Ted

Oops! Sorry, I missed that.

I had gotten the email from DirecTV a couple of months ago about the free upgrade from HD-Tivo to Directv HD DVR. I forgot about the offer. Then Monday, I get a FEDEX delivery with a letter from Directv that after Mar 31, my local channels would not be available on HD with my old equipment, and again offered free upgrade to the Directv HD DVR. I called and scheduled them for Wed (today).

Took the day off work to wait for the installer. Happy to say that everything went very smoothly. Installer arrived within the given time slot. Got the new dish installed outside, the new HR21 installed and the HD-Tivo deactivated. Hooked up the ethernet connection. Got to play with it briefly so far and the HR21 looks pretty good. No slower than the HD-Tivo, good pic quality, interesting features with the weather forecast download, viewing trends, etc. I also scheduled a show to be recorded from the Directv website.

I'll play with it some more later, and get my Logitech Harmony remote programmed.

a quick google search of "directivo hacking" shows that it is possible to get content off these units pretty easily. Thanks for the suggestion. Your idea of "pretty easily" isn't mine; I've never really hacked anything, and the directions, for me, were intimidating, so I don't think I'll be taking that route.

Monday, I get a FEDEX delivery with a letter from Directv that after Mar 31, my local channels would not be available on HD with my old equipment I have not gotten that letter, perhaps the NY area hasn't been affected yet? I'm going to check my local channels tonight to see if anything's changed. I do have OTA, although it's less reliable than the satellite. I may just have to surrender, and accept their offer. I'm glad you had a good experience with the installation and the equipment. Part of my concern is that everything would get worse instead of better, but maybe it'll be OK, and losing a few hours of saved recordings isn't the end of the world.

Now I have had my SECOND bad experience with D* install. They showed up today (between noon and 5, but of course, showed up at 4:30pm, which pissed off my wife, who had to stay around all afternoon waiting for them to show up - they showed up at 6:15pm last time, but were late because of weather issues).

Anyway, apparently it wasn't noted on the install note that he needed a 40 foot ladder to reach my roof, and only had a 28 footer. He claimed that because it was windy, he couldn't get up there to do it.

I just think these guys are trying to get off work early and claiming they can't do it because we are always the last install of the day.

My wife called D* and reamed them a new one demanding that they give her a firm time to arrive. They they would make us the first install of the day, but this only matters if the installer reads the install instructions that tells him to go to us first. Otherwise, apparently, he gets a print out of all installs for the day that the "navi-computer" has optimized his route.

Yeah, I had a tough time with D* as well. I went through 3 different people who changed the offer each time.

I received a letter, in the mail, from Directv offering a "free" exchange of my HR10-250 for a new MPEG-4 Directv Plus HD DVR at no additional cost. Of course they require a 24-month commitment to receive this hardware.

I have not been keeping up with all of this stuff for the past couple of years. So, I need to try to catch up a bit. I was hoping a list of pros and cons of this proposed exchange might be helpful to me and any others in similar circumstances. If anyone has something to consider please post a reply and I will add the items to the list on this post.

BTW, I do not watch very much TV these days. But, it is nice to have when I do want to watch something. I particularly like the HD music programs on HD Net.

Here is what I can make of it at this point (mostly from the letter):

Pros:

1. Additional HD channels not available on MPEG2? How many? What are they?

2. Picture-in-Guide and 1-Line Miniguide.

3. Interactive. (weather, lottery results, horoscopes)

4. One Touch Record

5. Bookmarks

6. Network/internet access for watching shows and scheduling recordings.

Cons:

1. What are the down side items? Please let me know!

Also, I have installed everything myself up to this point. I think I remember that the dish will need to be replaced. And that it is harder to position the dish properly for the new satellites. Is there any reason I shouldn't try to do it myself again?

I need component video signal for my projector. I think this might be an issue with the new ones. True?

I have a OTA antenna, located in the attic, for the digital and HD local broadcasts.

Also, I have a non-HD receiver in the bedroom and it would be nice to be able to change it to HD one day.

I am hoping to learn what I need to know in order to deal with Directv effectively.

Thanks in advance.

I received a letter, in the mail, from Directv offering a "free" exchange of my HR10-250 for a new MPEG-4 Directv Plus HD DVR at no additional cost.

I got the same letter two days ago, but in previous calls from DirecTV they said I could keep the HR10-250, that I didn't have to exchange it. That would mean that you could use the HR10-250 in your bedroom. I'm pretty sure that installation of the antenna is included, so there should be no need to do it yourself. For me, the biggest downside is that we have a lot of shows on the HR10-250, and there's apparently no way to transfer them to the new DirecTV HD DVR. What we're probably going to do is buy an HD TV for another room and connect the HR10-250 to it so that we don't lose anything.

If they offer a HR21 HD DVR, it's not an upgrade, it's actually a downgrade. The HR21 cannot receive nor record local HD/digital channels, like your old HR 10 or HR 20. Even if you get local channels through the satellite it's only the 4 majors.
D* seems to be discontinuing the HR 20, (or anything that can get OTA).

Not sure if D* is doing this to save cost, or because more people are buying TV's with built-in HD tuners. But TV's with built-in HD tuners still can't record the OTA HD channels.

I'm extremely unhappy with this move by D*. But they seem to have a new piece of attachment called AM21 for the HR21 to get OTA HD channels, what a mess!

If they offer a HR21 HD DVR, it's not an upgrade, it's actually a downgrade. The HR21 cannot receive nor record local HD/digital channels, like your old HR 10 or HR 20. Even if you get local channels through the satellite it's only the 4 majors.
D* seems to be discontinuing the HR 20, (or anything that can get OTA).

Not sure if D* is doing this to save cost, or because more people are buying TV's with built-in HD tuners. But TV's with built-in HD tuners still can't record the OTA HD channels.

I'm extremely unhappy with this move by D*. But they seem to have a new piece of attachment called AM21 for the HR21 to get OTA HD channels, what a mess!

They were able to lower the lease cost by leaving the OTA capability off of the new receivers. Anyone who wants OTA can get it by attaching the AM21. The vast majority of users don't use OTA. Anyone who has upgraded in the last 3 months can get one for free and anyone who is upgrading now can get the same thing if they ask for it.

Well, that was disappointing. We finally decided to "upgrade" from the HR 10-250 to the HD DVR, but because of all the programming stored on the TiVo we bought another HD TV for it to put in a room that does not now have DirecTV. We also wanted to put the kitchen TV on DirecTV, so all in all it meant adding two lines, plus a basic box for the kitchen, plus an AM 21 for HD DVR. I went over everything carefully with the service rep, and she seemed to understand what was going to be required. So the installer gets here right on time, but his work order had nothing about adding two lines, he doesn't have a box for the kitchen, and he's never heard of the AM 21. Lots of telephone calls to his supervisor and DirecTV, nothing gets installed and we're rescheduled for next Saturday.

Two questions for the group: First, I tried to show the installer what the AM 21 is but couldn't find it on the DirecTV site, not under Kits or anywhere else. I ended up going to another site that had a photo and details. Does DirecTV even acknowledge that it has the AM 21?

Second, the installer told me with great certainty that there isn't going to be any OTA transmission after 2009. I think that's wrong, and maybe he's confusing the analog conversion with the OTA HD, but wanted to confirm this.

The AM21 will only show up on DirecTVs site after your account is activated and it shows you have an HR21 in service. I don't think any of the companies that DirecTV has install there stuff know much about the AM21 yet. I think you can only order it directly from DirecTV yourself, or from a few online vendors. I bought mine directly from DirecTV and it showed up in 2 days, it is very easy to hook up.

As far as the OTA transmission goes, it sounds like your installer doesn't know what he is talking about. Analog transmission will end in Feb of 2009, but digital transmission will continue to be used for a long time (that is why they made the AM21).