We'll I let DirecTV talk me out of my UTV for a HR24-500 and 3 interconnected HD receivers (not the whole-house Genie, but the standard 2-tuner model like UTV). I've been under pressure to add another DirecTV box for my 11 year old's room for a while now. When I tried to get another card to reactivate my original RCA box that was replaced by the UTV, they wouldn't do it.
I've done the card swap trick when a unit started failing, but since I needed an additional card to make things go I was out of luck. They made it sound like the MPG2 signal was going bye-bye, but it turns out from reading this it was just the program guide. We worked out a "deal" and I succumbed to a 24-month lease arrangement. After 17 years with them I think I can stick out another 2?
Before the installer did his thing with the SWM8 and Cinema Connection kit, I went ahead and took the opportunity to make all new RG-6 homeruns back to the dish and added a second line to each set for OTA antenna feed, 350' total. I have a tower mounted standard DB4 and Wingard preamp / booster which is working great for the 4 splits and being in a fringe reception area (FCC Grade B signal). While DirecTV does not give the secondary local channel feeds, the A-B comparison between the primaries are very good, albeit a few seconds delayed from the OTA. I honestly will have to give a slight edge to DirecTV's picture for my locals, but having the OTA as a backup for emergencies is still nice.
We’ve had the new unit less than a week and haven’t really put it through the paces yet. I will say the family is pleased for the most part, especially being able to watch a DVR recording from a bedroom.
Pros:
- Being able to watch a recording on any other HD receiver
- Remote HD receivers are a quarter of the size of the old 17” wide component boxes
- Much faster guide
- More channels (now I know what happened to all the onDemand movies in the 100s, over half are HD and were not seen by the UTV)
- Skip / FF slider bar shows time scale and time.
- Cinema connection kit
Cons:
- Awkward remote takes some getting used to. After 17 years with it, I miss the RCA remote. Funny their remote can do all of my old RCA CRT TVs under the primary controls but the new RCA LCDs I have to use the slider switch.
- Banner ads in the guide. Common-on guys, $120 a month isn’t enough?
- Skip / FF advance doesn’t seem as fast as the UTV.
I've done the card swap trick when a unit started failing, but since I needed an additional card to make things go I was out of luck. They made it sound like the MPG2 signal was going bye-bye, but it turns out from reading this it was just the program guide. We worked out a "deal" and I succumbed to a 24-month lease arrangement. After 17 years with them I think I can stick out another 2?
Before the installer did his thing with the SWM8 and Cinema Connection kit, I went ahead and took the opportunity to make all new RG-6 homeruns back to the dish and added a second line to each set for OTA antenna feed, 350' total. I have a tower mounted standard DB4 and Wingard preamp / booster which is working great for the 4 splits and being in a fringe reception area (FCC Grade B signal). While DirecTV does not give the secondary local channel feeds, the A-B comparison between the primaries are very good, albeit a few seconds delayed from the OTA. I honestly will have to give a slight edge to DirecTV's picture for my locals, but having the OTA as a backup for emergencies is still nice.
We’ve had the new unit less than a week and haven’t really put it through the paces yet. I will say the family is pleased for the most part, especially being able to watch a DVR recording from a bedroom.
Pros:
- Being able to watch a recording on any other HD receiver
- Remote HD receivers are a quarter of the size of the old 17” wide component boxes
- Much faster guide
- More channels (now I know what happened to all the onDemand movies in the 100s, over half are HD and were not seen by the UTV)
- Skip / FF slider bar shows time scale and time.
- Cinema connection kit
Cons:
- Awkward remote takes some getting used to. After 17 years with it, I miss the RCA remote. Funny their remote can do all of my old RCA CRT TVs under the primary controls but the new RCA LCDs I have to use the slider switch.
- Banner ads in the guide. Common-on guys, $120 a month isn’t enough?
- Skip / FF advance doesn’t seem as fast as the UTV.