[chain]

Question,

Do you need to subscribe to UTV to get The most of the features. I am not interested in the WEB-TV stuff. What comes with the UTV out of the box without subscribing? 35 hour record time come with this? can you record 2 shows at the same time? Can you record one show and watch another? if the phone rings can you pause and come back later (30 min) ? Just waht can you do without subscribing to UTV?


thx

 

[Corey140]

Nothing comes with it if you don't subscribe.

 

[jerndl]

You can use it as a regular Directv receiver w/ Dolby Digital without a subscription, but for all practical purposes you need to subscribe to get any of the recording features.


Jay

 

[chain]

WOW!!!

nothing at all comes with it???? HMMMMM they sure nickel and dime you to death....

 

[stevepvr]

You really have to pay the $9.95 to get the addictive features that UTV offers.


No one likes this, but Microsoft knows that anyone hooked on pause/replay will pay the the $9.95 to get their "fix". Sad but true.

 

[jerndl]

Quote:

Originally posted by chain WOW!!! nothing at all comes with it???? HMMMMM they sure nickel and dime you to death....

Wake up and smell the coffee. How could they possibly make any money by selling a $400-$500 piece of equipment for $50 if they didn't charge a subscription fee.


Jay

 

[austinsho]

Jay....have you looked inside this box? It's certainly NOT $400-$500 of parts!



Maybe $150 worth of parts, when bought wholesale (as I assume Thomson would do).

 

[SteveWinNJ]

You are able to pause Live tv for 10 minutes. That's it without a subscription. But it also makes a nice Dolby Digital receiver without subbing. The $10 sub fee is worth every penny to me, however. Time shifting is the way to go!

 

[videoholic]

Quote:

Originally posted by austinsho Jay....have you looked inside this box? It's certainly NOT $400-$500 of parts! Maybe $150 worth of parts, when bought wholesale (as I assume Thomson would do).

Obviously there aren't 400 dollars worth of parts. Everything has tremendous mark up, but I bet there really is 150 in parts. Heck the hard drive alone is about 100 bucks.

 

[dropper]

And how much does a sattelite cost?


Keith

 

[chainmon]

here in the seattle area you get one for free (the 18 inch DTV) or the 18x24 for 149.00 plus the 40 bucks a month basic+local channel service

 

[rocket]

When you consider the price of the hardware, you should also include the price of the software in the box. Given so few users, the price would be higher than something like win 2000 etc. which can amortize costs over many millions of users.


As for the hardware, which includes two d-tv tuners, 45 gig harddrive, etc. Even a barebones e-machines costs at least $300 today. And that has nothing particularly inovative on it.


Even a sony clie goes for more than that.

 

[dropper]

Quote:

Originally posted by chainmon here in the seattle area you get one for free (the 18 inch DTV) or the 18x24 for 149.00 plus the 40 bucks a month basic+local channel service

No, how much does "a" sattelite cost. Millions, if not in the $1 billion range, plus launch costs.


Keith

 

[raldrich]

Actually, I saw a Russian sattelite on ebay. Great sale price - $ 850 Million! I wonder if you get Fries with that?

 

[dehaai5]

Can someone explain how Microsoft stops the pvr features from working if you don't pay the fee? I only ask this because I've also read here that you don't need a phone line except for ppv and sports channels. Does the satellite download tell the box that you are a subscriber? Thats the only way I'm guessing?


Also, while I'm on this, how does Directv cancel the sports packages if you don't have a phone line? Does NFL Sunday ticket need a phone line, even if I order it over the phone or on the web?


I have fully converted to Cable Modem and cell phone and really don't want to pay for a $25 phone line just for my UTV receiver PPV?


Thanks

 

[PGPFan]

dehaai5-


What DTV does is turn on an area in memory on the smartcard called a "tier". These memory areas (tiers) are what determine the level of subscription you have, PPV authorizations, local channel zones, etc. Pretty much all the functions of the satellite receiver are controlled/authorized in this manner. The tiers are updated via the satellite signal, not the phone line. When you activate the UTV service, DirectTV changes the tier location via the satellite datastream on your smartcard (which is why they MUST have 'your' smartcard number when you initially activate your subscription) to a value that the satellite receiver recognizes as being 'authorized' and therefore enables PVR functionality.


I hope this helps.


-PGPfan

 

[dehaai5]

Thanks. That makes 100% sense. I guess if you stop paying UTV they just zap it to stop the PVR from working.


The CSR at Directv told me that they really wouldn't know I didn't have a phone line working so its likely my sports program wouldn't be cancelled unless I called to cancel it and then tried to add it again later. I guess I won't do that.


What about pay sports packages like Sunday Ticket. If I order it by calling them, why does it matter if my phone line is installed. They already know where I live?



Your help is very appreciated. I truly understand the UTV service tier thing, and the loss of PPV use. I just don't grasp how the phone line impacts the sports packages. Does it impact any other packages?

 

[slayer12]

The phone line is only for ordering with the remote, it is how they charge you for ppv purchases, the ird all types not just utv calls dtv on a regular basis so you get charged. If you don't plug your ird in once in a while the ordering ppv option from your remote will be disabled to keep you from racking up a huge ppv bill and never paying.