DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscribers

[Lloydian]

Anybody have experience with the HR-20 for a while?

I am anxious to do the move up to HD (my tv is HD ready) but have put off moving up because I really love my Samsung Direct TV receiver with TIVO.

I have read nothing but horror stories about the Direct TV HD DVR house model, and it seems that even after having it out for a year, Direct TV has been slow in addressing all the bugs.

Samsung had a DirecTV receiver with TiVo?

But to your point: I've had the HR-20 for some time now and have had the DirecTV with TiVo (manufactured by Hughes) both since they were first available in Phoenix.

The bugs in the HR-20 have pretty much disappeared for me. It doesn't miss programs, it handles shows across multiple channels, and it certainly scans the program guide for conflicts much faster than the TiVo.

That said, the 30 second time slip tends to be more of a 32 second slip and is not instant like on the TiVo.

But the overriding factor for me is the current availability of locals in HD without an antenna and the promised availability of dozens of national HD channels by the end of the year. Get it. You'll have an annoying learning curve to overcome, but you'll be satisfied with the decision in the end.

 

[abomb]

What are you all currently paying and what packages do you have? I'd like to find something to comparably replace my current Cox package;

1 HD DVR reviever
HD Package
Sports tier (NFLN and Fox Sports AZ)
No movie or premium channels

 

[Fiasco]

I have the Tivo HD receiver and my in-laws have the HR-20.

The Tivo requires an OTA antenna to receive local channels in HD. The HR20 gets locals off of your dish.

Outside of that plus for the HR-20 I prefer our Tivo HD unit.

 

[TheCardFan]

I have the HR-20...got it, the new antenna, and superfan all for free because of this thread.

I love it.

Directv is coming out with many more HD programming and you must have the adapter (forget the exact name) but it looks like a dsl buffer that you use on your phone line. They installed mine at the same time...

 

[abomb]

I have the Tivo HD receiver and my in-laws have the HR-20.

The Tivo requires an OTA antenna to receive local channels in HD. The HR20 gets locals off of your dish.

Outside of that plus for the HR-20 I prefer our Tivo HD unit.

What is the cost of the unit and monthly charges?

 

[Dr. Jones]

A few weeks ago I got the HR 20 for $19.95. Superfan free. 12 months of HD free (normally $9.95 per mnth) and 3 months of Showtime free.

Just bought a house so I figured it was time for the HR 20. Here is a great website for the HR 20 and some AWESOME tips on things you can do. Like expanding the hard drive, or shortcuts......

http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=82

 

[bratwurst]

Yeah I'm not too psyched about switching from Tivo to the Directv house brand stuff either.

 

[Lloydian]

What is the cost of the unit and monthly charges?

If you're an existing DirecTV customer, they will often upgrade you for free or for no more than about $100 (including installation of a new dish). If you're new to DirectTV, getting the shebang (HD and DVR) shouldn't be too pricey, and retailers are constantly putting out offers (the big box stores will charge you $300). I could be wrong, but I think Qwest offers all of this for free through them.

The monthly service packages have recently changed. The only base package for HD DVR users is the "PLUS HD" package for $69.99 (look for the $10 per month discount virtually everywhere). You'll add more for premium channels and Sunday Ticket (remember to get SuperFan if you want HD), but that's actually in line with other providers.

Finally, if you buy the premium package and Sunday Ticket, you'll pay for Sunday Ticket, but your first four months of other programming (including all non-porn premium channels) are free.

They don't make it easy, but when you boil it down it's a good deal. That said, I don't get Sunday Ticket because with SuperFan, the annual cost is $350. And since I'm at the stadium 8 of the 17 weeks, that works out to nearly $40 per week. It's just too steep.

 

[Mulli]

This is most likely a dumb question but does bad weather harm the reception? The cable company here in Chicago has a commercial that says "Who orders a dish in the city of wind?" Seems to make sense. Would my reception by bad in the horrible Chitown winter?

 

[Duckjake]

This is most likely a dumb question but does bad weather harm the reception? The cable company here in Chicago has a commercial that says "Who orders a dish in the city of wind?" Seems to make sense. Would my reception by bad in the horrible Chitown winter?

You do lose reception during heavy rain storms. I've never had reception affected by any other type of weather and the wind blows fairly hard here in Austin as well. Usually it is hot air like in Phoenix but this summer it just rains every day.

 

[Mulli]

You do lose reception during heavy rain storms. I've never had reception affected by any other type of weather and the wind blows fairly hard here in Austin as well. Usually it is hot air like in Phoenix but this summer it just rains every day.

What about snow and ice?

 

[bratwurst]

I've had over an inch of snow pile up on my dish and still get reception. The problem times are when the storm clouds pass over. Its very rare that it causes a problem though.

 

[Duckjake]

What about snow and ice?

What are snow and ice?

 

[Mulli]

What are snow and ice?

Do they cause any problem with reception?

 

[bratwurst]

Remember the old Hawaiian shaved ice place at the Town and Country?

Now thats what I call Good Eats.

 

[Duckjake]

Do they cause any problem with reception?

Don't know: we don't have much snow and ice in Central Texas.

Dust storms and humidity haven't caused much trouble though.

 

[Dr. Jones]

I have had Directv in Louisville, Baltimore, and now Harrisburg, PA.

NEVER have I had a problem with Snow or Ice. Honestly, unless the snow is really sticky, it usually falls off the dish because of the angle.

In an ICE storm, it really never got so bad that it knocked out any signal. I have had ICE collect over 2 inches on my car, but never had TV go out unless the cloud was super dark. In fact the ONLY time I have an issue is when a really bad storm cloud passes through the dish's line of sight. Then it will go dark during the time it takes the storm to pass over.

Honestly, in the 10 years I have had Directv, I have never been without signal for more than 45 minutes at a time except for the Hurricane/Tropical Storm that passed over Baltimore in 2003 or 2004. I was down for about 2 hours that night..... but really, I wasn't worried about TV at that moment. The funny story about that storm was that Comcast lost cable service for almost a week after that storm passed through. I had service by the end of the night.

In the end....... Directv is the shiznit. Sunday ticket is so addictive that the only way I will leave is if Verizon FIOS gets it. And Directv's customer retention department is BY FAR the best in any telecommunications industry in America.

 

[Duckjake]

I don't feel like going back through all the posts so...I understand that Directv is adding more HD channels but that you have to change equipment or something to be able to receive them. Is that part of what you guys have been talking about?

Either way anyone know what the story is there?

 

[Lloydian]

Yep, that's what we're talking about. And inspired by this thread, I called and got Sunday Ticket with the SuperFan thrown in for free.

 

[bratwurst]

You didn't have to pay for Sunday Ticket itself? Wowzers

 

[Pariah]

I'm not getting the ticket this year. I used to have it because it was a no-brainer on saving money over going to the bar every sunday. Now that it's more expensive and I drink less than I did, I think I can do it cheaper at the bar.

...plus, I don't have to kick the family out of the house on sundays.

 

[gusmahler]

I don't feel like going back through all the posts so...I understand that Directv is adding more HD channels but that you have to change equipment or something to be able to receive them.

DirecTV launched a new satellite in early July 2007 for the new networks. You'll need an MPEG-4 capable box (HR-20 or H20 are, I think, the only ones) in order to receive the new channels.

Here's a list of the channels, according to a post in dbstalk.com

Available Now:

70 HBO East
71 SHO East
72 ESPN2
73 ESPN
74 UHD
75 TNT
76 Discovery HD Theater
78 HD Net Movies
79 HD Net

98 National Geographic Channel Sneak Peek (Times vary)
332 MHD Sneek Peek (Times vary)

99 HD Pay-Per-View

Depending on service area and equipment:

ABC
CBS
NBC
FOX
CW
MY Network TV

Local Regional Sports Network


Coming in September:

A&E
Animal Planet
Big Ten Network
CineMax East
CineMax West
CNN
Discovery Channel (simulcast)
Food Network
HBO West
HGTV
History Channel
MHD (MTV)
NFL Network (Full-Time)
Science Channel
Showtime West
Starz! East
Starz! West
Starz! Edge
Starz! Comedy
Starz Kids & Family
The Movie Channel
The National Geographic Channel
TBS
TLC
The Weather Channel
Versus/Golf


Fall 2007:

Bravo
Cartoon
Chiller
CNBC
FX
HBO2 East
HBO2 West
HBO Family East
HBO Family West
HBO Latino East
HBO Signature East
MoreMax East
Sci-Fi
Sleuth
Speed
USA

21 Regional Sports Networks:

Blackout Rules still apply!

Altitude
Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
FSN Arizona
FSN Bay Area
FSN Detroit
FSN Florida
FSN New England
FSN North
FSN Northwest
FSN Ohio
FSN Prime Ticket
FSN Rocky Mountain
FSN South
FSN Southwest
FSN West
New England Sports Network
SportsNet New York
SportsSouth
Sun Sports
YES

December 2007:

The Tennis Channel

Spring 2008

Disney Channel
Toon Disney
ABC Family
ESPN News
MGM


Announced HD for Fall 2007 but not announced for DirecTV yet:

Trinity Broadcasting Network, RFD HD

Announced HD channel rollouts by Spring 2008 but no carriage announcements for DirecTV yet:

MAV TV, HBO Comedy East/West, HBO Latino West, HBO Signature West, HBO Zone East/West, @Max East, 5 Star Max East, ActionMax East/West, MoreMax West, OuterMax East, ThrillerMax East/West, WMax East

Existing HD that I have no carriage info for:

Lifetime HD, MOJO, Outdoor 2, Playboy, Wealth

 

[gusmahler]

Anybody have experience with the HR-20 for a while?

I am anxious to do the move up to HD (my tv is HD ready) but have put off moving up because I really love my Samsung Direct TV receiver with TIVO.

I have read nothing but horror stories about the Direct TV HD DVR house model, and it seems that even after having it out for a year, Direct TV has been slow in addressing all the bugs.

Got my HR20 in January (yes, just AFTER the football season, smart timing ). Never had any problems with it. I was scared also because of the problems I had with the R15, but none at all with the HR20. From what I read on dbstalk, problems are nearly as big since a recent software update.

 

[gusmahler]

Here's some more info I've found about Sunday Ticket HD:

NFL 2007 In HD
For the coming NFL season, the FOX network will continue to broadcast up to 6 NFL games per Sunday in 720p High Definition. The CBS network announced on 4/24/07 that they will broadast up to 6 NFL games per Sunday in 1080i High Definition.

Here’s how the season works out:

NFL 2007.......1080i-HD...720p-HD...480i-SD

CBS (AFC)...........100...........................7
ESPN (MNF) ......................17...............
FOX (NFC).........................99.............. 8
NBC(SNF).............17...........................
NFLNET..................8......................... ...
Total...................125.......116............ 15


A week-to-week review of the NFL 2007 Schedule shows us:

1. We will now have 94% of the NFL 2007 Season Games in HD.
2. Of the 256 games played this year, only 15 will be braodcast in SD.
3. Through the season, FOX which has the NFC, will have only 8 SD games.
4. Through the season, CBS which has the AFC, will have only 7 SD games.
5. Weeks 1, 5, 6, 9, 12 and 15 will be 100% HD -- zero SD games for those 6 weeks.


HD Games for the season, on a weekly basis:
Week 1: 16 of 16 games in HD
Week 2: 14 of 16 games in HD
Week 3: 14 of 16 games in HD
Week 4: 13 of 14 games in HD
Week 5: 14 of 14 games in HD
Week 6: 13 of 13 games in HD
Week 7: 13 of 14 games in HD
Week 8: 12 of 13 games in HD
Week 9: 14 of 14 games in HD
Week 10: 13 of 14 games in HD
Week 11: 14 of 16 games in HD
Week 12: 16 of 16 games in HD
Week 13: 15 of 16 games in HD
Week 14: 15 of 16 games in HD
Week 15: 16 of 16 games in HD
Week 16: 15 of 16 games in HD
Week 17: 14 of 16 games in HD

 

[Duckjake]

DirecTV launched a new satellite in early July 2007 for the new networks. You'll need an MPEG-4 capable box (HR-20 or H20 are, I think, the only ones) in order to receive the new channels.

Here's a list of the channels, according to a post in dbstalk.com

Thanks, that's what I was looking for.