# Replacing DVR's



## SGerst (Nov 1, 2006)

I have always heard great things about tivo but I have DirecTV's R15 receiver. Can I just buy the Tivo version of DirecTV's DVR from somewhere (like Ebay)and plug it into where my current DVR is? Or do I need to re-register anything? Basically, I'm just wondering what the steps would be to replace what I have with the Tivo/DirecTV DVR.

Thanks


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## iqwertyi (Oct 23, 2003)

You would need to call DirecTV to activate the the new and deactivate the old (R15).
You CANNOT just insert the card from one to the other.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

If you buy a new DirecTV/Tivo DVR, it will come with a new access card. Be careful buying used DirecTivos .... if their previous owner left any account balance with DirecTV then you might not be able to activate it.


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## jp233 (Jun 15, 2006)

you can take the card out of your R15, put it into a DirecTivo unit, plug up the coax, then call DTV and have them activate that receiver. But you will either have to probably return the R15 box (they will send you a recovery kit), or hook the R15 up somewhere else in your house (which would take another access card, $20 from DTV).

but since you pay the DVR monthly fee, a Tivo would be able to work just fine.

Tivo is superior to the R15, in my opinion. WAY, superior.


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## Hightechdave (Nov 2, 2006)

yes, the new DirecTV boxes stink. Is there anyone out there selling a DirecTV "Tivo" new box out there? Or is DirecTV being an @$$ and forcing us to use their junk?


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

Hightechdave said:


> yes, the new DirecTV boxes stink. Is there anyone out there selling a DirecTV "Tivo" new box out there? Or is DirecTV being an @$$ and forcing us to use their junk?


Several online dealers still stock DirecTV/Tivo DVRS, including http://www.weaknees.com


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

test345 said:


> good


Huh? What's the point of this message?


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## WillieWildcat (Feb 26, 2003)

I suggest you call around to find an R10. I found one at Wal-Mart NIB with a layer of dust on it. $90.

PS, you own it vs. paying DTV for a lease (which is crap since you have to lay out the cash for the DVR in the first place.)


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## TomP (Feb 25, 2002)

WillieWileCat:
Do you happen to know what version of software comes with it?
Thanks:
TomP


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

TomP said:


> WillieWileCat:
> Do you happen to know what version of software comes with it?
> Thanks:
> TomP


6.1 is the only version of the software for the R10.


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## SGerst (Nov 1, 2006)

jp233 said:


> you can take the card out of your R15, put it into a DirecTivo unit, plug up the coax, then call DTV and have them activate that receiver. But you will either have to probably return the R15 box (they will send you a recovery kit), or hook the R15 up somewhere else in your house (which would take another access card, $20 from DTV).
> 
> but since you pay the DVR monthly fee, a Tivo would be able to work just fine.
> 
> Tivo is superior to the R15, in my opinion. WAY, superior.


Thanks for the info. Are there any additional fees that would be added if I switched? Such as Tivo fees, etc?


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## mrpope (Jan 13, 2006)

nope, just the dvr fee, that i believe you are already paying with the r15. if you keep that pos, then you would just pay an extra box fee per month.


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## SGerst (Nov 1, 2006)

mrpope said:


> nope, just the dvr fee, that i believe you are already paying with the r15. if you keep that pos, then you would just pay an extra box fee per month.


So technically, I would be SAVING money since I would no longer need to pay the "leasing fee"

I would gain a better piece of equipment, and not have to pay as much? Sounds like a win-win.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

You'll be paying the same amount for a DTivo as you currently pay for the R15. There is a $5.99 DVR fee that you pay regardless of whether you own or lease the equipment. If you own the DVR you pay a $4.99 mirroring fee. If you lease the DVR you pay a $4.99 leasing fee instead. The cost is the same but it just shows up differently on your bill.


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## SGerst (Nov 1, 2006)

mr.unnatural said:


> You'll be paying the same amount for a DTivo as you currently pay for the R15. There is a $5.99 DVR fee that you pay regardless of whether you own or lease the equipment. If you own the DVR you pay a $4.99 mirroring fee. If you lease the DVR you pay a $4.99 leasing fee instead. The cost is the same but it just shows up differently on your bill.


Ok, thanks for the info.


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## technomutt (Jun 14, 2004)

mr.unnatural said:


> You'll be paying the same amount for a DTivo as you currently pay for the R15. There is a $5.99 DVR fee that you pay regardless of whether you own or lease the equipment. If you own the DVR you pay a $4.99 mirroring fee. If you lease the DVR you pay a $4.99 leasing fee instead. The cost is the same but it just shows up differently on your bill.


Do these fees apply to the older Series 1 DTivos as well?


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## mrpope (Jan 13, 2006)

yes


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

The DVR fee applies to any DVR that works with DirecTV. This includes the series 1, series 2, and series 2.5 DTivos as well as the HDTivos and DirecTV DVRs (R15 and HR20).


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## technomutt (Jun 14, 2004)

forgive my ignorance, but what's the mirroring fee? so if you own your own DTivo, you're still paying 10.99/month? What if you're lucky enough to have a lifetime unit? which fee gets deleted?


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## willardcpa (Feb 23, 2001)

technomutt said:


> forgive my ignorance, but what's the mirroring fee? so if you own your own DTivo, you're still paying 10.99/month? What if you're lucky enough to have a lifetime unit? which fee gets deleted?


The mirroring fee is the amount that DTV charges for additional receivers on your account. The first one is covered by your basic subscription to them, but any additional ones will cost you $4.99 each, if you own your DTivo they call it a mirroring fee, if you lease it they call it a lease fee. I have 8 Dtivos on my account and get charged an additional seven times $4.99 each month for em. If you only have one DTivo and you own it you don't pay $10.99/month, only the $5.99 Tivo fee. If you added a second DTivo to the account you would pay $4.99/month for it (it gets the service "mirrored" to it.


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## SoCalDaveBandito (Nov 19, 2006)

jp233 said:


> you can take the card out of your R15, put it into a DirecTivo unit, plug up the coax, then call DTV and have them activate that receiver. But you will either have to probably return the R15 box (they will send you a recovery kit), or hook the R15 up somewhere else in your house (which would take another access card, $20 from DTV).
> 
> but since you pay the DVR monthly fee, a Tivo would be able to work just fine.
> 
> Tivo is superior to the R15, in my opinion. WAY, superior.


So if I already have a DirectTV DVR (and paying the monthly DVR service fee) then I _can_ add another DVR device (Tivo for example) to the mix in my house. Would just require contacting DirectTV and registering it (_$20 access card fee_ ).


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## mrpope (Jan 13, 2006)

plus the 4.99 mirroring fee. the dvr fee will cover both units.


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## technomutt (Jun 14, 2004)

so an account having only a single DTivo (no other receivers) is charged only $5.99/month for the Tivo service... and if it's a lifetime unit, that vanishes. The mirroring fee applies to any and all additional receivers on the same account, be they Tivo or not... right?

I really tried to glean this info from DirecTV's web site, but gave up. Correct me if I'm wrong, but getting multiple DTivos together with DirecTV is actually much cheaper than having multiple stand-alone Tivos and any other TV service? 

The lightbulb is beginning to flicker...


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## dishrich (Jan 16, 2002)

technomutt said:


> so an account having only a single DTivo (no other receivers) is charged only $5.99/month for the Tivo service...


Yep, whether you have 1 or 12 D-Tivo's on that same account...



> and if it's a lifetime unit, that vanishes.


Do a search on lifetime, but the bottom line is, there is NO such thing as a "lifetime unit" - the lifetime you're talking about was applied to the D* ACCOUNT, NOT a specific D-Tivo box. (like you're thinking with a standalone Tivo) If you disco the account with lifetime Tivo, it disappears with the disconnected account. (some people here say different & that you CAN move a "lifetime box" to somebody else's account, but I have never seen this firsthand)

For example, I DO have lifetime on my D* account - the original receiver that I started my account with died several Tivo boxes ago. You can swap D-Tivo's freely on a lifetime account & it won't mess up the lifetime fee.



> The mirroring fee applies to any and all additional receivers on the same account, be they Tivo or not... right?


Right



> Correct me if I'm wrong, but getting multiple DTivos together with DirecTV is actually much cheaper than having multiple stand-alone Tivos and any other TV service?


You got it buddy - that's why so many of us HAVE multiple D-Tivo's (5 here  ) - if you're paying $5 for each added receiver, you may as well make them D-Tivo's as well, since it does NOT cost you any more than having standard receivers.


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## SGerst (Nov 1, 2006)

jp233 said:


> you can take the card out of your R15, put it into a DirecTivo unit, plug up the coax, then call DTV and have them activate that receiver. But you will either have to probably return the R15 box (they will send you a recovery kit), or hook the R15 up somewhere else in your house (which would take another access card, $20 from DTV).
> 
> but since you pay the DVR monthly fee, a Tivo would be able to work just fine.
> 
> Tivo is superior to the R15, in my opinion. WAY, superior.


I am looking at buying a SD-DVR40 (Hughes?) from my neice. Is this considered an R10? Is it advisable to get this receiver, or should I keep looking around?


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## GusMan (Nov 16, 2004)

SGerst said:


> I am looking at buying a SD-DVR40 (Hughes?) from my neice. Is this considered an R10? Is it advisable to get this receiver, or should I keep looking around?


That box is not an R10. That is a S2 DTivo unit. Depending on how much she wants for it, it may be a good bet. Besides, you can hack it and put a new drive in there for HMO and some sizable drive space.


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## SGerst (Nov 1, 2006)

GusMan said:


> That box is not an R10. That is a S2 DTivo unit. Depending on how much she wants for it, it may be a good bet. Besides, you can hack it and put a new drive in there for HMO and some sizable drive space.


She's asking $35... good deal?

Is it still better than the r15 that I have?


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## dishrich (Jan 16, 2002)

SGerst said:


> She's asking $35... good deal?
> 
> Is it still better than the r15 that I have?


If it works, HELL YES & yes - better take it before she changes her mind...


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

SGerst said:


> I am looking at buying a SD-DVR40 (Hughes?) from my neice. Is this considered an R10?


There are many Series 2 DTivo models - The R10 just happens to be the last Tivo-based standard def DTivo that was released and that is the one that everybody that is unfamiliar with the DTivos cling to as "the one to get" but actually there are many of them that are standard def Series 2 DTivos. For most of us DTivo addicts (I have 4 of them subscribed and another simply as an 'extra server') we're going to upgrade the hard drive anyway, so it doesn't matter to us what size drive it currently has as long as it is in good shape and both tuners are working.

Also: If you are planning on any 'enhancements to enable network functions' you will want a non-R10 Series 2 unit.


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