# Will you have to give up HR-250 when upgrade occurs?



## RonMan (Feb 1, 2006)

I am patiently waiting for my new HD DVR to arrive (should have already been here). I know most people want to mod the insides. I just want to paint mine black to match everything else in my cabinet. (By the way if you can provide a link to the thread that was on here last week where someone else painted some equipment I would appreciate it)

So, when the new upgrades come out I was promised I could be upgraded. Do you think they will want the 250 box back in order to receive the upgrade promotion? Im sure they will frown when they get a black box back. 

I have a second idea. Just from looking at the pictures it appears that the HD and SD boxes are identical. Am I right? Could I just paint my old SD and replace the face and housing on my HD? Then if I ever need servicing or they want it back for the upgrade I just swap cases and send it in. What do you think?


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## kdonnel (Nov 28, 2000)

I doubt they will want it back. 

The HR10-250 is yours.

Once they go to a lease only arrangement you will be leasing the "replacement" box. 

I don't think anyone who has upgraded to an H20 has been asked to give up their prior HD box.


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## RonMan (Feb 1, 2006)

Great. I may still consider the housing swap just in case I run into problems while the unit is still in warranty.

Does anyone one know if I am correct about the SD and HD face and housing being a compatible swap? It looks right but I dont have the HD in my hand. (Just got a call, they didnt realize they didnt have the box in the van and cant come till Saturday now  )


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

No. The faceplates are different. The HD unit has a button and indicators to select between 480i/480p/720p/1080i. I suppose you could swap them anyway if you only select these modes via the remote.

The thread about painting a tivo is located here. My modification to swap faceplates with a black SA tivo is in the same thread. I have also since swapped a black face and lid from a DSR6000 onto a Hughes SD-DVR40 without any problems.


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

I'll give up my HR10 (and DirecTV) when the Tivo 3 is available later this year.


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## slapshot (Feb 12, 2002)

> I doubt they will want it back.
> 
> The HR10-250 is yours.
> 
> ...


I posted in another thread how I have to give up my existing Hughes HTL HD box to be upgraded to the new dish and a new H20 in a deal I got earlier today. This was a question I am also asking when they come out with their new HD DVR and we want to get one.
So they do make you give up something,maybe perhaps because I am getting a new dish?


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## kdonnel (Nov 28, 2000)

slapshot said:


> I posted in another thread how I have to give up my existing Hughes HTL HD box to be upgraded to the new dish and a new H20 in a deal I got earlier today. This was a question I am also asking when they come out with their new HD DVR and we want to get one.
> So they do make you give up something,maybe perhaps because I am getting a new dish?


When to you have to give up your old receiver?

Others have been told the same thing but the installer never asks for the old equipment.

It is your equipment. I would never just give it to the installer.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

kdonnel said:


> When to you have to give up your old receiver?
> 
> Others have been told the same thing but the installer never asks for the old equipment.
> 
> It is your equipment. I would never just give it to the installer.


I would agree with that 100%... at least till 3/1/2006 when the lease system kicks in.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

They are not getting my HR10-250, even if I cancel and switch to TiVo Series 3. I'm not buying or leasing their NDS thing.


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## slapshot (Feb 12, 2002)

kdonnel said:


> When to you have to give up your old receiver?
> 
> Others have been told the same thing but the installer never asks for the old equipment.
> 
> It is your equipment. I would never just give it to the installer.


They said when they come to do the install next Saturday I have to give it up.Not without a fight I'm not!


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## Tom J (Jan 25, 2004)

D* would have no reason to want it back other than to keep them being recycled on Ebay (which is likely what happens if you hand it over to the installer). Or maybe they want to be able to reuse the hard drives. In any event, If D* wants them back, they would likely go to a third party who would strip them of the parts D* wants and throw away whats left. So if they want it back, send it back... painted black.

Weaknees also has replacement faceplates for sale.
www.weaknees.com/tivo_parts_bin.php


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## Dirk Legume (Nov 29, 2004)

I may have missed something along the way. I know that they are going to a lease deal. But, I paid for my HR10-250. Even if they ask, It's mine. Right?

Slightly off topic: I recently had some landscaping work done in my yard that included the building of a path that used shale set in concrete as steps. When the landscaper finished, he told me he would be back in a couple of days to pick up the rest of the shale. Says I (in a confused manner) "Didn't I pay for the box of shale pieces?" "Yes you did" he says, "but I usually just take whats left over and put them into another project". So I asked if he would be refunding me the money for the unused portion and he was amazed "No, the cost of the shale was in your contract"

So we moved the extra shale into the garage and he has never mentioned it again. I don't know if I will ever have a use for it, but I did pay for it, it should be mine.

Isn't the upgrade deal the same thing?

Dirk


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## cowart (Dec 11, 2003)

Dirk Legume said:


> I paid for my HR10-250. Even if they ask, It's mine. Right?


No, the cost of the HR10-250 is partially subsidized, hence the initial programming commitment. You only partially paid for it.

John Cowart


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## kdonnel (Nov 28, 2000)

cowart said:


> No, the cost of the HR10-250 is partially subsidized, hence the initial programming commitment. You only partially paid for it.
> 
> John Cowart


No the whole HR10-250 is yours.

You have committed to maintain a certain level of programming.

It works the same way with your subsidized cell phone. If you want to cancel early they do not want the cell phone back. They want the money to cover your monthly commitment.

Once DirecTV goes to a lease only arrangement then they will have every right to ask for equipment that your are leasing.

I can see it getting ugly in a few years when DirecTV gets confused as to who owns what. You might have a few receivers that are yours and a few receivers that are theirs. When you cancel will they be smart enough to only ask for the leased receivers?

They can't even flag all R15 and H20 as leased since they were released for a few months prior. They will be able to flag all HR20 as leased.


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## ssandhoops (Feb 23, 2002)

Seems to me D* has every right to ask for the HR10-250 since this is an exchange, i.e. replace your old DVR with a new DVR. If you don't give them your old DVR, they would have every right to charge you for the new one. Now, if they want my old DVR and still want to charge for the new one, that's a totally different story.


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## patg25 (Nov 25, 2004)

Wait a minute. I (as many others) spend $900 for the HD Tivo. I committed to a two year commitment. If they want to upgrade their system, fine. However, I should NOT have to now pay more money to get the programming. I am perfectly happy to accept more MPEG-2 stations - how they are going to accomplish this is their business.

Since D* made a business decision to upgrade their system to MPEG-4 I should not have to outlay more of my hard earned $$$. I am willing to pay $50-$100 for an upgraded dish and a new HD DVR. I will also sign up for another 2 year commitment. But I will also keep my HD Tivo. I have upgraded it and receive most of my HD OTA anyway.


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## RonMan (Feb 1, 2006)

Tom J said:


> Weaknees also has replacement faceplates for sale.


Ouch, that faceplate is $49.00! I guess I can just take my chances. I had always wanted to paint my other Tivo black but just lived with it. Now that Ive seen it done it has to match everything else.

I guess all we can do is speculate on whether they will ask for it back. I will definetly go with the new system when it comes out and just gonna roll the dice on this one. (I have no other choice for tv other than satellite. No ota, no cable where I live)

Also, the installer called late yesterday. Said they were out of the HD DVR. Would have to reschedule once they got them in.


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## RonMan (Feb 1, 2006)

Just got my HR10-250 in and up. It really is nice to have everything look more natural. All recorded shows looked horrible on my widescreen. This thing rocks....so far.

Im sure many in here have opened up their units. Can I expect any surprises when I disasseble mine to apply the paint? Like are the buttons unusually hard to put back in, springs that fly and stuff like that. Or should it be pretty cut and dry?


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## dirk1843 (Jul 7, 2003)

Talking of painting..............I did the bezel on my Toshiba 50H81 a while back and have thought of doing the rest of my equipment, but kind of nervous about paint a couple of grand worth of electronics. The only thing really holding me up is not having the knob labels on my Denon 3803. If I could find a facepleate and knobs/buttons for it I would be set......would then paint the HDTiVo and a couple of DVD players.

http://gallery.avsforum.com/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/31876 <---- link for TV before and after if any is interested.


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## RonMan (Feb 1, 2006)

Surely someone has taken theirs apart and can tell me what to expect.


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