# I hate my DirecTV HR-20, can I get an HD Tivo instead?



## ChristianZane (Apr 10, 2003)

I've been a happy Tivo customer for four years now, I have a DirecTV/Tivo box that I love, I recently upgraded my TV and DirecTV service for HD, and while the DirecTV website said I would be getting an HD Tivo Tuner, I ended up getting one of Murdoch's crappy HR-20 units. I hate it. Is there anyway I can use a Tivo HD DVR with DirecTV? When I go the Tivo website, they say their latest HD DVR doesn't work with satellite! ((((((((


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## jennifer (Dec 2, 2001)

Ebay?


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

You need to go to one of the forum sponsors for the HR10. Remember, TiVo itself never sold DirecTV DVRs. You might try a search on Google for HR10-250.


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## g0go15 (Apr 23, 2005)

lol - we're on the same page! I just turned my pc on to vent about HR20-700 ... so my HDTivo died on Thursday and of course they send in this piece of crap instead... none of the live tv dvr functions are working, and I got three empty recordings today. I'm fuming! it is unacceptable - so I called retention and they will send a new box, but the rep could not promise it will be the HD Tivo (I am certain it won't be, I'm prepared for the worst), he was very reluctant to say which hd dvr will be coming my way... I will call over and over again until I get hd dvr that works! that's all I'm asking for! 
one thing I must admit - picture quality with the new crappy box is much much better then with tivo... man, why can't it do what it is supposed to do? why would directv release a product which isn't ready for it? but I guess i'm not the only one asking those questions... 
and yes, they did give me a fifty bucks credit - but I will cancel my service if the next box isn't working as intended...


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## ddruker (May 17, 2004)

Craigs List is an even better source for the HD-Tivo than ebay... I got one a few weeks ago for $150 from someone who had upgraded (downgraded) to an HR20... 

Threw in two 400GB drives and bingo it's better than new.


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## ChristianZane (Apr 10, 2003)

I was just on the phone with a DirecTV HD specialist, and he told me that the HR-20 is in fact a piece of garbage in it's 'present' state and that in 3-4 months it will be a whole new machine. D*TV was pressured to release it earlier then they wanted and they never ironed out the bugs. He actually listed a whole bunch of things that are going to be included in future builds of update software, including ones he couldn't tell me that will turn that HR-20 into something that was never even advertised, I don't even know what that means. Most problems with the HR-20 have to do with recording local HD programs.

So I'm going to sit on this piece of crap for 3-4 months, the Tivo is in fact not the same quality (MPEG-2), plus it won't take local HD without an antenae. I just miss Tivo so much  Oh well.


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## Todd (Oct 7, 1999)

Just remember, take what the CSR's say with a huge grain of salt!


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

ChristianZane said:


> I was just on the phone with a DirecTV HD specialist, and he told me that the HR-20 is in fact a piece of garbage in it's 'present' state and that in 3-4 months it will be a whole new machine. D*TV was pressured to release it earlier then they wanted and they never ironed out the bugs. He actually listed a whole bunch of things that are going to be included in future builds of update software, including ones he couldn't tell me that will turn that HR-20 into something that was never even advertised, I don't even know what that means. Most problems with the HR-20 have to do with recording local HD programs.
> 
> So I'm going to sit on this piece of crap for 3-4 months, the Tivo is in fact not the same quality (MPEG-2), plus it won't take local HD without an antenae. I just miss Tivo so much  Oh well.


Actually... the CSR isn't too far off.
As the unit stabalizes and they eliminate most of these current issues, they can get back to building and implementing a LOT of the features they have planed for the DVR+ line.


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## bpratt (Nov 20, 2004)

ddruker said:


> Craigs List is an even better source for the HD-Tivo than ebay... I got one a few weeks ago for $150 from someone who had upgraded (downgraded) to an HR20...
> 
> Threw in two 400GB drives and bingo it's better than new.


What is Craigs List?


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

bpratt said:


> What is Craigs List?


www.craigslist.com

Basically what eBay _was_ before it went "big time".

In a nut shell... craigslist is an electronic classifieds.


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## donsullivan (May 31, 2000)

ChristianZane said:


> I was just on the phone with a DirecTV HD specialist, and he told me that the HR-20 is in fact a piece of garbage in it's 'present' state and that in 3-4 months it will be a whole new machine. D*TV was pressured to release it earlier then they wanted and they never ironed out the bugs. He actually listed a whole bunch of things that are going to be included in future builds of update software, including ones he couldn't tell me that will turn that HR-20 into something that was never even advertised, I don't even know what that means. Most problems with the HR-20 have to do with recording local HD programs.
> 
> So I'm going to sit on this piece of crap for 3-4 months, the Tivo is in fact not the same quality (MPEG-2), plus it won't take local HD without an antenae. I just miss Tivo so much  Oh well.


A friend of mine had so much trouble with an HR20-700 D* actually finally agreed to replace it with an HR10-250. They had sent him 3 different HR20's and the thing still didn't work reliably (audio drop-outs, video freezed, missed recording, etc..) so they finally agreed to send him the HD-TiVo.

He got the same story that in 3-4 months it will be just fine but right now it's not. He described the process that he went through with the CSR as something she had clearly done before because everyone about the swap was completely uneventful.


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## ChristianZane (Apr 10, 2003)

Well I didn't mean to discuss the HR-20 on the Tivo boards, but anyways I just bought an HR-10 off eBay, the only thing I won't get is local HD channels which I got with the garbage D*TV unit, anyways the HR-20 goes in the closet for six months, thanks for all the advice, back home with Tivo thank God, laters...


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## jcricket (Sep 11, 2002)

ebonovic said:


> Actually... the CSR isn't too far off.
> As the unit stabalizes and they eliminate most of these current issues, they can get back to building and implementing a LOT of the features they have planed for the DVR+ line.


Judging from the frequency and number of software updates in the months the HR20 has been released, I'd rewrite your claim as "_if _ NDS can eliminate the current issues without introducing major new ones, then they can then focus on building features (some of which only bring it to parity with other DVRs, some of which are new). These new features will likely take far longer to build then anticipated and be very buggy when introduced."

Tivo isn't perfect, but NDS/DirecTV's track record so far (R15 and the HR20) is pretty darn bad, as far as I'm concerned. Despite the fact that "not everyone" has problems with the HR20, as a *consumer electronics device* it seems to be as bad as the worst devices I've ever experienced (I say that having owned two of the original DishPlayers, and a IBM PS/2 with MCA).

One would think that 7 years after DVRs really became consumer devices, NDS could do better. At this point, the jury's still out on their capabilities.


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## kbohip (Dec 30, 2003)

Reading these anti-HR20 threads makes me even more happy I can get all of my locals in HD with my HR10-250. It seems to me that the HR20 has turned out to be just as big a POS as the R-15 is. Directv needs to change their name to Dish Network now. Lol, of course even Dish seems to have ironed out most of their DVR problems now.


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## jdag (Mar 14, 2006)

UUGH...I think my HR10-250 is dying on me. I've already had to reformat the hard drive once, and it froze again today. I don't want an HR20 replacement!!!!


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