# Anyone in NY market getting a free R15 for YES Interactive?



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

> The YES Network (Channel 622) is available as part of DIRECTV's TOTAL CHOICE(R) monthly programming service to residential customers in the Yankees home television territory, including New York and Connecticut, and areas of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. *For DIRECTV customers living in these areas who want to access the enhanced features, DIRECTV is offering a free interactive receiver or DIRECTV Plus DVR receiver (with a programming commitment) through Aug. 31.*


Anyone taking DirecTV up on this offer?

My mother has two Samsung SIR-70 receivers that are outdated, so swapping out at least one of them for an R15 is still a trad-up. I don't see my mother dropping DirecTV any time soon, so she can live with the two-year commitment.

Any ideas if this would require professional installation or would they ship the box? I'm going to be installing a second multi-switch next week, and would prefer to not have to deal with an installer.

Other than the commitment, does anyone see any downsides to taking DirecTV up on this offer?


----------



## skaeight (Jan 20, 2004)

That is tempting if for no other reason that to just get a free R15 to try out. I don't really know what I'd do with a 3rd receiver though, and I wouldn't want to pay the addtional $5 to keep it active. I wonder if I could just get it, try it out for a while and if I don't like it just deactivate it and reactivate my directivo.


----------



## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

skaeight said:


> That is tempting if for no other reason that to just get a free R15 to try out. I don't really know what I'd do with a 3rd receiver though, and I wouldn't want to pay the addtional $5 to keep it active. I wonder if I could just get it, try it out for a while and if I don't like it just deactivate it and reactivate my directivo.


Yes... you would be able to do that.

Your commitment would just be extended though, from 2 years when you got the R15... (unless you return the R15 when you deactivate it)


----------



## xram (Oct 16, 2004)

Do we have to call or can we enter a code on the website?


----------



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

Must not be a of of NY TCF members! (Or maybe everyone's just afraid of the R15.)

I'm going to call this weekend and see what the deal: shipped or installed. I'm going to explain that we'll be replacing an existing receiver (deactivating the old one) and hope that they ship the new one.


----------



## xram (Oct 16, 2004)

I just called and they gave me $50 off of the r15, but had to pay shipping and handling. The rules are you can't already have an interactive receiver and you have to be in a yes market. The guy was nice enough to give me a $50 credit even though i already have 2 r15's.


----------



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

xram - thanks for the info. Can you break down your costs? How much was the shipping and handling, and how much was the R15 before the $50 off?

I'm going to try to get one box free as my mother has no interactive receivers, and see about a second box. Wondering what the total will be.

Also, other people have paid S/H charges and still had an installer bring it. Did the CSR say this was going to be shipped to *you* and you could install it yourself, or did you have to set up an installation appointment?


----------



## skaeight (Jan 20, 2004)

It looks like I won't be able to take advantage of this. I have two D10s which are on my account, but inactive, so I'm willing to bet they count as interactive recievers.

Also, I'm guessing the cost breaks down to $99-$50+19.99 (shipping) = $68.99. Not quite "free". I guess they were purposely vauge with this statement, and only meant a regular receiver was free: 


> DIRECTV is offering a free interactive receiver or DIRECTV Plus DVR receiver (with a programming commitment) through Aug. 31.


----------



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

I just got an email from DirecTV about the YES interactive option, with a cool screen shot, and details below. There's nothing in the details about paying S/H fee or restrictions about already having an interactive receiver, so I don't know if it's CSR roulette or just a misleading or incomplete offer.

You can view the full offer here.










Here are the details:



DirecTV Offer said:


> **DVR service sold separately. Limit one free receiver upgrade per account. Offer non-transferable. Programming commitment required.
> 
> EQUIPMENT OFFER: Offer ends 9/30/06. Programming commitment required. DVR service sold separately. Limit one rebate per account. Purchase of 12 consecutive months (24 consecutive months for advanced receivers) of any DIRECTV base programming package ($29.99/mo. or above) or qualifying international services bundle required. In certain markets, programming and pricing may vary. Make and model of system at DIRECTV's sole discretion. Custom installation and installation of additional receivers available for a charge. FAILURE TO ACTIVATE ALL OF THE DIRECTV SYSTEM EQUIPMENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE EQUIPMENT LEASE ADDENDUM MAY RESULT IN CHARGE OF $150 PER DIRECTV RECEIVER NOT ACTIVATED. IF YOU FAIL TO MAINTAIN YOUR PROGRAMMING COMMITMENT, DIRECTV MAY CHARGE PRORATED FEE OF UP TO $300. RECEIVERS ARE AT ALL TIMES PROPERTY OF DIRECTV AND MUST BE RETURNED UPON CANCELLATION OF SERVICES, OR ADDITIONAL FEES APPLY. VISIT DIRECTV.COM OR CALL 1.800.DIRECTV FOR DETAILS. Offers void in Alaska and Hawaii, and where prohibited or restricted. May not be combined with any other offer. Equipment not transferable and may not be sold. Programming sold separately. Programming, pricing, terms and conditions subject to change. Pricing residential. Receipt of DIRECTV programming subject to DIRECTV Customer Agreement; a copy is provided at directv.com/legal and in first bill. DIRECTV services not provided outside the U.S.


----------



## skaeight (Jan 20, 2004)

I got the same email. If you go and put in the appropriate code on the website it will show you can a dvr plus for $0 total. The only problem I see is they want to have it professionally installed. I'd much prefer they ship it to me. I may call tomorrow and see if that can be arranged.


----------



## mikegoldnj (Aug 15, 2003)

What's the deal on the new Directv website with this business of "leasing" the receiver? Do we have to pay some sort of monthly fee other than the dvr fee?
If I have directivos and I go for this deal do I then have to pay a Tivo montly fee AND a DVR Plus monthly fee or does one fee cover the tivo units and the new unit?


----------



## xram (Oct 16, 2004)

drew2k said:


> xram - thanks for the info. Can you break down your costs? How much was the shipping and handling, and how much was the R15 before the $50 off?
> 
> I'm going to try to get one box free as my mother has no interactive receivers, and see about a second box. Wondering what the total will be.
> 
> Also, other people have paid S/H charges and still had an installer bring it. Did the CSR say this was going to be shipped to *you* and you could install it yourself, or did you have to set up an installation appointment?


R15-$99, S&H-$19.95 and then there is tax. All in all i paid around $80 for it. There was no problem with them shipping it to me for a self install. As i said before, i do not qualify for this promo as i already have 2 r15's, but the rep was nice enough to give me a break. (i called retentions)


----------



## trnsfrguy (Apr 28, 2005)

So, has anyone taken Directv up on this offer ?
I'm actually thinking about it, but I'm put off by all the negative experiences people have reported with the R15.


----------



## DTVPro (Jun 24, 2005)

The R15's are much better than they were


a few people have had nightmares with them, but overall, they're much better by FAR than they were 6 months ago


----------



## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

With the promo code "DVR4U2", the R-15 costs $0 and the shipping is $0 for a final net cost of $0. The only catch, if you can call it one, is you commit to a 2 year agreement.

Also you can get this offer even if you have 2 DVR's as long as you go through the website and your account online.


----------



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

My mother has hedged on allowing me to order the R15 for her. I really wanted to, so I could try it out and form my own opinions. She's a little bit of a technophobe and would never dream of watching recorded TV, so I need to convince her that paying for the S/H is worth it if she can pause TV to answer the phone, let the dogs out, cook dinner, etc.!

Edited to add: I'm a slow typer. The post above me wasn't there a moment ago, but now that I see it - I have ammunition! Free S/H = me ordering one this evening (I hope)!


----------



## bidger (Mar 30, 2001)

I considered the deal. I wanted the MPEG-4 recevier for Mets games in HD, but when I called to find out if I'm eligible for that feed, I was told I wasn't.


----------



## ping (Oct 3, 2005)

Rkkeller said:


> With the promo code "DVR4U2", the R-15 costs $0 and the shipping is $0 for a final net cost of $0. The only catch, if you can call it one, is you commit to a 2 year agreement.
> 
> Also you can get this offer even if you have 2 DVR's as long as you go through the website and your account online.


Any idea how this would play with grandfathered lifetime DVR subscription?


----------



## bidger (Mar 30, 2001)

Are you going to take your active DVR out of commission? If so, I would advise against it since you can add another DVR for $5.99/mo., but if you do, activate the new unit before you deactivate the old one.


----------



## ping (Oct 3, 2005)

I've got three. I would deactivate one to activate the R15. I just don't want to pay DVR service on the R15, and I definitely don't want to lose lifetime for the HDVR2 and R10 if I decide to deactivate the R15.


----------



## bidger (Mar 30, 2001)

Well, if you do take up the offer, just have the CSR confirm that you won't be adding another DVR fee before you finalize the order.


----------



## mgann (Aug 16, 2003)

Follow-up questions on this thread:

1. Does anyone know of any other channels that utilize the interactive functionality?
2. What kind of problems have customers had with the R15?
3. Would I own this unit? I purchased my existing receivers and want to be sure -- should I move -- that I can take this one with me.
4. To Ping's question below, does this offer have any impact on the grandfathered lifetime DVR subscription?
5. Anything I should be aware of moving from a D-TiVo receiver to a DirecTV DVR other than the TiVo brand not being on it?


----------



## dmurphy (Jan 17, 2002)

I just ordered one this morning to replace a standard receiver I've had in my basement the whole time.

It was nice to be told I'm on DirecTV's "A-list" ... that was fun.

Anywho, I ordered an R15 to replace an old RCA recieiver, and my total cost was $0.00. No shipping, no anything.

I had to agree to another 24-month agreement (no big deal for me), and they told me the DVR fee would be covered under my existing Lifetime DVR service.

Nobody mentioned anything about a lease; this is a replacement of my existing (owned) receiver. I'll find out on my next bill, I guess.

Professional install was "required" -- the installer is going to make a few quick $$$ on me; all of the rooms are already wired for dual connections, so all we have to do is plug it in and activate it. Whoop-de-doo. 

Other than that, this is a good deal for me. I still love my TiVo's (have several, ranging from GXCEBOT's to DVR40's to HR10-250's), and the R15 is nothing more than an additional box for me -- it's not replacing any of the TiVo goodness in the house.


----------



## beanpoppa (Jan 7, 2004)

My father got the email, and called in to inquire about replacing one of his DTivo's with an R15. They turned him off to it because they told him that it would add an additional $6 'DVR' fee to his account. When he said he was already paying the DVR fee, the response was that he was paying a 'Tivo' fee, and the DVR fee was different. Of course, the CSR was wrong, but that turned him off to the deal.

I'd do it (it's free) but I already have 5 hacked DTivo's with MRV enabled. I don't want to give that feature up on any of my TV's. With the exception of the 'Bonus Cam' feature, I can get all the other features on my computer.


----------



## ping (Oct 3, 2005)

I did it. It was delivered this morning, but I haven't had a chance to hook it up, yet.


----------



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

ping said:


> I did it. It was delivered this morning, but I haven't had a chance to hook it up, yet.


I'm confused ... Others have claimed an installer was bringing and setting up the box. Was yours delivered for self-install, or is an installer still scheduled to hook it up?


----------



## ping (Oct 3, 2005)

No, it was "delivered" by an installer (who just had the easiest install of the day, probably). I didn't need (or want) anything more than that.


----------



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

ping said:


> No, it was "delivered" by an installer (who just had the easiest install of the day, probably). I didn't need (or want) anything more than that.


Cool, thanks. I'm going to shoot for the same type of "installation".


----------



## lonewoolf47 (Nov 16, 2001)

When does this offer expire?


----------



## trnsfrguy (Apr 28, 2005)

The e-mail I received gave 8/31/06 as an expiration date, but the csr I spoke with told me the offer expires on 9/30/06.


----------



## mgann (Aug 16, 2003)

Follow-up answers/comments to this thread:


mgann said:


> 1. Does anyone know of any other channels that utilize the interactive functionality?


Answer: No other channels provide any type of interactive functionality. The rep was unaware of any other channels coming onboard with anything similar in the near future. Besides what the YES network offers, you can see your local weather and that's about it. Even the stuff available on YES -- in game box score, scores from other games, league leaders, etc. -- isn't all that great; it's slow and since I have a laptop, I can already access that information and more without interfering with the broadcast. And that's another thing, the information is displayed right on top of the game, i.e., the game doesn't move to a window in the corner so you can still follow the action. Pretty disappointing, really.


mgann said:


> 2. What kind of problems have customers had with the R15?


Answer: Did my own research on this via other posts, and I would agree with just about all of them. The biggest issue I have with the R15 is that the interface is completely unintuitive. Also, it's not "lightning fast" like the installer said it would be compared to the Hughes HDVR2 the unit was meant to replace. Sure the HDVR2 isn't a jackrabbit, but it does the job quite nicely IMO.


mgann said:


> 3. Would I own this unit? I purchased my existing receivers and want to be sure -- should I move -- that I can take this one with me.


Answer: No, you don't own the unit. If you ever decide to upgrade to a different one -- be it within or past the 2-year commitment -- you will have to mail it back to DTV. Not sure I like that.


mgann said:


> 4. To Ping's question below, does this offer have any impact on the grandfathered lifetime DVR subscription?


Answer: No, this has no effect on the lifetime DVR subscription.


mgann said:


> 5. Anything I should be aware of moving from a D-TiVo receiver to a DirecTV DVR other than the TiVo brand not being on it?


Answer: No, but I've had this unit a week and am ready to call DTV back and have them send the installer over to hook up my old unit and take this one away.


----------



## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

mgann said:


> No other channels provide any type of interactive functionality.


What about the Mix channels like News Mix, Sports Mix, etc... ? Or the Whats Hot feature ? How about the weather, lottery, horoscope, ppv previews ? Some sports packages like NFLST make use of it too.

The interactive features were also used during the last Olympics and the upcoming major tennis tournament at the end of this month is going to use it too.

As for the GUI. Thats really personal preference and anyone really used to one thing will take longer to adjust. I prefer the R-15's small windows start like menu over my R-10 full screen one.

I really think you need to spend more time actually using the R-15. One week is not long enough to adjust to the different ways it works vs. the DirecTiVos.


----------



## skaeight (Jan 20, 2004)

I just ordered mine. I'm most likely going to hook it up try it out a little and then put it in the closet. I'm mainly getting it because it's free, I want to try a R-15 out, and I'm also kind of planning ahead for the future where there might be more interactive features available (i.e. VOD, DirecTV2Go, etc).


----------



## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

I finally called in on my mother's behalf and ordered the R15. Final price: free. No rebates, and no $19.95 shipping fee. The installer is delivering the box this Wednesday. 

I was surprised by two things during the call: 

(1) No mention was made about extending the programming commitment. 

and 

(2) I was told we had our choices of one of three boxes: a standard interactive receiver, the R15 interactive DVR, or an HD DVR, the HR20. I questioned whether the HR20 was available outside LA, and the CSR said sure, we could have it this week. 

I was very tempted to take the HR20, but my mother doesn't have an HD TV and didn't want to even know what the benefits of the HD DVR could be (like more recording, next gen hardware, etc.), so that's why she's getting the R15.


----------



## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

skaeight said:


> then put it in the closet.


You know you still have to pay $5 a month leasing fee for it so you might as well play with it.


----------



## skaeight (Jan 20, 2004)

drew2k said:


> I finally called in on my mother's behalf and ordered the R15. Final price: free. No rebates, and no $19.95 shipping fee. The installer is delivering the box this Wednesday.
> 
> I was surprised by two things during the call:
> 
> ...


They offered you a HR20, for FREE???? I haven't gotten mine installed yet, but I ordered an R15. If they're giving away HR20's I'm going to call back and switch my order to one of them. I don't have an HDTV, but I've heard they're way better than the R15 even for SD recording.


----------



## bad_religion1979 (Aug 27, 2006)

ebonovic said:


> Yes... you would be able to do that.
> 
> Your commitment would just be extended though, from 2 years when you got the R15... (unless you return the R15 when you deactivate it)


Even if you disconnected and returned the leased R15 receiver you would still have the 2 year commitment. So either way you will lock yourself into the commitment. If your mother is going to keep DTV for that long anyway I don't see any reason why you might not try it out and see if you like it.


----------



## Duke of Crydee (Jan 3, 2004)

A few questions from a newbie at this....

First of all I currently have a dual-tuner Series 2 DirecTV w/ Tivo (SD-DVR40) with a Weaknees upgrade to about 150 hours (as shown on screen, I know literal hours vary). Sometimes shows will freeze, generally on Sun. night for some reason, and I'll have to re-record. On top of this, it's just a tad old, and I'd like to upgrade since $0 is a great price. 

1) I have a lot of TV yet to watch on my SD-DVR40. If I have them plug in an R15 model, would I be able to manually connect the old Series 2 into an available S-Video & RCA Audio port on my A/V switch and watch the shows off the hard drive w/o the box getting a sat signal? Or will the box not even turn on?

2) Someone said they were offered the H20 or the R15. There's a good chance sometime late next year I'll finally get a widescreen HDTV. If I'm able to get them to send an H20 for free, should I over the R15? Will I be losing anything significant?

3) I've heard the R15's had some trouble with doing first-run on the season pass type setting. Is this resolved w/ current models?

Thank You for any help w/ this.


----------



## skaeight (Jan 20, 2004)

I called to ask about the HR-20, and I think the CSR you spoke with might have been confused. The promo is either for an R15, D10, or H20, which is just a plain HD receiver. I would have been extremely suprised if they were giving away the just released HR20. Oh well.


----------



## Duke of Crydee (Jan 3, 2004)

Ok, I did some more research and made the call to DirecTV. What I don't remember seeing mentioned here is that the lease of the free DVR would be $4.99/month. That's in addition to the $5.99/month for the DVR fee.

One of the big reasons why I wanted to upgrade to this unit was the hope that by being away from Tivo, that I would no longer need the phone line and could thereby finally cancel my local phone service.

Unfortunately, even though the R15 is all DirecTV, and even though the basic programming schedule is capable of coming in through the satellite connection; it still needs a land line. I was transferred to the tech dept. who confirmed this fact, plus the fact that the R15 still can not update itself via the Internet. It is 2006 right? Just checking.

Oh well, looks like I still have to wait for a company capable of designing satellites to figure out the complexities of Wi-Fi and an internet connection.


----------



## Rkkeller (May 13, 2004)

Duke of Crydee said:


> Ok, I did some more research


Better do some more    as the R-15 does not require a phone line to either activate or get updates. I have two of them. Its all done by satellite.


----------



## bnm81002 (Oct 3, 2004)

skaeight said:


> I called to ask about the HR-20, and I think the CSR you spoke with might have been confused. The promo is either for an R15, D10, or H20, which is just a plain HD receiver. I would have been extremely suprised if they were giving away the just released HR20. Oh well.


which phone # did you call, if I can get the free HD receiver(H20) I'll get in on it, I have 2 DTivo receivers already so no need for the free R15 for me


----------

