# Brand New HR10250



## bmoon1492 (Apr 19, 2006)

I need some advice. I purchased a HR10250 unit, then learned that you cannot actually receive local channels via Satellite, cancelled the order, and it shipped anyway. 

Now I have this thing and I don't know what to do. On the one hand I feel like its already a outdated with all this MPEG4 and 5LNB horse sh!t I'm reading, on the other hand I'm wondering if with the HD connection it will actually make my SD picture look better and basically give me all of the current features I have with my SD Tivo unit. 

Also, I see no advantage in paying $10 a month for HD which only provides a handful of channels without locals. 

Any suggestions or potential buyers?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

Have you tried to receive your local OTA? OTA will be better quality than what DirecTV will offer.


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## Dssturbo1 (Feb 23, 2005)

have you asked from seller if they would accept return, return it and go though credit card for refund.
would not keep it for SD it will not do anything for your current sd picture quality except upconvert which many people say is worse.
can you get your locals by over the air antenna??
they sell on ebay for about $400-450 usually.


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## bmoon1492 (Apr 19, 2006)

Dssturbo1 said:


> have you asked from seller if they would accept return, return it and go though credit card for refund.
> would not keep it for SD it will not do anything for your current sd picture quality except upconvert which many people say is worse.
> can you get your locals by over the air antenna??
> they sell on ebay for about $400-450 usually.


Thanks for the information. I need to call them, they have a restocking fee, but in this instance they may make an exception.

I hate to say it, but the OTA seems like suck a pain in the @ss. I'm not close to any of the stations in the state and I'd have to get a antenna and I just assume wait 2,3,4...months for DirecTV to come out with an HD DVR MPEG4 worthy.

I love Tivo, we've been dating since I got my first Sony T60 for $475 (ouch!), but I'm coming to grips with the fact that TiVo and I are breaking up.


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## Philly Bill (Oct 6, 2004)

I think the HD channels DTV provide are well worth 10 bucks a month.


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## bmoon1492 (Apr 19, 2006)

Philly Bill said:


> I think the HD channels DTV provide are well worth 10 bucks a month.


Interesting. What's so good about it that it's worth $120 per year? I've seen HBO, Showtime HD, etc. and it's not much different then SD picture. I guess ESPN HD might be worth it for Monday night football.


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## fjwagner (Jan 22, 2006)

bmoon1492 said:


> Interesting. What's so good about it that it's worth $120 per year? I've seen HBO, Showtime HD, etc. and it's not much different then SD picture. I guess ESPN HD might be worth it for Monday night football.


depending upon your area, you may also get a couple network feeds from LA or NY in HD. Here in Houston, we got a New York Fox and ABC in HD. I rarely watch them beacause I use an OTA antenna, but they are there in a pinch. Might not be as dire as you think. Check it out. Fred


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## thepackfan (May 21, 2003)

Don't expect to get national feed if you are in a area that is already setup for mmpeg4 locals. National HD is becoming difficult even in citys where locals aren't available.


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## vertigo235 (Oct 27, 2000)

Are HD Locals $10 MORE a month or is it included in the HD Package?


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

hd locals from direct cost no additional fee beyond whatever regular locals cost


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

Dssturbo1 said:


> would not keep it for SD it will not do anything for your current sd picture quality except upconvert which many people say is worse.


while over at over $400 i'd never keep it for SD either, I just wanted to point out in my particular instance (may be unique) i definitely have a better pic with 1080 on my crt rptv. No doubt that's a function of my tv type though.

however the real reason i bought hdtivo last year was that i just needed another tivo (2 tuners)...and the HD was really cheap after all the credits etc. I didn't even think about it as an HD unit until after hooking up an antenna and got stuff in. Then finally, decided on a new tv. It's definitely the best way to do it. Ensure you can get the OTA before buying a new tv 

bmoon how far is far and are they all in the same direction? With no major obstacles, you may get in 50+ miles in perfect conditions. I'm 40 miles out with a house/trees in the way and still have a great pic. Every situation is totally different. But i spent over 400 bucks getting the OTA aimed right and find the pic well worth the $$ compared to SD


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## bmoon1492 (Apr 19, 2006)

Thanks for all of the information and advice. Here's what I ended up doing... 

Called D, they said that I'll get a upgraded to the D HD DVR and 5LNB at no charge once the HD DVR is out and available. 

Also, it seems they want everyone to be under lease - mine was a retail purchase but I did not tell them that because I have no desire to spend another $400 for the MPEG4 unit in three months. 

Also, I've been with D for six years and I have no intention of leaving in the next two years. 

In the end I figured might as well keep the unit take advantage of the HD programming I can get and give the OTA a try. If it works well I'll be in no hurry to upgrade to the MPEG4 unit anyway. 

Oh, BTW... It makes SD look worse then the SD D* TiVo unit.... 


newsposter, on the stations, according to antenna.org (sp?) they are north, west, and northwest but I'm so new to OTA I guess I'm really not sure yet but the stations search lead me to belive i'd need to get an antenna that could pick up signals in multiple directions. Also, I'm on the shoreline and the stations are inland between 35- 45miles.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=45

go and search for your area in there for OTA advice.

I wont even pretend to be an expert about multidirectional. I do know that 2-3 degrees difference shouldn't matter. But if you have stations at say, 85, 110, and 130 degrees, that could be a challenge. Also, if shore= flat land to each station, you may have decent luck if the guys over there can tell you the right antenna to buy. Good luck

as far as the lease thing, i was actually thinking the same thing if i had been interested in mpeg4. I was going to resub an old receiver and then hope they upgrade me to mpeg4 standalone cheap/free. But i have no need for mpeg4 at this time and even if they do get great mpeg4 HD nationals in 3 years, i'll get another unit anyway since 6 tuners is better than 4


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## cgove1 (Dec 21, 2004)

bmoon1492 said:


> Interesting. What's so good about it that it's worth $120 per year? I've seen HBO, Showtime HD, etc. and it's not much different then SD picture. I guess ESPN HD might be worth it for Monday night football.


Wow. If you can't see the difference then send it back and don't ever worry about HD again.

I LOVE HD and the difference to my eye is HUGE. I spend a lot of $$ to get as much HD as I can. Consider yourself lucky, maybe an old 13" B&W is all you really need.


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## bmoon1492 (Apr 19, 2006)

cgove1 said:


> Wow. If you can't see the difference then send it back and don't ever worry about HD again.
> 
> I LOVE HD and the difference to my eye is HUGE. I spend a lot of $$ to get as much HD as I can. Consider yourself lucky, maybe an old 13" B&W is all you really need.


Gee thanks for the back handed compliment... :down:


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## bmoon1492 (Apr 19, 2006)

newsposter said:


> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=45
> 
> go and search for your area in there for OTA advice.
> 
> ...


It looks like CT is split between UHF and VHF and the stations I want are 55 degrees apart. I left a post on AVS to see if anyone on my area has any advice. Thanks much.


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## aztivo (Feb 23, 2005)

bmoon1492 said:


> Thanks for all of the information and advice. Here's what I ended up doing...
> 
> Called D, they said that I'll get a upgraded to the D HD DVR and 5LNB at no charge once the HD DVR is out and available.


Good Luck


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

bmoon1492 said:


> Thanks for all of the information and advice. Here's what I ended up doing...
> 
> Called D, they said that I'll get a upgraded to the D HD DVR and 5LNB at no charge once the HD DVR is out and available.
> 
> Also, it seems they want everyone to be under lease - mine was a retail purchase but I did not tell them that because I have no desire to spend another $400 for the MPEG4 unit in three months.


If I were you, I'd get the "upgrade to the new HD and dish" noted on your account and in writing from customer support. 

As for lease vs. owned - going to depend on where you got the receiver from. If you got it from most major retailers on/after 3/1, it'll be leased. From most online retailers, it'll be owned, but you have to remind DTV of it. For retailers who chose not to participate in DTVs program (and therefor don't take the subsidy), those boxes should be listed as owned. Again, you'll have to push DTV on it when they register the box.


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## bmoon1492 (Apr 19, 2006)

jfh3 said:


> If I were you, I'd get the "upgrade to the new HD and dish" noted on your account and in writing from customer support.
> 
> As for lease vs. owned - going to depend on where you got the receiver from. If you got it from most major retailers on/after 3/1, it'll be leased. From most online retailers, it'll be owned, but you have to remind DTV of it. For retailers who chose not to participate in DTVs program (and therefor don't take the subsidy), those boxes should be listed as owned. Again, you'll have to push DTV on it when they register the box.


Thanks. I'll see if I can get that noted. Good point!


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

I find emailing and asking for confirmation is best in these situations. Well worth the effort to type it out and get back a response yea or nay.


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