# Moving from Comcast to DirecTV. Need some guidance!



## mahermusic (Mar 12, 2003)

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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

Your TiVos will not work in any shape or form with D*.

You CAN get the THR22 from D*, but to be honest, your best bet is to go with the Genie. You can get a couple of very small clients for the other TVs and watch anything recorded on the five tuners on any TV. You could even get DVRs for the other TVs at the same cost.

Going this route would be a net $2/Mo cheaper as you'd save the $5 TiVo fee, but pay a $3 whole home charge. Your extra receivers would be about $6 each per month.

Yes, you'd be giving up the TiVo interface, but you would gain so much by going this route.

If you insist on maintaining the TiVo interface, then whole home is not an option.


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## leswar (Apr 14, 2005)

I have the same setup except my hd tivo is a TiVo Pemiere Xl.
up until 2009 I had DirecTV and Comcast feeding my S1 and S2 tivos.
I had the Comcast cable hooked into the two tivos RF connectors and a DirecTV analog box feeding the a/v (S-Video) input. 

It was great. DirecTV had better pricing for my HBO subscription vs. Comcast.
TiVo intergrated it all beautifully.

After moving we dropped DirecTV. We now have Comcast with a cablecard for the XL and a cable box & adapter for the S1 & S2 boxes.

I still own the original DirecTV sat. box (packed away). I don't know if D* 
still transmits that digital stream as of today.
As I understand it today everything thru D* must be leased. You own nothing.
If you could get an old sat box and service it could be an option for the old tivos.

Even with Comcast's recent price increase and the even more recent price increase I think it (Comcast) offers the better value over D* .

Then again it depends on your viewing habits and what channels you watch/desire.
Comcast 'FOR ME" has more channels I desire in it's first two tiers than similar tiers on D*. Your mileage may vary.

Here, Comcast has scrambled and converted all its analog signals into digital - requiring a digital adapter. However Comcast still transmits in the clear HD signals of the local broadcast stations, C-Span and TWC. So a simple cable hookup to a HDTV will yield some HD content that can be viewed as a S1/S2 with adapter is recording something other than that.

I don't like the rise in pricing of all these providers. I also don't like D* devious contracts. Read the fine print. Geeze!!!! Two year contracts/ one year price guarantees (Now 3yrs/2yrs contracts). Gee. I'm not buying cell phone service.


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

Bottom line is that if you want to use Tivos then don't go with Directv and I'm a Directv fan.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

Well you've obviously made the decision already, but I wanted to address the question you asked that was never really answered in case someone else has the same question. 

No, there is no equivalent to the Comcast digital adapter. And no, you can't just plug in the coax. If you want anything you need a receiver. It's not a matter of Directv blocking anything, it's just a limitation of the way the service works. 

And unlike the digital adapter, that receiver will get all the channels* you pay for. Directv is pretty liberal with passing out these receivers for free to new customers, but there is an additional $5 a month charge for each receiver. They will call it a lease fee, but that's a whole other discussion. Bottom line, it's $5. The good news, an HD DVR carries the same $5 fee rather than the $18 a month that Comcast charges. There is an upfront charge however for the HD DVR, but you can usually negotiate a pretty low price on them if you give it a little effort. 

*If you only have standard def receivers you obviously will not get the HD channels. But if you get HD receivers they will work fine on old SD TVs and will receive all channels.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The $5 fee is for the second and subsequent receiver. No fee for the first.


Steve


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

Background: Had DirecTV from 2001-2011 with two TiVo DirecTV DVR's and was happy but became tired of waiting for the *HD* TiVo DirecTV DVR. Switched to Verizon FiOS in 2011 when they offered a fantastic deal. Of course, at 2-year contract end, Verizon nearly doubled monthly charges so I cancelled (was about to go on extended vacation and would be considered a "new" customer if wanted to return to FiOS). Have been on OTA since January 2013 with TiVo Premiere and surprised I have not missed "cable" channels all that much.

With all the "deals" currently being offered by Verizon, Dish, DirecTV and Charter (my only choices in Long Beach, CA), have been tempted to go back to television with a monthly fee. DirecTV has the best channel line-up for me so was placing an order when I read their standard "Customer Agreement" and found the clause about getting *DVR Service* without a ($25) fee if you paid for LIFETIME previously (which I had & have the letter from DirecTV to prove it - along with years of statements that show the .00 charge).

Of course, no one at DirecTV knew what the heck I was talking about and eventually found someone in the Reconnection/Retention Dept that agreed I should not have to pay the monthly fee. When "Jessica" tried to reactivate my old account, their computer system refused since I had been inactive for more then 24 months. Being the old, grumpy SOB that I am, I refused to accept allowing the guy who writes their billing software to ignore the terms of their Agreement and placed order on hold (installer was due the next day).

Am awaiting a call back on Monday to learn if Jessica has found a way to process an order and honor the terms of their Agreement (not holding my breath). Anyone out there getting the *Lifetime DVR Service* at .00?

Also, why would you purchase a DirecTV DVR (e.g. HR44 or THR22) for $200-$300 (e.g. from Weaknees) when DirecTV is going to charge you a monthly DVR fee anyway? Something about DirecTV considering all equipment to be under lease? Perhaps if you need for additional TV and cannot get it from them under some "promotional" deal?


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## celtic pride (Nov 8, 2005)

I also want to come back to directv and i owned 3 tivos hr 10-250s with'' lifetime'' service but i want to get my lifetime service back but doubt they'll do it as 'ive been gone nearly 4 years.


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## Davelnlr_ (Jan 13, 2011)

mahermusic said:


> If I jump the Comcast ship, I can get the DirecTivo HD for (I believe) $199.
> 
> What would I need to do for the other TV's upstairs? I would only want very limited channels... equivalent to basic. I'd have to give the Comcast Digital Adapters back.


Your series 1 and series 2 Tivos WILL work with a standard def DirecTv receiver, using the A/V out on the receiver, and the A/V in on the Tivo. You will need to use the IR blaster to switch channels on the DirecTv receiver (I believe the sonys have one built into the front panel, as well as the one on the cord, so you might be able to get by without the IR cord.

Im not familiar with the Series 3, but any Tivo with a A/V in (Yellow, Red/Black) will work with an SD DirecTv receiver. Even some of DirecTV's HD receivers have standard SD A/V outputs which would work also.

So, you could get a DirecTv DVR or DirecTivo for the main viewing room, and two SD receivers for the bedrooms to continue using your current Tivo's.

AS for pricing, DirecTv isnt any different that Comcast after your initial goodie deal is over. They nickel and dime the heck out of you for everything. I was with DirecTv since their inception, through all their upgrades, even had a Genie and two HR24's...I replaced them a year ago with an XL4, a premier, and a TIVOHD and signed onto Xflnity.

For DirecTvs basic package, you are probably going to do alright, but if you wanted HD service (extra fee), and whole home (extra fee), and a receiver in each bedroom (extra fee times 2), you might find the price at Comcast (with their discount for internet service, and discounts for owning your own equipment) might be cheaper if you carry the Digital Preferred (Directv charges an extra fee for several of the channels carried in the Digital preferred package).


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## Davelnlr_ (Jan 13, 2011)

celtic pride said:


> I also want to come back to directv and i owned 3 tivos hr 10-250s with'' lifetime'' service but i want to get my lifetime service back but doubt they'll do it as 'ive been gone nearly 4 years.


According to DirecTvs terms of service, your lifetime should be able to be reinstated as long as you left with no outstanding debt.
Check out their TOS online on their site and search for lifetime dvr service. If they give you any static, email [email protected] who is in the Office of the President, and explain your case.


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

Will post here if/when I get a call back from DirecTV tomorrow with their answer to my LIFETIME DVR question. In the meantime, it seems their Refer-a-Friend offer of $10/month for 10 months for both parties can be combined with other "new customer" discounts.

Assuming DirecTV ends up treating my order as a "new" customer, anyone who has an existing account and wants to give this a try, please use www.directv.com/refer to send the info to my [email protected] account. Based on what I found via Google about this, you need more than just the existing customer's account # for DirecTV to honor it (e.g. account name and phone number, too).


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

Just heard from Jessica and was advised they are NOT willing to give me the DVR Service at .00 even though I paid for LIFETIME previously. The rule that an account _cannot_ be re-activated after 2 years takes priority (even though that is not what their *Customer Agreement* states).

So, after fighting with "Sarah" in Sales for 19 minutes that my decision has been made, she finally relented and cancelled my order.

Maybe when I return from vacation in late September I will be in a better mood to deal with them again (they sent me a letter on 7/17/2013 saying "We've missed you!" and offering the current deal with an expiration of 11/26/2013 so I should be able to get the same pricing). Or not, since they don't seem to care what they put in writing if it does not suit them.


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## Davelnlr_ (Jan 13, 2011)

email [email protected] who is in the Office of the President. Hopefully she will fix things for you. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. That office can override any computer blocks, and straighten things out, so I have been told.



LBCABob said:


> Just heard from Jessica and was advised they are NOT willing to give me the DVR Service at .00 even though I paid for LIFETIME previously. The rule that an account _cannot_ be re-activated after 2 years takes priority (even though that is not what their *Customer Agreement* states).
> 
> So, after fighting with "Sarah" in Sales for 19 minutes that my decision has been made, she finally relented and cancelled my order.
> 
> Maybe when I return from vacation in late September I will be in a better mood to deal with them again (they sent me a letter on 7/17/2013 saying "We've missed you!" and offering the current deal with an expiration of 11/26/2013 so I should be able to get the same pricing). Or not, since they don't seem to care what they put in writing if it does not suit them.


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

Have followed your advice and sent an email to [email protected] (note correct spelling of her name). Will update here if/when I get a response.


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

Just received call from the office of the President in response to my email and learned they will honor the LIFETIME DVR FEE at .00 _but only for the $5/month_ TiVo-specific DVR charge. So, for my situation, it would permit me to get a THR-22 and avoid the extra $5/month but still have to pay the $25/month Advanced Receiver Fee. Only helpful if I was totally against getting a HR-44 Genie and had to have the THR-22.

So, will wait until I get back from vacation and make a fresh analysis of then current offerings from Verizon, Charter, DISH and DirecTV and likely place a "re-connect" order per their flyer recently mailed to me. To get the DirecTV *Entertainment* package with a Genie, free install, etc. will have to pay $39.99+tax? for months 1-12 and $69.99+ for months 13-24 (plus the usual annual rate increase sometime in 2014). Or just stick with OTA for free and wait for any shows missed (e.g. Mad Men) to come out on DVD.


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## TonyTheTiger (Dec 22, 2006)

The advanced receiver fee is only $10, isn't it? Not sure where the $25 is coming from!


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The HD fee plus the DVR fee plus the Whole Home fee is what adds up. 


Steve


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## Davelnlr_ (Jan 13, 2011)

Actually, I think the DVR fee part of that $25 is $7. So the OP's offer of getting $5 off is close to the lifetime value. Surprised they didnt just reinstate his old account and give him his lifetime DVR free, since that *IS* what is in their TOS.

That is why I switched to Comcast. I just grew tired of all DirecTvs added charges for everything including an HD charge for a group of HD channels when I already was paying for HD channels. Since I also had the lifetime DVR, and was somewhat skeptical of them actually honoring that if I ever came back, I just moved all my equipment over to my parents house, who also had DirecTv, and canceled their account, moved my account to their address, and let them take advantage of the $7 a month discount.

Comcast is actually giving me two credits for each of my two bedroom Tivo's, no HD fee, no outlet fees. Just one "digital" charge for each of the two extra cablecards. Funny thing about it, if I add the two cablecard fees together, and subtract the two "self owned" tivo credits, I actually come out $2 less than if I just had a single cablebox. 

DirecTv has some great PQ, and kick butt sports packages, but I just couldnt take the ever increasing extra fees, as well as the program package hikes. I dont fault those that dont mind paying them though, because other than billing practices, and the occasional outage when a storm passed, I really found the tech aspects of DirecTv to be second to none. Love this Tivo XL4 tho... Genie was nice too. Parents are loving that. No more fighting over what to record


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

LBCABob said:


> Just received call from the office of the President in response to my email and learned they will honor the LIFETIME DVR FEE at .00 _but only for the $5/month_ TiVo-specific DVR charge. So, for my situation, it would permit me to get a THR-22 and avoid the extra $5/month but still have to pay the $25/month Advanced Receiver Fee. Only helpful if I was totally against getting a HR-44 Genie and had to have the THR-22.
> 
> So, will wait until I get back from vacation and make a fresh analysis of then current offerings from Verizon, Charter, DISH and DirecTV and likely place a "re-connect" order per their flyer recently mailed to me. To get the DirecTV *Entertainment* package with a Genie, free install, etc. will have to pay $39.99+tax? for months 1-12 and $69.99+ for months 13-24 (plus the usual annual rate increase sometime in 2014). Or just stick with OTA for free and wait for any shows missed (e.g. Mad Men) to come out on DVD.


*Genie* installed yesterday ($25/month year 1, +$45/month year 2) and appears to be working as intended (DirecTV had nationwide activation system failure yesterday AM that, of course, gave the Installer fits). Naturally, I am frustrated with the UI after using TiVo for 10+years. Second-guessing myself and wonder if I should have gone with the *THR-22* even though it has only 2 tuners (have a Premiere w/LT working fine with OTA that would give me 2 more tuners for major network shows only).

_Hate_ the Genie Guide layout (and see no option to re-format it). Their DoublePlay function to switch between 2 live buffers which must be activated _prior_ to _each_ use seems to me to be a PITA compared to TiVo's 1-button approach. Search function is different and not_ that_ bad and, once SPs are set up, do not use that often.

Will call to see if they will swap out the Genie for a THR-22 (have little hope). Maybe find a used THR-22 cheap someplace and spring for the Additional Receiver $6/month fee if find Genie UI too much a change for me in my old age.


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

LBCABob said:


> ... Will call to see if they will swap out the Genie for a THR-22 (have little hope). Maybe find a used THR-22 cheap someplace and spring for the Additional Receiver $6/month fee if find Genie UI too much a change for me in my old age.


Just got off phone with "Gin" who says they will swap the Genie for a THR-22 at no cost since am within 24 hours of install (no on-premises visit needed, they just ship TiVo and I return Genie via UPS/FedEx). She advised they do *not* allow re-activation of "used" units since everything is considered leased equipment and thus equipment must be obtained from them/authorized dealer.

Was also informed if I ordered a THR-22 as a _2nd receiver_ that it must be installed on a 2nd TV set (versus an alternate input to the existing TV). WTF? Obviously could power it down and move after installer leaves.

Seems I have until 5pm today to decide and call back if I want to swap the unit at $0 cost. Else stuck with Genie for 2 years and would cost $199 + $6/month to add THR-22 later. Unclear if the $99 *Cinema Connection Kit* is required or optional - seems to be needed if I want to order any PPV movies from them (and their free stuff is not available on the THR-22 anyway?).

And, based on the images of the back of THR-22, it has 2 spots for coax from the dish. Genie has 1. Maybe the 2nd connector is optional? For a self-install swap, hope they give instructions about cabling.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The THR22 can use the legacy style dish which is why there are two connections. It can also use SWM. The Genie is SWM only.

I would keep the Genie. I have both.

THR22 would need the CCK for wireless.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

LBCABob said:


> ...
> And, based on the images of the back of THR-22, it has 2 spots for coax from the dish. Genie has 1. Maybe the 2nd connector is optional? For a self-install swap, hope they give instructions about cabling.


The Genie uses the newer "Single Wire Multiswitch" dish setup, so only one coax cable connects to the THR22's SAT1/SWM INPUT.


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

stevel said:


> The THR22 can use the legacy style dish which is why there are two connections. It can also use SWM. The Genie is SWM only.
> 
> I would keep the Genie. I have both.
> 
> THR22 would need the CCK for wireless.


Thanks for the info about the connection requirements of the THR-22. Seems it can be a simple change of 1 coax cable and power cord. If the THR-22 can accept a wired LAN connection then will go that route (although still not completely clear on uses of network connection - all to do with VOD it seems but some content may be unavailable to the THR-22 for whatever reasons - I rarely order PPV but access to old episodes of some series _at n/c_ would be great - else just wait for DVD to be released).

Have read that recent (08/24/2013) firmware to THR-22 solved a bug or two. Otherwise, understand software/feature upgrades are not likely to happen. Based on all the feature comparison lists I have found, Genie has a lot of new features but none of them (other than more than 2 tuners) are of interest to me.


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

I have never used the Genie, but I have some experience with the rest of the DTV DVRs. I've had Tivos since the early OTA only 14 hour model came out. I had the SD version of the DTV Tivo as well as the HR10-250, which was the first DTV HD Tivo. I finally gave that up when DTV started using mpeg 4 for all their HD channels. I had a couple HR21s and swapped those out later for the HR24s. I still have one of them left relegated to the bedroom. But my two main DVRs now are both THR-22s. 

I have some pangs about the Genie because extra tuners is appealing. But the reasons I like the Tivo better are just too compelling for me. One of those reasons is one most people hate, but I love the suggestions. When vacations or weekends come around it's common for me to run out of things to watch and the suggestions really work for me. 

The second big reason is that wishlists just work more reliably. The DTV DVRs have gotten better over the years in this aspect. But I still missed stuff way too often, mostly involving sporting events. 

And sporting events are the third reason I like the Tivo better. I just hate the PIP always being on with no way to turn it off. I hate watching something while a game is recording and having it ruined because I went back to my recording list and the sounds from what's recording tells me the score. 

With all that said, if you stick with the Genie, you will get used to the interface. It's not really that bad. And be aware, many of the features that you're accustomed to on the Premier aren't on the THR-22, including the interface graphics themselves. It does look crude in comparison.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The THR22 has an Ethernet jack - that will work fine, though DirecTV discourages it. You get a couple of extra features with a network connection.

If the TiVo UI is the most important thing to you, the THR22 is acceptable. My wife prefers it for that reason. But I love the five tuners, the speed and the network features of the Genie (I have an HR44.) I also think its keyword search is far superior to TiVo's.

The Genie now does have a sort-of Suggestions feature, where it auto-records some shows it thinks you'll like. I don't use it (but I always had Suggestions off with TiVos.)


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