HDTV Questions

[Sir_Robin]

I attempted to ask this question in an existing thread on the main board. My timing was poor as it coincided with Lynch's departure. It was quickly buried under the 15 or so "Lynch leaves the team" threads. Any thoughts?

My old (really old) Sony 27 inch crt passed away last evening. May it rest in peace.

It has now been replaced by a Samsung 46inch 650 series. Long live the king!

So, I need to upgrade my directtv to take advantage of HD. When I call to ask about it they inform me that I'll need to cough up 200 bucks for the HD DVR.

My questions: were any of you able to avoid this fee? If so, how? Also, do I need to upgrade my sunday ticket to get games in HD? Lastly, will any antenna do for picking up local HD or do I need something special? Thanks!

[tnedator]

I attempted to ask this question in an existing thread on the main board. My timing was poor as it coincided with Lynch's departure. It was quickly buried under the 15 or so "Lynch leaves the team" threads. Any thoughts?

Many, many people avoid the fees. The best thing to do is scan a few message boards, and there will be discussions about upgrading for free, as well as new member deals.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=36
http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=125
http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=112
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ (don't have time to find the correct forum on AVS)

In general, if you are an existing customer, your best bet is to say you have been offered a deal from your local cable or from DISH network. When the first CSR says no, ask to speak to the retention department or if they refuse, a supervisor, and give them something like, "I've been a customer for xxxx years, and I need to upgrade to HD equipment. If I go with cable or Dish they are offering me great deals, and DirecTV is offering great deals to new customers, but as a loyal customer, my only choices are to pay $$$ or leave DirecTV and go to Dish or Cable. I really don't want to leave DirecTV, but it seems my loyalty to DirecTV doesn't go both ways, and I am seriously thinking about going with the Dish or Cable specials that will get me HD equipment for free..."

Some variation of the above should either get you free equipment or have them give you a credit, say $10 or $20 for 6 to 12 months, which should offset any upfront money you pay for equipment. Also, if you get NFL Sunday ticket, it should be even easier to get them to upgrade your equipment, by simply talking about cancelling NFLST.

The one thing you will read in the forums I listed below is that you should never get angry or try and bully the CSR (they will note that in the comments so other CSRs see it), but instead if you don't get offered a deal, then politely say goodbye and then call back later and try another CSR. It is CSR roulette, it sometimes takes multiple calls to find one that will offer a deal, but the key is to get to the retention department if at all possible, because they are authorized to offer deals to keep customers happy and from leaving for Dish or Cable.

Good luck.

[Hotrod]

All I can tell you is that I have a 46" Samsung 4665 and its awesome.

[Sir_Robin]

All I can tell you is that I have a 46" Samsung 4665 and its awesome.

I hooked up the antenna last night and was able to grab a couple of HD shows over the air. All I can say is...WOW! Take your breath away stuff.

[Sir_Robin]

Many, many people avoid the fees...Good luck.


Thanks for the advice...I shall give it a try. We tried last night - although not as specifically as you listed. I appreciate the links. I'll post here how it goes.

[TexanBob]

I have cable. There was no upgrade fees at all. You hand in your non-HD cable box and replace it with an HD cable box. Hook the new box up, relax and enjoy.

$200? You enjoy getting raped?

[tnedator]

I have cable. There was no upgrade fees at all. You hand in your non-HD cable box and replace it with an HD cable box. Hook the new box up, relax and enjoy.

$200? You enjoy getting raped?

Don't know about in Texas, but where I am DirecTV gets me a ton of HD channels vs. 7 on cable, plus I can get NFL Sunday Ticket, which is the only way I can watch the Broncos.

Even at $200, it is money well spent.

[Sir_Robin]

$200? You enjoy getting raped?

Only if it's slow and tender...:wiggle:

My cable company doesn't even offer HD yet. It is also for the DVR upgrade. When I called back and suggested that Dish would hook me up for free they countered with my choice of a free HD receiver or 99 dollar HD DVR. I went with it altough I suspect if I had moved forward with cancellation they would likely have offered the DVR for free too.

Here in a couple of weeks I'll have to try and get superfan for free.

[bombay]

I have the Samsung 650 series also, and it's freaking awesome.

Bought it last month, and DirecTV had to come out and install a new satelite for HD, and also moved it because some growing trees were blocking the old one, and bring the new receiver of course. They charged me $128 for everything, in addition to the $10 monthly charge for the HD receiver. I didn't feel too bad about it.

[Doggcow]

Buy your reciever on Ebay. thats what I did for my directv DVR, works perfectly.

[Doggcow]

Oh, make sure it comes with an access card. Otherwise it wont work. As long as it comes with the DirecTV card you can just call up DirecTV tell them "Hey my friends HDTV broke so he gave me his reciever" or something like that, and they'll hook it up no fees, other than the monthly for HDTV.

Edit: Just buy this one http://cgi.ebay.com/DirecTV-HR10-250-HDTV-DVR-Receiver_W0QQitemZ300245641049QQihZ020QQcategoryZ6 7888QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD7VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksid Zp1638Q2em123

[tnedator]

Buy your reciever on Ebay. thats what I did for my directv DVR, works perfectly.

What receiver did you buy? Most of the current generation of receivers are 'leased' receivers, and not owned. I woudln't expect many of them to be on Ebay.

[Doggcow]

What receiver did you buy? Most of the current generation of receivers are 'leased' receivers, and not owned. I woudln't expect many of them to be on Ebay.

I dont have an HDTV yet, I bought my DVR on ebay. Its an old generation R10, however it works flawlessly, and definately worth the $15 pricetag as opposed to 150 or something.

[tnedator]

I dont have an HDTV yet, I bought my DVR on ebay. Its an old generation R10, however it works flawlessly, and definately worth the $15 pricetag as opposed to 150 or something.

Ok, that makes sense. The OP as asking about HD DVRs.

[sixstringlass]

I got my HDTV hooked up to DirecTV back in May when I got the gubbmint stimulus check (spending frivolously, yanno). Anyway, I just told DirecTV that I got an HDTV and they sent someone over for free to put it all together. never cost me a penny for anything other than the extra $9 for HD service. I don't have any idea why I didn't get charged for it. Perhaps I am actually renting the equipment and don't know it or it is the insurance I've bought for it for years.

ETA: It's also the HD-DVR receiver.

[Irish Stout]

Where I am, my stupid cable company wants to charge me $9.99/month for HD via cable... the thing is they only have like 8 HD channels. What I have discovered works well for me, is simply pulling in the HD channels with an atena. I get all the major networks, FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS in HD via the airwaves. This is great as the place I really like the HD is for golf and football.