Question on buying own components for Direct TV

[Digit]

Please excuse me for not posting in a separate group as I have lost my star and do not begin my job until Sept 6th....hence the reason for me wanting to have a DVR which I will explain.

I purchased my equipment through Sears back in 1998 or so. It is the basic Hughes receiver and some sort of basic dish. Originally, I was going to get Dish Network, but the trajectory was lower than Direct TV and I had some trees in the way.

Over time, I have gone through periods of unemployment, and I had to give up the programming, but of course did not have to give up my equipment. I would rather not have to make a commitment of a year or better anyway with the economy the way it is, anyway.

Evidently, to get a DVR through Direct TV, you have to make a TWO year commitment.

I don't need anything fancy, but can say that I do not have enough "connections" to just ADD a DVR to my current system. Maybe it has to do with the Hughes receiver being so basic and an upgraded model would supply the additional outlets.

Oh, and the TV dates to 1998, but is a 35 inch and would be too costly to replace. I also connect my stereo a VCR and a DVD to the system.

I went pretty nutty wiring this thing!

Back to my basic question:
How can I add a DVR/TIVO kind of thing without having to buy it or lease it through Direct TV and have a two year contract? Does a DVR replace a DVD player at the same time?

Thanks in advance.:hi:

[catzies]

1. eBay? but I think it requires a subscription just to get it to work

and a DVR doesn't replace a DVD.

[Digit]

3. I am aware you have to have a pay a monthly fee for it

...and thanks for the answer to the DVD/DVR. I thought for a moment it would alleviate my wiring dilemma.

[William769]

2. Sounds like your problem is your dish.

You don't have enough L&B lines.

Take the two year commitment & lease the the equipment is you best option and if you fall on hard times just go with basic for about $24.00 a month. I have have learned buying the equipment in Florida is a big NO NO! Storms and all.

I have had direct tv for about 4 years now and love it.

This may not have been the answer your looking for, but it's the best advice I can give.

ON EDIT: a DVR does not replace a DVD player if you want to watch DVD"S you will still need a DVD player. My DVR though holds 100 hours of programing and is so simple to use.

[desi]

4. I have a couple that I no longer use.

..Two good things happened: Adelphia finally made cable high speed IT available in our area and we bought a HDTV. At about the same time Rupert Murdoch bought DirectTV and switching to cable was easy for us. I believe that I have two of those boxes in the garage plus maybe three regular boxes. We live in NE Ohio.

eta: When we purchased those boxes we just had to pay about $5.00 extra per box.

[Digit]

7. What box is which and will it work on my system?

How much do you want for what you have and what do I need?
You can PM if you would rather do that.

Thanks!

[desi]

8. I'll have to go in the garage to check.

I had set up two DTV dishes since that box needs the dual lnb pickup which lets you watch one program while recording another. I have all the equipment you would need and you may have it if you can arrange shipping...for free

eta: I have two of the RCA Ultimate TV boxes left...

[Digit]

20. I will check out the shipping options when I come back home

...and try to learn more about what you have.
I know I do have the more basic dish (I guess). I know also that I cannot get pay per view for some reason. That is fine with me....no temptations.

[bullimiami]

5. youve had directv for 8 years so why are you worried about a 2 year

commitment.

you can get them to give you the same deal they give to new customers. free dvr free install. the dvr does add an extra 6.00/month for the service though (it used to go to tivo until dtv did it themselves)

you do not need a dual lnb (its lnb - low noise block. not l&b btw) to run the dvr but just to get pic in pic or to record one show and watch another. it will operate with a single lnb dish but they will give you a dual with a new install.

even if you bought a dvr on ebay you would still need to add the dvr service to get the guides and functionality and if it breaks you are sol.

imo the way to go is just get dtv or dish to give you the equip and install for free and take the committment.
you can see the new customer deals all over the web. dtv will give you (an old customer) the same deal but you have to ask. if they balk at all just tell them you know you could call dish but you would rather keep giving dtv your money.

***Unless you get the stuff for free or cheap from a kind DUer like desi of course***

[Digit]

6. I have only had a subscription to Direct TV for 3 of those years

Yes, I am skittish. I was a single parent and now am over age 55. Yes, luxuries are the first to go when times get tight.
The only reason I can't and won't watch regular TV is because I am in a Red state and the local channels make me nauseous.

I lost my job in Feb 05 and only now have found a job so yes, I am possibly being over cautious.
When you are sometimes reduced to eating spaghetti for days on end because you lack the money for groceries, you become aware of HOW your money is spent.

[Rosco T.]

9. If you don't want to have to replace any eq...

.. just add a Tivo to the system. Should work fine.

You can actually get a FREE Standard Tivo from Tivo here... http://www.tivo.com/2.1.1.0.ws.asp you just have to commit to a year of TiVo service.

[desi]

11. What is TIVO charging these days..??

I now have DVR from Adelphia (now Time Warner.) I worked at Circuit City so we got all our equipment at cost, but not the service.

[Nickster]

13. Tivo by itself is 12.95 a month. If you get the service through DirectTV

it's 5.99 a month.

[desi]

14. Thanks Nickster.

It's been a while since I left CC but I remember that all the DTV promotions, (DVR, 'free equipment/installations' etc) were for new subscribers only. Existing customers always gave a us a hard time about that.

[desi]

15. This would probably be Digit's best bet.

No dish/lnb's/coax to mess with.

[Nickster]

17. Well either way really. I would go the Directv Tivo route since the

monthly fee is cheaper. If you just swap the DTV Tivo for the existing receiver, you wouldn't have to mess with anything. You'd get the one satellite input and be able to watch recorded content while recording something on that input. The regular TIVO would still have just the one input and might be a little more complicated to add to the mix of existing equipment. The LNB and Coax issue comes into play if you want to add a second input to the directv tivo, otherwise everything would be the same. The regular tivo wouldn't allow you to add a second input, so the possibility in the future might be worth having as well.

[WA98296]

10. EVERYTHING you could ever want to know about TIVO and DTV are at

this site, with lots of users posting all the time:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/

[Nickster]

12. So are you currently a subscriber to Directv? I'm not sure I got that from

your message. Basically, if you get anything from DTV, a new receiver or new DirecTivo, they are going to lease it to you and give you a two year committment. If you buy one outright from Ebay, then you can add it to your account as a replacement. It depends on the CSR you talk to, but sometimes they try to insist that you get a two year committment and sometimes they make your replacement a lease instead of an outright owned receiver. You need to be careful about who you talk to since each person will have a different story. Be persistent and tell them you just want to swap out your old receiver for a new one. Tell them the old one blew up or something. Make sure they confirm that you won't have a committment. I've done this and not had a problem.

Ebay would be the best place to get a receiver cheaply. The directv tivos should run 20 bucks at most.

As for the number of connections, you should be fine by swapping out the Directv Tivo for your old receiver. You just need one satellite connection from the wall into the Directv Tivo and the RCA (Yellow, Red, White) connections into the tv. Your old receiver should have the same setup currently. If you can get someone to add another run of coax for you, then you can add a second line from the dish to the receiver to get two channels on your tivo, but you don't need it.

Here's what the back of the Directv Tivo looks like:

[ThomWV]

16. Read This: Direct TV Screwing

I, like you, had an old basic receiver. When I got mine I actually had to wait about 3 months to get it. We were one of the first. That was years ago.

Last year my son and his lady got a system, apparently through Direct TV. Their landlord would not let them mount the dish or drill a hole to run the cable in the house, so they couldn't use the system. It sat in the garage for a couple of months. I was there one day and mentioned I was gong to buy a new receiver. We were getting lots of blackouts with ours and I suspected that it was a bandwidth thing. They told me to take one of the three they had already paid for. I don't recall the deal but they couldn't get their money back and they couldn't use the things, so they gave me one.

I brought it home, hooked it up, and then had to call in the new card number to get it to work, which it did.

About a week later I get a card from Direct TV thanking me for my recent purchase, welcoming me to my new 2 year contract, and notifying me that I would now be paying an additional five bucks a month equipment use charge.

I was so pissed off even the dogs ran for cover. Didn't do any good though. I called and ranted and raved. So what? Bottom line, if I want TV (no cable out here in the middle of nowhere) take it, if not, well, not.

Just thought you should know ....

[Nickster]

19. They screw this up a lot since they moved to the leasing model.

If you call them up and tell them that it is indeed a purchased/owned receiver that you didn't receive from them, they will fix their system and show it as an owned receiver. Sometimes it takes a few calls, but they will fix it. If they give you a hastle, you just ask to be transferred to the Retention Dept and they will def fix the problem. The system they work off of defaults to Leased, so you have to make sure that they change that when you call in.

[Digit]

18. I have to go on a few errands, but will be back to check this thread

I do not want a commitment of two years. I will go with Dish or Cable before I take on two years or keep on the way I have been...month to month.

Be back later.

[desi]

21. Maybe something to consider.

Depending on your present Internet provider/cost.

Price cable, internet and DVR box. Sometimes they have package promotions which include discounts on IT and DVR box rental. I got one free month of high speed IT then six months at half price from Adelphia when I switched to cable from DTV.