# $365 offer for two HD DVRs and MRV upgrade



## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

I called DirecTV to see how much upgrading tow SD DirecTVIOs to HD HDVRs plus doing the whole home DVR service upgrade would cost. Presently I have an HR20 and 2 SD DirecTIVOs via a SL-3 non-SWM LNB and a traditional 8 way multiswitch.

The guy said it would be 99 for 1st HD DVR, 199 for the 2nd, 49 to install, and 199 for the whole home upgrade with a "cinema connection kit". $550. Then he discounted that to $469 total with tax or what have you . He then offered me another 99 off (99 for each HD DVR) for $365 total installed. He noted my account.

Problem I have is I want to guarantee HR24s. I asked what if I got them separately through amazon, solid signal, etc - could they just credit my account when I activated them? No go.

So....... it seems I am left with a choice of paying the full $199 for each DVR, or saving the bucks and hoping they don't send HR22s..... The former would cost me an extra $200.

Anyone have luck recently getting them to give you a credit when activating a DVR acquired outside of DirecTV directly?

Plus, I don't want the wireless cinema connection kit. I just a wired internet DECA. All of this has me thinking of doing a do-it-yourself job, and then call for a negotiated MRV upgrade fee. Grrrrrrrrr


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

Perhaps I can do better if I call again. Checking on-line, if I were a new customer I could get 2 HD DVRs plus whole home DVR service with the connection kit, new dish, all the installation, etc for $99 total. 

They offered me $369 for the same thing (two HD DVRs to replace older SD DVRs plus MRV upgrade), and all I would need when they showed is a SWM LNB, a 4 way splitter, the internet DECA/power supply, and a DECA for my existing HR20.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

The whole-home would get you two R16-DVRs so that you can handle SWiM. Upping that to HD would be more.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

nope. price a new customer install on directv.com. 2 HD DVRs, whole-home service with a choice extra plan with HD included for free with autopay - all installed for only $99 total.


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## grecorj (Jan 20, 2008)

Wow, HD/WHDVR upgrades have gotten expensive.

I ordered back in mid August 2010 and this was my order:

1 DIRECTV(R) HD Receiver
2 DIRECTV Plus(R) HD DVRs
1 Whole-Home Upgrd and ICK
New HD/SWM compatible dish

I got an account credit of $99+tax for the HD receiver, making it free; I got one HD DVR free and 1 at full cost of $199; credit of $99 for whole home upgrade and ICK, making it free; free install; free shipping; HD free for 3 months; showtime/starz free 3 months.

Total cost with tax was something like $220.xx.

Oh, install was great too: installer brought 1 H24 and 2 HR24s for install, had proper equipment (dish, DECA, etc), showed up on time and was done in about 2 hrs if I recall correctly. Equipment + MRV + On Demant have worked flawlessly since.


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

Do you know who your local ionstallation company is? You could call them and ask what they have in their warehouse. My installer is Halstead, and when I spoke with them to confirm my installation, I asked about receivers and they told me all they had were HR24's.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

I sent them a "contact us" email and I got a call back from HQ customer advocacy in a few hours. What they offered was to meet my request for a bill credit whereby I will acquire two HR24s myself from a local install company and they will credit me half off each at activation. The MRV upgrade will also be "only" 99, but that is half current price. So, I will be able to get two HR24s by picking them up myself, and will get the MRV hardware upgrade (SWM LNB, splitter, DECA for HR20 and internet DECA) as well. The guy also said he could have an installer out 1 or 2 days after I call to activate w/o the usual wait - which I trust/hope will be a good crew. I will also get the HD free for 24 months.

I held off of asking for anything to replace my 3 year old HR20-700. It is working even though it has gotten more "laggy" in recent months. It also seems to sometimes have more of the read/write garbling sound from the disk. I figure if it gets bad enough, I may can get them to send me a replacement dvr. It has over 3 years faithful service.

Only problem is a cart before the horse issue, as after I get the HR24s I will need to activate them to qualify for the MRV upgrade (they will replace 2 older DirecTIVOs). Without a SWM yet, I will need 4 BBCs for a couple of days that they are activated before I get MRV done. I am hoping I will be able to get or borrow a set from the company I get the HR24s from.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

tkrandall said:


> I sent them a "contact us" email and I got a call back from HQ customer advocacy in a few hours. What they offered was to meet my request for a bill credit whereby I will acquire two HR24s myself from a local install company and they will credit me half off each at activation. The MRV upgrade will also be "only" 99, but that is half current price. So, I will be able to get two HR24s by picking them up myself, and will get the MRV hardware upgrade (SWM LNB, splitter, DECA for HR20 and internet DECA) as well. The guy also said he could have an installer out 1 or 2 days after I call to activate w/o the usual wait - which I trust/hope will be a good crew. I will also get the HD free for 24 months.
> 
> I held off of asking for anything to replace my 3 year old HR20-700. It is working even though it has gotten more "laggy" in recent months. It also seems to sometimes have more of the read/write garbling sound from the disk. I figure if it gets bad enough, I may can get them to send me a replacement dvr. It has over 3 years faithful service.
> 
> Only problem is a cart before the horse issue, as after I get the HR24s I will need to activate them to qualify for the MRV upgrade (they will replace 2 older DirecTIVOs). Without a SWM yet, I will need 4 BBCs for a couple of days that they are activated before I get MRV done. I am hoping I will be able to get or borrow a set from the company I get the HR24s from.


Sounds like you worked out a good deal. As for needing BBC's, if it is only a few days, you may be able to go without the BBC's. For those few days you would only just receive SD programming (if you can take that ).

As for your HR20-700, relocate that to a TV that is not used often. That way you would mainly just be recording on it and watching via MRV. That way yo won't have to do with its sluggishness.

- Merg


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## hilmar2k (Mar 18, 2007)

The Merg said:


> Sounds like you worked out a good deal. As for needing BBC's, if it is only a few days, you may be able to go without the BBC's. For those few days you would only just receive SD programming (if you can take that ).
> 
> As for your HR20-700, relocate that to a TV that is not used often. That way you would mainly just be recording on it and watching via MRV. That way yo won't have to do with its sluggishness.
> 
> - Merg


You should still get some HD sans BBC's, just not all (most) of it.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

True, but will they successfully activate/pass built-in audits w/o them? That is my concern.

or... perhaps I could borrow the BBCs from my HR20 just for the activation, then remove them....


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

tkrandall said:


> True, but will they successfully activate/pass built-in audits w/o them? That is my concern.
> 
> or... perhaps I could borrow the BBCs from my HR20 just for the activation, then remove them....


You could very well just borrow them. As for passing activation, since you are activating them yourself, it should be as easy as calling DirecTV and activating the RID.

I, myself though, would probably borrow from the HR20 just to make sure the receiver is working properly though.

- Merg


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

Picked up 2 HR24-200s yesterday from an installer/retailer outfit about 15 miles away. 

As the units replaced 2 direcTIVOs, I have no need for HD on them until I get MRV installed probably next week. So I borrowed the BBCs from my HR20 and that worked to get them booted up and activated, and I just have them set to hide HD channels for now.


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## YtseJammer1977 (Oct 29, 2010)

The HR24 does not require BBC's. Ever. They are built in to the unit.


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## dsw2112 (Jun 13, 2009)

YtseJammer1977 said:


> The HR24 does not require BBC's. Ever. They are built in to the unit.


That is not correct. The HR24 requires BBC on a non-SWM system. The HR23 is the only DVR that does not require BBC's, but it's not because they're "built-in", it's because it has wide-band tuners...


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

YtseJammer1977 said:


> The HR24 does not require BBC's. Ever. They are built in to the unit.


This statement is simply not true .. As dsw2112 alludes to .. Pretty much all HR24s will be installed with a SWiM setup. It's not all inclusive, but it's darn close. SWiM doesn't use BBCs, so most HR24s will be installed correctly without a BBC.

However, on previous generation setups (WB68 Multiswitch), you most certainly DO need BBCs and two connections into the back of the HR24 for it to work properly.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

tkrandall said:


> Picked up 2 HR24-200s yesterday from an installer/retailer outfit about 15 miles away.
> 
> As the units replaced 2 direcTIVOs, I have no need for HD on them until I get MRV installed probably next week. So I borrowed the BBCs from my HR20 and that worked to get them booted up and activated, and I just have them set to hide HD channels for now.


Glad to hear its working. As for the HD channels, I would get the BBC's for the HR24's and use the HD channels, even though it is on a SDTV. You will be quite impressed with the video quality difference. I have a 27" SDTV that I use the HD channels on as it looks that much better.

- Merg


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

I would, except I am getting MRV upgrade installed on Friday and so wont need them then.


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