# H25-100 High Definition Receiver: Quick Look



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

A Quick Look at the H25-100.

The H25-100 is the same in size and function as the H25-500 as you can see in the previous First Look.










You will note that there is a slight difference on the back of the units in the location of the plugs.










Inside, like the H25-500, you will find no wasted space. The H25 series is powered by an external power supply to keep the unit small and easy to conceal.










Overall, there is not much to say. The H25-100 is essentially the same thing as the H25-500. These units should start appearing in customer's homes at any point now.

_Please note that some DBSTalk.com testers and staff members may have received free equipment from DIRECTV or its partners for the purpose of evaluation and testing. These First Look documents may be the result of that evaluation and testing._


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Very cool!

These very compact-size units are impressive in performance/speed, and still do a great job of HDTV receiver delivery. They are virtually a twin brother to the H25-500 units in the First Look in Post#1.

They are small enough to position almost anywhere.


----------



## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

Nice work Scott!

These units are impressive indeed. I can't believe how darn small they are!


----------



## dave29 (Feb 18, 2007)

I like the looks of these H25's. I have been trying to get my hands on one, for a wall mount TV.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

These puppies are awesome! I've been using mine as my main receiver in the living room. Other than not having smart search and only having 7 days of guide data I've hardly noticed a difference from when I was using my HR24 as my main unit. It's also nice to be able to set a recording on any DVR from my H25-100.


----------



## LameLefty (Sep 29, 2006)

My HR25-100 is in our master bath - my wife has adopted it as her "bath receiver" so she can watch all her favorite programs from the comfort of her giant whirlpool tub.


----------



## Alebob911 (Mar 22, 2007)

Mine was "kidnapped" by my daughter for her room because it gave her more room on her dresser! Like others have said this thing is small but packs a mighty big punch! I find myself in her room using it when she is not home.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Great little bedroom box, mine moved there tonight. No more bright ring if the DVR loses power or hard drive chatter.

Dave29, H25s are in stock at Solid Signal, $100 plus contract.


----------



## Boobie1998 (Oct 6, 2007)

I know this is a H25 thread but anyone know if there going to be a DVR version of this box?


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Boobie1998 said:


> I know this is a H25 thread but anyone know if there going to be a DVR version of this box?


I would doubt it, would need to be a really small drive, like ones they used in iPods or something. The biggest benefit of the H25 is the size and mountability.


----------



## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

The H25's are outstanding! I don't expect there to be any 100 vs 500 wars out there that sometimes appear on other models.

Speed is an understatement.


----------



## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Boobie1998 said:


> I know this is a H25 thread but anyone know if there going to be a DVR version of this box?


Read post#6, someone's wife used it while relaxing in a whirlpool.


----------



## APB101 (Sep 1, 2010)

I'm not tech savvy; but I will say it looks very nice. I think more of these will be made smaller for cable and satellite companies.


----------



## Boobie1998 (Oct 6, 2007)

"P Smith" said:


> Read post#6, someone's wife used it while relaxing in a whirlpool.


Ooppss I miss that. Didn't see the "R" in the model number.


----------



## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

P Smith said:


> Read post#6, someone's wife used it while relaxing in a whirlpool.


Since I didn't see a smiley, I can only hope then you were joking. As that was obviously a typo in L.L.'s earlier post.

There is no "HR25" DVR version of the H25, nor is there likely to ever be given current HDD size limitations.


----------



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

There is no HR25 it was a typo.


----------



## Guest (Jul 9, 2011)

The reason they got the H25 that small is the power adapter is outside the box right? I guess if they made an HR25 that size they would have to do the same thing? I wonder if the HR-24 is the smallest an HD DVR could get?


----------



## dhhaines (Nov 18, 2005)

Nice box. But no Ethernet connection for those of us who see no need to spend money upgrading our networks.


----------



## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

NR4P said:


> The H25's are outstanding! I don't expect there to be any 100 vs 500 wars out there that sometimes appear on other models.


Totally agree. I swapped the H25-100 and H25-500 a couple of times, for testing purposes, and they were virtually identical from a use/performance standpoint.


----------



## sdk009 (Jan 19, 2007)

Am I seeing this right? There isn't any digital audio output? My "old" Mitsi 32" HD in our bedroom has a DVI input. If I'm right then I'll stick to my "old" H20-100 which has seperate digital audio outputs and also has OTA capibilties.


----------



## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

sdk009 said:


> Am I seeing this right? There isn't any digital audio output? My "old" Mitsi 32" HD in our bedroom has a DVI input. If I'm right then I'll stick to my "old" H20-100 which has seperate digital audio outputs and also has OTA capibilties.


Correct, no optical. You need a coaxial to optical adaptor.
I too am disappointed by that decision.

FWIW, when I had a service call on my LNB 2 weeks ago, I asked the tech if he had been installing H25's he said yes. He said they are a pain because he had a few go-backs when customers realized optical capability was missing and had to change them for H24's etc.


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

NR4P said:


> Correct, no optical. You need a coaxial to optical adaptor.
> I too am disappointed by that decision.
> 
> FWIW, when I had a service call on my LNB 2 weeks ago, I asked the tech if he had been installing H25's he said yes. He said they are a pain because he had a few go-backs when customers realized optical capability was missing and had to change them for H24's etc.


Or in my case....the H25-100 works quite well with just an HDMI cable to my HDMI connection on the HDTV in the Master bedroom.


----------



## dhhaines (Nov 18, 2005)

NR4P said:


> Correct, no optical. You need a coaxial to optical adaptor.
> I too am disappointed by that decision.
> 
> FWIW, when I had a service call on my LNB 2 weeks ago, I asked the tech if he had been installing H25's he said yes. He said they are a pain because he had a few go-backs when customers realized optical capability was missing and had to change them for H24's etc.


My H24 doesn't have an optical out which is why it's relegated to the bedroom.


----------



## hombresoto (Sep 10, 2006)

The best part about them for me is I can fit two 4 packs of them in my van in the same space as one refurbished H20-24. One thing that irks me is 90% of them need to be rebooted/re-authorized after initial activation to receive locals and sometimes MRV, at least in the Boston DMA.
A few customers have actually been skeptical about their size thinking they are too small and cannot possibly output the same quality picture as an H20-24 or their old cable boxes. I had a customer argue with me about this last week. You can't fix stupid.


----------



## HiDefRev (Jan 15, 2007)

hombresoto said:


> The best part about them for me is I can fit two 4 packs of them in my van in the same space as one refurbished H20-24. One thing that irks me is 90% of them need to be rebooted/re-authorized after initial activation to receive locals and sometimes MRV, at least in the Boston DMA.
> A few customers have actually been skeptical about their size thinking they are too small and cannot possibly output the same quality picture as an H20-24 or their old cable boxes. I had a customer argue with me about this last week. *You can't fix stupid*.


How true !! . :rolling: . :rolling: . :rolling: . :rolling:

I have 2 H25s, one in each bedroom. They work perfectly.


----------



## JACKIEGAGA (Dec 11, 2006)

Great job guys


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"hombresoto" said:


> The best part about them for me is I can fit two 4 packs of them in my van in the same space as one refurbished H20-24. One thing that irks me is 90% of them need to be rebooted/re-authorized after initial activation to receive locals and sometimes MRV, at least in the Boston DMA.
> A few customers have actually been skeptical about their size thinking they are too small and cannot possibly output the same quality picture as an H20-24 or their old cable boxes. I had a customer argue with me about this last week. You can't fix stupid.


And these same people probably have cell phones more powerful than the desktop they had even 5-10 years ago. I'd always wondered why they were so large when I got my first H20.

Of course it helps that no Ethernet jack is needed anymore. Saves some room.


----------



## leeliam (Aug 2, 2010)

Some of the other techs in Iowa are saying the same thing about having to reset them after activation to get MRV to come in even if you do a software download on them first. I'm sure it will get fixed but so far all it takes is the single reset to get them to recognize it.

I've been putting them into pretty much any SWM job I get that calls for HDs. Everyone loves them so far. Kitchen TVs especially, although people are liking them for their bedrooms also. I can't wait to get 3 of these paired with an HR34.


----------



## Hooterville (Jul 11, 2010)

OK, should I get rid of my H24's for these new H25's or be happy with what I have?


----------



## azarby (Dec 15, 2006)

Hooterville said:


> OK, should I get rid of my H24's for these new H25's or be happy with what I have?


Unless you need to hide a receiver behind a wall mounted flat pannel, be happy with what you have.


----------



## kcaudiofx (Dec 27, 2009)

"Hooterville" said:


> OK, should I get rid of my H24's for these new H25's or be happy with what I have?


Be happy with what u have, there is no difference in these except for the size..


----------



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

Hooterville said:


> OK, should I get rid of my H24's for these new H25's or be happy with what I have?


Actually the only think I miss with the H25's is the lack of built in RF control, and I'm too cheap to buy it. If you have H24's there is no good reason to get rid of them.


----------



## HoTat2 (Nov 16, 2005)

Hey just to confirm;

I hear that the policy on the H25's distribution has now changed and is no longer just limited to new installs, but now former installs as well.

If so then what cursed timing for me since I asked a tech. for an H25 some weeks ago when my kitchen H23-600 died, and he told me the H24s were out of stock and the H25s were for new installs only. 

So he could only give me an old refurbed H21-200 he had of his truck. Yuck ... :barf:


----------



## leeliam (Aug 2, 2010)

We were just told this past week to put in any H25s first in any SWM job. New Install, Former, Upgrade, Service Call, anything.


----------



## levibluewa (Aug 13, 2005)

No OTA antenna input? Boooo!


----------



## NR4P (Jan 16, 2007)

levibluewa said:


> No OTA antenna input? Boooo!


The AM21/AM21N work fine. Increasing the size of the H25 for OTA to accomodate the minority that use OTA (self included) really doesn't make economic sense.


----------



## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

levibluewa said:


> No OTA antenna input? Boooo!


You can hook up an AM21 to these and get OTA that way. None of DIRECTV's recent receivers have had OTA inputs. Nothing new here.

EDIT: Yeah, like *NR4P* said.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

HoTat2 said:


> Hey just to confirm;
> 
> I hear that the policy on the H25's distribution has now changed and is no longer just limited to new installs, but now former installs as well.
> 
> ...


I think the policy changed in June some time.

The decision order is now:


New H25
Refurb H21/23/24
New H21/23/24

(give or take)

Too bad your receiver couldn't hold on another few weeks.


----------



## levibluewa (Aug 13, 2005)

So for those that use OTA you just tell Directv and they send the AM21 along with the receiver?


----------



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

"levibluewa" said:


> So for those that use OTA you just tell Directv and they send the AM21 along with the receiver?


No, once you have an AM21 compatible receiver, the option to purchase one will become available online. I believe they are $50.


----------



## exnavydiver (Jul 12, 2009)

Does this unit require the SWM?


----------



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

exnavydiver said:


> Does this unit require the SWM?


Yes, this receiver will only work with SWiM.

BTW, I deleted your duplicate post.


----------



## jlhsctx (Oct 9, 2009)

What cable is used for the AV OUT connector to go to Component? I searched a little and couldn't find one? Or is there a DIN to HDMI cable?

Thanks,
JerryH


----------



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

jlhsctx said:


> What cable is used for the AV OUT connector to go to Component? I searched a little and couldn't find one? Or is there a DIN to HDMI cable?
> 
> Thanks,
> JerryH


It is a custom cable. You can see it here in the H25-500 First Look.

http://hr20.dbstalk.com/docs/H25%20First%20Look.pdf


----------



## meatman (Oct 14, 2003)

Is this not the most ugly thing ever come on DTV !!!!


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

meatman said:


> Is this not the most ugly thing ever come on DTV !!!!


How's that? 

It's a solid, small, and reliable HD receiver. *Nothing more, nothing less*.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

meatman said:


> Is this not the most ugly thing ever come on DTV !!!!


Eye of the beholder. My wife thinks it's kind of cute. She likes the small size, lack of bright lights and the fact that we can plug it into an outlet we haven't moved over to three prong yet without an adapter. Not to mention the speed. Besides, it's so small, you kind of forget it's there.


----------



## hbrenner (Apr 13, 2009)

I love the size and performance of the small units. I was an old subscriber and left for cable  (bad move) and when returned we got whole house DVR and compared to local cable similar offering...no comparison. DirecTV is on track with this. Phone service still needs work, but overall Great system and the box size is not the least of which I am pleased with...


----------



## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

hombresoto said:


> The best part about them for me is I can fit two 4 packs of them in my van in the same space as one refurbished H20-24. One thing that irks me is 90% of them need to be rebooted/re-authorized after initial activation to receive locals and sometimes MRV, at least in the Boston DMA.
> A few customers have actually been skeptical about their size thinking they are too small and cannot possibly output the same quality picture as an H20-24 or their old cable boxes. I had a customer argue with me about this last week. You can't fix stupid.


I hope you did go out to the truck and get the biggest, slowest, ugliest model on hand to replace the H25.

Or you could have mentioned that as the newest model it has the latest, greatest video processor in it for a superior picture. As well as being fast.

You can fix stupid, but who wants to waste their time.

Cheers


----------



## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

hbrenner said:


> I love the size and performance of the small units. I was an old subscriber and left for cable  (bad move) and when returned we got whole house DVR and compared to local cable similar offering...no comparison. DirecTV is on track with this. Phone service still needs work, but overall Great system and the box size is not the least of which I am pleased with...


I can't see a need for whole house TV.

Having said that I am waiting to see a comparison of the new upcoming whole house DVR from Dishnetwork and the DirecTV one. I wonder how that will effect the current whole house as implemented. I'm thinking that a multi tuner DVR that can feed multi TV sets will be a winner for cost and ease of installation.


----------



## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

Love these little guys. Speedy like Gonzales.


----------



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

TBoneit said:


> I can't see a need for whole house TV.
> 
> Having said that I am waiting to see a comparison of the new upcoming whole house DVR from Dishnetwork and the DirecTV one. I wonder how that will effect the current whole house as implemented. I'm thinking that a multi tuner DVR that can feed multi TV sets will be a winner for cost and ease of installation.


U-verse feeds multiple TVs in that manner now .. HR34 will do it with DIRECTV in the future. Not sure how DISH redistributes the cable, I'm pretty sure that DIRECTV and U-Verse will both work with Ethernet or MoCA (not positive, though).


----------



## larry55 (Jun 3, 2010)

got the hd 25 500 like it.


----------



## TBoneit (Jul 27, 2006)

Doug Brott said:


> U-verse feeds multiple TVs in that manner now .. HR34 will do it with DIRECTV in the future. Not sure how DISH redistributes the cable, I'm pretty sure that DIRECTV and U-Verse will both work with Ethernet or MoCA (not positive, though).


From what I understand the Dish Whole house solution isn't out yet. It was shown from what I remember. 
What I found @ http://www.satelliteconsumer.com/blog/tag/xip-813/
"The XiP 813's functionality is expandable due to the remote units that can be installed in other rooms of the house and allow access to programming that's available on the 813's three tuners as well as the programs recorded on its hard drive. The XiP 110 is the smaller client unit that users can connect to other televisions in their home for access to the XiP 813's programming."

"ith the expandability of the new whole-house DVR system, it sounds like it is easy to add other rooms to the system by adding more XiP 813 DVRs"

Sounds like a winner if they get it out.

I would probably jump at something like that just to get 3 tuners in one box and use it as a standalone DVR.

Right Now I use a dual tuner HD DVR and a Magnavox DVD Recorder with a 500Gb hard drive that can tune the basic cable I keep as a backup. It tunes the Clear Qam channels on cable which lets me record to SD from the analog or Digital channels and the sub-channels my cable company includes. The HD channels don't look to bad in SD and that lets me get a third recording that I can play as if it were just a DVR. It even has a 30 second forward skip and a 5 second reverse skip for avoiding commercials. It's not HD like the Satellite DVR but it works and it costs me nothing per month.


----------



## jbaron76 (Mar 1, 2007)

The unit is nice and compact. However, where is the optical audio ouptut? Not evey surround sound receiver includes HDMI inputs. Even if they did, I would rather run my hdmi direct to the TV so that my receiver doesn't have to be powered on while having the digital audio run separately to the receiver.


----------



## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

jbaron76 said:


> However, where is the optical audio ouptut?


As others have pointed out there is no optical. You use the digital coax and buy a converter to optical if you must have optical. If your A/V Receiver has optical it should also have digital coax.


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Are the H25 units still from DirecTV only?


----------



## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

sigma1914 said:


> Are the H25 units still from DirecTV only?


http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...rcial-Receiver-(H25)&c=DIRECTV Receivers&sku=


----------



## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Davenlr said:


> http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...rcial-Receiver-(H25)&c=DIRECTV Receivers&sku=


How'd I not find that earlier? I'm blind. :lol:


----------



## palmgrower (Jul 18, 2011)

Had 2 H25's installed this weekend, works well


----------



## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

palmgrower said:


> Had 2 H25's installed this weekend, works well


Thanks for that info...nice to start seeing them out there in the install world... 

Enjoy!


----------



## djb61230 (Oct 26, 2006)

Please excuse my ignorance as I have not kept up with the latest hardware from DirecTV. I noticed this does not have an ethernet port. Does that mean there is no local network connection or does it connect to your local network over coax with some other gizmo?

It's important to me because I use the web service that runs on the earlier models to change the channel in my media system project.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

djb61230 said:


> Please excuse my ignorance as I have not kept up with the latest hardware from DirecTV. I noticed this does not have an ethernet port. Does that mean there is no local network connection or does it connect to your local network over coax with some other gizmo?
> 
> It's important to me because I use the web service that runs on the earlier models to change the channel in my media system project.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Check out the First Look of the H25-500. http://hr20.dbstalk.com/docs/H25%20First%20Look.pdf They are very simiar.

You are correct, there is no ethernet port and yes it is connected to your network using Deca. (Ethernet over coax)


----------



## jonrud (Apr 16, 2008)

I upgraded my system this week and received three H25-500's. I too was unpleasantly surprised by the lack of digital audio since that's what I was using with my older receiver.

Bigger concern is how warm/hot these units run - all of them. My previous H23's generated no heat that I recall, but the H25's get very warm, especially the metal part on the lower rear of the unit.

Is this something I should be concerned about or don't even worry about it?

Thanks.


----------



## palmgrower (Jul 18, 2011)

It has a UL Label, I wouldn't worry about it.


----------



## palmgrower (Jul 18, 2011)

UL label insures a device operating within certain electrical safety standards


----------



## RobertE (Jun 10, 2006)

jonrud said:


> I upgraded my system this week and received three H25-500's. I too was unpleasantly surprised by the lack of digital audio since that's what I was using with my older receiver.
> 
> Bigger concern is how warm/hot these units run - all of them. My previous H23's generated no heat that I recall, but the H25's get very warm, especially the metal part on the lower rear of the unit.
> 
> ...


You can run a test on it.

Reboot the box either via the menu, or the side red button.

At the "Hello" screen, press and hold the select button on the front panel, not the remote.

When you see "Entering Diagnostics", you can release the select button.

Select "Internal Tests"

There is a choice for Internal Temperature (I think thats what its called), run it.

It should be in the 140-150F range max. If above 150F, call DirecTv and report that your box is running extremely hot.

At this time, there is no evidence that this may pose any type of hazard.


----------



## rakstr (Aug 23, 2007)

palmgrower said:


> UL label insures a device operating within certain electrical safety standards


Ya but I was one of the unlucky that PAID for the Toshiba DST1000 (or something like that) about 10 years ago. Burn myself on it a couple times and it fried itself a couple times (got warranty repair).

It's ALWAYS buyer beware


----------



## aaronwt (Aug 14, 2003)

rakstr said:


> Ya but I was one of the unlucky that PAID for the Toshiba DST1000 (or something like that) about 10 years ago. Burn myself on it a couple times and it fried itself a couple times (got warranty repair).
> 
> It's ALWAYS buyer beware


I got several years of use out of mine, until i sold it when the HDTiVo came out.


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

jonrud said:


> I upgraded my system this week and received three H25-500's. I too was unpleasantly surprised by the lack of digital audio since that's what I was using with my older receiver.
> 
> Bigger concern is how warm/hot these units run - all of them. My previous H23's generated no heat that I recall, but the H25's get very warm, especially the metal part on the lower rear of the unit.
> 
> ...


I wouldn't worry about the heat coming out of them. They don't really run significantly hotter than H24s but there is less air between the case and the board.

in re: digital audio, I hear what you're saying but the feeling is that HDMI audio is really the way to go as we move forward. I've noticed even in my new TV which is superb in every way, that its digital audio out is PCM-only; you need to use HDMI-ARC to get Dolby Digital.


----------



## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I wouldn't worry about the heat coming out of them. They don't really run significantly hotter than H24s but there is less air between the case and the board.
> ...


I can tell you that my 1st gen AppleTV runs hotter than my H25. They sit next to each other and nothing has burned up yet. No worries...


----------



## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

Just out of curiosity, what is generating the heat? The power supply is external, no hard drives, so is it the tuner itself?


----------



## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Yes, it's the tuner, decoder, and video output hardware. In short, the whole thing.


----------



## n3vino (Oct 2, 2011)

Scott Kocourek said:


> It is a custom cable. You can see it here in the H25-500 First Look.
> 
> http://hr20.dbstalk.com/docs/H25%20First%20Look.pdf


I just got the H25. The tech told me that the av connector to component is the same quality as hdmi to dvi. Can you comment on that?


----------



## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

n3vino said:


> I just got the H25. The tech told me that the av connector to component is the same quality as hdmi to dvi. Can you comment on that?


If you are using a tv that has a dvi and not an HDMI then it probably wont make a difference. The receiver will output up to 1080i via component and will not pass 1080P/24, but an older tv will likely not be 1080P anyway.


----------



## n3vino (Oct 2, 2011)

Scott Kocourek said:


> If you are using a tv that has a dvi and not an HDMI then it probably wont make a difference. The receiver will output up to 1080i via component and will not pass 1080P/24, but an older tv will likely not be 1080P anyway.


 Yes that's correct. It's an older CRT Sony with a DVI connection and will do 1080I via component or DVI. No 1080P. Thanks for your reply.


----------

