# does the Monthly Protection Plan cover the hard drive?



## peter17319 (Dec 11, 2007)

I know the Monthly Protection Plan is lame, but the only reason I have it was to not have to pay $50 for a dish re-alignment.

I think my HR21-700 hard drive is dying -- lately it's been making a lot of noises, even if it's not recording. 

Plus in the past few weeks, it's had a few bouts of total signal loss, even when the skies are clear outside. If I reset/reboot it, often it'll still be totally bad. Then in the blink of an eye all the channels will be perfect again. Definitely not normal behavior.

Also, the DVR has been acting really sluggish. There's often a delay between a button press and the action -- scrolling through the guide, 30-second skipping, whatever.

Anyhoo, since I have the Monthly Protection Plan, is there any hope of using that to get a replacement hard drive? And if so, do I have to wait until it truly dies, even when I'm sure it's going to anyway? I'd love to be able to pop in a fresh drive, then plug the old one into an external enclosure and finish off my old recordings. But not if I gotta pay for it!


----------



## my1423 (May 16, 2009)

Yes all is covered. 

Once you add it you have to wait 30 days or you will be charged 20$ per incident/ service call and if you cancle before a year you will be charged 10$. 

When you call tell the csr your problems and ask for a tech to look at your dish and dvr and specify that you think your dvr is dying. The loss of signal could be a bad lnb or multi switch if you have one. Your tech will call before he arrives. Ask what hddvr he has. This is your only chance to get the variety you want. He will probably work with you especially if you slip him 20$. The hr23 has a bigger hard drive and some report it has a better hd picture. The hr20 has built in ota and people report that it is faster. Has a smaller hard drive.


----------



## peter17319 (Dec 11, 2007)

If your DVR gets replaced for any reason -- do they let you keep the old hard drive? Because like most people, I always have a bunch of unwatched stuff on mine.


----------



## cts33fan (Sep 1, 2007)

I would say no. Also the info on the old drive will not work on the new reciever.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

DIRECTV will NOT replace just the hard drive.

The will swap you out for an entirely _different_ DVR.

You don't need the protection plan to get a different DVR but it will save you the shipping costs (about $20).

Note that I use the term "different" instead of "new" as the replacement might be new or refurbished. The incidence of new receivers as replacements isn't all that common.


----------



## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

harsh said:


> You don't need the protection plan to get a different DVR but it will save you the shipping costs (about $20).


If you have a leased receiver, then the shipping cost replacement is what you should get.

If you have an owned receiver and replace it for a leased receiver, that should also be a shipping cost only change, but will also probably incur a service committment.

Not sure of the cost if you have an owned receiver and want to replace it with an owned receiver.

However, your symptoms do not necessarily point to a drive failure. A service call will look at all the potential problems and should identify and correct the actual problem.


----------



## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

carl6 said:


> Not sure of the cost if you have an owned receiver and want to replace it with an owned receiver.


I think this option only exists if you have the protection plan. And it's no extra charge.


----------



## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

carl6 said:


> If you have a leased receiver, then the shipping cost replacement is what you should get.
> 
> If you have an owned receiver and replace it for a leased receiver, that should also be a shipping cost only change, but will also probably incur a service committment.
> 
> ...





ThomasM said:


> I think this option only exists if you have the protection plan. And it's no extra charge.


You would be correct. Owned for owned is free with no commitment, but only with Protection Plan.

- Merg


----------



## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

Peter if you have the protection plan use it. It is not lame for hardware problems. If the dvr is making a noise I would get it replaced. Just unplug it and call and tell them that it just shut off and won't turn back on. They will replace it for free. Better yet tell them all your problems (exaggerate a little) and have them come out and check all signals and connections and hopefully replace the dvr. This is all absolutely free. I just did both. 

They washed the bird poop off my dish. Swapped out the white lnb's for better black models. They tested all 16 input cables of my zinwell 616 switch and improved my signal strength too. I was amazed with how hard and long they worked (2 hours). Once I turned on a new ufc mma fight in directv hd on a 52" lcd they wouldn't leave! Luckily I forgot their names.

They wouldn't replace my buggy hr22-100 because the only problem was failure to record/playback using an external drive. The next day that dvr just broke for good and I was able to demand/request another hr20-700. It works fine just like the other 7 I lease. You are in charge with the protection plan. Accept no less than properly working equipment. Directv isn't exactly cheap eh?


----------



## peter17319 (Dec 11, 2007)

My DVR is leased, not owned. I haven't been paying attention to the models lately -- is my *HR21-700* still the current option for an HD-DVR, or is there something newer? And if there is something newer, is it better (or at least "not worse")?

And just in case there's more than one option right now -- which one should I try and ask for as a replacement?

Also I want to make sure I have this straight -- _even if_ I was allowed to keep the old hard drive, there's no way to watch those shows if I plug it into an external enclosure and plug it into a new DVR? If that's true, what a huge pain in the butt....


----------



## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Everything you say is correct, content is only playable on the DVR that recorded it....all the HR's are functionally equivalent except for the HR20's as they have built-in OTA tuners and don't require the AM21 OTA tuner add-on.


----------



## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

peter17319 said:


> My DVR is leased, not owned. I haven't been paying attention to the models lately -- is my *HR21-700* still the current option for an HD-DVR, or is there something newer? And if there is something newer, is it better (or at least "not worse")?
> 
> And just in case there's more than one option right now -- which one should I try and ask for as a replacement?
> 
> Also I want to make sure I have this straight -- _even if_ I was allowed to keep the old hard drive, there's no way to watch those shows if I plug it into an external enclosure and plug it into a new DVR? If that's true, what a huge pain in the butt....


Mine are leased also but I don't think it matters. All hard drives fail eventually. Better watch all those shows before it croaks. They won't let us properly back up hd video because of copyright concerns. Can't say I blame them with all the bootlegging going on. The HR21-700 is one of several basically identical models they supply and normally you can't request a certain model. I was able to do it but it wasn't easy. If you look around here you will find multiple complaints about the newer models compared to the original hr20-700. Especially the units manufactured with models ending in 100. Start with the external drive threads for comments on model preferences. Directv will replace your dvr for free but you pretty much take what they give ya.


----------



## peter17319 (Dec 11, 2007)

I'm curious -- with a leased DVR, you can get a dead one replaced even w/o a protection plan, right? I assume so.

I've been meaning to cancel that plan, but since I still have it, maybe I can use it to get another alignment in addition to a new receiver. Just for the hell of it...


----------



## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

peter17319 said:


> I'm curious -- with a leased DVR, you can get a dead one replaced even w/o a protection plan, right? I assume so.
> 
> I've been meaning to cancel that plan, but since I still have it, maybe I can use it to get another alignment in addition to a new receiver. Just for the hell of it...


That's correct. A leased receiver is replaced with a leased receiver for the cost of shipping and no commitment extension if you do not have the Protection Plan.

Remember, the PP is not just for alignments and receiver replacements. If anything goes wrong with any of your DirecTV equipment (LNB, Dish, multiswitches, cables, etc.), the repair is covered at no cost to you.

- Merg


----------



## peter17319 (Dec 11, 2007)

OK, I need some help getting a tech to come out.

I just called, and told them that one of my problems has been random and sporadic signal loss, which is true. I almost never watch live TV, but I keep getting choppy recordings. But the signal is good while I'm on the phone, so I get "please call us back when you're having that issue." :nono2:

I'm also having noticeable issues with the DVR -- it's really sluggish, and I can hear a lot of clicking noises, which I KNOW means a dying hard drive. My problem is that it passes the system test. So I can talk till I'm blue in the face, but as far as they're concerned, there's clearly nothing wrong.

How can I convince them that there's a problem? Is there a particular *diagnostic code* I should tell them I get on the system test? I don't care if it's a lie, I KNOW there's a problem, diagnostic test be damned. Besides, I'm paying that stupid monthly protection plan. You'd think it would make it easier to get a service call.


----------



## my1423 (May 16, 2009)

Have you checked your dish when the signal cuts out for birds? I had issues with this pigeon perching on the lnb. Could also be a coax connection that has gone bad and at certain times of day you loose connection. 

The sluggish dvr may be caused by the 034c software and the loss of signal. Once you take the 0368 software see how your unit works. 

When you loose signal, Have you checked to see if its both tuners or just one? A bad bbc will cause 1 tuner to loose signal. In the signal strength test you will need to change the meter to each tuner to see. 

As far getting a service call. If you dont have an issue when you call you wont get them to come out.


----------



## bradpr (Sep 8, 2007)

I agree - if you're paying for the PP, use it!
Although, I've found that D* will fight to prevent you from using it. I recently called for a re-alignment. I've had the PP for 2 years and used it only once to replace a receiver that was locking up frequently. I thought that requesting a realignment would be easy. Instead, I was met with an inquisition over why I needed it. When I told the CSR that some of my signal strength was in the mid 70's, he said that 60+ was acceptable and denied me the realignment (what a jerk!). I had to escalate to get the realign scheduled, and even then, the CSR manager told me that I would have to pay for the trip charge if the tech felt like my signal strength was OK.

Then, there's the debate over what is actually covered by the PP. I had what D* considered to be a 'software' issue on my DVR receiver which caused recordings to fail intermittently. Users with newer receivers than mine weren't seeing this issue. However, since the specific problem with my receiver was attributable to being a software problem, they used some bullsh*t loophole in the PP to tell me that they wouldn't replace it with a newer receiver. Ultimately, that DVR had an unfortunate accident which prevented it from powering up. D* couldn't deny me the replacement at that point, and I've been enjoying a new DVR that works correctly ever since. (tip - be vague when describing what's wrong with the receiver. 'Not powering up', or 'odd grinding noise/burning smell coming out of the unit' are two good ones.)

The PP is a ripoff if you don't like fighting with CSR's, but if you signed up for it and can skillfully navigate through some thoroughly incapable CSR's, I advocate taking advantage of it as much as possible. D* will fight you for using it, but ultimately they do have a contractual obligation that you can force them to honor. You pay for it, so accept nothing less than a properly functioning and well tuned D* system.


----------

