# Want to upgrade but I've been out of the loop



## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

Longtime DirecTV subscriber (1996), former beta tester, longtime DBSTalk participant, former Edgecutter, but haven't been active for years and I don't know the current state of things with DirecTV/AT&T HD DVRs.

My current equipment: My main DVR is an HR34-700 which I have really liked. The ability to have 5 tuners was a breakthrough and is the best and most reliable HD DVR I've had to date, although I have fond memories of the HR-250, the DirecTiVo HD DVR which was bulletproof.

I also have two HR21s, an HR21-200 and an HR21-700, one of which I received as a beta tester and are from the post-HR-250 era when the initial DirecTV HD DVRs were initially extremely unreliable and having two DVRs was the best insurance that you actually got a recording of something that you really wanted to record. They've been pretty reliable for a long time now but I'm considering getting rid of both of them because they've become redundant and unnecessary since I've had the HR34. I also have two Genie Mini C31-700 clients, one in the master bedroom and one in the guest bedroom.

Last year I upgraded my TV and A/V receiver to 4K. I have a 65" LG OLED65BP7 and an Onkyo TX-RZ820 and I'm fully set up with 4K and Dolby Atmos, although I'm necessarily interested in the way DirecTV/AT&T does their 4K and this isn't a driving factor if I upgrade.

I've known about the HR-44 and the HR-54 for awhile now but have had a bunch of stuff on the HR34 that I still need to watch, so I haven't pulled the trigger yet. I also have the Protection Plan. Last year a technician updated my LNBs and told me I can get a free upgrade.

So here's the questions:

Is the HR54 my best upgrade option?
Will I get an HR54 if I request it?
Do I have to turn in my current HR34 or can I keep it to watch the recorded stuff?
Any suggestions given my current setup?
Thanks for reading! I look forward to any input and suggestions.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TomF said:


> Longtime DirecTV subscriber (1996), former beta tester, longtime DBSTalk participant, former Edgecutter, but haven't been active for years and I don't know the current state of things with DirecTV/AT&T HD DVRs.
> 
> My current equipment: My main DVR is an HR34-700 which I have really liked. The ability to have 5 tuners was a breakthrough and is the best and most reliable HD DVR I've had to date, although I have fond memories of the HR-250, the DirecTiVo HD DVR which was bulletproof.
> 
> ...


Before you walk into a nightmare can you tell us if you have a D* account or an ATT account? I'm assuming you still have the original D* account.

The 54 is the most advanced normal DVR. The 44 is an excellent DVR, better than anything you have. Far better. For a 4K setup you'd want the 54 and a C61K. For some reason you have to put the C61K on the 4K TV and the 54 on another TV. Only the C61K can output 4K.

The other choice is the HS17. That's a server, only feeds minis which feed the TVs. With a 17 you can do two streams of 4K content. Biggest problem I see with the 17s is the single point of failure. The 17 dies and you can't access any content. As with just about any new D* DVR system it's buggy.

As long as you take the coax off the 34 before you deactivate it you should be able to watch the Playlist down. They don't seem to want the 34s back.

You would be doing yourself a favor by getting rid of those other two tuner HRs and getting 24s, they are much better than anything you have.

Rich


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Rich was asking about DIRECTV or AT&T account because several posts last night said that those with AT&T accounts can only get the HS17; no HR54. The HS17 only works with the minis/clients - it will not work with your other HR2X DVRs. The HR54 will work with your other DVRs just as your 34 does right now.


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

The HR54 has a 1 TB Hard Drive. It can be connected to a TV and works with receivers, DVRs and clients. It will work with one 4K client at once. The HS17 has a 2 TB Hard Drive. It is a headless server and cannot be connected to a TV. It works only with clients. It works with two 4K clients at once.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

Rich said:


> Before you walk into a nightmare can you tell us if you have a D* account or an ATT account? I'm assuming you still have the original D* account.
> 
> The 54 is the most advanced normal DVR. The 44 is an excellent DVR, better than anything you have. Far better. For a 4K setup you'd want the 54 and a C61K. For some reason you have to put the C61K on the 4K TV and the 54 on another TV. Only the C61K can output 4K.
> 
> ...


Thanks, this is the kind of feedback/advice I'm looking for!

I believe I have an original DirecTV account since I've been a continuous customer since 1996.

It looks like I want the HR54. I'm not interested in the required 4K setup that requires an additional client. I can get plenty of 4K content from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu.

I have no intention of replacing the HR21s with one or two HR24s, but I may keep them activated until I have my Series Manager completely set up on the HR54 with the upcoming season and then deactivate them.

I just called DirecTV. They are pushing the Genie 2 system but they are going to give me the HR54 and the C61K at no charge and no monthly fee for the C61K, so my bill will not change. They require an technician to install, and I have an appointment for Monday afternoon. They said that I can keep the HR34 but the agent said he wasn't sure that I could watch the recorded content without an access card. I'll check that with the technician.

Regarding the C61K, can the HR54 be set up on one HDMI input on a TV and the C61K set up on another HDMI input on the same TV? I want the HR54 in the family room, not on another TV in my master bedroom or guest room. If that's not possible, I'll just tell the technician not to install the C61K.


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## ColdCase (Sep 10, 2007)

TomF said:


> Thanks, this is the kind of feedback/advice I'm looking for!
> 
> I believe I have an original DirecTV account since I've been a continuous customer since 1996.


I've been a D* subscriber for about the same time. They pushed my account over to the ATT platform a month or two ago.

Your signal levels need to be strong or the tech isn't going to install a Genie 2, if he can't fix it. Thats primarily why they demand sending a tech out for genies.

From reading a lot of chatter here over the past few months, the Genie 2 server works well, its the clients that are buggy. The 54 should be as reliable as your 34.


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

The length of time you have been with D* doesn't have any bearing on becoming an AT&T account. Everyone will eventually. I started with D* in 1992 and got switched a few weeks ago.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

TomF said:


> Thanks, this is the kind of feedback/advice I'm looking for!
> 
> I believe I have an original DirecTV account since I've been a continuous customer since 1996.
> 
> ...


Yes, you can have the two devices hooked up to two different HDMI inputs on your TV. You may have some issues with the remotes though. I think you set one up RF and the other IR. (You don't actually really even need the 54 connected to a TV once you get it all setup. Your mini uses the tuners from the 54).

Unusual they won't charge you the monthly fee. I'm not sure I'd believe that.

Good luck.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

trh said:


> Yes, you can have the two devices hooked up to two different HDMI inputs on your TV. You may have some issues with the remotes though. I think you set one up RF and the other IR. (You don't actually really even need the 54 connected to a TV once you get it all setup. Your mini uses the tuners from the 54).
> 
> Unusual they won't charge you the monthly fee. I'm not sure I'd believe that.
> 
> Good luck.


I said TV, I actually meant A/V receiver. Everything is hooked up to that and it does the HDMI switchng, but I would assume that it would work the same way.

Since I probably won't be watching 4K content from DirecTV very often the remotes shouldn't be a problem and I'm sure that I can figure out what needs to be done, even if it's just blocking the HR54 temporarily.

I'm surprised that they said that there's no monthly fee for the C61K. I'll definitely get clarification on that before installation.

I looked at my service order and apparently they're going to swap out my two current C31-700 clients in the bedrooms. What's the latest non-4K client model?


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

You know the C61K can play all your HD content also? You don't need to use it only for 4K.

Put the 61K on your 4K TV and the HR54 on your next most used TV. Get rid of one mini. I think the current mini is the C61. Swap that for your other mini.


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

These guys know the gear, I’m new to DTV with HS17 server and (3) C61K clients. To me this is how it should work and I don’t buy the single point of failure argument as a reason not to get it, the same can be said for the Dish Hopper 3 and Joey 4K client (their premier system I had for two years), the Hopper 3 goes down and your hosed, mine never did. I also don’t find the HS17 buggy, but maybe I don’t watch the right programs or recordings. I went out of my way to get the HS17/C61K and I’m glad I did, but maybe ignorance is bliss as I haven’t had an HR54, and don’t have angst over change.

My main comment however is not to discount the DirecTV 4K content, I’ve enjoyed it quite a bit. The picture and sound quality are superb, and 4K content was one of the main reasons I switched from Dish (who has virtually none). As you have Atmos you should know that some of the 4K broadcasts are Atmos encoded, I don’t yet have Atmos and listen in 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus which also sounds excellent (and I’m talking about free content). If you’re upgrading your DTV gear and you have the system you describe I think you’re really missing out by not getting at least one C61K 4K client for your main system.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

bmcleod said:


> These guys know the gear, I'm new to DTV with HS17 server and (3) C61K clients. To me this is how it should work and I don't buy the single point of failure argument as a reason not to get it, the same can be said for the Dish Hopper 3 and Joey 4K client (their premier system I had for two years), the Hopper 3 goes down and your hosed, mine never did. I also don't find the HS17 buggy, but maybe I don't watch the right programs or recordings.


I have 6 TVs with 6 DVRs. If one dies, I lose 1 TV and the content of that 1 DVR. If I had a Genie and all minis, losing the Genie means no DIRECTV until it is fixed/replace and a loss of all recordings.

Back when there was an overheating issue with specific HR24s, I went through 4 DVRs in less than 4 months. But I also have a few DVRs right now that i haven't had any problems with for years.

But I've experienced failures, so I am not going to go willingly with a single point of failure.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

trh said:


> I have 6 TVs with 6 DVRs. If one dies, I lose 1 TV and the content of that 1 DVR. If I had a Genie and all minis, losing the Genie means no DIRECTV until it is fixed/replace and a loss of all recordings.
> 
> Back when there was an overheating issue with specific HR24s, I went through 4 DVRs in less than 4 months. But I also have a few DVRs right now that i haven't had any problems with for years.
> 
> But I've experienced failures, so I am not going to go willingly with a single point of failure.


Yup, go thru a nightmare (remember the Fall of 2006 and 2007?) and you learn. I lost count of the failures a long time ago. To think these things won't fail at critical times is...

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

trh said:


> *I have 6 TVs with 6 DVRs*. If one dies, I lose 1 TV and the content of that 1 DVR. If I had a Genie and all minis, losing the Genie means no DIRECTV until it is fixed/replace and a loss of all recordings.
> 
> Back when there was an overheating issue with specific HR24s, I went through 4 DVRs in less than 4 months. But I also have a few DVRs right now that i haven't had any problems with for years.
> 
> But I've experienced failures, so I am not going to go willingly with a single point of failure.


Once upon a time I was proud of my 10 TV sets and 12 HRs. Read the above and had to stop and count. Down to 5 HRs and 7 TV sets. 2 TV sets don't have a DVR. What a paradigm shift!

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TomF said:


> Thanks, this is the kind of feedback/advice I'm looking for!
> 
> I believe I have an original DirecTV account since I've been a continuous customer since 1996.
> 
> ...


(1) If you tell a CSR that you will not get a 54. The only way you can get a 54 without having a 4K setup that I know of is to get it from an installer. And that's only when they have nothing but 54s on the truck.

(2) If you don't want to replace them, suspend them. I think we can still do that. That way there's no issue with access cards and reactivating them is easier.

(3) They really don't want the 34s back. Been that way for some time. I do think you need the access card to watch down the content but you also have to remember to disconnect the coax BEFORE you deactivate it. I think I've had more HRs over the years since they came out than anyone else here. The first two years were a nightmare. Been 12 years since the HRs came out in '06, I can tell you how many access cards I've sent back...none that I can remember. Never got one letter about sending them back. I was told I'd get letters so that I could send them back but never got any letters. Keep the 34, make sure you pull the coax off, keep the access card. You'll be able to watch all the shows you want.

Rich


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

You’re using experience from 2007 as a reason not to change? I’m not going to argue, you guys have the experience, I’ll find out for myself. I also only need two TVs to work (the 3rd is for guests and they’re random), you guys have a lot of sets.

Still hope the OP gets 4K client for main system, a shame to miss out on DTV UHD.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> Before you walk into a nightmare can you tell us if you have a D* account or an ATT account? I'm assuming you still have the original D* account.
> 
> The 54 is the most advanced normal DVR. The 44 is an excellent DVR, better than anything you have. Far better. For a 4K setup you'd want the 54 and a C61K. For some reason you have to put the C61K on the 4K TV and the 54 on another TV. Only the C61K can output 4K.
> 
> ...


It's really not any buggier than any other Genie at this point.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bmcleod said:


> *You're using experience from 2007 as a reason not to change? *I'm not going to argue, you guys have the experience, I'll find out for myself. I also only need two TVs to work (the 3rd is for guests and they're random), you guys have a lot of sets.
> 
> Still hope the OP gets 4K client for main system, a shame to miss out on DTV UHD.


You would not believe what I went thru at that time. Might not matter anymore, I can't remember the last time I had to replace a DVR. Might not matter but it did matter at the time and I can't get past that. That lasted almost two years. Wasn't just me, lots of folks had the same problems. Since D* switched from TiVos to the HRs I've had every DVR they've released except the 34, 54 and 17. Only reason I don't have a 54 is the deal I got on an owned 44, a DVR that I can alter without abusing the TOS. If I switch to a 54 with a 4K setup I can't transfer the "owned" status of the 44 to the 54. That is never gonna happen the way thing are at this moment. If I could get a 54 from an installer I might be able to have the status transferred. No reason to do that at the moment.

I didn't want a 34. By the time they came out I had formed the opinion that a first model of a brand new line of DVRs was not the best choice I could make after all the problems other early models have had such as the 22s and the 23 (the 22 came in two versions, the 23 in one IIRC). Both were poor DVRs, and I had both, both got exchanged very quickly. Simply put, I thought the 34 was gonna be a clunker and it was.

Now we see the headless server, the HS17. Another first model in a brand new line. I was glad I skipped the 34 and I'm not sorry I'm skipping the 17. The 27s are gonna come out one of these days and recent history tells us that the 27 will probably be a much more stable platform than the 17. Just look at the 44s, so much better than a 34. By that time I should know if the SSDs I have are gonna perform as well as they do now and I won't mind giving up the owned status of the 44 and I'll get whatever fits my needs. There's gonna have to be a lot more content on D* for me to do that tho. Especially sports. Give me all, ALL, the Yankee games in 2160p and I will make the leap.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> *It's* really not any buggier than any other Genie at this point.


Which Genie? The 17 or the 54?

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> Which Genie? The 17 or the 54?
> 
> Rich


I think the hr44 hr54 and hs17 are all the same these days. Hs17 was actually really solid when it hit. It's quirks where the same as the other genies with the new GUI... everything it has against it is the same as the others...


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> You would not believe what I went thru at that time. Might not matter anymore, I can't remember the last time I had to replace a DVR. Might not matter but it did matter at the time and I can't get past that. That lasted almost two years. Wasn't just me, lots of folks had the same problems. Since D* switched from TiVos to the HRs I've had every DVR they've released except the 34, 54 and 17. Only reason I don't have a 54 is the deal I got on an owned 44, a DVR that I can alter without abusing the TOS. If I switch to a 54 with a 4K setup I can't transfer the "owned" status of the 44 to the 54. That is never gonna happen the way thing are at this moment. If I could get a 54 from an installer I might be able to have the status transferred. No reason to do that at the moment.
> 
> I didn't want a 34. By the time they came out I had formed the opinion that a first model of a brand new line of DVRs was not the best choice I could make after all the problems other early models have had such as the 22s and the 23 (the 22 came in two versions, the 23 in one IIRC). Both were poor DVRs, and I had both, both got exchanged very quickly. Simply put, I thought the 34 was gonna be a clunker and it was.
> 
> ...


Nah, I totally disagree. The hs17 has been very stable for me. The HR34, that was a joke... I'd call it worse than the HR23 even.. While most see the hs17 as a new generation, and in some ways it is, it's really not that different than a hr54. It's basically got two more tuners and they ripped the client out of it. That's not starting from scratch with a client base system like the HR34 was... it's just beefing it up some..


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> I think the hr44 hr54 and hs17 are all the same these days. Hs17 was actually really solid when it hit. It's quirks where the same as the other genies with the new GUI... everything it has against it is the same as the others...


Yeah, the posts have stopped for the most part. Not many complaints. Kind of hard to unring the bell tho.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> Nah, I totally disagree. The hs17 has been very stable for me. The HR34, that was a joke... I'd call it worse than the HR23 even.. While most see the hs17 as a new generation, and in some ways it is, it's really not that different than a hr54. It's basically got two more tuners and they ripped the client out of it. That's not starting from scratch with a client base system like the HR34 was... it's just beefing it up some..


Knowing you and knowing how much you know about these things I'll take that with a grain of salt. I have a really good auto mechanic who rarely has problems with his cars. If I had his equipment and his knowledge I would have few problems with our cars. Get the analogy?...This is a compliment.

It's hard to ignore all those posts complaining about the 17s.

Rich


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> Knowing you and knowing how much you know about these things I'll take that with a grain of salt. I have a really good auto mechanic who rarely has problems with his cars. If I had his equipment and his knowledge I would have few problems with our cars. Get the analogy?...This is a compliment.
> 
> It's hard to ignore all those posts complaining about the 17s.
> 
> Rich


I am just saying all the issues with the hs17 are the same as with the hr54 and hr44... didn't say they where all running smooth at the moment... lol


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

inkahauts said:


> I am just saying all the issues with the hs17 are the same as with the hr54 and hr44... didn't say they where all running smooth at the moment... lol


My 44 is running better than it ever did (don't have a clue how long that will last) and I haven't seen many complaints about the 54s. I realize a lot of the complaints about the 17s were caused by it being something new, people always have problems with new devices. Same thing with the new GUI. Not much has changed there but the complaints have trickled down to next to nothing. Same thing happened when the GUI before this one was introduced but I think that one was worse than the new GUI.

Rich


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

Rich said:


> You would not believe what I went thru at that time. Might not matter anymore, I can't remember the last time I had to replace a DVR. Might not matter but it did matter at the time and I can't get past that. That lasted almost two years. Wasn't just me, lots of folks had the same problems. Since D* switched from TiVos to the HRs I've had every DVR they've released except the 34, 54 and 17. Only reason I don't have a 54 is the deal I got on an owned 44, a DVR that I can alter without abusing the TOS. If I switch to a 54 with a 4K setup I can't transfer the "owned" status of the 44 to the 54. That is never gonna happen the way thing are at this moment. If I could get a 54 from an installer I might be able to have the status transferred. No reason to do that at the moment.
> 
> I didn't want a 34. By the time they came out I had formed the opinion that a first model of a brand new line of DVRs was not the best choice I could make after all the problems other early models have had such as the 22s and the 23 (the 22 came in two versions, the 23 in one IIRC). Both were poor DVRs, and I had both, both got exchanged very quickly. Simply put, I thought the 34 was gonna be a clunker and it was.
> 
> ...


This is the same horror that I went through during that period. My HR-250 DirecTiVo was bulletproof. Then DirecTV introduced their own line of DVRs and they were a complete POS. It's why I had two DirecTV DVRs besides the HR-250. One I was given as a beta tester. They just couldn't reliably record a program and redundancy was an absolute necessity if you wanted to make sure that you could actually watch something that you wanted to record. I'd have the same Season Passes on all three DVRs just to make sure that I could watch an entire program on at least one of them.

Also, with only two tuners each, you needed to have at least two DVRs to resolve the frequent 3-way and sometimes 4-way recording conflicts. It was made worse when the networks started the strategy of starting their programs either a minute earlier or later, which totally screwed up your recording priority. Fortunately, they don't seem to do that anymore, or if they do it hasn't been a problem for me with the 5-tuner HR34. I had a weekly ritual, looking at the To Do List to make sure that the things that I really wanted to watch were actually going to record and then hope that it actually did, all the way through. Old habits and behaviors die hard.

For me, the HR34 was a game changer. It's been almost completely reliable for me. But it's slow and I want something faster. It looks like the HR54 is the only good choice at this point, with the added, although clunky, 4K capability.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TomF said:


> This is the same horror that I went through during that period. My HR-250 DirecTiVo was bulletproof. Then DirecTV introduced their own line of DVRs and they were a complete POS. It's why I had two DirecTV DVRs besides the HR-250. One I was given as a beta tester. They just couldn't reliably record a program and redundancy was an absolute necessity if you wanted to make sure that you could actually watch something that you wanted to record. I'd have the same Season Passes on all three DVRs just to make sure that I could watch an entire program on at least one of them.
> 
> Also, with only two tuners each, you needed to have at least two DVRs to resolve the frequent 3-way and sometimes 4-way recording conflicts. It was made worse when the networks started the strategy of starting their programs either a minute earlier or later, which totally screwed up your recording priority. Fortunately, they don't seem to do that anymore, or if they do it hasn't been a problem for me with the 5-tuner HR34. I had a weekly ritual, looking at the To Do List to make sure that the things that I really wanted to watch were actually going to record and then hope that it actually did, all the way through. Old habits and behaviors die hard.
> 
> For me, the HR34 was a game changer. It's been almost completely reliable for me. But it's slow and I want something faster. It looks like the HR54 is the only good choice at this point, with the added, although clunky, 4K capability.


History is something that should not be dismissed or ignored and we have plenty of history here. Going back in the archives to 06-08 would be interesting for those of us that weren't here at the time. All I could think about was how good the SD TiVos we had were and how in the hell did these people at D* manage to screw up DVRs that badly. They just shoved the...what was the first SD D* DVR? Was it the R10? Whatever it was called it was awful...anyhow, D* shoved those DVRs down our throats and we had no recourse but to use them.

Then they released the HR20-700. That was pretty bad at first too. I remember someone asking me at the time what I wanted. My reply was something like, "I have never committed a felony, served my country honorably (got a discharged that said just that) and all I wanted was a DVR that worked. I was that frustrated. Turned out the 20-700s were great DVRs with the usual crappy software and support. Then came the 20-100s. Had a bunch of them, none of them worked and most couldn't even be activated. Never had one, not one, that worked. I want to forget all this ever happened.

Remember how much that 250 cost? All I remember is the cost was too high for me.

Rich


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

Rich said:


> History is something that should not be dismissed or ignored and we have plenty of history here. Going back in the archives to 06-08 would be interesting for those of us that weren't here at the time. All I could think about was how good the SD TiVos we had were and how in the hell did these people at D* manage to screw up DVRs that badly. They just shoved the...what was the first SD D* DVR? Was it the R10? Whatever it was called it was awful...anyhow, D* shoved those DVRs down our throats and we had no recourse but to use them.
> 
> Then they released the HR20-700. That was pretty bad at first too. I remember someone asking me at the time what I wanted. My reply was something like, "I have never committed a felony, served my country honorably (got a discharged that said just that) and all I wanted was a DVR that worked. I was that frustrated. Turned out the 20-700s were great DVRs with the usual crappy software and support. Then came the 20-100s. Had a bunch of them, none of them worked and most couldn't even be activated. Never had one, not one, that worked. I want to forget all this ever happened.
> 
> ...


For some reason, $399 popped into my mind when I read your last sentence. And that was over 10 years ago! But I also paid ~$5,000 in 2001 for my first HDTV, a gigantic, two-piece 65" Mitsubishi rear-projector. And that didn't even include an HDTV tuner! The Mitsubishi stand-alone HDTV receiver cost ~$400! It's clear that I've paid way too much money for my tech/entertainment addiction...


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

TomF said:


> For some reason, $399 popped into my mind when I read your last sentence. And that was over 10 years ago! But I also paid ~$5,000 in 2001 for my first HDTV, a gigantic, two-piece 65" Mitsubishi rear-projector. And that didn't even include an HDTV tuner! The Mitsubishi stand-alone HDTV receiver cost ~$400! It's clear that I've paid way too much money for my tech/entertainment addiction...


A couple years after that I paid about $6K for a Mits 73", but it did have a tuner! (and a gorgeous picture) Though as I remember there wasn't a lot of HD programming and you often ended up on HDNet watching slow pans of flowers in someone's garden (some of the 4K YouTube videos remind me of those days).


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TomF said:


> For some reason, $399 popped into my mind when I read your last sentence. And that was over 10 years ago! But I also paid ~$5,000 in 2001 for my first HDTV, a gigantic, two-piece 65" Mitsubishi rear-projector. And that didn't even include an HDTV tuner! The Mitsubishi stand-alone HDTV receiver cost ~$400! It's clear that I've paid way too much money for my tech/entertainment addiction...


I was gonna guess the cost was over or around $400 for the 250. That's why I didn't buy one. I wanted one. I have the same addiction. 5 grand for a TV set would stop me dead in my tracks. Most expensive one I bought cost ~ $2500. That still haunts me. I have a self imposed $2000 cap on TV sets, which is pretty reasonable considering what you can get for that price these days. I've spent an awful lot of money on electronics too, but I think of it as the one "luxury" I have. Do you still have that TV set?

I had a couple Mitsubishi TVs, I liked them. Both had great cabinets. Now you just get...basically a screen.

Rich


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

Rich said:


> (1) If you tell a CSR that you will not get a 54. The only way you can get a 54 without having a 4K setup that I know of is to get it from an installer. And that's only when they have nothing but 54s on the truck.
> 
> (2) If you don't want to replace them, suspend them. I think we can still do that. That way there's no issue with access cards and reactivating them is easier.
> 
> ...


If you still have a D* account number no problem getting a HR54 even if buy one somewhere else but if you account number starts with a 2 then you are hosed. Oh also they do want those hr34s back because they are making me send it back.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

carl robbins said:


> If you still have a D* account number no problem getting a HR54 even if buy one somewhere else but if you account number starts with a 2 then you are hosed. Oh also they do want those hr34s back because they are making me send it back.


It won't ever get used again... HR34 are not being given out anymore thank goodness...


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## reubenray (Jun 27, 2002)

carl robbins said:


> If you still have a D* account number no problem getting a HR54 even if buy one somewhere else but if you account number starts with a 2 then you are hosed. Oh also they do want those hr34s back because they are making me send it back.


Why will account numbers that start with 2 be hosed? This is the same number I have had since 2001.


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## studechip (Apr 16, 2012)

carl robbins said:


> If you still have a D* account number no problem getting a HR54 even if buy one somewhere else but if you account number starts with a 2 then you are hosed. Oh also they do want those hr34s back because they are making me send it back.


What does your account number have to do with it? I'm surprised they want the HR34 back since they aren't being used anymore.


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## 24Flames (Aug 24, 2007)

I've only ever had a D* account number.....for over 20 years.....and my account number begins with 2. I upgraded to a HR-54 and 2 wired clients, free of charge, 9 days ago. Called D*, Loyalty Dept, and they had a number of free upgrade offers that included the HR-54. In fact, I only would have been charged if I wanted to upgrade to the HS-17.


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

studechip said:


> What does your account number have to do with it? I'm surprised they want the HR34 back since they aren't being used anymore.


I'd you have a ATT number you can't buy equipment from other sources because they will not activate it anymore. I asked them about that hr34 issue and they want it back so go figure. People are getting upgrades from them but not me and no one there could tell me why after talking to everyone for several days. That is my only complaint is that customer service is horrible now or at least that was my experience.


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## Richard L Bray (Aug 19, 2006)

carl robbins said:


> I'd you have a ATT number you can't buy equipment from other sources because they will not activate it anymore. I asked them about that hr34 issue and they want it back so go figure. People are getting upgrades from them but not me and no one there could tell me why after talking to everyone for several days. That is my only complaint is that customer service is horrible now or at least that was my experience.


Do you have their protection plan? I'm getting a free upgrade to the genie 2 and two c61k's; but that's because I pay monthly for the protection plan. One of the plan's entitlements is a free "technology upgrade" every two years.


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

Richard L Bray said:


> Do you have their protection plan? I'm getting a free upgrade to the genie 2 and two c61k's; but that's because I pay monthly for the protection plan. One of the plan's entitlements is a free "technology upgrade" every two years.


I ripped out my equipment yesterday and had Dish installed. A Hopper 3dvr with Sling and 3 Joey's which are clients. Everything is working great and love all the better features of the hopper versus Directv dvr.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

After reading the replies to this thread and reading some other threads, I panicked and postponed the installation that I had scheduled for last Monday and rescheduled to tomorrow morning. In the meantime I did some more research and called DirecTV customer retention for some clarifications, particularly since the work order shows a new 2-year commitment which was not even mentioned on my first call. It's been so long since I've had new equipment that I had forgotten that that you can wheel and deal for discounts, etc. I initially tried the approach that the service technician that came out earlier this year and replaced my LNB said that because my HR34 was so old, that I needed a HR54 to completely eliminate some of occasional drop-out problems I was having, so it should be a service replacement and not an upgrade. That didn't get me around the 2-year commitment, but I'm OK with that since I've been with them continuously for 22 years and after using my BiL's Dish system over the last several years, I don't see me doing that. 

Bottom line, it's been confirmed that I will receive an HR54 Genie to replace my HR34 Genie as well as a C61K Genie client. I asked about incentives and was offered $55 off my monthly bill for 12 months, $5 off both HBO and Showtime (which I already have) for 6 months, for a total savings of $720 over the next year. I'm pleased with that and I appreciate all of the feedback on this thread and a couple of others.


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

TomF said:


> After reading the replies to this thread and reading some other threads, I panicked and postponed the installation that I had scheduled for last Monday and rescheduled to tomorrow morning. In the meantime I did some more research and called DirecTV customer retention for some clarifications, particularly since the work order shows a new 2-year commitment which was not even mentioned on my first call. It's been so long since I've had new equipment that I had forgotten that that you can wheel and deal for discounts, etc. I initially tried the approach that the service technician that came out earlier this year and replaced my LNB said that because my HR34 was so old, that I needed a HR54 to completely eliminate some of occasional drop-out problems I was having, so it should be a service replacement and not an upgrade. That didn't get me around the 2-year commitment, but I'm OK with that since I've been with them continuously for 22 years and after using my BiL's Dish system over the last several years, I don't see me doing that.
> 
> Bottom line, it's been confirmed that I will receive an HR54 Genie to replace my HR34 Genie as well as a C61K Genie client. I asked about incentives and was offered $55 off my monthly bill for 12 months, $5 off both HBO and Showtime (which I already have) for 6 months, for a total savings of $720 over the next year. I'm pleased with that and I appreciate all of the feedback on this thread and a couple of others.


Great deal.If they could have done that for me I wouldn't have switched to Dish but I have to say I love the hopper 3. Everything a dvr should be.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

carl robbins said:


> Great deal.If they could have done that for me I wouldn't have switched to Dish but I have to say I love the hopper 3. Everything a dvr should be.


Be more interesting to hear what you don't like. Gotta be something.

Rich


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

Well i've been testing hopper and Joey's and trying all the many features but so far the only thing I don't like is there is no 4k broadcasting yet on the 2 4k channels. They have free and paid 4k movies available and I did watch star trek beyond in 4k and it was perfect. When switching from 4k signal to 1080 programming their is couple of seconds of snow but nothing much else negative to report yet. Connecting a 2tb external drive today and we will see how that goes.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

carl robbins said:


> Well i've been testing hopper and Joey's and trying all the many features but so far the only thing I don't like is there is no 4k broadcasting yet on the 2 4k channels. They have free and paid 4k movies available and I did watch star trek beyond in 4k and it was perfect. When switching from 4k signal to 1080 programming their is couple of seconds of snow but nothing much else negative to report yet. Connecting a 2tb external drive today and we will see how that goes.


Do you see any difference in PQ?

Rich


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

I really haven't seen any noticeable with PQ but wife said it looks different. Not bad just different. My locals look great. I think I would have to do side by side comparison to really tell any difference which makes me happy.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

carl robbins said:


> I really haven't seen any noticeable with PQ but wife said it looks different. Not bad just different. My locals look great. I think I would have to do side by side comparison to really tell any difference which makes me happy.


Reason I asked was several folks that have Dish have said it seems to be not quite as good as D*'s PQ. Don't remember exactly how they phrased that. Yeah, if you don't see much difference side-by-side would be necessary. Doesn't matter, I'd think anyone could adapt if the difference wasn't drastic. If you didn't see anything to complain about right off the bat, that's good.

You know what's wrong with the D* DVRs, let's give it a couple weeks and see what you think of the hardware and software.

Rich


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

Well, the DirecTV installer showed up this morning, but he didn't have an HR54 on the truck. When I met him at the door I told him that if he wasn't going to install an HR54, then we weren't going forward with the install. He completely understood and he called three other installers to try and find an HR54 but was unsuccessful. He totally agreed with my cancelling the installation and told me how many problems they had with the Genie 2. He said that he had three service calls later today for Genie 2 problems. He actually said "Don't get sucked into the Genie 2, they're not reliable."

Interestingly, after I called DirectV yesterday, the work order got changed and then showed a Genie 2 installation, after I specifically told the customer retention CSR that I only wanted an HR54. So the installation has now been scheduled for Monday afternoon. We'll see what happens then...


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

Well don't take a genie 2 for sure unless they give you a spare..lol. I did find a problem with my dvr tonight. The built in wifi is very slow for some reason, like 8 mbs which is OK for HD barely but forget about 4k. So I will be connecting ethernet. I noticed that the stream pqis better than satellite PQ but not by much.
I think they want to unload the hose genie z2 s on everybody for some reason.


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## reubenray (Jun 27, 2002)

My neighbor who thought he was getting a HR44 yesterday actually got a HR54 and he has no intentions getting 4K. He also got the reverse band LNB. The installer said they are installing these LNB's instead of anything else. This is in South Alabama


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

carl robbins said:


> Well i've been testing hopper and Joey's and trying all the many features but so far the only thing I don't like is there is no 4k broadcasting yet on the 2 4k channels. They have free and paid 4k movies available and I did watch star trek beyond in 4k and it was perfect. When switching from 4k signal to 1080 programming their is couple of seconds of snow but nothing much else negative to report yet. Connecting a 2tb external drive today and we will see how that goes.


Lack of 4K was one of the main reasons I left Dish. Had a Hopper 3 and two Joey 4Ks for two years and managed to see one World Cup soccer game in 4K (not really my thing). I called several times asking about more 4K programming, but it was always "nothing more at this time", nice you got to see Star Trek. I'm sure they'll eventually get more. I've found that DTV HD upscales to 4K much better than Dish (the other reason I left), looks sharper on an HD TV as well.



carl robbins said:


> Well don't take a genie 2 for sure unless they give you a spare..lol. I did find a problem with my dvr tonight. The built in wifi is very slow for some reason, like 8 mbs which is OK for HD barely but forget about 4k. So I will be connecting ethernet. I noticed that the stream pqis better than satellite PQ but not by much.
> I think they want to unload the hose genie z2 s on everybody for some reason.


I'm going to keep pushing back on the Genie 2/HS17 bashing, mine works very well and I'm not buying the single point of failure argument (your Hopper 3 is the same way). As for unloading them my experience was different there as well as I wanted one, they were giving away HR54s, but even with the free equipment install wanted to charge $99 for HS17. I know I'm not going to convince you guys, but someone else reading can know there are different opinions.

Not sure whose WiFi you're referring to? In Dish gear? I'd always choose wired if available anyway, leave WiFi for the tablets and other devices that have no options.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TomF said:


> Well, the DirecTV installer showed up this morning, but he didn't have an HR54 on the truck. When I met him at the door I told him that if he wasn't going to install an HR54, then we weren't going forward with the install. He completely understood and he called three other installers to try and find an HR54 but was unsuccessful. He totally agreed with my cancelling the installation and told me how many problems they had with the Genie 2. He said that he had three service calls later today for Genie 2 problems. He actually said "Don't get sucked into the Genie 2, they're not reliable."
> 
> Interestingly, after I called DirectV yesterday, the work order got changed and then showed a Genie 2 installation, after I specifically told the customer retention CSR that I only wanted an HR54. So the installation has now been scheduled for Monday afternoon. We'll see what happens then...


There has always been a disconnect between CSRs and installers. Glad to see you pushed back.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

carl robbins said:


> Well don't take a genie 2 for sure unless they give you a spare..lol. I did find a problem with my dvr tonight. *The built in wifi* is very slow for some reason, like 8 mbs which is OK for HD barely but forget about 4k. So I will be connecting ethernet. I noticed that the stream pqis better than satellite PQ but not by much.
> I think they want to unload the hose genie z2 s on everybody for some reason.


Can you expand on that? Built into what?

Rich


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

bmcleod said:


> I've found that DTV HD upscales to 4K much better than Dish


couldn't be !
no upscale done by any dtv or dish equipment


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

P Smith said:


> couldn't be !
> no upscale done by any dtv or dish equipment


Yes it could! But maybe you misunderstood my point. The HD signal generated by the Dish and DTV clients gets upscaled to UHD by the TV or other downstream device, the better the original signal/picture starts out the better the results of the upscaling. I contend DTV's picture starts out better than Dish's, which is why it's also noticeable on an HD TV. Certainly this is my subjective opinion, but I've had recent experience upscaling both a Hopper 3 and an HS17/C61K with an 85" UHD TV that is considered to have a very good upscaling engine (read about the X1 Extreme Processor if you're interested).


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Rich said:


> Can you expand on that? Built into what?
> Rich


The HS17 has built in 5GHz wifi server for the clients it supports. It also can be a wifi (or wired) client on your LAN. One of the reasons for it's physical design and requirement to be installed vertically is to best position the wifi antennas to serve your residence.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

bmcleod said:


> I've had recent experience upscaling both a Hopper 3 and an HS17/C61K


the equipment does not upscale to UHD
your TV does, I'm agree


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

bmcleod said:


> I've found that DTV HD upscales to 4K much better than Dish (the other reason I left), looks sharper on an HD TV as well.





P Smith said:


> the equipment does not upscale to UHD
> your TV does, I'm agree


I may abbreviate too much, by "DTV HD" I mean the signal / picture DirectTV is able to deliver to the upscaling device (usually the TV). But we agree so good!


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bmcleod said:


> Yes it could! But maybe you misunderstood my point. The HD signal generated by the Dish and DTV clients gets upscaled to UHD by the TV or other downstream device, *the better the original signal/picture starts out the better the results of the upscaling.* I contend DTV's picture starts out better than Dish's, which is why it's also noticeable on an HD TV. Certainly this is my subjective opinion, but I've had recent experience upscaling both a Hopper 3 and an HS17/C61K with an 85" UHD TV that is considered to have a very good upscaling engine (read about the X1 Extreme Processor if you're interested).


I agree wholeheartedly. I've said this over and over. If you give a good 4K set a 1080p feed to upscale you get a better picture than what you get from 720p or 1080i content. This very obvious, I think, when comparing the same content on NF and D*. NF puts out 1080p on most content. As does AP.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

carl6 said:


> The HS17 has built in 5GHz wifi server for the clients it supports. It also can be a wifi (or wired) client on your LAN. One of the reasons for it's physical design and requirement to be installed vertically is to best position the wifi antennas to serve your residence.


How does that fit into a home with two Netgear Nighthawks (or any existing Wifi system), one used as an access point? Can the server in the 17s be an option, can it be shut off if not needed?

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bmcleod said:


> I may abbreviate too much, by "DTV HD" I mean the signal / picture DirectTV is able to deliver to the upscaling device (usually the TV). But we agree so good!


From time to time I get criticized for using "D*", meaning Directv. I don't think I was the first one *here *to do that and most likely saw the advantage of using three keystrokes for D* rather than typing out Directv, which takes 8 keystrokes. D* probably came from the once common usage of E* for, IIRC, Dish at the time. IIRC.

In any event, even though it generates criticism I've never seen or felt that anyone _*here *_was confused by D*. However it started it seems to be accepted by most of us. I'm seeing more and more folks use "DTV". If you ask Google to define the acronym DTV you can see why using that acronym can be confusing. Of course, D* brings up nothing when Googled. But I don't see that used anyplace but *here*. Just a thought.

Rich


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

D* means DIRECTV, E* means Dish Network, aka Echostar. 

Rich, that got started here years ago, but I know you know that already. 

I also agree with your prior posts, the first D* DVR’s were POS. Seeing that they already had a partnership with TiVo, what D* should have done is bought them. They could have offered the best DVR experience out there. They probably wouldn’t have had all the issues they had with their own DVR’s. DirecTiVo anyone?


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

TomF said:


> Well, the DirecTV installer showed up this morning, but he didn't have an HR54 on the truck. When I met him at the door I told him that if he wasn't going to install an HR54, then we weren't going forward with the install. He completely understood and he called three other installers to try and find an HR54 but was unsuccessful. He totally agreed with my cancelling the installation and told me how many problems they had with the Genie 2. He said that he had three service calls later today for Genie 2 problems. He actually said "Don't get sucked into the Genie 2, they're not reliable."
> 
> Interestingly, after I called DirectV yesterday, the work order got changed and then showed a Genie 2 installation, after I specifically told the customer retention CSR that I only wanted an HR54. So the installation has now been scheduled for Monday afternoon. We'll see what happens then...


Well my installer showed up with a HR54 and C61K yesterday and spent 3 hours with no success to getting it activated. Turns out the AT&T activation center is closed on weekends. Well why did they schedule the install on a Saturday? Installer told me that was his last HR54 and there is a major shortage of them. Took the HR54 and C61K with him and told me I would have to reschedule it on a weekday. When I placed that order I was also given NFL ST for free this season. However I do not have it today. AT&T chat is useless and I've been on hold for an hour now on the phone. When I connected it told me my wait time would be one minute.


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## carl robbins (Sep 5, 2018)

b4pjoe said:


> Well my installer showed up with a HR54 and C61K yesterday and spent 3 hours with no success to getting it activated. Turns out the AT&T activation center is closed on weekends. Well why did they schedule the install on a Saturday? Installer told me that was his last HR54 and there is a major shortage of them. Took the HR54 and C61K with him and told me I would have to reschedule it on a weekday. When I placed that order I was also given NFL ST for free this season. However I do not have it today. AT&T chat is useless and I've been on hold for an hour now on the phone. When I connected it told me my wait time would be one minute.


My Dish installer just inputted some info on phone and I was activated, nobody on other end involved.
I believe they are not making hr54 and when their all gone that will be it then hs17 for everybody.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TheRatPatrol said:


> D* means DIRECTV, E* means Dish Network, aka Echostar.
> 
> Rich, that got started here years ago, but I know you know that already.
> 
> I also agree with your prior posts, the first D* DVR's were POS. Seeing that they already had a partnership with TiVo, what D* should have done is bought them. They could have offered the best DVR experience out there. They probably wouldn't have had all the issues they had with their own DVR's. DirecTiVo anyone?


Yup, I rarely had problem with the D* TiVos. But D*'s HR20-700 was the first D* HD DVR and that was a fine DVR. Then came the 20-100s and the whole Series 2 DVRs. Things went downhill quickly.

Rich


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

carl robbins said:


> I don't know why these genie 2 should be a problem because it's basically a Hr54 with more tuners.


No it isn't.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Rich said:


> How does that fit into a home with two Netgear Nighthawks (or any existing Wifi system), one used as an access point? Can the server in the 17s be an option, can it be shut off if not needed?
> Rich


Cannot be shut off. Do not appear as (and are not) access points to regular wifi clients, only to Genie clients.


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

carl robbins said:


> My Dish installer just inputted some info on phone and I was activated, nobody on other end involved.
> I believe they are not making hr54 and when their all gone that will be it then hs17 for everybody. I don't know why these genie 2 should be a problem because it's basically a Hr54 with more tuners.
> The Hs17 and hopper3 are both single points of failure but difference with hopper3 if it needs to be replaced I do not lose my recordings with Dish unlike D*,


If my account had not already been transferred to AT&T my installer could have done the same but AT&T is really screwing things up for people that have had their account transferred. The installer said they have problems with every call they go on that the customer has had their account switched to AT&T. He also told me the HS17 is a piece of crap with numerous problems but he didn't specify what those issues were as I wasn't really interested since I was supposed to be getting the HR54. Their is a shortage of HR54's he told me. He had two calls yesterday where the person was supposed to be getting an HR54 but he only has one on the truck. I suppose since he couldn't activate mine the other guy got his. No idea why they would schedule truck rolls to install more HR54's than the technician has available.

Well no the HS17 is not the same as the HR54. You can still have other DVR's on the system with an HR54 while you can't with the HS17 so the max amount of tuners you can have is I believe 7 with the HS17. I'm not really concerned with a single point of failure as the dish on the roof is a single point of failure and so is power from the electric company.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

Why has this thread about me upgrading my Genie turned into a thread about Dish? carl robins, I don't care about your experiences with your new Dish installation. Start your own thread in the Dish forums!

Half the responses in this thread are about Dish!

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

Rich said:


> From time to time I get criticized for using "D*", meaning Directv. I don't think I was the first one *here *to do that and most likely saw the advantage of using three keystrokes for D* rather than typing out Directv, which takes 8 keystrokes. D* probably came from the once common usage of E* for, IIRC, Dish at the time. IIRC.
> 
> In any event, even though it generates criticism I've never seen or felt that anyone _*here *_was confused by D*. However it started it seems to be accepted by most of us. I'm seeing more and more folks use "DTV". If you ask Google to define the acronym DTV you can see why using that acronym can be confusing. Of course, D* brings up nothing when Googled. But I don't see that used anyplace but *here*. Just a thought.
> 
> Rich


I remember those days. There was a guy who was really pretty infamous on the DirecTiVo forums years back in the "DirecTV DVR with TiVo" era when, for short, they were called a "DirecTiVo", and he started referring to them as a "DTV". That acronym had long before that already been claimed as the acronym for "Digital TV" and I pm-ed him begging him to stop using that acronym incorrectly. He just about took my head off with his reply. Lost all respect for him, and they ended up booting him a few months later when he started being kind of an a ******* on the forums.

It would be a lot less confusing if we all just typed things out rather than making arbitrary abbreviations.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

carl robbins said:


> Oh sorry. Think I responded to wrong post


You replies have dominated this thread!

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> I agree wholeheartedly. I've said this over and over. If you give a good 4K set a 1080p feed to upscale you get a better picture than what you get from 720p or 1080i content. This very obvious, I think, when comparing the same content on NF and D*. NF puts out 1080p on most content. As does AP.
> 
> Rich


Ok ... since we're talking abbreviations NF ... Netflix? AP ... ? (sorry, some of the jargon is new)



Rich said:


> From time to time I get criticized for using "D*", meaning Directv. I don't think I was the first one *here *to do that and most likely saw the advantage of using three keystrokes for D* rather than typing out Directv, which takes 8 keystrokes. D* probably came from the once common usage of E* for, IIRC, Dish at the time. IIRC.
> 
> In any event, even though it generates criticism I've never seen or felt that anyone _*here *_was confused by D*. However it started it seems to be accepted by most of us. I'm seeing more and more folks use "DTV". If you ask Google to define the acronym DTV you can see why using that acronym can be confusing. Of course, D* brings up nothing when Googled. But I don't see that used anyplace but *here*. Just a thought.
> 
> Rich


I think the confusion was me using "DTV HD" to mean 'the entire DirecTV system and equipment that yields the picture we see', and not a specific piece of gear, like the C61K.

As I use an iPad about 90% of the time, my abbreviations sometimes are based on what's easier there, but D* is pretty easy so I'll try to get used to that, three key touches for me: shift, D, slide-g, but I could also set d* to spell out DirecTV, so sometimes less is more.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

> carl robbins said: ↑
> I don't know why these genie 2 should be a problem because it's basically a Hr54 with more tuners.


YOu must read dedicated thread "HS17-100" before make such funny posts.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

The installer showed up this afternoon for my noon-4:00 PM window at 3:45 PM. But he had an HR54, a C61K client, and two C41 clients! I showed him my setup, told him that I wanted to put the HR54 and the C61K client in the same room on the same TV, with the client on a different HDMI port on the TV, and told him that I wanted to keep the HR34. No problem at all! He looked at my dish and upgraded the LNB to a reverse band LNB. He disconnected the HR34 and set it aside, then slide the HR54 into the same spot. Much smaller! There was plenty of room to put the C61K client on top. He had to install a 2-way splitter for the client. I told him that I would install the two C41 clients if that was OK with him, so I went upstairs, disconnected and removed the C31 clients, installed the C41 clients and went back downstairs. He had the HR54 set up and was installing the C61K client. He set up the HR54 on RF and the C61K client on IR. The upstairs clients connected right away. Everything was completely straightforward and done in record time. To avoid traffic going home, the installer hung around for awhile and we discussed BMWs.

Everything was working great and within an hour I was watching 4K content! Since I have a Harmony remote, I switched the IR/RF on the HR54 and the C61K client so that the HR54 was on IR and the client was on RF. Everything works like it should with the Harmony. Initially, I plan on just using the HR54 directly and using the client just to watch 4K, but the response time is so good I may reconsider. 

Couldn't be happier, the install went just as I had hoped it would! Lots of learning to do with the new GUI on the HR54 though. I went through all the menus several times trying to figure out how to do things that are done differently now. Mostly I like the look, but it seems like there's a lot more key presses to get simple things done. I remember the shortcuts on the HR-250 and all of the DirecTiVos; I wish DirecTV/AT&T would implement direct ways to get to the To Do List and the Season Manager as those are the things I use most often.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Why the 54 and 61K on the same TV? You can save yourself $7 per month by putting the 54 on another TV and eliminating a mini.

Glad the install worked out so well.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

carl6 said:


> Cannot be shut off. Do not appear as (and are not) access points to regular wifi clients, only to Genie clients.


Got it, thanx,

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bmcleod said:


> Ok ... since we're talking abbreviations NF ... Netflix? AP ... ? (*sorry, some of the jargon is new*)


Sorry, we've been using those for some time and I thought...NF is NetFlix, AP is Amazon Prime. ATV is Apple TV (a streaming box), FTV is Amazon's Fire TV streaming box. Anything else?

Rich


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## bmcleod (May 13, 2006)

Rich said:


> Sorry, we've been using those for some time and I thought...NF is NetFlix, AP is Amazon Prime. ATV is Apple TV (a streaming box), FTV is Amazon's Fire TV streaming box. Anything else?
> 
> Rich


Thanks, hadn't seen NF, AP, or FTV before, but makes sense, I'll remember them. Very familiar with ATV as I have three and just started a thread on tvOS 12 and iOS 12 (just updated my ATVs to 12).


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bmcleod said:


> Thanks, hadn't seen NF, AP, or FTV before, but makes sense, I'll remember them. Very familiar with ATV as I have three and just started a thread on tvOS 12 and iOS 12 (just updated my ATVs to 12).


I just did the upgrade too, let me check that thread. Last time I counted ATVs we had six, don't know if they reproduced.

Rich


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

TomF said:


> but it seems like there's a lot more key presses to get simple things done. I remember the shortcuts on the HR-250 and all of the DirecTiVos; I wish DirecTV/AT&T would implement direct ways to get to the To Do List and the Season Manager as those are the things I use most often.


What do you feel takes longer?



> I have a Harmony remote


You can set macros on your Harmony to get to things faster. I did on mine, they work great.

Glad the install went good.


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## detroitlions (Aug 11, 2011)

@TomF and @Rich - thanks for your all your insight so far. I am trying to decide how I'm going to proceed. After having a HR-34 for almost six years, it was time to move on. I was sent a replacement Genie (a HR-44 instead of a HR-54 which I expected). I could still go the HR-54 / HS-17 route for a two year commitment free of charge but I just have a hard time pulling the trigger for one dedicated 4K station (I have two 4K OLED tv's). I still have a plenty of content on my two HR-24's and hope I can still access the HR-34 content indefinitely once I pull the coaxial on it as they don't want it back. After reading through several threads, I'm thinking either take @Rich's advice and hold onto the HR-44 and wait it out but I still would love to have the 4K content as @TomF just had done. Any advice on how I should proceed if you were in my shoes would be appreciated.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

detroitlions said:


> @TomF and @Rich - thanks for your all your insight so far. I am trying to decide how I'm going to proceed. After having a HR-34 for almost six years, it was time to move on. I was sent a replacement Genie (a HR-44 instead of a HR-54 which I expected). I could still go the HR-54 / HS-17 route for a two year commitment free of charge but I just have a hard time pulling the trigger for one dedicated 4K station (I have two 4K OLED tv's). I still have a plenty of content on my two HR-24's and hope I can still access the HR-34 content indefinitely once I pull the coaxial on it as they don't want it back. After reading through several threads, I'm thinking either take @Rich's advice and hold onto the HR-44 and wait it out but I still would love to have the 4K content as @TomF just had done. Any advice on how I should proceed if you were in my shoes would be appreciated.


Do you use streaming video services (NF, AP, Hulu) for movies and series? Lots of 4K content there.

Rich


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## detroitlions (Aug 11, 2011)

Rich said:


> Do you use streaming video services (NF, AP, Hulu) for movies and series? Lots of 4K content there.
> 
> Rich


I have NF and AP which are my only 4K options at the moment. If D* had more than one dedicated 4K station, It would be an easy decision but they don't. It is too bad they pretty much require a two year commitment to get one station. So I'm leaning towards keeping the HR-44 for now and wait to see what next year brings on the 4K content front.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

detroitlions said:


> I have NF and AP which are my only 4K options at the moment. If D* had more than one dedicated 4K station, It would be an easy decision but they don't. It is too bad they pretty much require a two year commitment to get one station. So I'm leaning towards keeping the HR-44 for now and wait to see what next year brings on the 4K content front.


Yup, that's what I did when they came out with the 4K Genies. Took too long and now we are immersed in streaming content. I sorta doubt I'll ever get a 4K setup from D*...until they have at least Yankee games and the NFL games in 4K. I'd get the 4K setup licketysplit if I could just watch the Mets, Yankees, Giants and Jets in 4K. That would really interest me.

Rich


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Rich said:


> until they have at least Yankee games in 4K


There's a Yankees game on tomorrow in 4K. Of course you want every Yankees game in 4K.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TheRatPatrol said:


> There's a Yankees game on tomorrow in 4K. Of course you want every Yankees game in 4K.


Exactly. Every single game.

Rich


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## detroitlions (Aug 11, 2011)

Rich said:


> Yup, that's what I did when they came out with the 4K Genies. Took too long and now we are immersed in streaming content. I sorta doubt I'll ever get a 4K setup from D*...until they have at least Yankee games and the NFL games in 4K. I'd get the 4K setup licketysplit if I could just watch the Mets, Yankees, Giants and Jets in 4K. That would really interest me.
> 
> Rich


ST and the sports stations in 4K would be a dream come true. Unfortunately it is probably years away. For now NF and AP will suffice.

At least you have NY teams to root for. It's never been worse ever for Detroit pro sports. Thank goodness for football.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

detroitlions said:


> ST and the sports stations in 4K would be a dream come true. Unfortunately it is probably years away. For now NF and AP will suffice.
> 
> At least you have NY teams to root for. It's never been worse ever for Detroit pro sports. *Thank goodness for football.*


With football comes the Jets and their never ending problems. But we also have the Giants...and their never ending problems. I've been reading about what Patricia has been doing. Seems like he just walked into that job with all guns blazing. That rarely works. For some reason Buck Showalter gets away with that wherever he goes, not many others do.

Yeah, NF and AP are good sources for 4K content. So is iTunes. We have about a hundred 4K movies in our iTunes library. I think, never bothered to count them. I've just about given up on NF renting UHD discs, thinking about cancelling the DVD rentals completely.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Rich said:


> Exactly. Every single game.
> 
> Rich


I gave this some thought. I'd go for a 54 setup if I could get YES in 4K. Just YES. Just for the Yankee games.

Rich


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

detroitlions said:


> @TomF and @Rich - thanks for your all your insight so far. I am trying to decide how I'm going to proceed. After having a HR-34 for almost six years, it was time to move on. I was sent a replacement Genie (a HR-44 instead of a HR-54 which I expected). I could still go the HR-54 / HS-17 route for a two year commitment free of charge but I just have a hard time pulling the trigger for one dedicated 4K station (I have two 4K OLED tv's). I still have a plenty of content on my two HR-24's and hope I can still access the HR-34 content indefinitely once I pull the coaxial on it as they don't want it back. After reading through several threads, I'm thinking either take @Rich's advice and hold onto the HR-44 and wait it out but I still would love to have the 4K content as @TomF just had done. Any advice on how I should proceed if you were in my shoes would be appreciated.


When I chose to upgrade, I called customer retention and specifically requested the HR54. I made this abundantly clear during my first call that I have a 4K TV wouldn't accept anything else. After I did some more research, I panicked a bit, called DirecTV, delayed the installation 5 days, and then called again and reconfirmed what I was going to get. When the first tech showed up he didn't have an HR54 so I told him no dice. He completely understood and said to reschedule. (He said that he had an HR54 and warned me not to accept a Genie 2 (HS17), said he has service calls for them all the time) I called customer retention again and was adamant about what I expected. The second tech had everything I wanted on the truck, including an HR54, a C61K client, two C41 clients, and a reverse band LNB.

That said, I have been with DirecTV since 1996, I have the protection plan, and other than a couple of dish re-aimings and LNB replacements, I haven't had any equipment since I first got my HR34 a short while after it was released, and I have a 4K TV. In addition to the HR34, I also have two HR21s and two clients. I've always had one of the top 3 plans and have HBO & SHO.

The fact that you just received a HR44 means that you must not have specified that when you asked for a new DVR. If you did, you should call back and tell them that you have two 4K TVs and that you need a HR54 and that you don't want the HR44. Just my $0.02.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

trh said:


> Why the 54 and 61K on the same TV? You can save yourself $7 per month by putting the 54 on another TV and eliminating a mini.
> 
> Glad the install worked out so well.


Initially I just wanted things to be set up they way they were. I'm used to having the DVR in the family room where I also have all the rest of my AV equipment and my cable modem and router, so all components have a wired Internet connection. After having the equipment and seeing how well the clients work now, I may move the HR54 to the master bedroom and just keep the 4K client in the family room. However, the client has to work with my Onkyo 4K receiver because I use that to do my HDMI switching between three DVRs, a 4K Blu-ray player, and a Roku Ultra 4k, as well as watching 4K content from the TV via the YouTube app. I just have to set aside some time to move things around and redo the connections. I've had an HR21 in the bedroom and from what I remember I have wired Internet connection there as well. However, I'm not sure I can just move the HR54 without moving the supporting electronics (power inserter, etc.) and I have to do some research before I start.


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

When the installer was at my house last week he mentioned the lack of 4K content on DTV and I mentioned that I thought they would probably add more soon and he said he seriously doubt they will ever have any more than they have now. He didn't explain why he thought that. I just found it interesting that he said it though.


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## detroitlions (Aug 11, 2011)

TomF said:


> When I chose to upgrade, I called customer retention and specifically requested the HR54. I made this abundantly clear during my first call that I have a 4K TV wouldn't accept anything else. After I did some more research, I panicked a bit, called DirecTV, delayed the installation 5 days, and then called again and reconfirmed what I was going to get. When the first tech showed up he didn't have an HR54 so I told him no dice. He completely understood and said to reschedule. (He said that he had an HR54 and warned me not to accept a Genie 2 (HS17), said he has service calls for them all the time) I called customer retention again and was adamant about what I expected. The second tech had everything I wanted on the truck, including an HR54, a C61K client, two C41 clients, and a reverse band LNB.
> 
> That said, I have been with DirecTV since 1996, I have the protection plan, and other than a couple of dish re-aimings and LNB replacements, I haven't had any equipment since I first got my HR34 a short while after it was released, and I have a 4K TV. In addition to the HR34, I also have two HR21s and two clients. I've always had one of the top 3 plans and have HBO & SHO.
> 
> The fact that you just received a HR44 means that you must not have specified that when you asked for a new DVR. If you did, you should call back and tell them that you have two 4K TVs and that you need a HR54 and that you don't want the HR44. Just my $0.02.


The loyality rep said if I replaced my HR-34 I would get either a HR-44 or HR-54 but they had no way of requesting a specific one. I figured it was worth a shot and was not surprised one bit I got a HR-44. The funny thing was the manufactured date was only six months newer than the HR-34. I honestly don't think its possible at the present time no matter what you do to have 4K and not be committed for two years. One dedicated station does not cut it for me as I can access plenty of 4K content on NF and AP. I like being in at most a one year contract so I have some leverage when it comes time to lowering the bill that creeps up every year like clockwork every February.


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## TomF (Sep 20, 2006)

detroitlions said:


> The loyality rep said if I replaced my HR-34 I would get either a HR-44 or HR-54 but they had no way of requesting a specific one. I figured it was worth a shot and was not surprised one bit I got a HR-44. The funny thing was the manufactured date was only six months newer than the HR-34. I honestly don't think its possible at the present time no matter what you do to have 4K and not be committed for two years. One dedicated station does not cut it for me as I can access plenty of 4K content on NF and AP. I like being in at most a one year contract so I have some leverage when it comes time to lowering the bill that creeps up every year like clockwork every February.


But did you specify that you have two 4K TVs and that you want to upgrade to the HR54 to get 4K? That's the only DVR, along with the C61K client that will do 4K, so that's the only one they can give you. Did a tech show up with the HR44 or did they ship it to you? If the tech showed up with it, you could have just told him "No thanks!".


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## MysteryMan (May 17, 2010)

TomF said:


> But did you specify that you have two 4K TVs and that you want to upgrade to the HR54 to get 4K? That's the only DVR, along with the C61K client that will do 4K, so that's the only one they can give you. Did a tech show up with the HR44 or did they ship it to you? If the tech showed up with it, you could have just told him "No thanks!".


There are two Genies that do 4K with the C61K700 client. The HR54 and the HS17.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

TomF said:


> But did you specify that you have two 4K TVs and that you want to upgrade to the HR54 to get 4K? That's the only DVR, along with the C61K client that will do 4K, so that's the only one they can give you. Did a tech show up with the HR44 or did they ship it to you? If the tech showed up with it, you could have just told him "No thanks!".


Detroitlions was trying to replace his HR34 without a 2-year commitment. Had he asked for 4K to get the 54, that would have got him another contract.


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## vinhmen (Feb 22, 2007)

b4pjoe said:


> When the installer was at my house last week he mentioned the lack of 4K content on DTV and I mentioned that I thought they would probably add more soon and he said he seriously doubt they will ever have any more than they have now. He didn't explain why he thought that. I just found it interesting that he said it though.


Why? I highly doubt a random contract installer has any insider insight whatsoever on D* future 4k programming plans. He's just speculating like the rest of us.


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## detroitlions (Aug 11, 2011)

trh said:


> Detroitlions was trying to replace his HR34 without a 2-year commitment. Had he asked for 4K to get the 54, that would have got him another contract.


Exactly, trh! I was hoping by some miracle I would be sent a HR-54 and could try swapping out the C-31 for a C-61K. The loyality rep even said that was only way he saw to avoid the two year agreement. I think at this point I'm just going to wait it out and see what 2019 brings on the 4K front.
Does anyone here know how long I have to access the HR-34's recordings (after disconnecting the line) once I switch over to the HR-44? I already received an email to have it recycled.


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

vinhmen said:


> Why? I highly doubt a random contract installer has any insider insight whatsoever on D* future 4k programming plans. He's just speculating like the rest of us.


Well I didn't post it as gospel fact. All I said was that I found it interesting that an AT&T employee would say that.


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## INTC (Dec 15, 2006)

I tried to upgrade to 4K and was told it would cost me $600. I currently have a HR44, C61 and a HR24. I asked for the loyalty department and he told me the same thing since they would replace all my receivers and run new cable.


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## b4pjoe (Nov 20, 2010)

Do you have the maintenance plan? Are you in a contract? Is your account still DirecTV or has it been migrated to AT&T? Sounds like they were wanting to move you to the HS17.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

INTC said:


> I tried to upgrade to 4K and was told it would cost me $600. I currently have a HR44, C61 and a HR24. I asked for the loyalty department and he told me the same thing since they would replace all my receivers and run new cable.


If your system is in and working, there shouldn't be a need to run new cable...assuming you're using the same locations.

Time for CSR Roullete. And when you call, say 'cancel'. Tell them you have 4K, but your equipment doesn't support 4K. Good luck.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

INTC said:


> I tried to upgrade to 4K and was told it would cost me $600. I currently have a HR44, C61 and a HR24. I asked for the loyalty department and he told me the same thing since they would replace all my receivers and run new cable.


Do you currently have the Protection Plan?

Rich


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## detroitlions (Aug 11, 2011)

detroitlions said:


> Exactly, trh! I was hoping by some miracle I would be sent a HR-54 and could try swapping out the C-31 for a C-61K. The loyality rep even said that was only way he saw to avoid the two year agreement. I think at this point I'm just going to wait it out and see what 2019 brings on the 4K front.
> Does anyone here know how long I have to access the HR-34's recordings (after disconnecting the line) once I switch over to the HR-44? I already received an email to have it recycled.


After an hour long call last week, they sent me a HR-54 replacement. After getting it activated I asked about swapping my minis but they said that automatically triggers an upgrade. I asked them what if I bought the C-61K on my own and they said I could. I bought one new for half the price they charge and hope once I get that activated they won't give me any hassle for simply flipping the 4K switch on my account. I'm assuming I don't need the reverse band LNB yet although I could easily purchase one and swap it out on my own if I needed to.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

detroitlions said:


> After an hour long call last week, they sent me a HR-54 replacement. After getting it activated I asked about swapping my minis but they said that automatically triggers an upgrade. I asked them what if I bought the C-61K on my own and they said I could. I bought one new for half the price they charge and hope once I get that activated they won't give me any hassle for simply flipping the 4K switch on my account. I'm assuming I don't need the reverse band LNB yet although I could easily purchase one and swap it out on my own if I needed to.


If you are buying 1 for half price it is a leased unit and DTV will probably not activate it at all. Call DTV with the serial number of the unit before you buy it.


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## INTC (Dec 15, 2006)

b4pjoe said:


> Do you have the maintenance plan? Are you in a contract? Is your account still DirecTV or has it been migrated to AT&T? Sounds like they were wanting to move you to the HS17.


I haven't been on contract since 2001, I also have the protection plan and was converted to AT&T a few weeks ago. They did want to give me the HS17, but I said I didn't want it and rather have the 54 with a 61k. He said the only option for 4K is the HS17. When I said that I was considering canceling my account he said they could do that now.


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## Howie (Aug 16, 2006)

I got the HS17 and three C-61Ks today, all free. The thing is, I only have one 4k TV. I was under the impression they wouldn't give you more 61Ks than 4k TVs you have. I guess I'm good to upgrade a couple of TVs now, if I could afford it.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

The HS17 will only support two 4K TVs at once, so if you do upgrade the other two TVs only two of the three will be able to watch 4K programming at once (granted not a problem today with so little 4K content)


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## Howie (Aug 16, 2006)

Yeah, I knew it would only support 2 at once.


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## INTC (Dec 15, 2006)

I called retention today and I am getting upgraded for free and getting my monthly bill reduced $80 for 12 months and another $10 for 6 months.


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