# Why does Direct tv want my Tivo?



## wisardd1 (Dec 4, 2005)

I have both the hd10 and 20. Direct tv is now offering me a free upgrade (I got the first one for free-this would be the second). They say: series 2 will be obselete and not work with new mp4. I also have a lifetime subcription to tivo and it is upgraded with an extra drive.

From the release I read dated July 31 about Directv and tivo are becoming friends again and looking for new ways to help series 2 owners. This concerns me and makes me wond if in fact giving up my tivo might be a mistake. The Tivo is paid for, the new unit you have to lease. I also pay for the insurance for repair and replacement. Anyone gotta a clue? I smell fish!


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

Your old Tivo is incompatable with MPG4, cannot be upgraded. I also understand your lifetime Tivo can be transfered to new equipment.


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## wisardd1 (Dec 4, 2005)

davring said:


> Your old Tivo is incompatable with MPG4, cannot be upgraded. I also understand your lifetime Tivo can be transfered to new equipment.


Read this. It sounds like they are going to find a way to make them work, otherwise, why would they want my Tivo? They told be to throw my last receiver in the trash. To me this hints some kind of change.

EL SEGUNDO and ALVISO, Calif., July 31, 2007 - DIRECTV, Inc. (NYSETV), the nation's leading satellite television service provider, and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), will develop a software upgrade to enhance the user experience for DIRECTV customers who have DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo® service built on the Series2™ platform.

Launching in early 2008, the new software download will provide these customers with DVR enhancements offered with the TiVo service, including a Recently Deleted Folder and Overlap Protection™, as well as DIRECTV's Remote Booking feature. In addition, DIRECTV and TiVo will continue to explore ways to bring future enhancements to DIRECTV customers with TiVo receivers.

"It is important to us that our customers with TiVo service also have access to the latest DVR technology and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities with TiVo," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development for DIRECTV, Inc. "DIRECTV's launch of these additional features underscores the uniqueness of TiVo's DVR service," said Naveen Chopra, vice president, Corporate Development and Strategy for TiVo.

DIRECTV and TiVo began their relationship in 2000 with the launch of the first DIRECTV DVR with TiVo. In April 2006, both companies announced an extension of their commercial and advertising relationship through early 2010.

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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

I don't see anything in that release about MPEG 4 capability for the HR10, and it would be a hardware issue, not software. So, you can hang onto the HR10 if you wish, but that means that you'll eventually lose the ability to view and record HD from DIRECTV. You'd have to get an MPEG 4 capable TiVo, if one is ever released.


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

If the HR10 is a leased unit, DirecTV will want it back.
If you own it, then tell them "no way"!


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## Galley (Apr 3, 2007)

jdspencer said:


> If the HR10 is a leased unit, DirecTV will want it back.
> If you own it, then tell them "no way"!


Mine was leased, and the CSR told me to sell it on eBay, which is exactly what I did.


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## wisardd1 (Dec 4, 2005)

Did you guys read the release? I own my Tivo. Please look at the following quotes:

(DT)will develop a software upgrade to enhance the user experience for DIRECTV customers who have DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo® service built on the Series2™ platform.


Launching in early 2008...


It is important to us that our customers with TiVo service also have access to the latest DVR technology and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities with TiVo

In April 2006, both companies announced an extension of their commercial and advertising relationship through early 2010.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Nothing has changed in the DIRECTV/TiVo relationship. Both companies are still happily making money from DirecTivo subscribers, and are still working to keep these machines usable. They're not closer or more distant than they were. 

There is no way than an HR10 can receive the new HD channels, just as there is no way an older TiVo can receive HD at all. It's just a hardware issue, period.


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## jdmac29 (Jan 6, 2006)

wisardd1 said:


> Did you guys read the release? I own my Tivo. Please look at the following quotes:
> 
> (DT)will develop a software upgrade to enhance the user experience for DIRECTV customers who have DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo® service built on the Series2™ platform.
> 
> ...


From my understanding on tivocommunity.com that most of the changes are for the sd tivo's not the hd tivo's. Your hr10-250 will eventually be only good for hd with an ota antenna and regular sd channels from directv. They will eventually move all hd to mpeg4 which will require an h20 or hr20 currently available. Ask them if you can keep it and use it as a backup sd receiver and just pay the 5.99 charge. My sd tivo received the e-mail from directv about the software upgrade in 2008 and they did not list the hr10-250 as part of the upgrade just all the series 2 sd tivos for directv.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

wisardd1 said:


> Did you guys read the release? I own my Tivo. Please look at the following quotes:
> 
> (DT)will develop a software upgrade to enhance the user experience for DIRECTV customers who have DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo® service built on the Series2™ platform.
> 
> ...


The thing you aren't understanding is that the HR10 physically cannot tune to the two new satellites (it has no idea they are there) and it cannot also decode MPEG4. There is nothing that can "fix" or upgrade this limitation.

The upgrade you speak of is simply a software upgrade adding a couple features to the aging DirecTivo fleet of receivers, mostly of interest to the SD versions since the HD version (HR10) will not get any of the new HD and will eventually lose the ability to get any HD from satellite, probably within a year or so. It will still be great for SD recording and OTA HD if you have access to it.

Please note there have been no new SD DirecTivo's produced in over 2 years now and over 1 year on the HD versions.


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