DIRECTV HR10-250 200 Hour DIRECTV DVR w/ TiVo

When you consider what this box is designed to do, ...

Posted Mar 21, 2005 - When you consider what this box is designed to do, it does it very well...In fact, BETTER than anything else on the market. Anyone who spends time with it and doesn't give an unqualified 5-star rating is either out of their league with this technology or is just one of those who is never satified with anything! There are (unpublished) incentives for existing DirecTV customers to go HD-DVR, but you have to talk to the right people - Customer Retention. If you're a good customer (never late pay, long-term, good history), then you should get a $250 CREDIT on your account once you buy and activate the unit, free or discounted dish upgrade & professional installation, 3 to 6 months free HD programming, 6 months free HBO/Showtime and/or 6 months discounted Premium programming. But you have to ask (demand?) it of the right person in CR, which may take more than one call. (Some associates will tell you there aren't ANY incentives while others give them freely. And a call to the "regular" DirecTV customer service reps WON'T get-r-done!) Since the unit is now available on the Net for around $850, the account credits and incentives bring net cost down to less than $500 ($250 outright credit + $100-$200 in installation/programming incentives)...And here's what you get: 2 satellite HD Tuners, 2 OTA (over-the-air) HD Tuners and a 250GB hard drive...A WHOLE BUNCH of sophisticated hardware that works pretty well, considering it is the MOST state-of-the-art HD component out there! The slow menus don't seem that slow to me, most of the time. If you've filled up the hard drive, and have both active tuners on HD programming, then yes, the menus are going to load slow...Considering the amount of data being processed at one time, this shouldn't come as a shock. Put 1 or both active tuners on channel 0 and menus load faster. So that's how you reduce the initial cost and speed up the menus. There's nothing else anyone can complain about. If you have an HDTV and it doesn't "work" with this receiver, then you're the 1 out of 100 who has the "wrong" HDTV. Too bad. In order to get the FULL HD and digital effect, you need an HDTV that's equipped with an HDMI input jack or a DVI input jack. Our 50" Samsung DLP has this and it's a simple connection. These cables come with the HD-DVR: HDMI-DVI cable, HDMI cable, Component video cables, S-video cable, Composite A/V cables, 25-foot phone cord...Easily worth $100 total. If you've had a DirecTV standard digital receiver, then the first thing you'll notice is the IMPROVED SD picture! I'm not sure if it's the new 3-lnb dish, the pure digital connection through DVI or the newer components in the box/tuners that's responsible...But all of these probably combine to give you a clearer SD picture than you've ever received over satellite. When you flip to an OTA or satellite HD channel, well, the image quality is as-advertised! Simply the BEST you can get on a TV now...The channel guide even tells you which programs will be broadcast in HD. My only "complaint" is with HD programming. First, there's not that much (yet) and second, when you're watching an HD (digital) channel that's broadcasting an SD show, they put up ANNOYING side bars on the screen...Sometimes on top and bottom too and it looks like a P-I-P without the original picture! But if you wait until everything with HDTV is "perfect", then you'll be watching it in old age. If you've laid out $4 Grand or more for an HDTV and you're not watching HD programming...Well, isn't it time? Record 2 HD programs while watching another on Tivo. Try that with ANY other hardware on the market - Can't be done! The seamless integration of the satellite and OTA tuners is beautiful...No awkward switching of wires or feeds, just use the remote. Try to build your own dual-satellite HD and dual-OTA HD receiver with a 250GB Tivo system for an effective cost of less than $500...Just try. I also recommend the Zenith Silver Sensor for local HD channels. Go to antennaweb.org (a free site) and input your street address. Get a compass to determine where to point your Silver Sensor. Set it up next to a window and check channel reception through the meters in the HD-DVR setup menu...More than likely you'll get most, if not all, of your local HD channels for FREE! If this doesn't work for you, then you'll probably need either an attic-mounted or roof-mounted OTA antenna. But when you consider you'll be getting your local channels and their HD broadcasts for free, it's not a bad investment...And neither is the DirecTV HR10-250. If you're far enough in front of the curve to have been enjoying Tivo and/or DirecTV for years, then you're cheating yourself by not adding HDTV to the mix...And instead of stacking up and connecting 4 separate tuner boxes in your component cabinet (plus a Tivo unit), this single box does it all...The folks at DirecTV should be commended for bringing this miraculous piece of video equipment to the masses!!

95% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Easy set-up: plugged in box, hooked up to amp with ...

Posted Mar 23, 2005 - Easy set-up: plugged in box, hooked up to amp with digital audio, to tv with included DVI cable, hooked up dish feeds, and called DirecTV to switch the service. Called again to get my LA feeds and that was that. If you don't already have the elliptical dish, it won't be that easy of course. I had DirecTV give me that one when I moved. The fact that they include Component Video, HDMI to HDMI, and HDMI to DVI cables is a great bonus. Incredible picture: hooked up to my Samsung DLP, the picture quality of the HD channels is unbelievable. Even with SD, the picture quality looks improved (better color) and no switching between wide and 4:3 aspect ratio is required. Tivo: Same great Tivo, now with lots more hard-drive space (about the same number of hours if all you watch is HD, but we should all be so lucky) and great integration of the off-air and satellite channels. All local channels show up next to your satellite channels (e.g. 4, 4-1, 4-2, 5, ...) and they function just like like the satellite channels. Seems a bit faster than my last one actually, perhaps because the drive is faster and bigger (less fragged). I have quite a few season passes, but few wish-lists, so maybe that's why I don't really see the speed issue. Note also that the first few days it is always going to be a bit slow. Bad: Still around $800 which is a bit high, but that's the price you pay for getting it early. Unclear what will happen with this unit as DirecTV is supposed to change their satellites and decoding for the HD local channel feeds. One odd thing is that there is no off button on the remote, and the replay button is right above the TV Power button and the same size.

88% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

HR10-250 HDTivo

Posted Sep 7, 2005 - Great HDTivo picture quality as compared to other cable/sat providers (sorry VOOM no Tivo). Easy to setup with or without 3rd party installer helping. Like any other DTivo the menus/guides are slow. The HDMI cable is sweet. One cable for audio & video. One button select for panel/stretch width to adjust for none HD content/channels. Same goes for swapping between 720i/720p/1080i. The closed caption toggle is buried so it takes a couple of menus to get to. Prices are reasonable now and DTV is offering deals /rebates on HD packages until they get a wider HD channel lineup. Just ask.

78% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

After about 45 days of watching great quality usin ...

Posted Jan 4, 2005 - After about 45 days of watching great quality using the HDMI cable, the picture went crazy--almost like it lost color. Contacted Direct TV and found out that they were aware of this problem and are working on a solution.Had to change to component cables. No date on repair, it is supposed to be a software update! Time will tell!!!

97% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

TiVo!

Posted Dec 9, 2006 - This is my fourth TiVo unit. I am extremely happy with it. I have waited along time for TiVo, DirecTv & Hughes to release frimware updates(Oct '06), but I am pleased to announce my patience has paid off. All of the functioanlity of my SD 80 hour TiVo has been implemented and all of my gripes have been addressed in the latest firmware upgrade. This is a quality receiver and would recommend it to all of my family & friends. P.S. another Firmware update is due in mid Jan '07

75% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Hughes HR10-250

Posted Aug 19, 2005 - Picture quality is excellent. Playback of recorded material is indistinguishable from live feed. I have experienced a small glitch, sometimes after turning the set on, it blacks out for a few seconds. It doesn't seem affect the recording, you can always rewind and replay the omitted portion. it would be nice to have a readily available counter indicating the amount of time available on the disk.

60% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

Hughes HR10-250 200 Hour (STD) 35 Hour (HDTV) DIRECTV DVR w/ TiVo

Posted Oct 8, 2005 - For anyone getting DirecTV, make sure you tell them to set up 2 connections for any TiVo device. Cost me an extra 2 hours of installation time since the work order was incorrectly stated. One piece of advice: if you don't want your TiVo to be flooded with programming you don't care about, go into settings and turn off 'record suggestions'. I think suggestions are cool that are tailored to the content you TiVo, but I don't like not recording programming for 7 days and coming back to find a big chunk of my HD is full. Plus, this will eventually force programming you want to save at risk of deletion. Just makes managing your programs much easier. On to the Receiver - this is a great product. Not sure if I would have dived in at $999, but the price of this is dropping quickly with the coming of the new HDTiVo. The big question that is being debated is whether or not this TiVo will be compatible with the new HD moving forward (mpeg-4 format). I am no technical expert, but from what I can gather, DirecTV will take care of you if there are any issues. Unlike Time Warner, retention actually does care about their customers (somewhat). The features on this are great. I wish there was a DVI connection, but there is only 1 HDMI connection. Recording in HD is amazing, and the user interface and features are very easy to use/manage. The user interface is alittle slow - I wish it was faster, but it is a small price to pay for this great unit. If you can get this unit for $300-400, I'd do it. Or - I'd hold out till the next generation, which should be about 6 months or so away.

50% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

HD Tivo

Posted Sep 1, 2005 - High definition rules all! To be able to view high definition and to be able to record in high definition is the best. The guide is so much slower than the regular DTV receiver. Cannot make custom lists. Native output sucks. Too good of a deal to pass up.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

DirecTV TiVO HDTV DVR

Posted Oct 25, 2005 - Awesome Tivo receiver for DirecTV with all the bells and whistles. This is a HDTV Capable receiver with TiVo integrated into it for recording HDTV !! Has all the great features of TiVo with the added capability of recording HighDef programs to the massive TiVo hard drive. Its pricey though.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

HR10-250 HDTivo

Posted Oct 3, 2005 - I searched the web for discussion boards relating to DirecTV HD and this unit. From what I've been told, this has all the hardware needed for the newest Directv HD satellite deployments (2 in orbit with 2 more on the way). I managed to find that DirecTV has an unpublished offer for current customers of $299 for this unit, and there's a $100 rebate through October. Since I got an HD TV earlier this year and I don't get enough over the air channels to bother with an antenna, I had had enough of no HD viewing opportunities. As said above, the unit's menus are a bit slow. Directv's hd lineup is modest, and the major network feeds add a whole lot more (I wouldn't have signed up if the networks weren't offered.) Lots of sports viewing opportunities unless you're an NHL fan, in which case your only choice is HDNET (3 games a week) and NBC (2 games a week starting in January). The NHL blew it as far as HD when they didn't get another ESPN contract.

0% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

I just upgrade both televisions (living room and M ...

Posted Jan 19, 2006 - I just upgrade both televisions (living room and Master bedroom) from standard Dirctv to HD. In the bedroom DTV shipped the HR10-250. Along with the upgraded receivers a new sattelite dish was required with 3lnbs and I chose to have DTV install a OTA antenna as well. The OTV reception via the HR10-250 is frankly.....pathetic. I unplugged the cable for the OTV and plugged it directly into my 37 inch LCD by LG and I immediately received all local stations nicely from the very OTV antenna that DTV installed. This immediately told me that it was not the antenna but rather the HR10-250, which is obvisiously having a problem. DTV is suppose to come out and attempt a tweak or repair but frankly, considering the cost of this receiver, this unit is a completely inadequate in every possible way. Regarding the menu, I could rewrite war and peace in a quicker fashion.

83% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

A dud

Posted Apr 6, 2006 - You have to reprogram it every time it's powered off with an undocumented feature to use skip forward the way it should work in the first place. Selecting programs to record is just plain stupid. The programming team that put the menu system together must be idiots. Trying to program multiple shows and figure out scheduling conflicts is arduous at best. The unit is unbelievably slow. It's too bad Tivo/Hughes didn't hire the programmers from UTV.

67% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

I bought this unit only to discover that DirecTv c ...

Posted Jun 9, 2006 - I bought this unit only to discover that DirecTv claims ownership to it. I have to pay a lease fee. Also, if I choose to get rid of it, they take it. Aparantly this purchase is just a down payment on a lease. Unit does not work fully with my dish. My aspect ratio changes from "full" to "letterbox" but the wrong way (tall and skinny). Can not change ratio on HD channels (stays stretched to full on both settings). Tivo sounds stop when on Hd channels. Sound cracks when changing channels. Programs do not group. Huge Tivo fan... but I find DirecTv repulsive.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review

I had the Directv SD Tivo unit for a couple of yea ...

Posted Feb 15, 2005 - I had the Directv SD Tivo unit for a couple of years, and loved it. This unit is basically the same as that unit except it can record HD, either over an external antenna or from the Directv satellite. Installation was super easy, and guided setup makes configuring the device very simple as well. However, once I tuned it to an HD channel I ran into the snag. This unit is not compatable with my 4:3 HDTV. Unlike the Cable DVR that I just got rid of, there is a bug in the Tivo unt: it fails to letterbox 16:9 material when the box is set to output at HDTV resolution. Now for most people, this won't matter. If you have a 16:9 TV, you're not affected. If you have a 4:3 TV that has a 16:9 mode, likewise you are not afftected. However, if your 4:3 TV does not have the ability to create the letterbox (like mine does not) then you're out of luck. If you're like me, you have basically two options when it comes to HDTV: either watch it full screen, which means everything is squished: people appear tall and skinny. Or, you can set the box to output 480p or 480i (The Tivo's letterboxing mode DOES work in these resolutions.) But if you do that, you're not seeing the full HD signal. It looks better than non-HD channels, but not nearly as stunning as the Cable DVR's HD looked. It's very, very disappointing. What's even more disappointing is how unhelpful Directv has been with this problem. They sold me an HD box that simply does not work as it's described. The instruction manual indicates that the Tivo should be able to letterbox HD content for display on 4:3 TVs, but it doesn't. Reseaching the issue on the net shows that this is a known bug, not something unique to my situation. Directv sold me an HD receiver that isn't. So, now assume that you have a 16:9 TV and this issue doesn't affect you. My qualms that do apply to you are these: price. way too expensive. guide speed: when dealing with the guide it's just as slow as the older SD model, which is disappointing. Also, the device should be able to automatically detect the HD resolution of the programs its dealing with and adjust its output accordingly (ie, if a program is broadcast 1080i or 480p, the unit should automatically adjust its output to match, but it doesn't. And, questionable future: Directv has said they plan to start switching over to MPEG-4 compresison for HD channels, and this box will not be able to receive those signals. It's unclear exactly when a switchover will be complete, and what if any equipment trade-in program Directv will offer for people who bought this unit. Finally, this version of the tivo software does not include folders to Tivo2Go, which is likewise disappointing. Perhaps these can be added in later software updates, but Tivo seems relatively uninterested in updating software on Directv units for some reasons (I don't think there had been any update on my old SD unit for almost a year...) Bottom line is that I have two sets of star ratings: For people with 16:9 TVs or 4:3 TVs with a 16:9 mode, I give this box 4 stars out of 5. Even with all the negatives, if you can afford it, this box will rock for you. Directv Tivo combo units are far superiour to the standalone units, and this box blows the cable HD DVR clear out of the water. There's just no comparison. For people like me with a 4:3 HDTV with no 16:9 mode, until Directv releases a software update that fixes the letterboxing problem, this unit simply doesn't work as described. 1 star out of 5.

70% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Hughes Hr10-250

Posted Jul 15, 2005 - I've used this unit for a few days, switched TV's from a 60" Sony LCD to a Sony 42" LCD, no change in picture quality. Boxed it up, traded it for the regular HD H10. This unit has a great guide but still has problems with the OTA picture. It does have the native switch. Switched it to another HD 57" Sony TV and still problems. This unit also had a lot of black out's when changing channels, some only last for seconds, others up to 30 seconds. I've gone back to my Sony HD 300 and my Mitsubish SR-HD5, both of these have great picture quality and are around great units, the Sony being a little better all around (wish they had tivo capabilities). I think Direct TV with their agreement with HUGHES will be a disaster if great improvements aren't made and soon. Any one out their have a Sony HD 300 for sale?

67% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful , unhelpful, or inappropriate?

Comment about this review