My HDTV Adventure...Directv

Third time was a charm. My Directv 5 LNB dish and HR20 DVR were successfully installed yesterday. When my Sony KDL46XBR2 was delivered in early January, I called the Directv retention team (based on advice from this forum) and was able to get the HR20 DVR for free and a free year of DVR service. They scheduled me for  a March 19th install. March 19th came without an installation, the installer had an accident (fair enough) but no one contacted me. Directv rescheduled for the next day, an installer and supervisor showed up. Both convinced me that there was no way for me to get the HD signal because of how they have the angle the oval dish and our large trees. I did not push it since their explanation seem plausible and I had read of many individuals (including Walt Mossberg who lives in the DC area) living near tall trees being unable to receive the HD signal. However a week later, I talked to a neighbor who had the same experience but he pressed and the installer found a line of sight.

I decided to try the stronger tack and to reschedule my installation with Directv. Unfortunately they had canceled the order and could not reactivate it. I had to create a new order, customer service called me back and could not give the deal from my previous order. I had to call back and talk to the retentions desk. I did but they did not want to give the HR20 for free, after strongly objecting that it was not fair, they told me that I should never have gotten this deal in the first place. At this point I had two choices, give up on Directv or pay. I ended paying $334.90, receiving a $105.00 credit and 1 year of free HD DVR service. This is pretty pathetic customer service for someone who has been with them 10 years. I plan on writing the CEO on two fronts, one that they should honor their original deal with me and two the fact that they may be losing a lot of customers due to incompetent or ill-trained installers.

After discussing the situation with the installer, showing the dish on my neighbors roof, he agreed to check the signal on the roof. He took up a test dish and meter (the original installers never did). Within minutes he found a suitable spot. We decided to put the dish as close to the top of the roof line to make  sure I got the best signal possible. I am now getting 100 for many of the transponder on the Tivo upstairs and downstairs in the family room the HR20 is in the mid 90's due to the long cable run. I think that is pretty good signal strength given the comments of the previous installers. The signal on the Tivo is better than what I had before.

I connected my 1 TeraByte external hard disk array, HDMI, an optical audio cable, and  a LAN cable. The unit booted right up, it immediately wanted to upgrade the software which I did. The version is now 0x145, the original version was 0xbe. Here are my initial findings:

• It detected the external hard drive immediately.
• I enabled network access so I don't have to use a phone line (very easy).
• HDMI seems to be working well, I did have to enable valid resolutions in the settings and pass through mode (hold down the format button). The Sony seems to be a little slow to recognize resolution changes but it works, unlike with the SA 8300HD.
• Dolby Digital only works with certain channels so for now I am using PCM. Switching is not that easy (too many keystrokes). Given that not all channels are transmitted with Dolby Digital audio, there should be one button on the remote to switch back and forth. 
• The ATSC off air receiver does not seem to be as sensitive as the Sony's. I am using a split off of my Terk stick UHF/VHF antenna which works fine on the Sony but flaky with the HR20. I may need to purchase a Terk HD antenna if I want to use off air channels.
• I love being able to record PPV movies and only pay for them when we watch the recording (press R to record PPVs in the guide). Also recording PPV movies allows us to watch them over several days, unlike the 24 hour limit with Comcast and Verizon FIOS. This is much more like renting a DVD and fits our viewing habits much better.
• The one problem I have with the installation, are the two little dongles for MPEG4 that need to be connected to the satellite inputs. It makes sliding the HR20 all the way back in my tight cabinet tough. I will have to reroute them elsewhere.

I am much more pleased with the HR20 than with Comcast's SA 8300HD. It is clearly a step or two above, however the UI is still not as easy as the Tivo.

Comments

[no landline]

Please, Please, Please, explain.
1)It detected the external hard drive immediately.
2)enabled network access so I don't have to use a phone line (very easy).

Were you able to add an external HD and network your HR20 DVR?

[Stephen Skarlatos]

1) With the unit off, plug your external eSATA hard drive into the eSATA port on the back of the unit. Power on, the drive will automatically be detected.
2) Plug a network cable from your router in the back of the unit, under settings/network follow configuration wizard.

[LNB]

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