DTV Offers Tivo Users An Upgrade And A Headache

I got a message on my home answering machine that said that I needed to call DirecTV (DTV) (my current TV service provider) about an "upgrade" that I'm eligible for. So I called DirecTV to discuss this.

A little background first. For the past 3 years or so I've been using the HR10-250 TiVo (TIVO) DirecTV receiver. I've loved this receiver. It has 4 tuners in it (two HD and two standard def), and a 250GB hard drive that can record up to 30 hours of HDTV programming or 200 hours of standard definition TV. But most of all it's a TiVo. And I LOVE TiVo. TiVo's intuitive interface is easy to use and never has problems. So overall I've been pretty happy with this unit.

But now DirecTV wants me to "upgrade" to a new DirecTV HR20. The thing is that this is not a TiVo.

When I bought my HR10-250 I paid $1,300 for it. Granted I'm a bleeding edge tech sort of guy. But now DirecTV wants me to "upgrade" to a unit that sells for $299.99. This unit scored a 7.4 out of 10 rating from CNET's editors but actual users on CNET gave it a 4.3 out of 10 "mediocre" score.

CNET listed the "bottom line" on this unit as "The DirecTV HR20 is easy to use and offers plenty of features, but its operational bugs make use more of a headache than other DVRs." You see, that's the thing. TiVo is simple. DirecTV's HR20 unit is described as a "headache."

My bottom line is that it sucks that DirecTV dropped TiVo as a provider of set top boxes and now is trying to trick me into "upgrading" to a worse box than the one that I already have. Of course they are claiming that I can get more HDTV programming with this new unit, but frankly, between what I already get on HDTV and Netflix (NFLX), I have more than enough stuff to watch.

And are you ready for the real kicker? This new "upgrade" only requires me to sign on for another 2 year contract with DirecTV. You're going to give me an inferior box AND make me sign a 2 year contract? Certainly there are some idiots that will take DirecTV up on their "generous" upgrade offer, but I won't be one of them.

In fact I have half a mind to just bolt from DirecTV and move over to digital cable anyways. This way I can either get a Series 3 TiVo or one of the new Media Center CableCARD PCs plus a bunch of new HD channels and truly get a better product.

By the way, do you know what I paid DirecTV for content last month? $91.96. And that's what I've been paying them a month for the past few years. You'd think they'd treat me a little better than this.

Comments

[vt marketing professor]

Great analysis. The bottom line is that DTV (& others) have ripped of TIVO and infringed on their technology. These so called providers think they don't need TIVO and can similar technology and cut them out of the mix. Well, DTV, I for one will follow TIVO, not DTV.

BTW, you left out another kicker.....IF you "upgrade", DTV wants your 10-250 which you paid for!! And, on the H20...It's only leased. What a laugher.

[FCotton]

I recently upgraded. I had 2 10-250s. One was purchased prior to the "leasing" and I kept that for the third TV in my house. They did take back the one purchased later under leasing. The H20 is not an intuitive TIVO but it is OK. I paid $100 for the 2 H20s and kept the TIVO. If you harang customer retention you can probably do better. We wanted STARZ and local HDTV on the sets without an antenna.

[SG]

i agee. The TIVO HD is great! Perhaps with the new owner of DirectTv we will be eventually be able to use the TIVO HD

[20TIL6]

My experience when talking with DTV, cable, AT&T U-Verse, etc. is that they initially say that they offer TiVo. Many customers think that any DVR is a TiVo. With a bit of pressure, they will say that their DVR is "just like TiVo". I have had DTV and AT&T say exactly that. Their DVR is "just like TiVo". Of course, I know better.

But for those that were given this line, by DTV, and they took the HR20/21, couldn't they attempt to cancel their agreement and get out of the 2 year contract due to misrepresentation? False advertising, bait and switch, etc.

If DTV is going to be so bold as to say that the HR20/21 is "just like TiVo", should that not be tested? There are a number of features that make TiVo more desirable, and if the DTV DVR does not measure up in those areas, the contract should be nullified.

[User 124725]

The HR21 isn't LIKE TIVO, its BETTER than TIVO.

[Matt J]

I've had an HR20 for a week now, I took the plunge due to my Tivo's HDMI output dying and it deciding to lock up on a regular basis after about 2 years of service.

The HR20 is running different software and has it's known issues but with Directv updating it on a regular basis, it's become a pretty stable machine since it came out.

As for the two year contract, it's stated up front, there's no bait and switch trying to lock you into it.

Personally Tivo HD isn't an option, my local Comast has yet to roll out HD in my area. If it was I'd still pass on the monthly Tivo fees plus cable card rental fees just to have the Tivo GUI. Do some research, those units are having issues of their own also.

[Rob G]

Tivo HD is not an "option" for Comcast. Tivo HD takes a Cable Card that Comcast must supply you by law (effective July 31). The "option" that Comcast hasn't rolled out yet is offering Tivo software on on its own Motorola DVRs, which presumably saves you money up front by not requiring you to buy the $299 Tivo HD and paying a monthly fee to Tivo for its service.

I was also a very happy DirecTivo user (HR10-250), who switched to my cable company's (RCN) Motorola DVR and found it horribly inferior to my old Tivo. I've since bought an TivoHD which works great with cable, and appreciate it now more than ever, having lived without it for six months. ...

[User 124725]

I guess I'm an idiot because I did upgrade to the HR2x (I actually got a HR21. Same as HR20 w/o OTA tuner.) Oh and I didn't pay anything for it. Got a deal for a free upgrade AND free HD programming for a year. The new HR21 blows away any DirecTIVO receiver I've ever had. I couldn't be happier and wouldn't take another TIVO receiver if it was free. You TIVO snobs need to realize they aren't the GODS of DVRs.

[Rob G]

Well, you called yourself an "idiot," so I'll leave the judgments to others, but I certainly wouldn't consider removing a valuable feature like the OTA tuner an incremental upgrade (from HR20 to HR21). The OTA tuners in my HR10-250, which picked up the local HD broadcasts for me were what finally allowed me to use Picture-in-Picture cabability in my TV set (to monitor concurrent football games) after 15 years of having that feature touted in every set I bought. And, of course, they're especially handy when bad weather causes the dish to go dark. I would hope that after a long and fruitful partnership with Tivo, DirecTV would have a DVR that is more similar than those pitiful Motorola boxes that the cable companies pawn off as "just like Tivo," but I suspect the features and functions aren't quite as powerful and refined as Tivo, which is now on version 9.2, I believe, of it's software. Doest the HR20/21 let you record a show on one TV and watch it on another, like my Series 2 Tivos do? Do they let you transfer them to your home computer's hard disk to preserve them so they won't be deleted, and then let you transfer them back for viewing on your TV at your leisure? I suspect not.

[User 124725]

I guess I'm an idiot because I did upgrade to the HR2x (I actually got a HR21. Same as HR20 w/o OTA tuner.) Oh and I didn't pay anything for it. Got a deal for a free upgrade AND free HD programming for a year. The new HR21 blows away any DirecTIVO receiver I've ever had. I couldn't be happier and wouldn't take another TIVO receiver if it was free. You TIVO snobs need to realize they aren't the GODS of DVRs.

[sew]

I upgraded from two HR10-250 TiVos to the DTV HR20. The software is certainly different, however after you get used to the different interface, its easy to operate (my wife can use it). Yes, there are some bugs (by the way, most of the content of the CNET review is from a long time ago), but a lot of updates have been pushed out to the boxes since they first came out. There is definitely functionality now available that the review says was not there (aspect ratio in HD as an example). One of the bugs is that there are still some times where the sound drops out on certain channels (particularly on KTLA HD in Los Angeles). Yes, its a bummer that we all paid big bucks on the original HR10-250 and now will be possibly paying a few bucks to convert. However a friend of mine received a call from Directv to swap both his HR10-250 for no cost (just a 1 year contract commitment). Also, there is no additional cost to receive 65 of the 70 new HD channels. The additional sports and movie content in HD is awesome. The situation is not as bad as you make it out to be. Oh and by the way, its true that you pay a monthly lease fee (just like the cable companies charge), however on incremental receivers, its less than we paid previously for having an additional unit connected (the previous $4.95 per month fee for each additional receiver). Not sure its fair to comment on a product if you haven't used it yourself.

[ehayes]

ok... first, the "non tivo bigots" seem to NOT state WHY their non-tivo is just fine...

I LOVE my TiVo... But... am going to HD. So, there goes 4.0.1b :-(

I'm looking into replacing with a 10-250, then sticking 2 750's in it... BUT... is there a limitation on the HD channels I will be able to get from DirecTV?

Thanks!
-eric

[ehayes]

oh... and Thomas... sorry to use your blog for Tech Support. :-)

-e