DirecTv has launched 2 satellites this year (the latest in July). This will enable them to begin beaming over 100 (their stated intent) new HD channels. According to the DirecTv programming forum at DBStalk.com, 70 of those channels will go live in September. DTV will also be able to add the locals in HD to the smaller markets. While they haven't gone nuts notifying existing customers about this, the notices should begin to happen relatively soon.

An equipment upgrade will be required to take advantage of the new HD programming; you won't be able to get it with your current equipment. The required equipment includes a 5 LNB slimline dish (most of those currently installed are 3 LNB) and either a new HD receiver (H20 or the soon to be available H21) or a HD DVR receiver (HR20 or the soon to be introduced H21). The newer equipment has been available for several months and DTV has been quietly installing it (it picks up the current sat signals).

I've been following this since the first of the year and decided to act today (ordered the dish, an HD receiver and a DVR), thinking I would avoid the rush. Well today I got a surprise in scheduling my upgrade installation. The EARLIEST date I could get was October 12th. I'll be calling the installer tomorrow to see if we can improve on that.

I am telling you this to make you aware of the pending logjam and give you the chance to get into the process and avoid a June install.

I hope it helps some of you.

Ray, Thanks for the heads up.

Ray,

When will we find out about the channel selection?

It's not worth the change if Sci-Fi is SD.

Woohoo! I had DirecTv installed a couple of weeks ago. I know I have the 5lnb dish, and when I signed up there was a free upgrade to the HD receiver (checked, and it is the H20). So far, I'm really enjoying the HD content. Granted, there isn't a whole lot, but I don't watch that many channels anyway. I love National Geographic and Discovery. If more channels will be available, that would be awesome.

Thanks for the heads up, Ray!

Another thing to note is that if you already have had a H20 or HR20 for a while you may need to order B-Band converter(s). They give the details on their website. Just logon and go to “Latest News” > “Ready for more HD?”

I ordered my two last week and they arrived Fed Ex two days later. There was no cost for them.

Just ordered mine, my new 5LNB dish and HR20 will be installed Fri. Although he could not give me a new programming list, he did tell me A&E and the SciFi channel will be two of the first of around 100 new HD channels.

This is great news; thanks Ray and Michael.

Do you guys care to share what all this cost? I am an existing DirecTV customer. I've often heard they treat new customers better than existing ones.

Tom, I agree about them generally giving new customers a better deal, I would guess it depends on the type of equipment you already own, I believe without any type of exchange, to upgrade the dish and get the DVR HR20 you have to pay $298.00 for box and dish install, for a basic HD box with no DVR I beleive it is $99.00. HD programming is $9.99 a month in my case.

DBStalk has a posting that lays out the tenttive listing for the first 70 channels (including Sci-Fi and, of course - the Golf Channel).

As far as cost is concerned, I'll point you at DBStalk again here. They have a thread that details the deals folks have been able to get.

There is no cost for the installation, the dish, the b Band converters or and multi-switches that might be needed.

The go-in position with D* is as follows:
H20 = $99 + 19.95 shipping + tax
HR20 (DVR) = $299 + 19.95 shipping + tax

If you have been a long term customer in good standing, they will deal, but it may include asking to be connected to Customer Retention and you may need to call 3-4 times before you catch a deal you like. Some folks have waited for the prompt on the phone menu and said "Cancel" which gets a rep on the line immediately and there has been some success with that. Also, some folks have sent an email to start the ball rolling. I encourage you to get through that thread (I can't post it because I am on a different computer and don't have the URL handy).

Tom - to answer your question more directly, here is the deal I got (12 year customer):
H20 = 99 + 19.995 + tax and they will credit out the $99 charge on my next bill. Net is around $25 for the H20

HR20 = free.

The net cost of the upgrade/installation will be around $25. There is $5/month charge for the DVR service.

Also, the CSR told me I could upgrade the H20 (likely free) to an HR20 after 6 months.

One more tidbit. Apparently you can plug an external hard drive(USB) into the HR20 for more capacity.

I encourage you to get over to DBS talk and do some research. There is much more detail than I can provide here.

Ray, That's a sweet deal getting the HR20 for free I guess I should have haggled more

Thanks, Ray. Want to make a few calls for me?

Thanks for that info. Called just now and have an install coming tomorrow. H20or 21 installed. They took $75 off and free install.

Again, thanks for the heads up.

Bill3508

How much are you all paying for the HD service? I am on Dish right now with 4 TVs, 2 are on the same DVR box, no HD content. I have their 100 channel package, and with all service fees (not the tax) I pay $45.98 a month. I would love to get all 4 TVs on DVR and upgrade 1 to HD for my home theater, but I don't want to shell out $75 a month or something for TV.

I went out to try to figure out how "cheap" I could get the package to switch to DirecTV, and it isn't cheap at all.

From what everything is telling me, I need a seperate receiver for EACH TV, is that correct? Right now I have 2 receivers, and each receiver handles 2 seperate TVs (on seperate channels) at the same time. One of those is also a DVR, so I can start playing back a show in the living room at night, and then if it gets late, I can continue it up in our bedroom since those 2 TVs are using the one, dual tuner DVR. I also have 100 channels (not counting PPV, or music channels) and again, with all of the fees it runs me about $45 a month. Now, if I switch and upgrade to HD content, with DirecTV, it is something like $65 a month for the first 4 months, but I wonder what it will go to after that promo period. It also will cost me around $300 in up front equipment fees (HD DVR, etc)... YIKES... I love the idea of HD content in my home theater, but if that is the driving force, then I am not sure that I can honestly justify a switch.

I know that I could always call them, but I am not a loyal customer of 12 years or anything.

Someone give me some good news here. I would LOVE to get a bunch of HD channels...

I just moved to my new house and shelled out some cash to have cable jacks installed in every room ($80 bucks or so.) So I will not be switching anytime soon.

I have cable with HD+DVR+ a couple of movie channels + highspeed internet and my bill is not cheap.

However, I got this from the dircecTV web site:

The future of television has arrived. DIRECTV brings you our new HD DVR, soon with the capacity to offer 100 HD channels*

*Number of channels subject to available HD programming.

While it is neat that they are adding the CAPACITY for 100 hd channels, until there are 100 worthwhile HD networks I will not even think about switching. I am sure my cable company has the CAPACITY for more HD channels then they provide. I just don't understand what good a 100 channel hd capacity is without 100 quality HD networks.

Show me a channel lineup and I will re-consider dishing out money to my cable provider.

However, I do like the idea of being able to add an external hard-drive for extra storage. Our DVR does not have that feature but I think we can DVR to the hard drive on the computer with our windows media center PC...

Nick, these are the offers going on now DIRECTV I believe they will also install up to 4 regular systems for free. HDDVR and HD boxes are a bit more.

Although you may have the ability to get the 100 channels it all depends on your programming choice, I'm sure they will be offering many in the premium services such as HBO and Showtime, I just have the regular 185 channels, but since the HD package is only $9.99 even if I only get 10 more channels like HGTV, SCIFI ,History and A&E I'll be a happy camper.

Cox just added A&E HD to the lineup a month or so ago. It has some pretty good shows on it.

I won't be switching from cable anytime soon, but hopefully this will put pressure on cable companies and others to increase their HD lineup

Quote:

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Nick, these are the offers going on now DIRECTV I believe they will also install up to 4 regular systems for free. HDDVR and HD boxes are a bit more.

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It is $298 in startups getting HDDVR (that I can't watch anywhere else) and a seperate SDDVR (for 1 TV) and 2 non-HD, non-DVR boxes. If I simply add a 3rd SDDVR, it jumps to $397 in startup costs and the monthly bill jumps from $69 to $79 (after the first 4 months of "$5 off").

I'm just not sure that it is worth the cost. Those already loyal to DirecTV and can get free hardware upgrades and such are the lucky ones.

The following is the list (dated May 7, 2007 from www.dbstalk.com) of the proposed new HD channels for DirecTV. Of them, my family and I would watch (many of these on somewhat rare basis):
TNT
Discovery HD Theater
Animal Planet
Discovery Channel
Food Network
HGTV
Sci-Fi
Disney Channel
ABC Family
Hallmark Channel

----THE LIST----

Available Now:

70 HBO East
71 SHO East
72 ESPN2
73 ESPN
74 UHD
75 TNT
76 Discovery HD Theater
78 HD Net Movies
79 HD Net

98 National Geographic Channel Sneak Peek (Times vary)
332 MHD Sneek Peek (Times vary)

99 HD Pay-Per-View

Depending on service area and equipment:

ABC
CBS
NBC
FOX
CW
MY Network TV

Local Regional Sports Network


Coming in September:

A&E
Animal Planet
Big Ten Network
Chiller
CineMax East
CineMax West
CNN
Discovery Channel (simulcast)
Food Network
HBO West
HGTV
History Channel
MHD (MTV)
NFL Network (Full-Time)
Science Channel
Showtime West
Starz! East
Starz! West
Starz! Edge
Starz! Comedy
Starz! Kids & Family
The Movie Channel
The National Geographic Channel
TBS
TLC
The Weather Channel
Versus/Golf

November:

RFD TV

Fall 2007:

Bravo
Cartoon
CNBC
FX
HBO2 East
HBO2 West
HBO Family East
HBO Family West
HBO Latino East
HBO Signature East
MoreMax East
Sci-Fi
Sleuth
Speed
USA

21 Regional Sports Networks:

Blackout Rules still apply!

Altitude
Comcast SportsNet Chicago
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
FSN Arizona
FSN Bay Area
FSN Detroit
FSN Florida
FSN New England
FSN North
FSN Northwest
FSN Ohio
FSN Prime Ticket
FSN Rocky Mountain
FSN South
FSN Southwest
FSN West
New England Sports Network
SportsNet New York
SportsSouth
Sun Sports
YES

December 2007:

The Tennis Channel

Spring 2008

Disney Channel
Toon Disney
ABC Family
ESPN News
Hallmark Channel
MGM


Announced HD for Fall 2007 but not announced for DirecTV yet:

Trinity Broadcasting Network

Announced HD channel rollouts by Spring 2008 but no carriage announcements for DirecTV yet:

MAV TV, HBO Comedy East/West, HBO Latino West, HBO Signature West, HBO Zone East/West, @Max East, 5 Star Max East, ActionMax East/West, MoreMax West, OuterMax East, ThrillerMax East/West, WMax East

Existing HD that I have no carriage info for:

Lifetime HD, MOJO, Outdoor 2, Playboy, Wealth