Have looked into all the files for the HR10-250 CC control, no luck. The HR10-250 controls the closed captioning instead of my TV set. It's not very easy to go through all the menus to turn the CC on or off. Any help with this would be appreciated by a hard of hearing person.

Thank You Bob H.

Soon after I got my HR10-250, the CC Appeared. IInitially I could not figure out how to turn it on or off. I made a call to DirecTV technical support. The "technician" insisted that CC was always controlled by the TV set and that the HR10-250 had nothing to do with it. I knew this was BS and asked that my call be escalated, but she refused.

It is not simple to turn CC on or off. I found I had to navigate to the speaker or Dolby Digital icon on the "Channel Banner" that appears when you press the "info" button. If the icon is bright, you can highlight it and press the select button to choose an alternate audio track.

I don't see any good way to automate the process by using a macro, because the selections available differ as a function of the program content. I think you have no choice but to go through the menu process one step at a time.

That's what I thought. I don't know why they have to bury the CC controls. It used to be that you had 1 button on the remote, push once CC on, push again CC off.

Thanks Bob H.

The TiVO portion of the HR10-250 is great - like any other TiVO. The tuner section is pretty bad - I think it was kluged together in a hurry. The tuner section of the new DirecTV HD DVR is much, much better. I saw it at CES. Supposed to be available soon, but given DirecTV's history in such things I wouldn't hold my breath.

Are you talking about the HR20-250? That would be Directv's own HD DVR without Tivo. I gather it should be out within a few months and they will looking to trade dishes and receivers for the MPEG4 format.

Thank You Bob H.

I don't recall the numerical designation (if I ever knew it). I don't think it is the one you used. It has a 300GB drive, so the 250 wouldn't apply. Also I think the 'H' stands for Hughes, and I don't think there is a manufacturing facility operating under the Hughes name in existence any longer.

Don't know if they'll be trading or not. I originally heard that they were going to allow trade ups for people who bought the HR10-250 within the last year. However, I just found out that the pricing structure for everything is changing including ownership. All boxes will now be leased and prices will be fixed for all retailers/dealers. They should be in the $89 to $99 range for an HD box and a little more for a HD DVR. Or, maybe it was around $50 for an HD box and $100 for a DVR.

Only time will tell for sure but we were told about the lease thing the other day by DirecTV.

For those who care, here is a writeup on DirecTV's new policy:

"Directv Inc. has announced that they are migrating to an equipment lease only platform beginning March 1, 2006 in order to help reduce individual subscriber acquisition costs and increase subscriber retention. This will have an impact on new subscribers in that they will never own their equipment but will instead pay a monthly rental fee for as long as they subscribe to Directv. This model is identical to the cablevision industry, which has rented its converters and decoders to its subscribers, which is extremely lucrative over the long run.

The upside to this new plan is that it will allow customers to enjoy the latest technologies such as MPEG4 HDTV locals as well as high definition DVR's much more cost effectively as they will not be required to pay $800-$1000 for the special decoder. It will also allow future equipment upgrades and as well receiver repairs are all covered in the monthly lease. The downside is that subscribers over the long run may pay in rental fees much more than the receiver is worth. Additionally, the receiver will remain the property of Directv and the subscriber will bear the responsibility of keeping it in good condition and must be returned to Directv upon termination of their subscription.

Directv dealers are currently in the process of being advised of the change which will be in full effect as of March 1. After this date, it will no longer be an option to purchase new equipment outright as Directv will not compensate its dealers for sold equipment after this date, only leased equipment. In order to make a minimal impact on existing subscribers, Directv will be waiving the lease fee on a subscribers first receiver. All additional receivers will be subject to a $4.99 per month leasing fee. This fee will replace the $4.99 per receiver mirroring fee that multiple subscribers are currently already paying.

It is also interesting to note that all new leasing subscribers will be subject to a minimum programming commitment (contract), identical to those that new subscribers are required to sign into. Individuals wishing to subscribe to Directv without a contract will only be able to do so with existing owned equipment or by purchasing pre-owned equipment. Existing customers wishing to add additional receivers after March 1 will also be required to lease them from Directv. Directv has also indicated that they plan to continue to offer free standard installation to new subscribers.

This new policy will also have an effect on its DVR customers as well. A common modification for existing DVR subscribers has been to upgrade the DVR's hard drive. This however has tended to void the manufacturers warranty, so it is likely that new DVR customers under the lease policy will be prohibited from making any unauthorized modifications to their equipment as it will remain the property of Directv.

Directv has also indicated that they are not offering any guarantee of new equipment being provided to you at the time of your subscription. They are reserving the right to provide re-conditioned equipment to subscribers if new equipment is not available. This provision would allow them to recondition off-lease receivers and re-lease them to new subscribers. Because Directv is phasing out third party equipment, re-leasing reconditioned receivers would prove to be highly profitable."

When I read about this, I wrote DirecTV, but have yet to receive a reply. Although March 1 is only a few weeks away, it seems that the company is not ready to brief its customers.

Thanks, mburwen. That about sums it up and jives with what my boss told us.

Postscript:

Apparently, DirecTV will not upgrade customers that have the HR10-250 unless the unit needs replacement. The following is a response I received to my inquiry on the subject:

"Thank you for writing. Our move to renting our equipment will start March 1st. We have not sent out a general notification to our customers because the switch to rental will not affect our current customers that own their equipment. Billing will not increase as a result of switching to rental equipment. Current customers that own their equipment would have it replaced by rental equipment in the event of a receiver going out and needing to be replaced.

The only upgrade possible for an HR10-250 would be to the new MPEG-4 HD-DVR that will be released later this year. We do not have any information yet on how an upgrade to this receiver will be handled, but the first option will be rental of the receiver. Please stay tuned to DIRECTV.com for more information as it develops. We hope this is helpful; we remain at your service."

That receiver would be the HR20-250 coming out by the 2ndQ. I noticed in the manual, that I read on line, that the present model H20 doesn't have the CC. So my thinking is the HR20-250 won't either, because these units will not have the Tivo software. Which if this is all true, then I will be able to control the CC via the TV set again.