Hey. guys!

I can get the DTV HD tuner for $100 or the -250 HD-Tivo for $400 from DTV. Should I opt for one now or wait for the new (MP-4?) gear to arrive? All opinions welcome, please.

Thanx,

I got the HDTivo. Either the H10 or the HR10-250 will be swapped for the similar equipment when necessary. (likely called the H20 and HR20-250) I wouldn't be surprised if the new HD DVR costs around $400, so it probably doesn't matter when you purchase. Except that if you purchase now, you can get HD DVR capability now.

Where or who at DirecTV makes this promise? I'd only trust it in writing myself.

History, every dish/card/receiver swap necessitated by new technology has been free. Statements for the last month from CSRs. Comments in the last investors' conference call.

Trust what you will. Don't trust what you won't.

I have the HD Tivo myself and I love it. I think you will too if you go that way. Only real complaint I have is slow menus and guides. Otherwise it works very well and the OTA HD tuners pull in channels my 2 previous units did not even see.

Only thing you should consider is this: I agree that D* will upgrade our older units at no cost, but that will not happen until the MPEG-4 locals are in your area. I'm not in a top 30 market so it will probably be a few years before we get the HD locals and therefore a few years until I get the free upgrade offer. If you are buying now expecting the upgrade soon, check your market. You may wind up waiting for awhile before you get the offer.

If you can't get MPEG4 signals, you don't need the upgrade. And, other than speed with a processor design from THIS decade, there is little doubt the NDS box will be a downgrade from the Tivo.

I have been pushing DirecTV for years, sneering in disgust at the cable companies over their ridiculously poor picture and poor service.

Well, the service is the same, or worse, but DirecTV's is worse now, especially with installers, as I often have to schedule them for a time when I can be at the client's house to minimize the work they create for me.

But DirecTV cannot compete with the cable companies in my area for the number of channels and the relevancy of the channels available as HD. I mean, it is cooler to watch college TV on NBC, CBS and ABC than it is once more to count the number of hairs on a flea's left vesicle on DiscoveryHD, or on Mark Cuban's head on HDN. Just being able to approximate the number of players on the bench from the TV picture is stunning. And these pictures move, too!

But back to it. I am not a fan of DirecTV HD programming because of its limitations, so if I were buying HD, I would get the best set I could get right now and get an HD DVR.

Unless it were a MOXI box. Those should be grenaded. Imagine a modern box without a guide! And so slow!