DIRECTV H21-100 HD SATELLITE RECEIVER DIRECT TV NIB!!!!

On paper this is a great unit, however after roughly 4 years as a DTV Tivo user, I decided to take DTV up on their offer to upgrade to the HR21 series. Wow, what a huge mistake!

This machine was so horrific, I honestly don't know where to begin. In theory outside of it's inability to perform wishlist autorecords (only tivo users know what I'm talking about), it should be a slight improvement to the sd tivo units, however it doesn't do what a DVR is supposed to do. What am I referring to?

1) Scheduled recordings were frequently blank. Yes, the program is in the "now playing" list, but there is nothing behind door # 1. Folks, you have no idea how much this disrupted our "Tivo spoiled" household.

2) We worked with DTV to the fullest, and after 7 units, we finally gave up and hooked up the old Tivo again. We were eventually told by DTV that we were far from alone.

3) The unit locked up constantly, and resets take 10 minutes or more to recover.

4) DVR's allow one to fast forward and rewind or even pause programming right? Well, not these.... DTV had a known issue for literally months while we had these units. During playback, we'd often fast forward through a commercial, only to lose control of it. Yes, it took over on its own, and didn't allow us to resume play. We'd sit there for minutes waiting for the fast forward wheels to stop rolling, look at one another and try to decide if we should throw it out the window, wait, or reset it.

4) Don't fall for the On Demand hype either. Granted it's in Beta, but holy moly it's far from complete, and the install alone was a near logistical nightmare. Nobody in our area was even remotely familiar how to install the connection for this feature.

***I could go on and on, but my guess is you likely get the point.***

In all, I convinced my family for multiple months it would be worth it to tough it out while DTV worked out the known issues, and continued to update their software. Well, a few months later, I've got the proverbial egg on my face, and would like to help prevent anyone out there from making the same mistake.

For what it's worth, we were assured by the DTV sales folks that all the "known issues" were worked out and fully resolved prior to signing up, so we felt even more misled after going through what we experienced.

In a nutshell, don't do it!

Unit no longer turns on after 5 DAYS. SWEET.

They sent me a new one with parts missing from the box, and it's 0-1 when trying to record shows with the DVR function.
I guess they want the broken one back, but forgot to send me the shipping labels, shipping instructions, installation instructions, you know... anything useful you'd need. This company is an absolute joke. if you don't believe me, do some research.

I've had the DVR since 11/07. I've had nothing but issues: the box locking up, audio dropouts, and no signal on certain channels. The firmware updates tend to make things worse. The most recent firmware update is causing shows not to record. I have checked numerous forums and everyone is having the same issues.

When I tried to cancel I was told I had a two year contract and would have to pay to cancel. I was also told you are really not buying the equipment, your only leasing it, meaning you have to send it back to them. So I payed $200.00 for a box I don't get to keep when I quit service.

Do yourself a favor and find a different service, don't get locked into near worthless service for two years...

I "upgraded" to two of these from a pair of HR10-250s. I did plenty of research going into the transition so I knew that the dual record buffer feature is not included in the HR21 and also that there was no OTA tuner in the HR21 (the AM21 will allow that whenever it is released). I've had one HR21 running for 2 days before it froze up which is why I gave the unit only 3 stars to start.

Things I like about the HR21 are the menus seem to be more fluid and responsive. The appearance of the unit is nice and it fits in well with my other components which are all black as well. There is a reset button on the front behind the door that covers the card slot. The HR21 can be turned off, but it will still record shows it is set to record. The SWM-8 capability which will allow me to feed both tuners in the DVR with a single cable. The ability to display 480p and 1080i in their native format automatically without having to push a button to switch the screen resolution (nice on a 4:3 digital TV).

Things I don't like about the HR21 are that there doesn't seem to be a way to program the remote to turn off my TV and stereo with the push of a single button. I have to turn off the TV, slide the switch over to AV1, push Power, and then everything is off. No OTA tuner so I can no longer get PBS and a few smaller local channels in HD. It still locks up (hopefully this is a software issue that will be fixed soon). The menus are somewhat counter-intuitive, but this is just a learning issue)

Also, any DirecTV DVR purchased somewhere other than a big retail store (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.) will be identified as a leased unit when you activate service with DirecTV. According to the DirecTV rep I spoke to, this cannot be changed. If you are an existing customer you may want to call to find out if you're eligible for a free upgrade.

After trying at least 3 of these units, directv has admitted that they don't work over HDMI with about 1/2 of all TVs. They CLAIM this is the TV's fault, not the recievers!! Funny, everyone elses HD units work fine on these TV's, but DIRECTV still insists it's the TV's fault, not their non-functional reciever. Don't accept this junk for your money. Insist on TIVO returning. TIVO works. This unit can't display HD, freezes, drops audio, has lines in the picture, etc. Don't accept it, demand dual buffering. Call and write DIRECTV and insist on it, it's your money. Don't waste it on this non-functional unit. I only wish I could give 0 stars.
PS DIRECTV has also admitted they COULD have dual buffering, but they won't pay TIVO to lease the copyright unless enough customers complain about the loss of dual buffer. I've made it my mission. Call them, write them, stop trucks on the road and berate them. Insist on dual buffering and you may get it back. Remain silent and you'll get nothing. That's direct from directv's customer service.
chase.carey is the president of directv, if you can figure out his email (just think, where does he work?), email him.