I'll be moving into a brand new home in two weeks. I'm trying to consolidate the communications services that come into my home. I have an HD-ready Sony LCD projection TV (doesn't have the multi-pin HDMA input that's on current TVs; uses 3 RCA jacks for HD input). I have a series 2 DirecTiVo DVR; I've never enabled HD access.
I called DirecTV today, and they told me they'd discount a new DirecTV HD-DVR and the HD service, that I could keep my current TiVo (which has lifetime service), and that they'd install a 5-LNB dish so that I could receive HD in the family room, standard def TV independently in the bedroom I've had the house wired so that it will support independent receivers. Last summer there were a bunch of rumors about renewed negotiations between DirecTV and TiVo, but I can't find anything new about this. My alternatives include getting Dish via ATT, who provides my local and long distance phone service and aDSL (although I pay another ISP for the internet and DSL service, because ATT.net is PPPoE, whereas I get a static IP from my current ISP). It seems I really wouldn't save anything by bundling DISH with my phone service, partly because in order to get Versus (I watch the Tour de France and other bicycle races) with DISH I have to get their most comprehensive channels package to get Versus. My questions: 1. Does DirecTV's own HD-DVR have a "Season Pass" equivalent? Does it allow me to watch one thing and record another simultaneously? 2. Should I be considering changing to Comcast in order to stay with TiVo? What's the current scuttlebutt about a renewed alliance between TiVo and DirecTV? 3. Even though I wouldn't save any money by transitioning to DISH (and I'd have a useless TiVo to boot), does anyone think I'd be happier with the DISH HD DVR than DirecTV's HD DVR? 4. Currently, I have 2 phone lines in my house. One carries the DSL signal, and my dim recollection when I set things up was that I couldn't use that line for the DirecTV middle of the night phone calls that update the TV schedule. In my new house, I'm considering getting just one POTS line that will also bring in the DSL signal, and getting the second line via ATT's VOIP (CallVantage)service. I'm told there are converters that will allow FAX signals to run over that service, but I'm not sure whether I'd be able to get my TV schedule updates if one line is DSL, the other VOIP. (Another concern here is that the max download rate I can get at this address via DSL is 3 mbits/sec because of my linear distance from the nearest fiber closet. Anyone able to hazard a guess whether that's enough for one line VOIP (it wouldn't be the primary voice line) as well as general internet access for 2-5 computers (typical residential use, although my son does some bittorrent downloads - no hosting - when he thinks I'm not looking). Sorry for all the questions. Thanks so much for any opinions, suggestions, cautions, etc. Jim Robertson --
