I talked to the folks at Value Electronics yesterday - the HR10-250 (HD DirecTiVo, if you have been piloting the Mars rover for the last six months) began shipping this Wednesday. They are filling January orders now - mine will ship in mid May. I already have the triple LNB dish in place, courtesy DirecTV for $65, and will provide a review as soon as it is up & running.

regards, billb....

Thanks for the update bill...I ordered mine in Feb and they told me I'm looking at mid may too...well, cool...I have a new toy to look foward to...At least I'll be able to watch movies when I really want to. It seems like all the best flicks are on during the daytime when most of us common laymen actually work. Now I'll have a smorgasboard to choose from when I get home!...

This unit leaves those of us out who no longer have a landline. Looks like ReplayTV is ahead of it's time with a cat5 connection. Maybe next year someone will get it right.

Steve...For what it's worth, I have had Directv for 12 years and except for the initial hook up I have never had my phone line hooked up. Unless your going to be ordering alot of Pay-per-view newer releases... you can still do it. I don't know your exact situation, and sometimes it's tricky, but it's possible to do it.

<Steve...For what it's worth, I have had Directv for 12 years and except for the initial hook up I have never had my phone line hooked up. Unless your going to be ordering alot of Pay-per-view newer releases... you can still do it. I don't know your exact situation, and sometimes it's tricky, but it's possible to do it.>

Unfortunately, TiVo service requires regular dialup access; I'm not sure this can't be done via a mobile account - but I'm not sure it can, either. Anyone have this info?

regards, billb....

Bill...thats what they said about my receiver too. [That it was required]...(but in fact it's not)...I'll tell you what...After I get mine I'll post whether you absolutely need one or not.

Here is a great site for detailed specs...
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=HD-DVR250

It is TiVo that requires the connection - mine dials in several times a week. It used to be the case that all service info went through this periodic dialup, but guide info now comes off the sat. I'm fairly certain that software upgrades still come by phone. My last call was this morming at 6:30; next one is scheduled for Monday. Don't count on using a TiVo without some kind of phone.

regards, billb....

If the HD Tivo is like a series 2 unit you can use a WiFi USB connection to use it to do your updates via the Internet. No need for the land line.

Could someone post the cost of this unit...guessing around $1000?...Thanks

$1000 it is!!! You win.

The cost is 999.99... here is the web site. I think the 100.00 off with a 100.00 deposit is off.

http://www.valueelectronics.com/

I will be very interested in your experience and likes/dislikes when you get the HR-10-250 running. I decided not to pre order, but to wait for a serial number a little higher than xx-000001, Still bleeding from my last "first in line" purchase -

I have a 4 year old TiVo and have been watching the "vaporware" announcements. It is great it is now shipping. I am on the fence for a little while about possibly dropping DirecTV and going to Dish and getting their DRV 921 unit. I noted that the HR-250 stores 30 hours of HD on a 250GB drive, whereas the DVR-921 stores 25 hours of HD on the same size 250GB drive. Does this imply that Dish compresses their HD less?

Great info you provide!

Woops! sorry for the double post. I redid the last sentence and hit the wrong button.

I will be very interested in your experience and likes/dislikes when you get the HR-10-250 running. I decided not to pre order, but to wait for a serial number a little higher than xx-000001, Still bleeding from my last "first in line" purchase -

I have a 4 year old TiVo and have been watching the "vaporware" announcements. It is great it is now shipping. I am on the fence for a little while about possibly dropping DirecTV and going to Dish and getting their DRV 921 unit. I noted that the HR-250 stores 30 hours of HD on a 250GB drive, whereas the DVR-921 stores 25 hours of HD on the same size 250GB drive. Does this imply that Dish compresses their HD less?

Great info you provide! And chuckken I am looking forward to your great animations as the HR-250 and DVR 921 get locked in battle!.

Josh:
It has 2 USB ports but they are for some future use. The manual states: The HD DVR makes periodic connections to DIRECTV and to the DVR service, using a standard telephone line. These brief phone calls ensure that your HD DVR receives updates to the DVR service, content for Showcases, and pay per view functionality. AND The HD DVR should be plugged in to a land-based phone line at all times to receive the DVR service and DIRECTV® sports packages, and to send information about pay per view event purchases to DIRECTV.

Looks like I will be waiting for the HR20-250 unless they figure out how to put those USBs to good use.

>Looks like I will be waiting for the HR20-250 unless they figure out how to put those USBs to good use.>

At first I was puzzled by the choice of USB outputs - and two of them at that. I think the answer of their use is consider what would produce sales and more revenue for DirecTV and their channel advertisers. Thus a keyboard would allow you to buy from Home Shopping Network. Or maybe they let you attach a CD burner and sell you songs by the each or by the album. Or even let you attach a HD DVD burner so they can sell you the HD movie you have recorded from HBO for a fee of $30 a copy. If you think along the lines of money for THEM there are a lot of possibilities.

I doubt very much they plan to let you have a digital recorder output, until FCC requires it. FCC has already required a 1394 output on cable boxes and ruled recording of the free broadcast digital channels must be allowed. No FCC rules yet on DSB boxes, but a parallel ruling would allow you to record local channels subject to the broadcast flag controls on "high value content". There is a digital copy protection system in place for 1394 limited recording, but I have heard of no work on a USB system.

Considering how hard MPAA has been lobbying Congress to tilt copy protection in their favor , I would almost bet you will be able to record C-SPAN on TIVO and then burn a DVD of it without restrictions!

I can't speak for everyone here, but I would guess that at least one or two other people here are not using a land-line phone connection at all.. I ditched Verizon 6-8 months ago in favor of my road-runner broadband cable to the Internet. To that end, I've got Vonage for my phone service... The only problem with the newer TiVO's, is that the software won't allow the modem connection speed to be slowed down to where it will work with Vonage or similar services. My understanding is that they actually prevent it..

If I bought one of these units home (the HR10-250), and tried to bring it up, it wouldn't allow me to set it up without running a phone cable from my neighbors house or something creative like that. I wish whomever designs the hardware for these boxes would get their heads out of their rear and put a $2 ethernet port on the back of it and be done with it! Sheesh.. It would make life sooo much easier for a large population of people..

-- Rick

Rick...Amen.