DirecTV and HD Built In TV's....a few questions...
 

As I posted in my "TV...RIP" thread, my Trinitron is dead. I've been thinking of buying an HDTV for awhile, and this incident will probably accelerate the timetable for that purchase.

Anyways, I just got DirecTV and I love it. DirecTV's literature claims that you have to buy a $300 HD receiver to get the HD programming. Many HDTV sets, however, now come with built in HD receivers. Will the two jive? I know I need to still subscribe to the HD package, but will an HDTV with a built in receiver work with DirecTV? Or are there only certain ones that can accept a DirecTV card?

Please help me out. the DirecTV website basically ignores the existence of these TVs (obviously because they want to sell their own receivers). What's the scoop?

I am a big fan of keeping components seperate. It's better when things break, or you want an upgrade etc...

But to answer your question. When a TV says built in HD receiver, they aren't talking about something that will work with DirecTV HD. They are more than likely talking about over the air digital signal that most stations are broadcasting these days. You would have to look at each TV and look for the DirecTV brand name on the receiver that is in the TV, if not, you are out of luck.

But stick with seperate components. Buy the cheaper TV that is just "HD ready". Then buy a receiver that fits your need. I have a Samsung TS-160 (couple of years old now) and it works great. And just call DirecTV and tell them you want to get a HD receiver, but they are too much money (which they are). Usually they will give you some type of service credit. I bought my receiver on ebay and then D*TV gave me a 150 dollar service credit so I was happy.

So what's the best tactic with that. I've only been a DirecTV customer for a few weeks, so I don't know what kind of leverage I could use.

Ah, well I had a year under my belt, so when I wanted Tivo, they gave me service credit for it. Just spin the whole cable options, or Dish network or whatever.

Oh, and don't waste a lot of time with the fist level person you talk to first, try and get to talking to someone in the customer retention department.

If you have no luck, find a good deal on a used one on ebay or something to get you started. Like I said, I have the samsung ts-160. You can get a used one between 125 and 175 bucks on ebay. Then if DirecTV even gives you 50 bucks off, the price isn't too bad. I really like the receiver, it's been working great for 2 years.

I was just at Best Buy and they confirmed what people have said. More or less said the HDTV's with the built in receivers aren't worth the cash, since you still need the HD antenna for local broadcasts plus the DirecTV receiver for other HD programming.

They also said that patience may pay off, as the price on a lot of this stuff may be down $500-$1000 by the end of the summer, especially as we move towards the Fed's deadline for total HD compliance for all broadcasts.

Good to hear, thanks for that. Also, I saw this on Engadget: <a href="http://features.engadget.com/entry/1234000610033249/">The Clicker: HDTV buying - Part I, the basics - Features - features.engadget.com</a>. It looks like a good ongoing series. Personally, I think that the industry needs to do a way better job at explaining HDTV if it wants anyone to buy them.