Tivo & Directv (DTV)

I have posted several times in this group about using my existing TIVO
Series 2 DVR's with Directv HD service. I appreciate all the help.

To summarize, we currently have all HD TV's in the house but only have
standard DTV service. This is because we have four TIVO Series 2's, all
with lifetime subscriptions. Plus, TIVO does not make an HD DVR compatible
with DTV. So we have lived with this situation. Several people have
suggested we just use the DTV HD DVR's as it's pretty much our only option.
So when we move into our new house in a couple weeks, I am going to have DTV
just hook up a new HD dish and go with all DTV HD DVR's.

So my next question (hopefully my last) is:

Can I still use my old TIVO's by hooking them up to a standard composite
input on the new TV and record off of standard channels when wanted?

I understand the DTV HD DVR also offers standard channels as well as the HD
channels, so would I still be able to connect the old TIVO in a way that it
will record off of the standard channels?

I hope I explained that clearly.....

On Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:13:19 -0500, "Mike Jones"
<pigroup RemoveThis @tampabay.rr.com> wrote:

>I have posted several times in this group about using my existing TIVO
>Series 2 DVR's with Directv HD service. I appreciate all the help.
>
>To summarize, we currently have all HD TV's in the house but only have
>standard DTV service. This is because we have four TIVO Series 2's, all
>with lifetime subscriptions. Plus, TIVO does not make an HD DVR compatible
>with DTV. So we have lived with this situation. Several people have
>suggested we just use the DTV HD DVR's as it's pretty much our only option.
>So when we move into our new house in a couple weeks, I am going to have DTV
>just hook up a new HD dish and go with all DTV HD DVR's.
>
>So my next question (hopefully my last) is:
>
>Can I still use my old TIVO's by hooking them up to a standard composite
>input on the new TV and record off of standard channels when wanted?
>
>I understand the DTV HD DVR also offers standard channels as well as the HD
>channels, so would I still be able to connect the old TIVO in a way that it
>will record off of the standard channels?
>
>I hope I explained that clearly.....

I can't answer all your questions, but I do have 3 DirecTV HD DVRs, so
feel I can comment about them. Two of them are model 20's and the
third a model 21. All can record direcTV HD and/or SD channels,
additionally the model 20's will record HD or SD OTA digital signals.

So I think the answer is yes, you can connect the two old tivos and
record SD content just fine. However, you might want to check to see
if you will be hit with extra charges for thise two boxes, as I am
charged for all three boxes I currently have connected. When I had
only two HD boxes, I used an older series 2 DirecTV box and paid a
third connect fee for it.... but then, I didn't have the lifetime
contract with that box.

--
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/