The HR24 DVR for DIRECTV came out in 2010. That’s an eternity in tech time. I mean, seriously, we’re talking about the same year the iPhone 4 came out, the same year that a 40″ television cost $1,500. It was considered revolutionary. Take a look at this teaser video produced by the test team at the time:
Believe me, this DVR was the best thing to happen to satellite TV since the invention of the sky. But things change. Is it still even worth considering?
What the HR24 still brings
HR24 is a standalone DVR that works differently from today’s Genie system. Unlike the Genie where a central DVR sends signals to small client boxes, HR24 is self-contained. It receives, records, and displays satellite signals. It’s one of the few boxes that will still work with older marine and RV satellite technologies. That means it’s still important.
When you would use the HR24
Here are a few cases where an HR24 makes sense:
Add capacity to a Genie system
If you have an HR54 Genie DVR, you know that you can watch TV in four rooms. If that’s not enough, you could upgrade to an HS17 Genie 2. That would give you seven rooms. But what if that’s not enough? Staying with the HR54 lets you add as many HR24 DVRs as you want. You can service 100 rooms if you really want to, by adding more multiswitches and more HR24s. Up to about 6 DVRs can share programming with each other as well. You can add more, but sharing gets a little flaky at that point.
Keep an old marine or RV system alive
The DIRECTV world moved over to SWM technology back in 2009, but people kept buying older-style dishes for marine and RV use. After all the point of SWM was to make it easier to wire multiple rooms and these smaller installations didn’t need that. If you have a non-SWM system and you’re not interested in upgrading, the HR24 is the DVR for you. Marine and RV systems can be more expensive to upgrade than home systems, so this will help you get a little more life out of an expensive system.
Keep the recordings you have
If you upgrade to a Genie 2, you’ll have to turn in all your existing receivers and DVRs. That means you’ll lose any recordings you’ve been saving for posterity. There aren’t a lot of good ways to get programming off an HD DVR, so if you’re still trying to keep that recording of Junior’s first televised soccer game, you’ll want to stay with proven technology. Adding an HR24 gives you more capacity without taking away your older recordings
Something to know about HR24 DVRs
The last time new HR24 DVRs were made was somewhere around 2014. That doesn’t mean they are all old and beat up, but the one you get will have gone through the refurbishing process. This means testing them completely and making sure they look and act like new. Most of the time this isn’t a problem. There are still DIRECTV DVRs out there working hard after 13 years, and the HR24 is particularly robust. However, there is a very small chance you’ll get a dud. If that happens, your friends at Solid Signal can get you a replacement quickly, but only if you’ve gotten it from us.
Get your HR24 DVR from Solid Signal
You won’t be able to get an HR24 DVR by contacting AT&T. They won’t want to give you one. However, if you call your friends at Solid Signal at 888-233-7563, they’ll always be able to help. Or, just shop for one yourself!
