Best Direct tv HD deal? (1 Viewer)

Since Hurricane Katrina, most cable (mine is CHARTER)systems in our area took a severe hit and won't be up in some areas for 3 months or more. Since I fall in this boat I am now looking for the best deal on Direct Tv hd. At this time I only need one receiver to get me up and running but in the future of course I want to add other rooms too. I noticed Circuit City had a good deal ($100 w/$100 rebate)on a non hd Direct tv system with a dvr. Just wondering if this system will do in the interim and what happens when the HD switch over comes at the end of the year?? Will non HD receivers be upgraded to HD systems? Or, should I stick with an HD system for now?
Here is the link to the circuit city deal: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/DIREC...oductDetail.do

PLMK
Regards from Hell,
Todd

I wouldn't look for them to upgrade non-HD receivers to HD for free. I presume the switchover you are talking about is their change to MPEG-4, which supposedly will render current HD receivers useless. There is a lot of speculation about what they will do for current users, but I don't know that anyone knows for sure. You can find discussion about this over in the Hardware area.

I went ahead and bought one of the current HD receivers with DVR since they are relatively inexpensive now and I really wanted a DVR. You can get them for $499 at either Circuit City or Best Buy, and this time of year you may find an even better deal as a new subscriber. Just be sure you know what you have to commit to as far as programming goes when you look at a deal.

Sorry for your cable loss, but glad to see someone from New Orleans able to watch TV at all. Some of my relatives in the area aren't that lucky.

Call directv directly and order through them. They can usually do better than any stores on equipment prices. You can also try weaknees.com. The price for the hd receiver is about $200. You should be able to get 3-6 mos. of hd service thrown in. You will need an antenna to pick up the hd locals until the mpeg 4 conversion is complete. Directv was offering the hd dvr to existing customers for $199 after $100 MIR, but that ship seems to have sailed. $349-399 after $100 MIR is more common now.

As for equipment upgrades, I don't think they will update SD boxes to HD for free, especially since the SD boxes I think will be unaffected by the MPEG 4 conversion. It isn't set in stone, but there is some indication that the existing mpeg 2 HD boxes will be upgraded for free or a nominal charge, but nobody knows when. Many expect there to be a fairly long overlap when Directv is broadcasting both the mpeg 2 and 4 signals.