Does anyone know if you can still buy a new Standard Directv receiver with a Optical output and S-video, and do you know where I could get it and who makes a good one.
You might want to just get their DirecTivo box for $99. It has an optical output for DD 5.1. If you have a certain movie package subscription, there's no monthly Tivo charge.
To get free Tivo service requires their top shelf package, but even w/o, its only $4.99/month. An absolute no-brainer, IMHO. You will pay some mirroring fees if you have more than 1 box, but there is no additional cost for the Tivo service no matter how many you have.