Oh how nice. I get to pay $1,000 for the Series 3 box now!

I was considering a switch to cable to get series 3, but with boxes costing $799, and 4 boxes currently in my house each requiring a monthly fee that doesn't make sense.

To make things even more anti-tivo, I have been weighing getting an HR10-250 (DirecTV HD Tivo box) or the new HR20-700 (DirecTV HD NDS DVR) for the past couple weeks. I think I will not only stick with DirecTV, but I will also get the NDS box. I see no reason to spend $300+ for the HR10-250 when MPEG4 is in my area already and the MPEG2 HD lifespan is in doubt. Once Sept 13th rolls around, the HR20-700 will be available for around $250 and come with the AT9 dish and professional installation (self-installation of the AT9 seems to be a pain in the ass).

Sure, the HR20-700 isn't a Tivo, but it's faster than v3.1 software that the HR10-250 seems to be stuck with. The only thing it seems to be missing is dual live buffers (unfortunate) and the OTA ports aren't active yet (I can't get anything OTA anyway). I can live with these limits and I still have an army of Series 2 DirecTivos to do HMO things.

Leasing boxes is lame, but I have heard that if you buy DirecTV boxes from authorized dealers and ask for the "access card deprtment" when activating, they will be able to activate your receiver as owned if you ask. You don't get a new dish and free install this way, but you also don't need to re-up your commitment to DirecTV.