Home > Consumer Reviews > Hughes HSYS-E4532 Platinum Series Deluxe Dual LNB, Dolby Digital, DIRECTV Satellite System

This is my first DirecTV system. I used to have cable, but got tired of the cruddy "digital" picture with its lousy compression technology (i.e., weird digital artifacts on your screen). I also got tired of my nationally-recognized-brand-name cable company hiking my cable bill every 12 months. So, I took a chance. So far so good. As far as this hardware goes: the receiver's strenghts seem to be in its software/firmware interface (i.e., menus, ways to navigate, etc.). Unlike a cable company, which pumps the same interface to every one of its subscribers, DirecTV relies on the hardware vendors to implement their own version of an interface. The Hughes interface is first-rate and very user friendly. The receiver and dish look well made, and as far as the DirecTV content they receive and decode goes...I couldn't be happier. It's practically the same content I got on cable (in my case, similar to "Expanded Basic" on cable) but a much cleaner picture. The picture quality is hard to describe in words, but it's noticeable when you see it. If it helps, it "feels" like it's about 5-10% better, if that makes any sense. Some things to keep in mind about DirecTV service as a whole: You should have a telephone jack nearby so that the receiver can plug into it and "talk" to DirecTV headquarters about your pay-per-view choices [if any]. This is a short, toll-free call (supposedly in the middle of the night), so there's no interference with your telephone calling or modem, at least as far as I can see. DirecTV also offers comparable "packages" to those of cable (e.g., 1 or mixtures of the premium channels). DirecTV also offers unsurpassed sports programming.

Be warned: Hughes' complete lack of customer support makes buying any of their directv products a really horrible idea.

I received a directv receiver of theirs with tivo built in, and six weeks later have yet to have a working product. Apparently a whole batch of them had bad hard drives, but Hughes never bothered to recall them. You send in your unit, and six weeks later they still have no idea of when it will be fixed. "But they send a loaner..." yeah, WITHOUT Tivo. When I tried to complain that six weeks was too long, they told me there was no I could talk to. I asked for a phone number for their corporate offices, and was told that their corporate offices didn't have a phone number.

Hughes? What a joke....

My Hughes Directivo broke after about 4 months of use. After much digging, I was able to find a tech support phone number where, after walking me through a few steps, the offered to mail me a new one - provided I provide a credit card number that will be charged for a new unit if they don't receive my broken one within one months time. One week later I got the first replacement unit. That one didn't work. After one more week I got the second replacement unit. This one has worked a day, so far. I am not impressed. Plus I have to mail back two broken units AT MY OWN EXPENSE. If I only knew what I know now, I would have bought a different brand.
By the way, I asked tech support for a customer service phone number. They said they do not take calls! Was provided a fax number. I faxed and mailed a complaint letter over a week ago, and I have gotten no response.

DON'T BUY HUGHES! Other than the quality of the product, I love the way it works. I can't imagine not having TiVo now. But this Hughes product is unreliable, and the customer service is non-existent.

The receiver itself is of good quality, and I had no issues with installation scheduling. However, the receiver completely stopped working 5 months after purchase - frozen video, couldn't power off, etc. My local (authorized) Hughes repair center had the unit for 30 days before being informed by Hughes that the needed replacement motherboard was 'unavailable' - with no date available.

After a couple of long sessions with Hughes support, I was shipped an 'advance replacement' unit - which requires you to give a credit card number as security until they receive your broken unit. We'll see if this one holds up....

We had a local advert in our paper stating local stations and 130 directtv stations for [$$$] per month additional charge if you need extra receiver(s) plus [$$$] reimburshment on installation fee.It has been a complete and utter nightmare from the day the equipment arrived. First they sent the incorrect dish after everything was installed and the service was activated. To cancel and go back to cable would have cost an additinal [$$$] plus no reinbusement. To correct the THEIR problem they would have to send out a new dist for the price of [$$$] to get the local stations. After several weeks the new dish arrived and getting it installed took an act of God. Direct TV never notified the installers that the work would be done for free seeing that it was Direct TV's mistake in the first place. After another week they got the problem straighten out. I sent in all the necessary papers as instructed by their customer service department. Signed copies of all the work done by contrators, check numbers Etc. A few weeks later i get a very nasty letter from Direct TV stating that i WILL NOT RECEIVE MY REINBUSEMENT do to they need a copy of my monthly statement. I told them i don't get a statement, it's taken directly from my visa account. They still REFUSE to pay back the [$$$] as stated in their contract.Since these units were installed i also got alot of tiling and freeze framing in the picture. After several phone calls again they agreed to send out new receivers. I just got done connecting these receivers then called DTV to activate them. They DON'T WORK. I can no longer get my local channels. DTV doesn't know what the problem is so a technician has to come out next week and fix it.If it wasn't for the money i had inverted in DTV i would yank the system out! Be warned DTV is NOT worth the hassel. I would not recommend DTV to anyone and i've sent letters to our Attorney General in Connecticut about this company. The attorney General had an artical in the newspapers about the scam that DTV is now running. Of course i read that after the initial installation. These people are ONLY interested in getting your money and have NO intention of giving you the service that they advertise.DTV is a COMPLETE SCAM and the people that work there are NOT TO BE TRUSTED. Believe me this is the WORSE investment i ever made in my life and the problem won't go away.