Home > Consumer Reviews > DirecTV HR21-100 HD Satellite Receiver

After trying at least 3 of these units, directv has admitted that they don't work over HDMI with about 1/2 of all TVs. They CLAIM this is the TV's fault, not the recievers!! Funny, everyone elses HD units work fine on these TV's, but DIRECTV still insists it's the TV's fault, not their non-functional reciever. Don't accept this junk for your money. Insist on TIVO returning. TIVO works. This unit can't display HD, freezes, drops audio, has lines in the picture, etc. Don't accept it, demand dual buffering. Call and write DIRECTV and insist on it, it's your money. Don't waste it on this non-functional unit. I only wish I could give 0 stars.
PS DIRECTV has also admitted they COULD have dual buffering, but they won't pay TIVO to lease the copyright unless enough customers complain about the loss of dual buffer. I've made it my mission. Call them, write them, stop trucks on the road and berate them. Insist on dual buffering and you may get it back. Remain silent and you'll get nothing. That's direct from directv's customer service.
chase.carey is the president of directv, if you can figure out his email (just think, where does he work?), email him.

Update 12/17/07 - After using this DVR for about a month I am removing a star (*/*****). The machine has frozen several times (to the point I had to unplug it to reset it) while trying to fast forward or rewind, the unit also has very poor support for audio and picture streaming. It needs some serious stability updates!


D*TV customer for 5 years
Previously owned: 2 DSR704 Tivos & an HR10-250 Tivo

About the HR21
The Good: Decent interface design, seems to record what you tell it to, Has an icon in the program guide that shows you if you have marked a program for recording, networking port built in for streaming music and photos, lots of HD channels, good forward and backward "skip" buttons.

The Bad: inability to swap between tuners or quickly see what the other tuner is recording, if you have a DirecTivo you know what I am talking about. Overall the interface is not nearly as nice as a Tivo. The remote control is not really user friendly, I remedied this by using a logitech 880 universal which makes navigating this DVR much more tolerable. NO OFF AIR ANTENNA!!!!, This is almost a deal breaker for me. I was not the person at home when this was installed or else I might have refused this unit. As it is the installer told my wife that all the locals will be available in the next few weeks over the dish. If this is not the case D*TV and I will have a problem. On my HR10-250 I recieved locals from 2 major cities around where I live. Apparently this was done to make the unit cheaper.

Overall: The only thing that really irritates me is the lack of OA support and the inability to flip between tuners or easily see what is recording on the other tuner. The interface is not as slick as a Tivo but suffices once you get used to it. As to how well it records season passes, that remains to be seen. Basically, a fair effort by D*TV at a DVR, not as good as a Tivo, but not as bad as Dish Net. Note: If they fix the local stations issue I would give it 3 stars.

Freezes, then freezes, then voices are off ... I'm on my THIRD unit ... After a year I still have to keep the lights on in order to know what buttons I'm pressing on the remote, terrible design ... I had the TIVO remote memorized in a week ... If you cancel recording a show when both tuners are recording for some reason it stops recording but forgets to tell the brain it stopped so it still won't let you change channels ... RESET! ... Now my screen is stuck on step 1 of 2 and won't EVER change ... I hate you direct tv.

Dir-Tv offered 2 of these installed as an upgrade from 2 HR10-250's and frankly they are not an upgrade.

You lose:
1- Ability to flip back and forth between tuners.
2- Doesn't buffer the two tuners. Have to be recording to go back and forth, but then you have to find your place in the recording each time
you flip.
3-No OTA connection. We live between two "markets" and I lose over 16 local OTA stations, most in in hi-def that the 10-250 would record. Worst is losing the ability to Tivo 6 different HD Public OTA stations. D***tv only has 4 of the locals, none in HD
4- User interface is not anywhere near TIVO's.
5- These are leased machines which they want you to pay for, and initially wanted to take my upgraded and owned HR10-250's as trade in....

You Gain
1- Many more HD channels, which look good and are worth having. Many more HD movie choices, NGS, Discovery, etc. About time for what I've been spending for HD service for the past few years.
2- Nice, attractive shiny black box.

I'm going to have them switched out for the HR-20, which I understand has OTA. Wish me luck!

First off, for those concerned about the lack of an OTA tuner, DTV is releasing an add-on device (model number AM-21) some time in February. This sits on top of the HR21, is about an inch tall, same width, and connects to the HR21 via USB to enable OTA capability on the HR21. This was undoubtedly done to keep HR21 costs down so people who had no use for the OTA tuner didn't have to pay for it. Initial rumors are it will go for about $59. And yes, the HR21 can record OTA programs even OTA HD programs via the AM-21

Second, DTV has recently updated the firmware for this unit to enable DirecTV On Demand. A service that allows you to download various programs at your leisure--most for free though they do offer PPV this way as well now. This function only works if you've got your HR21 connected to the internet via a broadband connection.

Aside from the new features, the HR21 menu can get sluggish at times, but the ability to record two HD shows simultaneously seems to work great and I've had no problems with playback, recording, or other issues like lockups.

For those wanting to use the HR21 for media sharing, it is NOT necessary to have a PC with VIIV hardware. All you need is Windows Media Player 11 or other compatible software as listed on their website. This again assumes your HR21 is networked to the PC running WMP11.