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That being said, the HR24 is a new, prettier looking, and lightning fast version of the HR23. All the problems of holdups, freezing, slow guide and my playlist problems of the HR2x series are vastly improved. Everything is immediate and lightning fast. Included, like the HR23, is a 500gb hard drive that is upgradeable via an eSATA port. Remember, you cannot combine the external and internal hard drives (the external takes over the internal when inserted).

The HR24 looks much better, with a touch responsive nonbutton panel similar to the PS3. If you are a Whole Home DVR user, it has built in DECA now. One tip for upgraders, is that you need to remove your DECA and network adapter completely to use this because it will turn off the internal DECA when attached and will not work. All you have to do is attach your coaxial cable from the power bar, do a red button reset and 02468 at the hello screen to redownload the software, and you’re up and running in minutes.

In conclusion, the HR24 is completely worth, especially if you are frustrated with the speeds of your previous DVR. It feels faster that Tivo (especially Premiere), faster than Comcast/Time Warner motorola DVRs, and is an overall great improvement. I gave it 5 stars and I’m sure you will too.

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Other reviews, comments are available on YouTube, just search on “DirecTv HR24″

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I will admit that we (myself, wife, and 2 teenage kids) were a little scared of leaving the comfort of our beloved Series2 Tivo, but technology marches on and with a house full of HDTVs, and no HDTV source, it was time migrate. The HR24 is fast, the remote is responsive, the User Interface (UI) is intuitive, the picture quality is outstanding, and the overall quality is fantastic. Our setup is (2) HR24 and (2) H24 receivers. The ability to watch a recorded program on any DirecTV receiver in the house (called MRV or DECA) is, in the words of the family, “really cool!”. The remote control for the HR24 units can be setup as an RF remote so there is no need for line of sight… put the HR24 in a ventilated cabinet and forget about it.

Just to highlight how much thought went into this thing… here is a small, but perfect example: the remote can control the TV, but unlike most universal remote controls, they included separate ON and OFF buttons (in addition to the standard POWER button). For anyone familiar with universal remotes, oftentimes the POWER button simply changes the power state of the devices, which is fine as long as they are all in the same power state, but if one is on and one is off… they flip flop. The seperate ON and OFF buttons either turns everything ON or everything OFF, no matter what their current state.

Some random thoughts…

For the parents out there, the parental controls are really easy to understand and setup. This is in stark contrast the parental controls I’ve used on cable TV boxes.

The unit can run a little on the warm side, but that should be expected from something with a decent processor and a hard drive. I wouldn’t put anything on top of it like a DVD player.

The H24 units are a lot slower than the HR24 when it comes to the VCR controls while watching a recorded program, but I attribute this to the lack of a hard drive and hence the inability of the H24 to buffer… a minor inconvenience, but one that people should be aware of.

DECA, if you haven’t already researched it, uses your existing coax and NOT ethernet. There are ethernet ports on the back of the HR24, but apparently you have to either network all of your H/R24 receivers or use the DirecTV ethernet “inserter”, which converts ethernet to coax. I opted for the “inserter” and it works fine.

We’ve been using this setup for over a month now and have not had a single lockup, crash, or unplanned reboot.

For anyone not familiar with how satellite TV works, keep in mind that you won’t own this receiver. The price is more like a down-payment on a lease. If you’re cool with that, then the H/R24 series receivers will not disappoint you.

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I feel that a few important items should be mentioned, since Amazon has not seen fit to do so. These apply to virtually all DirecTV DVRs and receivers obtained either at retail, on line, or from DirecTV themselves. They are not something new, and are not peculiar to just this model. Unfortunately many people are unaware of these facts.

#1, this box will not function without a paid DirecTV account and the correct outdoor dish antenna and wiring. This should be obvious but you’d be surprised how many folks don’t realize it. An unobstructed view of the correct part of the southern sky is required for the dish to be able to “see” the satellites. Professional installation of the dish and wiring is usually required.

#2, and most important, THIS IS A LEASE. You are not actually buying this DVR, and you do not own this DVR. The Amazon price (or anyone else’s “retail” price) is actually a LEASE FEE. Once the unit has been activated with DirecTV, you cannot return it or resell it later. Legally it is the property of DirecTV. If you ever terminate service, you will have to ship it back to DirecTV. (This is why you basically never want to “buy” one of these from swap meets or private parties.)

#3, leasing this DVR and putting it into service ties you to a two year DirecTV service commitment. If you decide you don’t like it, and you wish to quit the service and send it back before the two years is up, there are significant monetary penalties (early termination fees) for doing so. In this respect it is a bit like many cell phone contracts.

#4, and this is a minor point, this DVR will not receive “free” over-the-air local broadcast stations (using a separate TV antenna) unless you add the optional AM21 tuner box from DirecTV. Most people don’t need this because DirecTV can usually supply many local network stations over the satellite link instead.

None of these affect the usability or quality of this DVR, which as I said, are quite good. The picture quality blows away most cable systems.

I recommend it highly if it meets your needs.