That pretty much says it all – starting today, we’re pricing our DirecTV SWM-8 units at $199. These amazing units allow for one cable to enter your house carrying up to eight tuners-worth of data, for up to eight receivers or four DVRs. All on one cable!
+These units include power supplies (DirecTV branded).
+These units include free ground shipping in the 48 states!
We also have a full line of accessories for these units, and everything is in stock.
We sell add kits for almost all versions of TiVo DVRs (as opposed to replace kits, which we do have for every single model). These add kits won’t install with version 6.4a of the DirecTV TiVo software on these models:
This same problem came up a few years ago with standalone TiVos running some subversions of TiVo OS version 7.2.
Here are the symptoms: attaching one of our add kits will cause the TiVo to go to the “Welcome, Powering Up” screen, followed by the “Almost There, a few minutes more” screen, then reboot back to the first screen. This cycle repeats endlessly.
Now that we’re aware of the issue, we’re notifying all customers of the potential problems before we ship the kits. Here are the options in this situation:
We really think #1 is the best option, as we think these units generally need replace-style kits, but we do still continue to offer add kits to those unwilling to lose their programming, or to send us the unit for us to install a replace kit and copy the contents.
So if you’re looking for an add kit, check your OS version first. If you haven’t gotten 6.4a yet, unplug the unit from the phone line immediately! You can then install an add kit, and let the unit upgrade later.
The Single Wire Multiswitch for DirecTV (or SWM) has made installing DirecTV or expanding an existing installation much, much easier. And the SWM world is still evolving with new products. We’ve just received our first shipment of SWM E4 Expanders. These units hold four SWM units. The Expander attaches directly to the four SWMs (or as few as two) – no wires are used; the SWM plugs right in. Then, the four cables from the KaKu dish are attached, as well as any other cables to either the flex ports or the OTA port.
The Expander distributes the incoming signal to each SWM, and also provides a solid way to mount each unit. Here are some pictures of one of our first units:
The front side of the SWM Expander holds two of the modules as shown.
The back has two more sets of ports, and here the SWMs go upside-down to minimize the internal wiring confusion.
The top shows the attachment scheme for the individual SWM power supplies (one per SWM module) and the satellite inputs.
For installations of two or more SWMs, these make life much easier and less error-prone than splitting cables!
For several days, due to a great deal from our distributor, we had been selling 250 GB drives for certain models in certain configurations at the price of 160 GB drives – $119. We’ve now taken this special off of our home page, and replaced it with the amazing $99 deal for the Humax T2500.
But we do still have some of the 250s around, so we’re making this special offer to our blog readers only: get a 250 for the price of a 160 through Sunday, June 22, 2008. We’ll try to make it as easy as possible to take advantage of this deal, so just read the details:
-Order the 160 GB Replace kit for your model so you are charged the right price. Then, use the code below.
-This ONLY applies to replace kits and not add kits. Next, since this special deal is only on PATA drives, this does NOT apply to the TiVo HD or TiVo Series3 upgrades.
-This isn’t a coupon code, but a code you enter in the “Customer Notes” area below the “Credit Card” information on the final checkout screen. The code is “WKBLOG250” and here’s how it should look:
-Finally – here’s a way to save even more: Use Google Checkout to get a further $10 off – so $109 for a 250 GB replace kit! If you use Google Checkout, you never see the field above. In this case, just send an email after you place your order to [email protected] with your Google order number as the subject and the code “WKBLOG250” in the body.
We’re now carrying several replacement DirecTV remotes.
First up, we have the standard Peanut style remote for all DirecTV TiVo users, except the SAT T-60. See our DirecTV TiVo Peanut Remote page. We’ve got the type that came with the original DirecTV TiVos, then the variety that came starting with the HDVR2 with more buttons, and, finally, the HR10-250 remotes.
For the non-TiVo HD DVRs, we have three options that work with any and all DirecTV equipment (even the TiVos, and even the SAT T-60):
RC23/RC32 – these two are essentially the same remote. They’re the standard one that comes with most plain-vanilla DirecTV receivers.
RC64 – These come with most HD DirecTV equipment, and have the Format button. They are also RF capable, so if your DirecTV receiver supports RF reception, this can be used with that. More info on another blog post.
RC64RB – The newest, latest, greatest, this has all of the functionality of the RC64, plus it’s backlit! Even for us TiVo peanut-partisans, this is a pretty nice remote.
See these last three on our DirecTV remotes page.