Hughes Networks HIRDE45 Platinum Dolby Digital Satellite Receiver for DirecTV
Written: Apr 18 '02 (Updated Sep 29 '02)
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Pros: Dolby Digital Sound, Excellent Picture Quality, Large Amount of Channel Offerings, On-Screen Guide
Cons: Initial Cost of Equipment and Installation
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend the Hughes Network HIRDE45 Platinum DirecTV satellite receiver for those who want the Dolby digital sound in their home theater entertainment center.
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| mountainhigh's Full Review: Hughes Networks HIRDE45 Platinum DirecTV Plus Digi... |
Hughes Networks designed this receiver to support your home theater entertainment center for that wonderful movie theater stereo sound. Our previous cable provider did not provide Dolby stereo sound so the only time we were able to use our home theater sound was with a DVD movie or a VHS movie. When we moved, cable was not offered in our area so we had to buy a satellite system. Not knowing anything about satellite TV, I did a lot of research on trying to decide between a big satellite dish and the small satellite dishes, such as DirecTV. In my research I discovered that the big dishes are not very popular any more and the majority of satellite owners have replaced their large dish to the small dish. There were two satellite providers available for my area and we chose to go with the DirecTV provider due to better programming and being able to buy the Hughes HIRDE45 Platinum DirecTV satellite receiver that supported our home theater system.
The Satellite System Components
There are three components of a satellite system. They are the satellite dish, the satellite receiver, and the remote control.
Tour of the Hughes HIRDE45 DirecTV Satellite Receiver
The Front: All of the following features with the exception of the access card can be used with your remote control.
Power Button
Info Key: Used to display descriptions of satellite programs and channels on your TV screen.
Guide: Used to initiate the display of the on-screen guide, where you can see a listing of all available programs for up to 2 days.
Directional Keys: There are 4 directional keys: up, down, left, and right to be used to navigate the program guide and menus.
Select Key: This is used to access a highlighted guide or menu item.
Access Card: Your access card is located behind the door on the right side of the front of the receiver. This card contains information about your level of service and holds pay per view purchase activity.
The Rear of the Receiver
In From Ant: This is a F-type jack used as an input where you can connect the cable from an antenna or cable TV service.
Out to TV: This is a F-type jack that is an RF output that you may connect to your TV or VCR (depending on your entertainment system).
Satellite In: This is a F-type jack that is for connecting the cable from your satellite dish antenna to the receiver using RG-6 cable.
Audio and Video Output Jacks: The phono type audio output jacks (2 labeled left and 2 labeled right) can be used for connection to your TV, VCR, or audio system. The phono type video output jack is used for connection to your TV or VCR.
S-Video: The multiple pin S-Video jack is for high-quality video output. Use this jack to achieve the clearest picture for your TV or VCR as long as your VCR or TV also has this jack.
VCR Control: This is a mini-jack that is used for connecting the VCR control cable included with the system. With this cable, the receiver can interface with most popular brands of VCR's to record selected programs automatically.
D-VHS: This jack is used for connecting a digital A/V cable for used with some D-VHS digital VCRs. When connected to a D-VHS VCR, the additional D-VHS features records the actual digital signal, rather than a converted analog signal. We do not have a D-VHS VCR so we do not use this feature but we still are able to record a much higher quality picture than we did with cable TV.
Low Speed Data: This is a port that is used for connection to other data devices. This is another feature that we have not used.
Digital Audio Out: There are two digital audio out connectors. One is optical and the other is coax. They both provide the same signals for connection to a Dolby digital decoder. This is another port that we do not use.
RF Remote: This jack is provided for future accessory use.
Phone Jack: This is a standard phone jack that is used for connecting the receiver to your phone line. This phone connection is necessary to access certain program offerings. Calls generated by the receiver are toll free and will not interfere with your telephone system.
The Remote Control
The remote control can control your satellite receiver and most TV brands, as well as VCRs, cable boxes, amplifiers, and disc players. It took about 5 minutes to program our remote control for our TV and our VCR.
There are five buttons across the top: AUX, VCR, TV, SAT, and Power.
There are five buttons on the second row: Action, Info, Guide, Exit, and Fav.
The Action key is unique. Pressing it displays the action icon in the upper left corner of your screen. Then you have choices to press "Guide" which displays the main menu from any screen or "Fav" which displays the channel lists screen or "Prev Ch" which displays the alternate services menu or "1" which filters the on-screen guide to movies only, or "2" which filters the on-screen guide to sports only, or "3" which filters the on-screen guide to new only, or "0" which resets the on-screen guide filters.
The remaining keys are the up, down, left, and right arrows with the select button in the middle when accessing your on screen programming guide, the volume button, the channel button, numeric keys, rewind for your VCR, play for your VCR or DVD, FF, rec, stop, and pause.
The Satellite Dish
This is an 18-inch dish that must be mounted to a solid outdoor surface that allows a clear view of the southern sky. It is highly suggested that you have yours professionally installed such as we did.
Performance of the Hughes HIRDE45 DirecTV Receiver
The quality of the picture is crisp and clear and the quality of the sound with your home theater system is superb. It is amazing to be able to watch movies on TV now and get all the special effects from your home theater system.
Do All Your TV's Have to Watch the Same Station?
The answer to this question is no. We were always told this was a drawback with satellite TV that all TV have to watch the same station. We have 3 TV's with 3 Hughes DirecTV receivers (only 1 receiver being the Hughes HIRDE45 DirecTV) and everyone can watch what they want.
What About Local Stations?
Unfortunately, DirecTV does not offer local programming in our area yet; therefore we use a rooftop antenna to receive our local stations. We used a splitter in the cable connections so we are able to go back and forth between satellite and antenna easily with our remote control. You can find out by going to www. DirecTV.com to see if local stations are offered in your area and to receive further information if you are eligible to receive a west coast or east coast feed for local programming depending on how many miles away you are from a local broadcasting area.
What is the Dependability of the Satellite?
We have had this system for 22 months now and have had only 1 outage called a "sun outage" which lasted for about 20 minutes. With cable TV, we had problems of it constantly going out. The only other time we could not get our satellite to work is when we get heavy snow or ice on the dish and then we have to brush it off. This summer we will think of an idea to prevent this problem for next winter since the dish is located on the highest point of the house and climbing a ladder in the winter in the snow and using a long rod to scrape off the snow and ice is no fun.
DirecTV Programming Packages
We have the "Total Choice Package" that has over 110 channels of movies, sports, family and music that is currently being offered for $31.99 a month. Most of these channels were not even offered with our previous cable provider so we are very pleased with this package. In addition, we have HBO, Cinemax, and Starz.
Please see www.directv.com for the variety of package offerings and channel lineups with the packages.
Suggestions for Decision between Cable TV and Satellite TV
Some people have basic cable for their local channels and satellite for the remaining channels. Some use antenna and satellite such as us. The choice is personal and up to each person. You would need to think about costs of the equipment, installation, and determining if your current cable provider offers Dolby sound for your home theater system. We have noticed a major upgrade in quality of picture after installing the satellite system.
Warranty
Receiver: 2 years
Dish: 1 year
Remote Control: 90 days
Thank you for reading my review and I hope this has been helpful to you.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 240.00
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