DIRECTV HR21 (DIRECTV Plus HD DVR)

Pros: Nice picture and sound (when it works)

Cons: Very very slow menu/operating system
Sometimes sound doesn't match picture (3 or 4 second delay)
Begins deleting oldest recorded programs when 80% capacity is reached
Eventually crashes; losing all recorded programs

Summary: I had a Sony DIRECTV receiver for 11 years with no problems. 2 years ago, I decided to get a plasma TV and go HD. By then, DIRECTV had broken ties with proven manufacturers (Sony, RCA, TIVO, etc) in an attempt to "make a buck" by manufacturing it's own equipment and adopting the "cheap cable box" strategy (lease and refurbish). Having no choice, I bought an HR20. The first thing I noticed was the slow menu system. I figured it was a small price to pay for DIRECTV programming and HD. 8 months later it crashed in the middle of the night during one of DIRECTVs over-the-air updates; I lost a lot of valuable recorded programs that I had not yet burned to DVD. The replacement they sent me was a refurbished HR22 (same as HR21, but black and without over-the-air antenna hook-up). About a week ago it happened again. This time after pausing intermittently when I was rewinding a program. That did it for me. After 13 years and 10K in business, the relationship ends. The bottom-line: DIRECTV's cheap unreliable equipment makes their great satellite programming a dismal experience.