It is a one-time activation fee. You can use as many hard drives as you wish. This was very appealing to me, as I use up a lot of space very quickly. If you are recording in
HD, you use up more memory a lot faster than standard definition. I like being able to record several seasons of different shows and just keep them to watch whenever. I also like the option of recording movies and keeping them as long as I want.
So, the external hard drive was a very big selling point with me. I was ready to throw my beloved Direct TV back to the satellite from which it came. But, when the technician came out he apparently didn't want to bother with the whole installation. He was 3 hours late and he was ready to go home. I had done a lot of research and a lot of phone calls to all three major providers before making my decision to switch to Dish.
Of course, they got another call from me when he left. The customer service people were fantastic. They were very apologetic regarding the technician and offered to send a district manager out along with a new technician who would be willing to run wires under the house or where ever necessary. Well, we decided we didn't want a pole out in the middle of the front yard. We live on a major highway and was concerned about the appearance. So, we passed on the offer. But, that external hard drive is very tempting. I am hoping Direct TV will come up with it as well. Maybe, if I bug them enough about it.
