Thanks Vic, Kelly, Barry, Warren and all.
Spoke to Directv, and decided I can live without the DVR in the bedroom, was looking at $199 for the DVR and $49 for the service call. They are sending me a HD receiver for free, and I can install it myself without running wires.
$0 fits much better into my year-end budget than $248.
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Thanks Dave, Julian, James, Kelly, Peter, Gerry, Dave, Mo, Frank, Týr and Mr. Mark!