Directv HDTV installed for $199!!

sowen010599

I've got a couple HD TV's in the house but I've never bothered actually getting the HD receivers, and actual HD service. Yesterday, I got a flier from the local cable provider saying that I could get an HD reciever with a cable package for 5 bucks a month. So I decide to take a closer look at Directv as I've been a customer for the better part of 10 years.

For existing customers, Directv will sell you an HD reciever, and install it, for $345. Compared to cable, we're getting hosed. So I called them up, and told them so.

They transfered me to the "customer retention" dept. who said they would sell me the equipment, and move the existing reciever to another room, all for $199! And then, split the bill up over 3 months! SWEET!

The installer will be here Wednesday.

On another note, they said they were preparing another satellite for launch within the next 2 years. The new bird will provide >500 HD channels.

Bonham

Not to shoot down your enthusiasm, but I don't know if a free install and $5 a month compared to $199 is a great deal. You'd have to have the satalite HD for what? 40 months to break even as far as just getting HD. You know that HD unit is going to be obsolete in a year or two (or, worse yet, simply have something go wrong).

You could still do it for a completely free install (for three sets) and get the HD receivers for $5 a month from the cable company (I think the satalite companies charge the monthly access fee's on those also even if you own them - you'd have to check on that though). If it's Comcast in your area they have something called a Dishout program that is, hands down, the best promotion you can get from Comcast (even extended to Cable Internet discounts if you're new to it too). You should at least call them and ask about the details on it.

They aren't officially launched in most western states yet, but Monday I'm getting a HD/DVR Cable Box (all one unit). Now that is gonna be sweet. A HD capable DVR and On Demand. Watch a pre-recorded show and record two other shows all at the same time (all in Dobly 5.1 and in HD potentially) with one piece of equipment on top of being able to pull up stuff already stored in the On Demand library. It'll only run me $5 a month more then I was already paying for HD Digi service (the DVR is basically $10 a month, but includes HD and Dolby 5.1 too).

Even if I went to a satalite company I would never actually BUY anything from them. With the rate technology inproves (or the equipment fails) I want the upgrades and repairs to be THEIR responsibility.

And 500 HD channels in two years? That's a rather... interesting claim. The thing (dish) might be capable of it, but firstly... will there BE 500 channels in two years?... and if there are... will they have conctracts to broadcast them all in HD? Suspect it'd be a very safe bet on: No.

PolkThug

If you can go the cable route, I highly recommend it. For instance, through TimeWarner, I get RoadRunner Internet, their digital tier, all the HBO's including 2 HBO HD's, and various other HD channels abc,cbs,nbc,discovery,fox,tnt, for $60 a month and no contracts. And they don't make you buy an hd box.

If you are outside of cable service area, check out voom.com.



Regards,
PolkThug

Bonham

Aye, and with many Cable companies you can get your locals in HD like you mentioned. I get ABC, NBC, 4 PBS's, UPN, WB, and FOX for locals in addition to ESPN, Discovery, NFL, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Starz, The Movie Channel, a couple 'In Demand' HD channels (that you don't pay for). CBS should show up soon... but they are being a little difficult with everyone. Comcast also picks up some of the local baseball games (Mariners) in HD and broadcasts them themselves since Fox Sports NW isn't in HD yet.

With a lot of satalite companies you have to have a seperate dish for locals, you usually pay $3-$6 more for them and you won't be getting your locals in HD anytime soon from what I understand. For that you have to go buy an expensive HD antenna (probably gonna cost as much or more then your satalite HD boxes).

That promo that you got from TimeWarner sounds a LOT like the Comcast one that is offered in Washington.

sowen010599

Here in Wichita Falls, we have Time warner. We use them for basic, local channels. Quality has always been crap. I really cannot see spending more than 12 bucks a month with them.

For everything else, we use Directv.

The fastest cable internet connection I have ever seen here runs about 750Kbps on download tests, and costs close to 50/month. I use SBC for DSL and I'm on the "pro" plan for 49/month at 6Mbps. Yup, 6,000Kbps!

We have no local channels in HD yet. Even then, the Directv HD reciever works for off-air HD too. So when the locals start broadcasting in HD, it'll work with that too. All that's needed is a good antenna. $35 at BB. The DTV reciever will even work with non-scrambled cable channels.

My intent was not to start a cable/sat war, it was just to say I got an HD reciever, the new dish, and the installation for $199. CC carries the DTV HD receivers for $299, plus you have to buy the new dish ($49), and if you want it installed, another $49. Unless you buy 3rd party, then the installation is $100, plus $20 for a new access card.

And BTW, the 3 LNB dish required for HD, is the same one required for local channels that are not broadcast on the 2 primary satellites.

mantis

I gotta chime in as I just upgraded to HD dss.

Cable HDTV looks better. For some reason there picture is clearer on HD. DSS looks good but once in a while I can see grain in the black areas. I watch HD cable and didn't see this. I also feel the DSS has a bit of a softer picture. Comcast is alittle sharper picture.

One thing I don't like about DSS is the price of the HD TiVo. a GRAND come on with that price man.... damn thats high.

Renting from Comcast isn't better but they also offer local channel is HD where DSS does not. Comcast has alot more channels then Dss in HD. Dss has a total of 7. That actually kinda sucks.

I'm considering selling all my HD dss gear. I even have a 8 way multi HDTV switch. I can run up to 8 feeds in HDTV or standard DSS.

I got a Hdtv receiver ( Mitsubishi HD500 ) from Liv4fam which upgraded to comcast. We demo'd it at his house and comcast looks better.

To get local HDTV on DSS , you need to install a roof mount antenna. That sucks as it will only be for a few years.

I have Comcast already in the house. I have basic service so I can have Comcast cable modem. I had DSL but comcast smokes it badly.

Comcast is also expensive. For Cable modem and 2 HDTV DVR receivers HBO and SHOWTIME package with HDTV it's 147.99 a month. Damn thats alot.

I have DSS for 6 months HDTV for free. I think I'm gonna switch to comcast anyway.

Sami

I am waiting on Verizon to start putting broadcasts on their fiber optic line. Should start next month. Their internet can't be beat, I have tested 15Mbits for download and 2Mbits for upload. Pretty good for $45 a month I would say...

fireshoes

Dish's 921 HD DVR is dropping to $599 from $999 now. I think the satellite capacity is pretty full right now, but once the sats launch that should free up some bandwidth and improve picture quality (not that it's that bad anyway). Cable PQ is certainly going to vary from market to market.

Bonham

The fastest cable internet connection I have ever seen here runs about 750Kbps on download tests, and costs close to 50/month. I use SBC for DSL and I'm on the "pro" plan for 49/month at 6Mbps. Yup, 6,000Kbps!

Now that is sweet. It's a little difficult to find faster then a 4000kbps download around here for less then about $57.

Their internet can't be beat, I have tested 15Mbits for download and 2Mbits for upload. Pretty good for $45 a month I would say...

And that's beyond sweet. Are you pulling our legs? Their switch station must be right next to your house. I don't think there's anyone around here who will beat 384kbps on the upload for less then the same $57 as the 4000kbps download service.

Comcast is also expensive. For Cable modem and 2 HDTV DVR receivers HBO and SHOWTIME package with HDTV it's 147.99 a month. Damn thats alot.

Pretty much what you'd pay from Comcast in the Northwest. And most the other companies around here are more expensive. Comcast actually improved things around here a lot from the AT&T Broadband days too. There was actually a community meeting in Seattle where the people who showed up to complain about Comcast were actually bitching that they couldn't get RID of their current cable company and GET Comcast.

Quality has always been crap. I really cannot see spending more than 12 bucks a month with them.

That's cause it's analog cable. Analog cable on a HDTV sucks... even if the cable is coming through fine. If you got a HD cable box (or the DVR cause it is a HD unit) from the cable company and you'd see a big improvement. They'll truely be digital in a couple years too anyhow. Be nice when that finally happens.

Dish's 921 HD DVR is dropping to $599 from $999 now.

I think you'll see them drop more soon. Comcast is putting out a DVR that is better and that you don't have to buy. Not sure what DTV is charging for the monthly on them, but I suspect it's about the same.

sowen010599

I heard something interesting a while back, a couple months maybe, from an engineer at one of our local stations. I was asking him about HD, their plans for deployment, etc.

He said.....
Some, if not most, cable providers still do not have the capacity to recieve, and re-broadcast HD (our local cable included), even thought they provide HD service. What they are doing is up-scaling a standard signal to HD, then pushing it down the pipe. And apparently, some DSS (read: Dish Network) providers are doing the same thing. They are recieving an analog version of known HD channels through their old equipment, converting it to 1080i, and sending it out that way. With that, HD is not HD. It's regular TV up-converted to 1080i. Some providers with true HD service he pointed out were Comcast, and Directv.

He continued to say that if you think that's bad, wait untill the FCC shuts down analog, then it will be epidemic.

One thing I really like about Directv is the one thing most hate about it. You buy your own equipment. It is true it is more expensive but my 2 Tivo's have 483 hours of recording time EACH. They have both been upgraded with ethernet cards, 512 meg of RAM, and dual 250 gig drives. I work on computers for a living, so it was only a matter of time, hehe. I can record a movie on the Tivo, archive it on my server, burn it to a DVD, or even FTP it to a friend (most often, to watch at work). But the HD Tivo's, a grand, GEESH! I paid $79 for the ones I have now! True enough though, they were $600 when they came out.

Sami

Originally posted by Bonham
And that's beyond sweet. Are you pulling our legs? Their switch station must be right next to your house. I don't think there's anyone around here who will beat 384kbps on the upload for less then the same $57 as the 4000kbps download service.

It's a fiber optic line, not DSL or cable. Right now only available in Keller, TX. Hopefully soon elsewhere in the US.

http://www22.verizon.com/ForyourHome/Fios/fioshome.asp
http://www22.verizon.com/ForYourHome/Fios/packagePrice.asp

My test results:

Bandwidth Down 15065 Kbits/sec
Bandwidth Up 1863 Kbits/sec
Average Ping 4 ms
Ping Loss 0%

sowen010599

Originally posted by Bonham
Now that is sweet. It's a little difficult to find faster then a 4000kbps download around here for less then about $57.

And that's beyond sweet. Are you pulling our legs? Their switch station must be right next to your house. I don't think there's anyone around here who will beat 384kbps on the upload for less then the same $57 as the 4000kbps download service.

6000 down / 608 up, $49/Month. SBC DSL Pro. FWIW, the package I have is no longer available. I am "grandfathered" at that price. It can still be had if you put up a stink about it, but for $99. The best you can do with them now is 3000 down / 412 up for $36.

SBC has been doing several test deployments on ADSL2+, 25Mbps down / 2Mbps up.:eek: It still has distance limitations though, unlike fiber. Fiber could do 100/100 easy, if they really wanted it to.

reeltrouble1

my cable company is Adelphia, they provide NO HD service in my area, worse their analog signal is absolute crap, basically they suck.

goingganzo

untill cable goes pure digital their sigonal will look like crap compared to sat but on cabble i get more local stuff like fox sports net detroit and some others. plus a few of the stt componays priceses will go up fast in the near futhure

sowen010599

I was just checking here.......

http://www.titantv.com

And apparently at least a couple local channels are broadcasting in HD, BONUS!:cool:

But now, I have to get an antenna.:rolleyes:

It never ends.

I want a good one though. They have one at BB pretty cheap, but I was thinking about a big areal.

Frank Z

Don't be too sure, titan TV has been known to be wrong on more than a few occasions. They list my local ABC station as being in HD, it ain't, won't be for atleast another year.

As far which DBS company to use, check out WWW.DBSTalk.com. DirecTV suffers from a bit more compression the Dishnetwork. DirecTV HDTivo is a great unit, but the OS Guide is SLOOWWW compared to the 921DVR. Pro's & Cons either way.

500 HD channels? Smells like **** Smoke. The bandwidth just isn't there.

Voom's outlook isn't to rosey right about now. Betcha they get bought out by D* or E* within the next 1-2 years.

Cable has better PQ than DBS?!? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
DBS si cheaper and there is no comparison when it comes to PQ. Rain Fade? never had a problem. Snow on the dish is rarely an issue, just knock the snow off. I gave up on cable years ago, and I'll never go back.

Bonham

Fundamental flaw most scientists learned not to make long ago.

Because the dog I'm looking at is brown and has long hair... all dogs are brown and have long hair.

As I said on another thread, depends on the areas your in, the lines, the provider, etc.