Direct TV...is it worth it?

wizzy

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I have had direct tv since 1997... I love it! Sadly I will be leaving dtv because they are charging WAY to much because they know I have no other options wher I live and will not assist me by offering any kind of deal...

You can't get dish?

DollarDave

Conradicles wrote: »

I got 2 of the HD DVR's sitting here collecting dust. If we decide to keep cable, I will offer them up for free to fellow polkies.

I'd be game for one, too. The problem might be that even though they cost you to install them, you may only be leasing them. You used to buy them and they changed that and pissed a bunch of people off.

I have been with them for about 12 years and they are getting just a bit too expensive. It sucks that you have an HD subscription (that you pay extra for) and then they charge you extra for HD for the NFL package. As if that damn package didn't already cost too much. The only reason I use DirecTV instead of a host of others is the NFL package.

polkatese

Sean, one more thing: with DTV HD Receiver, now it allows you to set it up for 1080p resolution (on select HD programming and On-Demand). How cool is that?

avelanchefan

Okay guys..THANK for your responces. Much more than I anticipated. My wife and I read through all of them, and I am pretty sure we are going to make the switch.

Please keep the comments coming because we have not made up our mind yet!

Kex

avelanchefan wrote: »

... Please keep the comments coming because we have not made up our mind yet!

One other option that may the best of all:

Give the monthly fees to me and I will drive right on over there every night and keep you and the wifey much better entertained than any TV service could ever do!

Systems

avelanchefan wrote: »

Okay I am seriously thinking of making the switch. I am pretty much done with COX. Not that their service is bad, but they are not over accomodating either. My recent big beef with them is the lack of OnDemand. Everyone else in the city of Tucson has it. Comcast customers in Tucson have had it for years. My neighborhood is going to be the last to get it, and they have no idea when it will be available to us, even though we have all the upgraded wiring to handle it.

Also HD content is minimal. I think we have 20 HD channels, but I watch maybe 5 of them. Sorry but Food Network in HD does nothing for me.

1) So who has had cable and made the switch to Direct TV, and why?

2) Is pricing the same? More or less?

3) Service from Direct TV? Good....bad....non-exsistent?

4) Who has made the switch from Direct TV back to cable and why?



Thanks

Sean

Hello

I've never made the switch, have been with Directv since Day one. I've always have had great luck with them. I did make the switch over to HD last year and couldn't be happier. The picture rivals that of Blue Ray in some instances....

I didn't get the HD DVR's through them, I opted to purchase two HR21 Pro's from weakness.com. I highly suggest going that route as I've had Zero issues with these receivers. And I don't miss my old Tivo at all, except for the dual live buffers, but I record everything I watch anyway so.....

I did have all the cables ran before I made the switch, went with two dual runs so I could have both tuners active on both receivers. Definately go that route too. The dish will handle two dual runs, if you want more you'll have to multiswitch it.

The installer really didn't have to do much work as I had the pole setup for him also. It was the old C band pole so not much issue there with wind movement....

Buy yeah, go for it!!

Systems

Heres the thread where I was talking about the install and theres a pic on there of the pole:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=147406

If you scroll down through or read the thread theres a couple of pics of us putting up the original Cband dish..

polkatese

Sean, being a customer of DTV over the years, here are my history of equipments acquisitions (I think it is relevant for your consideration, so you'll get a sense of total cost of ownership beyond monthly fees):

2005: Bought HR10-250: $99 with one year commitment
2006: Bought Triple LNB Dish for the new HD lineup: $70
2006: HR10-250 malfunction, CSR sent me HR20-700 for free
2007: Called CSR to purchase 2 new HR DVR, offered 2 HR20-100 for free, with 2 years new commitment (as if I ever thought of switching). I didn't even ask for free, they did try to add discounted NFL package but I politely declined

I bought another HR10-250 off the bay in 2006, and fixed the other HR10-250. Both units are decommisioned now, but had plenty of HD programming, from HD-NET, that I still watched from time to time. These units are bought and owned outright. The three HR20s are all leased, although I doubt they want it back in the future, since these were first and second generation Non-TIVO units that are no longer in production nor given out (i.e. obsolete). All these DVRs have HDMI.

So, if you talk to them about starting, see if you can get a package with free HD DVRs and triple LNBs Dish. Who knows.

Rodeo0530

jgido759 wrote: »

Which model HD receiver allow this feature? I have the HD-20-100 and I don't recall this feature being available.

I supposedly have the newest DVR available. I believe this is true, but I have nothing to actually verify that. It's the HD-DVR - HR23-700. It's nice I think it has a 500 GB memory...maybe more??

steveinaz

Wish I would have done DTV a year earlier. I love it. HD in the family room, HD in the bedroom.

We have Choice Extra* w/HD access, 2 HD receivers (family room/master bedroom), 3 SD receivers (patio/70's mancave/spare bedroom), protection plan, and HD extras pack. Make sure you get the protection plan, it's like $5.95 and covers all of your equipment if something breaks.

Heavy clouds and rain don't seem to bother it, but the dish doesn't like lightning.

Our bill: $103.98/month

*all channels except premium (HBO, showtime, Encore, etc, etc)

avelanchefan

Lorthos wrote: »

Hello

I didn't get the HD DVR's through them, I opted to purchase two HR21 Pro's from weakness.com. I highly suggest going that route as I've had Zero issues with these receivers. And I don't miss my old Tivo at all, except for the dual live buffers, but I record everything I watch anyway so.....

Buy yeah, go for it!!

Okay so lets say I want to buy my own receiver on weakness.com
1) I own it correct?

2) Does Direct TV still charge me a usage fee?

danger boy

avelanchefan wrote: »

Okay so lets say I want to buy my own receiver on weakness.com
1) I own it correct?

2) Does Direct TV still charge me a usage fee?

good questions... i wonder if they set different rates for different parts of the country too? Direct was and is the most expensive option for me. at standard def dual tuner for $70 that is $5 more than Comcast with the same number of channels and an HD DVR, and no ugly dish on the house. Dish was just slightly less expensive than Direct.

steveinaz

avelanchefan wrote: »

Okay so lets say I want to buy my own receiver on weakness.com
1) I own it correct?

2) Does Direct TV still charge me a usage fee?

1) No. All equipment is leased--wether you bought it or not. Don't buy your own equipment, let DTV provide it on the first install.

2) Yes. When you call to activate the receiver, it will be picked up on your account.

treitz3

steveinaz wrote: »

Heavy clouds and rain don't seem to bother it, but the dish doesn't like lightning.

With the DN dishes I have had over the years in various locations, about the only thing that would ever make the signal go into digital snow or a complete loss of signal was when a real bad storm would roll in. They would always come from the South and no other direction and every time they would hit the house about 5-7 minutes later. It was bad, usually associated with hail and heavy wind.

I never have had lightning affect the signal or have I had anything else make the signal go away or cause digital snow [large pixilizing digital blocks and loss or mutilation of sound]. What I have found to be true in my case is that the DirecTV signal lost it's signal less than regular cable. Plus, it gave you a weather warning when it did lose a signal and this would only occur maybe 4 times a year.

Down in NC we have a pretty damn bad lightning and when we lost the signal, I would just walk over to the TV's and the rig and unplug them all. Figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

jgido759

steveinaz wrote: »

Heavy clouds and rain don't seem to bother it, but the dish doesn't like lightning.

I guess this warrents a service call to DirecTV for me. Here in western NJ, I loose my HD signal ALL THE TIME during very bad rain. SD channels don't seem to be affected, though and from what I understand SD & HD signals are on different satellites.

steveinaz

Well, keep in mind we're also at 4600 ft elevation, and this may (or may not) be meaningful. During heavy lightning activity, I'll get occasional pixelation. We have only had 1 outage, and it lasted abput 10 minutes due to severe lightning---which is pretty regular here during the monsoon.

steveinaz

avelanchefan wrote: »

Okay so lets say I want to buy my own receiver on weakness.com
1) I own it correct?

2) Does Direct TV still charge me a usage fee?

To clarify, we had a standard def box in our master bedroom. Recently we picked up another HDTV, so naturally I wanted to upgrade the SD box to a HD box. I had to buy the HD receiver for $99. It still BELONGS to direct tv however. It's in their terms of service. You actually lease all of the equipment, since you don't pay for it up front anymore. DTV sent me a shipping box pre-paid to send the SD box back to them--free. You simply connect up your new box, call DTV and give them the serial # and sim card # and they activate you on the spot.

Bottom line, get all the HD receivers you think you'll need during your initial install, that way it's free.

polkatese

steveinaz wrote: »

Bottom line, get all the HD receivers you think you'll need during your initial install, that way it's free.

Agreed, you have your most leverage when you sign up the first time.

bruss

Long time directv user and I love it. I have 3 HD DVR's a regular hd box and a sd box. I get every channel they have except playboy. I like the video on demand but it needs to Q for a while or you have playback (buffer) issues. No Network VOD FOX, CBS etc either. No HBO VOD. I guess they are exclusive to iNDemand.. What I have recently been messing with is encoding my movies to my DLNA server and playing them from anywhere i have a networked receiver. HR20-****.

steveinaz

I think DirectTV is getting ready to launch 1080p pay-per-view soon, if they haven't already. Another plus.

Systems

steveinaz wrote: »

I think DirectTV is getting ready to launch 1080p pay-per-view soon, if they haven't already. Another plus.

Yes they have but you can only get them right now on the HD DVR's, they don't show up on the pay per view. They are on the Top Movies tab in your playlist. There's space allocated on the hard drive and they are "loaded" up in that space so you can buy and view them right away.....

And theres some on the "on Demand" section too...

If you do get a receiver from DirecTv its a roll of the dice what you will get....

I'm still sticking by my guns with the HR21 Pro's, sometimes free isn't always the best route to take if you know what I mean...