Thread: Review: AT&T U-VERSE

I have 2 bedrooms back to back with cable termination in just one of the rooms. Can I split the cable (using a standard coax splitter from Radio Shack) and have uverse in each room (provided I have 2 of their boxes of course)? If that won't work can I split the cable and have uverse in one room or the other by moving the existing box between the rooms? If a splitter will work what type do I need? I bought one that supports up to 2350 hz - the standard ones are up to 900 hz (at least that is what I've found).

Thanks for your help

Hey guys. Just found this forum. Gotta love the Internet for creating info centers like this.

I currently have DishNetwork and a VIP722 DVR. It's served me well, although SD shows could be sharper and some HD shows don't look quite as smooth as others.

I'd ignored U-verse for a while because their DVR held a lot less than the 55 hours of HD recordings of my VIP722. But now their latest ads say their new DVR holds 65 hours, plus their lineup includes a lot more channels for the price. So....I'm thinking of making the switch.

A few questions, though, if I may:

1. Can you record two HD channels AND watch a third previously recorded HD channel, as I can on my VIP722? That wasn't clear in the posts on that I've read here.

2. Is the U-verse Total Home DVR as reliable as the VIP722?

3. Is there anything you can think of that I'm likely to miss by giving up my VIP722?

Thanks in advance.

Actually, I have another question:

For those who are familiar with DishNetwork's HD channel availability, is AT&T's HD lineup comparable? I did notice that Comedy Central has recently been made available as HD with DishNetwork, but I don't see that in the U-verse promotional info. Or are such differences usually minimal, because when one provider makes something available in HD, the others also do too?

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Underlings

1. Can you record two HD channels AND watch a third previously recorded HD channel, as I can on my VIP722? That wasn't clear in the posts on that I've read here.

Yes - though with one cavet. I've noticed that if I start watching something that's recording and pause it, I'll get the 'too many tvs in use' message if two recordings kick off while the buffered playback is still running. I have to actually go to the Record TV list and select the show from there to watch it. I don't recall ever having that problem with Dish.

Originally Posted by Underlings

2. Is the U-verse Total Home DVR as reliable as the VIP722?

Hard to say. I've only had Uverse for about 1 month. I've had a couple of issues, but besides an issue local to Austin where we couldn't Fast Forward FOX content for a while, nothing major. That said, I had my 622 for a few years and once they fixed some of the OTA integration problems, I never had an issue. I'd lose service occasionally in bad weather, but nothing enough to worry about. The Dish DVR is definitely more refined, and the underlying technology much more proven - so I'd imagine the Dish product overall to be more stable. But it's not like Uverse is crashing every day or anything.

Originally Posted by Underlings

3. Is there anything you can think of that I'm likely to miss by giving up my VIP722?

real 30 second skip. Ability to limit number of recorded shows to keep. Ability to prioritize recordings. OTA integration. Better remote. Better guide. Much better Favorites lists. HD Only packages. If you use HDMI or Optical audio, there are apparently issues with those as well.

You gain real VOD, a much smaller and quieter DVR (at least compared to my 622), no need for a Dish on the roof. Chincy 'apps' that I personally find useless. Remote programming (though I see Dish just launched something similar). Total Home DVR (just one TV here so I can't speak to how well it works). No silliness like having to press 'DVR' twice to get to your shows. The remote lights up (though not the buttons that should). Remote turns the TV and DVR on with one 'Power' button.

On channel selection - I was on HD Absolute with Dish. I'm on U300 on UVerse, though I"ll likely drop to U200 after the promo is over. I can't think of anything that was on Dish that wasn't on Uverse in HD - though I tend to stick to just the channels I like to watch. U300 + HD is significantly more expensive than HD Absolute, though - but that package was going away anyway, and to get Versus HD - which I want for bike race coverage - pushes me into a Dish package that's comparable cost wise.

I am due to have uverse installed tomorrow 12 May 09 and I have no telephone poles.
That UVERSE equipment is 1/2 block north and 1/2 block west of me and would be on
the opposite side of the street. How do they get the cable to me? I asked that question of the person that I signed up with and they said that they weren't sure. Any guess? Will they actually bring the cable laying equipment or will they tell me that they made a mistake or
could they somehow use Charter's cable (it's access box is in aneighbor's yard with a pit bull). I am really curious.
Lannie Walker
lannie1@swbell.net

Thanks, Technikal, I appreciate the input. Helpful details there. I'd forgotten about the 30-second skip--I LOVE that feature.

Hmm, well, it's a tough call at this point.

Originally Posted by Underlings

Thanks, Technikal, I appreciate the input. Helpful details there. I'd forgotten about the 30-second skip--I LOVE that feature.

Hmm, well, it's a tough call at this point.

The skip seems to depend on where you live. In west suburbs of Chicago with the Cisco box the skip is a true skip and is 36 seconds in length. The back is a true skip back and in 7 seconds in length.

The important thing to remember is the service you get is not based on the number of boxes you have. Your house gets 2 HD and 2 SD streams. Use them how you like on any number of boxes you just can’t exceed 2 + 2 in the entire house at a given time.

Coming from DirecTv I am quite happy with the service so far.

Originally Posted by Underlings

Hey guys. Just found this forum. Gotta love the Internet for creating info centers like this.

I currently have DishNetwork and a VIP722 DVR. It's served me well, although SD shows could be sharper and some HD shows don't look quite as smooth as others.

I'd ignored U-verse for a while because their DVR held a lot less than the 55 hours of HD recordings of my VIP722. But now their latest ads say their new DVR holds 65 hours, plus their lineup includes a lot more channels for the price. So....I'm thinking of making the switch.

A few questions, though, if I may:

1. Can you record two HD channels AND watch a third previously recorded HD channel, as I can on my VIP722? That wasn't clear in the posts on that I've read here.

2. Is the U-verse Total Home DVR as reliable as the VIP722?

3. Is there anything you can think of that I'm likely to miss by giving up my VIP722?

Thanks in advance.

I have had Uverse since they arrived in my area for roughly a year now.

Heres what I can tell you.
I have dish Vip722 as well.

Uverse uses cisco dvrs\recievers. While they have very nice and fast on screen guides, I have found them very glitchey.
I have had a tech out 9 times since day one. Mostly the units freezing up or pixelation issues.

After all those issues I finally have units that work but they need to be rebooted every morning. Im too tired of having techs over to fix an issue. im just dealing with it.

The video or tv watching\recoding is limited to 4 streams. Meaning you can watch 2sd and record 2 hd channels.
Im not sure if i have the stream number correct. It might just be 2.
Reason I say this is I dont use the unit as my my recording system.

PQ quality. Some channels in HD are better than others. SD channels are the best
out of all systems out on the market.
However, dish HD is hands down better at this time.

HD channels. Too close to call. They seem to be neck and neck. However, I might give the nod to Uverse-They have more premiums in HD.
Hopefully less contract disputes than dish too....

VOD: I love the vod on Uverse. Its very cool! Its fast and unlike dish you dont have to download the videos.

High speed internet: No brainer-GET IT!

In short: You can give Uverse a free spin. No contract!!! That in itself is a killer feature. Plus they might still have those great rebates.

I, at this time, would not say Uverse is better than dish.
Uverse is trying really hard though.

The 722 are the best dvrs on the market-PERIOD. You will not find better. Including direc tvs HDdvrs. They are clunky and slow.
The Uverse Cisco Hd dvrs will be a dissapointment next to the 722.

So, my take is try Uverse but Im not sure you will be thrilled.
Ive stuck with the tv service for a year and im not sold yet.

If I were you Id suspend Dish and give uverse a try. Maybe you will like them better than me.

If you need more info please email me.

Joel

Figured I'd mention that as of yesterday, U-Verse added on the Viacom networks in HD.