Tampa DirecTV HDTV

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SirChaos

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Dec 7, 2005
72
0
Marysville, WA
Hey Everyone,
I currently have Brighthouse HD Cable and plan on calling DirecTV to get HDTV Locals and service thru them.
Should I ask something in particular or will they know exactly know what I will be talking about when I call to ask for this new service?
Should I call DirecTV or an authorized retailer?
Thanks for any help!
Chase
 
Firstly I want to make sure you know what to expect first. Now if you want an HD DVR box you should wait until after the first of the year for two reasons. First is that they don't have an HD DVR out now that supports MPEG4 and second when they do have one out in January they will be renting it with no upfront costs. You will also need to tell them you want the new HD local channels which will require the new 5LNB dish which will be free with a two year agreement.

Now with that said you will be losing both InHD channels and TNT HD. With DirecTV you would gain ESPN2 HD plus access to NFL Sunday Ticket and their HD games. Now with that said the national HD channels such as ESPN, HBO, Discovery HD and such will be down-rezzed HDTV which means they won't look nearly as good as BHN HD channels do. Now the local HD channels on DirecTV will look just as good as on BHN its the national HD channels that won't look as good.

If you don't mind using an OTA antenna you could try looking at Dish Network which will have much better picture quality with all the Voom channels soon along with ESPN 2 HD as well. With Dish Network you will lose Universal HD but you would get TNT HD while DirecTV doesn't offer it. Both DirecTV and Dish Network have ESPN2 HD (note that Dish will have this channel in about a month or so).

If you haven't heard about Verizon FIOS yet goto www.verizonfios.com and enter your phone number to check to see if its available. If you have fiber available you might want to leave that option open in the future once your area gets a franchise agreement in place because Verizon has great HD offerings with great picture quality on all SD and HD channels. They have an all digital lineup as well as tons of VOD offerings.

I hope I was able to give you a decent overview of the various offerings you have access to or will soon have. I want you to know exactly what to expect with each provider because I would hate for you to spend several hundred bucks thinking the HD quality would be the same you get today with BHN.
 
LonghornXP said:
Firstly I want to make sure you know what to expect first. Now if you want an HD DVR box you should wait until after the first of the year for two reasons. First is that they don't have an HD DVR out now that supports MPEG4 and second when they do have one out in January they will be renting it with no upfront costs. You will also need to tell them you want the new HD local channels which will require the new 5LNB dish which will be free with a two year agreement.
Now with that said you will be losing both InHD channels and TNT HD. With DirecTV you would gain ESPN2 HD plus access to NFL Sunday Ticket and their HD games. Now with that said the national HD channels such as ESPN, HBO, Discovery HD and such will be down-rezzed HDTV which means they won't look nearly as good as BHN HD channels do. Now the local HD channels on DirecTV will look just as good as on BHN its the national HD channels that won't look as good.
If you don't mind using an OTA antenna you could try looking at Dish Network which will have much better picture quality with all the Voom channels soon along with ESPN 2 HD as well. With Dish Network you will lose Universal HD but you would get TNT HD while DirecTV doesn't offer it. Both DirecTV and Dish Network have ESPN2 HD (note that Dish will have this channel in about a month or so).
If you haven't heard about Verizon FIOS yet goto www.verizonfios.com and enter your phone number to check to see if its available. If you have fiber available you might want to leave that option open in the future once your area gets a franchise agreement in place because Verizon has great HD offerings with great picture quality on all SD and HD channels. They have an all digital lineup as well as tons of VOD offerings.
I hope I was able to give you a decent overview of the various offerings you have access to or will soon have. I want you to know exactly what to expect with each provider because I would hate for you to spend several hundred bucks thinking the HD quality would be the same you get today with BHN.


The only thing I would add to Longhorns post would be that Dish is possibly in the process of downrezzing as well as of this moment (so it might not be an advantage as far as that is concerned).
 
Thanks for the very informative posts!! :)

It's very helpful. What I'm trying to do is save some money on TV costs and I'm really frustrated with the quality on the Analog Channels......

I will say that yes I have Verizon Fios but TV service is not yet ready here. I live in Pasco County.

I will stick with Brighthouse for the time being.

Thanks!
 
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