directv users

[Jimbo]

It is not my intent to "bash" DTV, but once was a customer and switched to Cable about 10 yrs ago. We have many On Demand channels, Start over channels that play without issue. No regrets, maybe NFL, but my cable has "free" Red Zone, we have a lot of HD channels 100+, picture and sound is excellent. Most important, no 2 yr contact. Equipment problems, real or imagined, are quickly resolved by rolling a no cost tech to the house or going ~5 miles to exchange boxes, modems, controllers etc. About every 3 months or so, I go thru the drill of checking out prices on the DTV site,months 1-3, 4-12 and 13-24. They are higher in price than my cable/internet/phone. I have compared this will all the discounts, referrals, AAA, Costco, BB etc. With a DTV bundle, I have to have a DSL internet connection, (up to 10Mb) and a local phone company telephone system. Doing the DSL and phone seperately, exceeds my cable combo deal by $50. On a side note, there are a lot of local channels here that broadcast local sports such as high school football/basketball etc. If the time ever comes, and its a price advantage, in spite of a 2 yr contract (thats hard to say) I might change. If I ever moved to a remote location, local cable was crap or not available, it would be a no brainer. JM2C

Do you typically change providers yearly ?

IF Not, a two year commitment isn't really a big deal, your there already.

How long did you say you have been with cable, over two years ?

See a 24 month deal wasn't so bad, was it ...

Now if they don't have the programming you desire, thats an entirely different discussion.

 

[DVDDAD]

It is not my intent to "bash" DTV, but once was a customer and switched to Cable about 10 yrs ago. We have many On Demand channels, Start over channels that play without issue. No regrets, maybe NFL, but my cable has "free" Red Zone, we have a lot of HD channels 100+, picture and sound is excellent. Most important, no 2 yr contact. Equipment problems, real or imagined, are quickly resolved by rolling a no cost tech to the house or going ~5 miles to exchange boxes, modems, controllers etc. About every 3 months or so, I go thru the drill of checking out prices on the DTV site,months 1-3, 4-12 and 13-24. They are higher in price than my cable/internet/phone. I have compared this will all the discounts, referrals, AAA, Costco, BB etc. With a DTV bundle, I have to have a DSL internet connection, (up to 10Mb) and a local phone company telephone system. Doing the DSL and phone seperately, exceeds my cable combo deal by $50. On a side note, there are a lot of local channels here that broadcast local sports such as high school football/basketball etc. If the time ever comes, and its a price advantage, in spite of a 2 yr contract (thats hard to say) I might change. If I ever moved to a remote location, local cable was crap or not available, it would be a no brainer. JM2C

If you've been with cable for ten years now why does a 2-year contract bother you? I can understand that bundling sometimes makes the price for pay TV and the rest of your services cheaper, but here with my packages, bundling would be only slightly cheaper. If you were to compare just Cablevision TV to DirecTV (again with my packages, services and number of receivers) DirecTV is cheaper. And, when you bundle, you can't pick and choose who's services and equipment best fits your wants and needs. In my area, when there is a power outage, you lose cable TV & internet, whenever the power goes out in my neighborhood. Plugging in my generator gives me TV with satellite and with Fios internet, when the power goes out I'll still have internet, which is very important to me. I cannot receive cell coverage at my house (so tethering is out) and I use the internet to get cell coverage at home. I'm a self-employed insurance agent and being connected to cell service and internet during a weather event is very important to me and my clients. I also am into technology and appreciate more than just the basics when it comes to equipment capabilities and interfaces. Cablevision and Fios don't have any receivers that compare to my Genie and my three HR-24's. I have subscribed to Sunday Ticket the last two years and cannot get that with cable, but it does bother me that I have to pay an extra $100 for Red Zone with DTV. Although DTV has been great when I called to complain about that and the cost for Sunday Ticket Max they helped me out. I rarely watched any of the local cable news or high school sports programs and don't miss them now that I don't have them. So for me, like a previous poster said, I'd only go back to cable if it was free, and then with reservations.

 

[robjlevin]

Sounds like you're in the similar situation as I am. DTV with FiOS. There is no better combination on the planet.

 

[mdavej]

For years cable in my area was absolutely awful - terrible lineup, terrible picture quality, terrible service, high prices. But it has made a dramatic improvement recently and is now actually the best option in terms of HD lineup, picture quality and price. DirecTV is still lagging in the HD department, with a lot of content still in SD that other providers have in HD (the major reason I dropped DirecTV after having them for several years). Dish is a little better but you never know when they'll drop one of your favorite channels or for how long (the major reason I dropped Dish). I absolutely love Dish's and DirecTV's DVRs and their customer service. Cable DVRs are still in the stone age, so I don't use them. My biggest problem with DirecTV, besides HD, is it's so much more expensive than cable in my market (after new customer deals expire of course). My cable company doesn't charge extra for HD, and I can avoid DVR fees and extra box fees by using my own equipment. And I get bundle discounts on top of that since I have to use cable for internet anyway.

I would agree that in most markets, satellite is a lot better than cable, but you can't really make a blanket statement.

 

[hokie74]

I moved from Time Warner to DirecTV exactly two years ago and don't regret it for a minute. The equipment is light years ahead of the crappy Motorola DVR I had. I have more HD channels and whole home DVR with DTV.

 

[ejb1980]

I moved from Time Warner to DirecTV exactly two years ago and don't regret it for a minute. The equipment is light years ahead of the crappy Motorola DVR I had. I have more HD channels and whole home DVR with DTV.

You had the good TWC equipment, too. Despite the fact that TWC has a few more HD cable channels, it's worthless. The TWC PQ is noticeable sub-quality. I don't understand how people can deal with the channel order of cable. Switch. OP, SWITCH!!! You'll never get TV from a cable co again...

 

[TheTechGuru]

Ya, I've compared DirecTV's TWC-HD to Charter's TWD-HD and Charter's looks overly compressed and pixelated with tiles.

 

[goober22]

Nope! I have 6 HD/DVRs, 2 standard STB and WAY MORE HD than cable (Comcast & Knology) can offer here, at a far cheaper price for all those HD/DVRS BTW!

I guess if you only had 1-2 receivers it may make a difference but for me D* wins hands down.

 

[dishcomm]

If you've been with cable for ten years now why does a 2-year contract bother you? I can understand that bundling sometimes makes the price for pay TV and the rest of your services cheaper, but here with my packages, bundling would be only slightly cheaper. If you were to compare just Cablevision TV to DirecTV (again with my packages, services and number of receivers) DirecTV is cheaper. And, when you bundle, you can't pick and choose who's services and equipment best fits your wants and needs. In my area, when there is a power outage, you lose cable TV & internet, whenever the power goes out in my neighborhood. Plugging in my generator gives me TV with satellite and with Fios internet, when the power goes out I'll still have internet, which is very important to me. I cannot receive cell coverage at my house (so tethering is out) and I use the internet to get cell coverage at home. I'm a self-employed insurance agent and being connected to cell service and internet during a weather event is very important to me and my clients. I also am into technology and appreciate more than just the basics when it comes to equipment capabilities and interfaces. Cablevision and Fios don't have any receivers that compare to my Genie and my three HR-24's. I have subscribed to Sunday Ticket the last two years and cannot get that with cable, but it does bother me that I have to pay an extra $100 for Red Zone with DTV. Although DTV has been great when I called to complain about that and the cost for Sunday Ticket Max they helped me out. I rarely watched any of the local cable news or high school sports programs and don't miss them now that I don't have them. So for me, like a previous poster said, I'd only go back to cable if it was free, and then with reservations.

No cell coverage? you must live in NIMBY land up in the Neck....No towers allowed by those who bitch about the lack of cell coverage but won't budge an inch on getting a cell tower...Been there. Sucks.

 

[lwh1993]

I'm debating cutting the cord in December and going Hulu PLus, Netflix and OTA antenna. $100+ a month just doesn't seem worth it anymore. All my sports are available by internet or OTA and between roku and my consoles I cna get most content anywhere.

 

[StealthMonkey]

I switched from Time Warner Cable to DirecTV. Overall, the change was great, I'm glad I did it, and I wouldn't go back. The only negative thing I can say, and this took a while to get used to, was that basic receiver functionality (e.g. changing channels, scrolling through the guide) was a lot faster on my SA8300 than it is on DirecTV DVRs. Once I got over that, I was good to go.

 

[raj2001]

I only have one regret and that is that I owned my own media center setup with the cable provider. So that is sorta money down the drain. But having TV when power is out (and I'm running on the generator) is worth it. Price wise it's a wash.

 

[Kungpao]

I'm a new subscriber and I LOVE it! My only beef is that I'm in a CSN local broadcast area and that makes me angry/sad. Especially when I was led to believe (by directtv rep) that I'd be able to watch my hockey through center ice. I became a new subscriber during the lockout in hopes that I'd be able to get center ice if/when the lockout ended.