Dish vs Uverse

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jerryez

Supporting Founder
Original poster
Supporting Founder
Sep 8, 2003
4,743
1,290
Pensacola,FL
ATT is bringing UVerse to Pensacola, FL. I looked at the introductry prices and the real prices. They are much higher than Dish. Is this true? They want over $100 for there 100 channel package and up after the $20 off introductry price.
 
I've never had Uverse. I've heard that you can only stream 2 HD channels to your house at once and the DVR's only have 160 gig hard drives in them.

If you can live with those limitations I think the rest of the service is really nice.
 
I don't know the exact amount, but my sisters' introductory price for Uverse TV, internet and phone was UNDER $100 for all three services. The TV pkg was comparable to our 200 pkg with HBO and the her internet speed is 3G. Can't remember the specs but the # of HD streams available at once depends on the subscibers distance to their "box". She's close and can get 4 at once (can't imagine she ever would need to). The only big downside I could see was that although you can view any recordings at any location you can only pause, rewind & record LIVE TV from one--the location you choose for the DVR. She was a happy Dish customer 'til she moved and they really pissed her off unnecessarily, but that's another story. She's had it for about 3 months and loves it.

Ed
 
Dish still the better option

ATT is bringing UVerse to Pensacola, FL. I looked at the introductry prices and the real prices. They are much higher than Dish. Is this true? They want over $100 for there 100 channel package and up after the $20 off introductry price.

Im your neibor down south.

I would be glad to tell you everything you need to know about Uverse.
I have had them since they arrived last summer.

Im down in Pompano Beach Fla.

Not sure if their still running the 100-200 dollar promotion??

I actualy have dish, Direc and Uverse.
Why i have Three systems is another story.

But if your coming from dish to Uverse...Its a mixed bag.

Service has gotten better with Uverse. In the beggining service was spotty.
Lots of issues. They were so new they had kinks to work out.
Maybe you will be lucky. However, for me it took months for them to fix the many issues.

Uverse:

Plus side-Great Internet! Fast and stable.
Hd picture has immproved drasticaly-Almost on par with Sat cos. SD best picrture out there.
Love VOD service-Never had it..Love it!
Lots of HD premium channels.
Super fast channel change

Down side: Limited streams..
Dvrs are good-Not great

If your coming from Dish...Ill be honest. You probably wont be happy.
Without sounding like a shill for dish, their dvrs blow away Uverse cisco machines.
I always revert back to dish when I watch general basic tv..No stream issues.
Price wise...I think after promotions dish is still the better value.

Conclusion: You could try Uverse-No contract!! But Dish is still the superior system.
 
I'm in Sacramento, CA, I just switched from Dish to Uverse a month ago or so.

I honestly forget how large the drive is on the DVR, which is kinda lame but I've been super busy. It's enough though, I think it was slightly less advertised recording time than my 622.

The tech it uses is really the way to go. The main DVR box feeds all the client boxes over the house network. This is better than say my 622 feeding two rooms. You get HD in any room you want as well, in as many rooms as you want (and want to pay for). Basically it's more flexible, and I like that. My older son can watch recorded shows in his room, living room, or entertainment room, which is perfect.

The downside: right now, each client box can pull live TV and recorded TV. But it can't record TV or pause a live stream. They're supposedly releasing a software patch to handle this functionality, but it was a bit of a shock because they don't make that entirely clear to you. If you're used to having full DVR functionality in your secondary room like we were, it's a bit of a shock. My kids don't understand a world where you can't pause TV.

The other drawback is the functionality of the software itself. It seems less robust than the Dish DVRs. It's really weird, once a show ends (in real time) even if you have it in your pause buffer, you cannot record it for later. Either watch it or lose it. If you want to know how much space you have left, you have to dig into a system menu. Even then, it tells you a percentage, not in time or even space. Little stuff like that bugs me.

The interface itself is well presented and fairly friendly. But overall I prefer the functionality of the Dish guide, menus, and DVR. It's much more refined. I was just getting used to the grouping feature on my 622. Dish is pretty far ahead of the game with DVR.

But Uverse is no contract, that's why I switched. I wanted to try it, I also wanted their internet service. My plan was to be a "new customer" by the time the 922 rolls around so I didn't have to pay some ridiculous upgrade fee for new equipment.

I wouldn't steer someone away from Uverse, as long as you know what you're getting before you jump in. If you can live with those drawbacks and there are benefits that work for you, go for it. But really, it is more expensive than Dish, flat out. And for me, I'm not really getting a lot more for that money each month. It's not worth it. But I got $200 cash back and no contract, so that covers me until I switch back to Dish, so it was worth a try.
 
If you look at channel counts, yes, U-Verse is more expensive per-channel. If you look at the channels you're getting per-tier (stuff that normal people actually watch), they're in a dead heat. Classic Silver and U-200 are practically the same package, and when you start tacking on features (two rooms + DVR, HD access), they're still very close. If you like something that News Corp puts out (FX, Speed, NatGeo), U-Verse often has those channels available in lower tiers; Charlie and Rupert just can't get along, for some reason. If I could bring 4 HD streams in at one time, like I can with a 722K, and I weren't contracted to Dish, I'd be on U-Verse in a snap.
 
I'm in Sacramento, CA, I just switched from Dish to Uverse a month ago or so.

I honestly forget how large the drive is on the DVR, which is kinda lame but I've been super busy. It's enough though, I think it was slightly less advertised recording time than my 622.

The tech it uses is really the way to go. The main DVR box feeds all the client boxes over the house network. This is better than say my 622 feeding two rooms. You get HD in any room you want as well, in as many rooms as you want (and want to pay for). Basically it's more flexible, and I like that. My older son can watch recorded shows in his room, living room, or entertainment room, which is perfect.

The downside: right now, each client box can pull live TV and recorded TV. But it can't record TV or pause a live stream. They're supposedly releasing a software patch to handle this functionality, but it was a bit of a shock because they don't make that entirely clear to you. If you're used to having full DVR functionality in your secondary room like we were, it's a bit of a shock. My kids don't understand a world where you can't pause TV.

The other drawback is the functionality of the software itself. It seems less robust than the Dish DVRs. It's really weird, once a show ends (in real time) even if you have it in your pause buffer, you cannot record it for later. Either watch it or lose it. If you want to know how much space you have left, you have to dig into a system menu. Even then, it tells you a percentage, not in time or even space. Little stuff like that bugs me.

The interface itself is well presented and fairly friendly. But overall I prefer the functionality of the Dish guide, menus, and DVR. It's much more refined. I was just getting used to the grouping feature on my 622. Dish is pretty far ahead of the game with DVR.

But Uverse is no contract, that's why I switched. I wanted to try it, I also wanted their internet service. My plan was to be a "new customer" by the time the 922 rolls around so I didn't have to pay some ridiculous upgrade fee for new equipment.

I wouldn't steer someone away from Uverse, as long as you know what you're getting before you jump in. If you can live with those drawbacks and there are benefits that work for you, go for it. But really, it is more expensive than Dish, flat out. And for me, I'm not really getting a lot more for that money each month. It's not worth it. But I got $200 cash back and no contract, so that covers me until I switch back to Dish, so it was worth a try.

I believe the freebie DVR for new customers will be the "K" series boxes, not the 922. I do believe even new customers will have to pay the same upgrade fee. Dish feels the 922 isn't for everyone and will appeal to power users or high-end customers who want the latest and greatest.
 
I am very happy with Dish, but UVerse is just coming to Pensacola and I am always available for a better deal. I have Cox internet at 10G. Since, I am not an unhappy Dish customer and have 3 external hard drives, I guess that I will stay with Dish.

Here is a link for the 200 pkg. with internet for $97 per month:

http://www.attoffer.com/9/u200.html

Plus it looks like you have to get the U450 pkg to get any HD. HD does not look like it comes with the lower bundles. U450 with 1.5G internet is $142 per month.
 
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Why do Indiana customers get an $8 discount.

That stuff varies on a per-state, per-county, per-municipality basis. Perhaps it's against Indiana law to charge $8 per month to carry local channels on a "cable" service. Perhaps it's required by your city that you pay $8 per month for the privilege of watching the local news. You can probably shrug it off and blame the FCC for not protecting consumers as well as they protect the operators.
 
FTC

That stuff varies on a per-state, per-county, per-municipality basis. Perhaps it's against Indiana law to charge $8 per month to carry local channels on a "cable" service. Perhaps it's required by your city that you pay $8 per month for the privilege of watching the local news. You can probably shrug it off and blame the FCC for not protecting consumers as well as they protect the operators.

Maybe the FTC in this case that allows the tax rates for these services?
 
I am very happy with Dish, but UVerse is just coming to Pensacola and I am always available for a better deal. I have Cox internet at 10G. Since, I am not an unhappy Dish customer and have 3 external hard drives, I guess that I will stay with Dish.

Here is a link for the 200 pkg. with internet for $97 per month:

AT&T U200 | Get the AT&T U-verse U200 Double Pack

Plus it looks like you have to get the U450 pkg to get any HD. HD does not look like it comes with the lower bundles. U450 with 1.5G internet is $142 per month.
u300 has hd channels also.
 
By looking at the channels available (again, not the channel count), the Uverse U200 is really more like Classic Gold plus HD. It includes channels like E! and Style, both Comcast channels IIRC, though it doesn't include Planet Green or Fox Business. ATT's "mistake" seems to be missing the $60/mo customer, which Dish and DirecTV have covered.
 

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