Helluva Charter deal...what would you do?

[RichManitoba]

Charter Comm. has a great offer I'm considering. (I already have their home voice & internet service, about $82.00/month). With DirecTv I have the "Choice Ultimate" + "HD Extra Pack" about $120/month with a few discounts. Obviously that's about $200/month.

Charter's Spectrum bundle will be $144/month the 1st year, $164 the 2nd year, $184 the 3rd year. No other increases. In 2017, I'll still be paying less than I do now, and that doesn't include any increases with Directv. The programming is almost identical.

It makes sense to me to switch. What say you?

EDIT: I just got off the phone with retention. The woman I spoke with, did absolutely nothing to try and keep me, except downgrade my programming. I was up front with her; gave her Charter's numbers, but she disputed EVERYTHING I gave her. I was offended to say the least, and it takes a lot to offend me!!

 

[maestro7]

Well, considering this is specifically a DirecTV forum, the responses are liable to be rather biased

Personally, I don't think there's a better setup out there than the Genie setup with DirecTV. Even the wireless aspect of the Genie mini client is near flawless.

Regarding price, that's kind of a currently-expected thing with these types of programming, so I don't think anyone can completely compete solely on that factor alone (at least until there's a shakeup in the industry).

Rather, if you know what you're going to be paying anyway, I'd say you'd have to look at what you're getting for the money. For us, we love DirecTV's picture quality, the programming package is reasonable, and the hardware is some of the best out there.

Also, if you wait long enough after getting some decent hardware, they tend to give great deals for upgrades -- that's how we got into the Genie system. In other words, we don't try upgrading every two years; it'd been at least 5 years since we'd gotten any additional/new hardware.

 

[mdram]

if it meets your viewing habits and recording needs go for it

 

[raoul5788]

I've had Directv for 15 years or so, but I wouldn't tell you to stay. My first priority is programming. Do they have the channels that you want to watch the most? Next is equipment. Can you use the dvr before you switch to see if it's good enough to meet your needs? My third priority is money. You already addressed that one.

 

[directv newb]

We don't have Charter here, we have Time Warner. I have Time Warner internet, today a rep called and made me an offer on the internet I have and bundling with cable and a dvr. I would be saving about $39 per month over what I pay now between TW and Directv. The problem is this, the dvr they have STILL can only record 2 shows at once, small hard drive, you can't make your own guide, no 30 skip, ect..... I don't even ask about channels any more because everyone has the channels, but the we have the greatest dvr on earth and I think it would really suck to give up the Genie. The dvr has become an incredible part of the televison experience and the cable companies don't care about their customers having good dvr's. One kind of dumb thing that I like is the fact that if something happens and there is a major cable outage or problem I still have my directv to watch, my internet would be down but I still get to watch t.v. I kind of look at it like an insurance policy, if Directv goes out I have my Roku and am completely happy, if the internet goes out I have my Directv to keep my little mind occupied.

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

While it's a hell of an upfront cost to buy the equipment with lifetime service... research tivo roamio pro and tivo mini.

That setup can give the genie a run for its money... right up until you involve money....

But with a tivo setup all you need is one cable card (mcard) which is usually substituted free in place of the set top box upon request... just make sure to sign up for hd access if you go this route. You would essentially be paying whatever your cable co rate is for just 1 hd tv. The hardware is owned but again you need to buy it and the tivo service can either be billed separately or setup as lifetime. The hardware and technology is incredible. . The price however is not

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[Jimbo]

Rich,
I second Chips advice, Programming is 1st priority, DVR functionality also ...
Hopefully you are able to use someones to see if it's acceptable after using the D* set up to see if you like it.

However, I think Picture QUALITY is a HUGE issue many do not take into consideration before jumping, have you seen the quality of the signal your potentially getting into ? (I'm not saying it's bad, just asking if you have seen it in a Home environment ?)

 

[raoul5788]

True Jimbo, picture quality can vary greatly from system to system, even within a given system.

 

[Jimbo]

True Jimbo, picture quality can vary greatly from system to system, even within a given system.

Also, we have found that one companies system can look very good and entirely different in a different part of the country.

 

[raoul5788]

That's what I said! "even within a given system."

 

[budfoot]

I currently have both Charter and DTV for various reasons. The PQ on DTV is definitely better than Charter. I have an HR24 and it is far superior to Charter's available DVRs. I can't speak to the Genie systems. That being said, since Charter has upgraded to all digital, they now have mostly all the hd premiums that used to be missing from their lineups. Additionally, Charter's on demand programming is far superior to the crappy sd on demand that DTV offers. No two ways about it, bundling internet with cable on Charter is going to be cheaper than splitting the services up. Since I need to use cablecard interfaces from Charter, DTV is going to become just a fond memory for me very shortly. Just too expensive and getting more so every year.

As is always the case: YMMV

 

[Jimbo]

That's what I said! "even within a given system."

I know, sorry !

 

[caam1]

In Fort Worth TX Charter is all digital with over 200 HD channels which is more than Direct or Dish. We have Charter where I work and the HD picture quality is about the same as Direct (we also have Direct in two of the buildings). The biggest problem is their equipment. They no longer offer any type of whole home system and their DVRs only have 2 tuners and hold about 50-60 hours of HD. You can get up to four DVRs, but you have to watch the recordings in the same room where they were recorded. This would not work for my family's viewing habits.

 

[timdub70]

I keep getting junk mail from Charter for 29.95/ea. for TV/Internet/Phone. There were so many asterisks on those prices, first of all is that the TV price is quoted without the STB. The STB is $5 extra so it makes it 34.95/29.95/29.95.

 

[Jimbo]

I keep getting junk mail from Charter for 29.95/ea. for TV/Internet/Phone. There were so many asterisks on those prices, first of all is that the TV price is quoted without the STB. The STB is $5 extra so it makes it 34.95/29.95/29.95.

Probably plus the HD fee and the DVR fee and the ... fee and the yada, yada, yada ....

 

[jeslevine]

I had a "great deal" to sign up for XFinity triple play. After two months I was extremely unhappy that I left DirectTV. From HD quality, content, technology and everything else, DTV is light years away. A week ago DTV offered me a deal to come back which included free installation, equipment, and up to 200 hundred dollars if I am charged an early termination fee from Comcast. I jumped on it in a minute. Yes, I am into another two year contract with DTV, but I could not be happier. At least for me I learned my lesson, and I plan to be staying with DTV for a long time.

One thing to be aware of, I was on the Entertainment plan when I left, and when I came back they moved channels out of that package, and I needed to get into the "choice" plan in order to get those channels. After the promotional I will be paying about 10 dollars more than I was before I left them. The positive news is I got an HR-44 and mini Genies, which is far better then the equipment I had before I left, so I would say it is a pretty even trade.

My only suggestion is go to a lot of sites to see reviews of Charter. Also, compare the selections they have. For example Comcast only has one HBO that is in HD. the rest are in SD. In order to view the other HBO HD channel content you have to use their "On Demand" feature, which I felt the ON Demand HD was not that great. Another thing which I didn't like is time zones were messed up. AMC was set for West Coast time, the HBO was set for East Coast time, and the news channels had the same inconsistency.

In other words, if you can, don't disconnect DTV until you have Charter installed and try it for a week to make sure it is what you expect.

 

[RichManitoba]

I'm staying with DTV. The programming was close, but after comparing apples to apples, there was no ******* NHL Network in the Silver Package!

The sports view is another $10.00, Gold is another $20 if I go that route. After trying to match the DVR capabilities, it came down to a $20 per month saving. In my book, not worth changing. Thanks for the input; that's why I love checking this site weekly if not more!

 

[IcEWoLF]

I was considering Charter, but I love DirecTv's HD-DVR and the ability to watch and record several channels at the same time...
I would save money if I went with U-Verse or Charter...but DirecTV just has a much better DVR and software.