Might come back to satellite

[lparsons21]

I'm with Mediacom since around the 1st of the year and while they have the channels I mostly watch, the HD PQ is not as good as E* or D*'s. That's marginally OK with me, but the video and audio glitches are often and irritating. So I'm doing some serious thinking about a return.

But which sat service? That is the question. The superb operation of the Hopper/SuperJoey can't be ignored and is almost good enough to not look further. But E* has fallen behind on Premiums in HD a bit, not because they dropped some, but because they haven't added some. In my particular case, SHO Extreme shows the preliminary boxing matches but they aren't much fun to watch in SD.

And while I'm not heavily cost conscious, it would cost me more upfront with E* because I would need the SuperJoey in addition to the Hopper. The monthly cost from both services is within a five dollar bill, so that isn't a factor at all.

Oh well, back to reading, thinking and contemplating by navel...

 

[KAB]

You need to go with who gives you most of what you want to see. Then, you weigh the importance of the tech.

 

[Hall]

it would cost me more upfront with E* because I would need the SuperJoey in addition to the Hopper.

How many TVs do you have or more importantly, how many people in your home watch TV ?

 

[lparsons21]

1 TV and I'm the only one watching. And I am doing some checking on all I record to see if a HWS would be enough if I chose Dish. PTAT helps during the fall/winter season,not so much during the summer doldrums.

I do give strong consideration to the tech in this as I think the big thing missing from D* is the proper use of an external HD. I have a tendency to hoard movies to the EHD. I've got a 1TB drive in my Tivo and it takes a bit of managing to keep it from filling up.

 

[Hall]

1 TV and I'm the only one watching

And why were you told you need a Hopper and a Super Joey ?

I wouldn't base "requirements" on those rare instances when there could be a recording conflict. I lose no sleep if I'm watching something live and get the pop-up telling me a recording is supposed to start after I hit "Stop" and it doesn't get recorded.

 

[lparsons21]

With me, those instances were not all that rare which is why I added a SJ to the HWS I had last time I had Dish.

Since I started this thread, I was doing some checking with Mediacom and they think that what I'm seeing and hearing is something bad at my house. I told them I had been to friends houses that have Mediacom and they are having the same issues but don't care about it. He was insistent I let a tech come out. Knowing the techs with them as I do, I figger he'll diddle around a bit, try to tell me some confusing tale about how good he is and then not be able to change a thing. But I suppose it is fair to let them try.

 

[lparsons21]

For those that haven't done new customer comparisons in awhile, here's how mine is breaking down, all figures rounding up to whole dollars.

First DirecTV:
Premier : $90/month 12/months
Adv.Rcvr:$15/month
Lease : $6.50 (not fair to round this)
Sports fee: $3.63 (or this)

Total: $115.13 (this doesn't factor in $10/month referral)

Dish:
T250 = $40/month
4 Prems = $47/month
HWS = $12

Total : $99 (this doesn't factor in $50 referral)

Add Super Joey Total = $111/month

One thing I noticed on D*'s website is that they aren't wanting to have a single Genie only as a freebie which is a change from the past. Looks like they are tightening up. If they wouldn't offer a single Genie only as the website indicates, then D* would be off the table for sure.

 

[bobvick]

I am not positive, but I think they will give you just a Genie for one room. I think I remember reading about the website doing that in the DTV forum. Probably have to call.

 

[lparsons21]

I'll have to call in any case since I'll be returning after just 6 months away from them.

 

[JSheridan]

No more free Genies on one TV installs. It changed a couple of months ago.

At least that's what they tell us.

 

[. Raine]

I don't know about Mediacom, but when Metrocast here in our area switched to digital a lot of the old drops to houses couldn't handle it and caused glitches, freezing, etc. Here at our house they came out and the tech said it was the wire from the pole to our house, they changed it and it was fine.

My sister had the same problem but when they looked at hers, they said it was in her house, even though I'd just rewired the whole house for her. We dropped a tree limb on the wire and they changed it, worked perfect after that.

 

[lparsons21]

No more free Genies on one TV installs. It changed a couple of months ago.

At least that's what they tell us.

You didn't need to add a smiley!! IF/when I get to the point of making the move, we'll see what they are willing to do. I have my 'policies' just as they have theirs. I figger it is my money and if I can't get what I want from a company then they really don't want any of it. A simple solution that generally works.

 

[lparsons21]

I don't know about Mediacom, but when Metrocast here in our area switched to digital a lot of the old drops to houses couldn't handle it and caused glitches, freezing, etc. Here at our house they came out and the tech said it was the wire from the pole to our house, they changed it and it was fine.

My sister had the same problem but when they looked at hers, they said it was in her house, even though I'd just rewired the whole house for her. We dropped a tree limb on the wire and they changed it, worked perfect after that.

I wouldn't be overly surprised if that might be the issue at my house. The cable from pole to house is pre-all-digital+up to 150Mb internet and it could very well not be good enough. Not to mention the stretching it got 7 years ago when a pesky tree fell down in a light 100 MPH straight line wind! I'll know Monday when the tech comes and either actually does something or tries to blow smoke up my butt!!

 

[ClarkGable]

I read in the latest issue of Consumer Reports that Direct has better picture quality than Dish. I don't know how they arrived at that conclusion, though.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I think overall they do, its obvious on a large screen. That said, many of the channels I record look fine, but some are just fuzzy/soft at times. Game of Thrones in dark scenes, say with fires going, can block BAD, but then in other day scenes it looks. Luckily I record my locals OTA because the locals on Dish arent so hot. They werent great on Directv either.

 

[Hall]

I read in the latest issue of Consumer Reports that Direct has better picture quality than Dish. I don't know how they arrived at that conclusion, though.

Opinions of the majority of their responders. I'm going to read that article as I'm curious how they tested. I want to see if responder "A" had both services and used on the same TV, for example.

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

 

[KAB]

I have to agree that D* is better. My brother-in-law has same, exact Samsung plasma as I, and his always looks sharper. His equipment on the other hand is a different story, iow, I'll live with softer!

 

[gadgtfreek]

I agree, I like the Hopper with sling "better".

I wish I could get a provider what was the HWS and better PQ.

 

[lparsons21]

While technically D* does have the better HD PQ even on my 73" DLP I cannot tell much difference. Probably because my eyes and I are getting older. I really only notice the improvement with the boxing matches, for everything else the difference is miniscule to me.
From a technical UI standpoint, the D* UI is just functional but not very attractive at all. And there doesn't seem to be any push at D* to really take advantage of the hardware. I always thought that D* missed the best moment in time for them to change it up quite a bit with the Genie. Here was a new marketing name but alas, the UI looks the same as it does on every other HD unit D* has. HO-HUM!

 

[gadgtfreek]

Since I swapped back I find myself enjoying Dish better with dual HWS's vs a HR44 and HR24. The AM21's never worked well for me (100% SS on two locals had audio blips constantly). The dual HWS's work perfectly with the OTA Module, I record everything in duplicate so if one dies I have lost nothing and the viewing of the other works great in the other room, plus you have Sling tech. I just hope the new Hopper user interface doesn't take a step back, but Dish has generally been better here so I have faith.

One of the best things on the Hopper is being able to create folders (I have one for me, one for the wife and one for both) so when a timer records something, it sticks it in the right place. Also, right before I left Direct they had made changes where the list was not sorted properly by date. For people like us, who stay 4-6 episodes behind, not being able to easily find the next episode in order to watch is pretty ridiculous.

I do not find myself beign irritated that the PQ may be less during some programming, but it sure would be nice if they ever found a way to ease off the compression.