New Direct Customer

[psumattDE]

Yesterday, with the help of all the great rebate and referral posters here (thanks!!!), I had a chance to get DirecTV installed. Despite the constant 30mph with gusts to 50mph winds and snow squalls yesterday, a great technician came out - removed my 2 old DN dishes for me, and installed the new 5 LNB Slimline dish. Now i've been 100% happy with Comcast since I came back in October, but, I was getting the HD itch for some more channels.

The HD receiver (HR21) was free after instant rebate, and after 3 promotions I was able to get on, my cost is ~ $25/mo. I figured, why not, in an attempt to supplement my HD choices that Comcast gives me.

Anyway, I wanted to chime in that DirecTV does cheat a little bit (or alot). A big handful of their new "HD" channels show absolutely NO HD. Now, they do look really nice as upconverted SD, but there's no programming. (Cartoon, MTV, CMT, VH1, etc.) A definitely "rounding up" of the offering numbers for sure.

Now, the 1 channel I really looked forward to was Big 10 Network. It looks awesome, as well as NHL Network HD. The Weather Channel HD, while not local, has TOTALLY COOL graphics. FX HD looked fairly good, as did Smithsonian and Animal Planet. I haven't had DirecTV since the 90's, and their SD really doesn't look that awful, but i won't watch much of that anyway.

My tech, from Ironwood Communications, was fantastic. He was so nice despite the weather that I acutally gave him my two old Dish Network dishes.

 

[iwc5893]

Yesterday, with the help of all the great rebate and referral posters here (thanks!!!), I had a chance to get DirecTV installed. Despite the constant 30mph with gusts to 50mph winds and snow squalls yesterday, a great technician came out - removed my 2 old DN dishes for me, and installed the new 5 LNB Slimline dish. Now i've been 100% happy with Comcast since I came back in October, but, I was getting the HD itch for some more channels.

The HD receiver (HR21) was free after instant rebate, and after 3 promotions I was able to get on, my cost is ~ $25/mo. I figured, why not, in an attempt to supplement my HD choices that Comcast gives me.

Anyway, I wanted to chime in that DirecTV does cheat a little bit (or alot). A big handful of their new "HD" channels show absolutely NO HD. Now, they do look really nice as upconverted SD, but there's no programming. (Cartoon, MTV, CMT, VH1, etc.) A definitely "rounding up" of the offering numbers for sure.

Now, the 1 channel I really looked forward to was Big 10 Network. It looks awesome, as well as NHL Network HD. The Weather Channel HD, while not local, has TOTALLY COOL graphics. FX HD looked fairly good, as did Smithsonian and Animal Planet. I haven't had DirecTV since the 90's, and their SD really doesn't look that awful, but i won't watch much of that anyway.

My tech, from Ironwood Communications, was fantastic. He was so nice despite the weather that I acutally gave him my two old Dish Network dishes.

I'm glad it worked out for you, but I've got a question about one of your comments. You mention that DirecTV cheats in their HD and list a few networks that are not being broadcast in HD. Whose responsible for that? Is it DirecTV, or is it the network's responsibility to send an HD signal to DirecTV? D* is currently broadcasting those channels in an HD format, but they have absolutely no control over whether or not they are receiving HD programming from the network itself.

 

[Cincyray]

It is not d's fault the programs they have listed are not in hd. The originator has to present them in hd for d to broadcast it.

 

[jcrandall]

I will say this about the HD with little/no HD - they look a HELL of a lot better than the SD channels!

I'll take this situation any day over the providers WAITING for HD content!

 

[Van]

My tech, from Ironwood Communications, was fantastic. He was so nice despite the weather that I acutally gave him my two old Dish Network dishes.

Wow your the big tipper!! Seriously thats not a tip as much as its a smack in the face, dishes are a dime a dozen and you should have given the guy a real tip instead if you felt inclined to tip him at all.

 

[psumattDE]

Okay...Okay...

Van,
Actually - he was very happy to take them - said he had someone ask him just a few days prior if he had extra DN dishes and LNB's..so, at least for this guy it was a good tip.

And for the rest of the posters - okay, okay - yes, it is the channels fault for not showing all HD -

And I do agree with Masterdeals - they do look sharp even w/o showing true HD. I finally got to watch a good amount last night - and Big 10 Network looks fantastic.

Probably the best example i've seen so far from the newer HD MPEG-4 offerings.

**Also, is there any where on the web, or on here - that lists what good signal readings are for the 5 satellites? I've seen a few posts, but wanted something centralized. I'm seeing all 90's on 101, 110 and 119, and all 80's and some 90's on the 99 and 103 - although some are in the 40's or 0. I'm still learning the DirecTV side of things, so any place y'all can point me would be appreciated.

 

[dilbuck]

All we ever did with those dishes is threw them in the dish graveyard and maybe stole a few nuts and bolts from em.

 

[kokomogator]

All we ever did with those dishes is threw them in the dish graveyard and maybe stole a few nuts and bolts from em.

When I cancelled my Dish accounts last week, they said I would need to send the LNB's back with the receiver....not true?

 

[dilbuck]

When I cancelled my Dish accounts last week, they said I would need to send the LNB's back with the receiver....not true?

I'm guessing it's only certain LNB's that E* wants back. Most customers did not require the LNB that was removed so I just scrapped them. If they asked then I always made sure to give them the LNB.

 

[dfergie]

Glad you are enjoying your new setup...

 

[psumattDE]

Software Update

Damn! My H21 got a software update at 4am this morning. Had no clue until I just got home and had a message on my screen!

Talk about a big difference! Not sure how I feel about the lighter background yet - but nice that they are making changes.