Now that VOOM is dead, who will be your provider?

[vinnyv07]

OK Im just not clear on one thing. If I sign up for E*, can I get all SD and all HD with just one dish? As I see it after Voom shuts down there is only one sat provider providing true HD on all of its "HD" channels.

Yep...I have Directv and I can tell you that their O & O feeds of local ch's is nothing compared to OTA. I have heard that Dish has the best HD right now...but Directv's is really bad right now. Voom's HD looks alot better on my set. But right now its very easy to see that Directv's HD is at the bottom when it comes to quality.

 

[vurbano]

You keep saying this maybe you should check your set-up.

I can tell you that NFL Sunday Ticket HD games looked just as good as OTA games did. Now my local abc WPVI multi-casts so ABC-HD on D* actually looks better. And last night I watched NFL Network game of the week and it could not of looked better.

Now I am not saying they are perfect far from it, like not adding TNT or ESPN2. And I did drop 800.00 on a HD Tivo, but you pay for you get. Now with all the Mpeg 4 stuff comming out. It may become obsolete. D* atleast has a plan for HD Locals.

If you like NFL I would get D* if not I would go cable because of the low up front costs, and HD locals now.

Of course ST looked as good as OTA. In the case of FOXHD and the video from fox is only 15mbps + 1 mbps audio maximum, and already has problems with detail and moving grass etc. And since more often than not the FOX affiliate has a subchannel they would probably look equivalent. In the case of CBS I could only guess that your affilaite multicasts, If not you need to check your equipment. Its almost impossible for any sat feed of CBS to look as good as 19.3 mbps OTA. Its just not going to happen. D* downrezzed many of their channels in preparation to free up space for ST and never gave it back. check out the bitrate monitor which also gives the resolution data http://www.widemovies.com/dfwbitrate.html those that say 1080i or 720p are true HD, the rest have been downrezzed. You can also see why many D* viewers are screaming about Hdnetmovies from its bitrate numbers.

 

[JaydeeD]

Well i can't vote...........if anything I would go back to C-Band, but it is not listed.

What kind of a loser would watch Dish or Direct?

Even Voom PQ can't match C Band, and Voom was pretty damn good, but they had the HD, so I was and always will be faithful to them

Anyway, if the bird goes dark, it's back to C Band for me

 

[skakusha]

I guess, cable for some transition period.
First, D* and E* already announced that their current HD recievers will be dead later this year after transition to MPEG4.

A.

I had not heard this information before. Thanks for the update. I was thinking of purchasing a HD DVR from D* or E* but perhaps I should just wait. I hate the idea of spending $1,000 on equipment when whole house solutions and newer technologies are coming. I am a D* sub as well as Voom sub, and kept D* only because I have 2 SD Tivo's. I need to research where to go, especially since ther is no HD cable in my area. Maybe I will go OTA HD for a while.

Any suggestions?

 

[Ilya]

I am SO BUMMED about losing Voom :down :down :down :down I don't even know what to say or what to smash.

I totally disagree with anybody who said Voom's problem was it had no content. VOOM WAS FINALLY TV WORTH WATCHING. TV wasn't called "the boob tube" for nothing. I learned so much about great art on Gallery HD. I loved Equator, and the documentaries and foreign films on Cinema10, and the new direction they were going with Film Fest avant garde films, and I really appreciated having a service without TV commercials for cars, medicines, fast food, etc. I also love Discovery HD, but I am not about to get another service for ONE channel.

Do I want to subscribe to another service, mostly SD, with TV commercials up the wazoo? No way, not even if they paid me.

I will go back to renting an occasional film at 480p :down and reading more. Maybe this is for the best anyhow.

I definitely "lost a friend on life support" here. :river

I am so bummed, and after visiting this great SatelliteGuys forum every day for almost a whole year (since February 04), this is my FINAL POST in this forum.....

Scott, and Sean, and Ilya, you guys are a CLASS ACT! Best of luck to everyone! Sadly, we won't BeVuMin anymore.

1080iBeVuMin, I feel the same about VOOM and its HD channels. VOOM has spoiled us so much, that it will be hard to find a substitution. No matter what provider we go with, we'll miss VOOM. We'll miss 37+ HD channels, and we will miss their original non-mainstream programming. I know I will! There is nothing equal to be found. For now, anyway.

Never the less, I look into the future with optimism. This is not the end, this is just a beginning. There is much more to come within the next year or two. New channels, new programming and a lot of HD! VOOM was just a bit ahead of its time. It gave us a taste, a quick preview of what's coming down the road. And I truly believe it is coming very soon! And we now know what to look for and what to demand from other providers. And they know that too! Thanks to VOOM!

P.S. Thank you and everyone else for your good words about me, about other mods, and about this forum! And please don't leave! No matter what happens to VOOM, HDTV will be with us. And there will be a lot of other things to talk about here at SatelliteGuys. See you around!

 

[voomvoom]

Non of the above! I still have my 4DTV, including 9 HD channels. Will lose ESPN-HD, TNT-HD, Universal HD, Cinemax HD's East & West, Showtime HD East, and the Movie Channel HD East. Of course if one of the providers pick up the 21 Exclusive Channels (or a good part of), I will go with them.

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

....P.S. Thank you and everyone else for your good words about me, about other mods, and about this forum! And please don't leave! No matter what happens to VOOM, HDTV will be with us. And there will be a lot of other things to talk about here at SatelliteGuys. See you around!

Okay, Ilya, good words. I am still here, and I am sticking with Voom until I can no longer squeeze a signal from the stb.

Let's stay positive and see what happens next. :up

 

[Ilya]

Welcome back!

 

[bryan27]

Initially I'll go with OTA only and maybe just stay there, but I've been looking at StarChoice and ExpressVu today and maybe a grey market box might be an option. USDigital may also be an option in the future for a few SD basics.

 

[Sat Junkie]

You Forgot About Us BUD Owners

Looks like I'll be going back to my C + Ku band 8.5' dish with my Integra 910s mpeg2 FTA HD box. I don't want to reactivate the outdated E* 3900 SD box that I had for over 5 years.

 

[vurbano]

Well D* announced some important news today. Mpeg4 and reciever replacements and what sounded like Vooms whole house solution. Does that change anything for anyone? Its looking more attractive. If they could apply mpeg4 accross that fleet of birds eventually it would be daunting.

 

[Bilodeaumj]

IF it means more HD I may stick with satellite over cable. Since VOOM is my first experience with Satellite, how does D* work the local HD channel situation? Do they offer OTA as well? TIA

 

[vurbano]

IF it means more HD I may stick with satellite over cable. Since VOOM is my first experience with Satellite, how does D* work the local HD channel situation? Do they offer OTA as well? TIA

they provide an OTA tuner in their boxes but are planning to start HDLIL later in the year.