Switching from DirecTV to Cablevision...?

[evan1t]

Hi folks...
I am thinking about switching from DirecTV to Cablevision (Bergen/Creskill), but I'm not sure. CV keeps senging their salespeople around with better and better offers; the current one is Triple Play basic for $79 I believe, and for two years. Even after all the add-ons, it'll definitely save me money.

Plus I really want the higher speed Internet (using DSL now, but Verizon has not yet run Fios to my house, and there's no estimate as to when they might).

I would probably go and buy 1 or 2 new HD Tivos (we dislike the DirecTV HD DVR...).

I can compare channel lists, and I see I'm giving up BBC America and the Sirius/XM stuff, but I don't see much else.

What else should I be thinking about? Picture quality? Audio quality? Other channels I'd lose? Customer service? Other factors?

Advice please?

Thank you,
Evan

 

[nlk10010]

Are you talking about only SD channels or are you also interested in HD?

I say this because you are giving up a number of HD channels by going to CV from D* (e.g. A&E-HD, Bio-HD, History-HD, ESPNNews-HD, HD-Net/Movies) although you do gain a few (WE-HD, AMC-HD).

If it's only SD then I think you give up basically BBCAmerica and RFD-TV.

 

[evan1t]

I'm really thinking about all aspects of making the switch. I know I give up BBCA and also NFL Network. Hadn't thought about RFD, but that's really OK. (We do think Big Joe's Polka Show is a hoot, though...) We'd also give up the XM/Sirius channels.

The lesser HD channels, like those, aren't that big a deal to me either way. I am trying to figure out if the overall change is worth the money I'd save. I am definitely unhappy about giving up BBCA though.

We pick up some local channels (News 12, our town's Public Access channel), and we get 5x - 10x faster Internet.

What about their DVRs? Or does it make more sense to buy Tivos and use those?

Thanks,
Evan

 

[eandras]

I'm really thinking about all aspects of making the switch. I know I give up BBCA and also NFL Network. Hadn't thought about RFD, but that's really OK. (We do think Big Joe's Polka Show is a hoot, though...) We'd also give up the XM/Sirius channels.

The lesser HD channels, like those, aren't that big a deal to me either way. I am trying to figure out if the overall change is worth the money I'd save. I am definitely unhappy about giving up BBCA though.

We pick up some local channels (News 12, our town's Public Access channel), and we get 5x - 10x faster Internet.

What about their DVRs? Or does it make more sense to buy Tivos and use those?

Thanks,
Evan

I started to switch from Dtv to CV. The cost of the triple play was a big savings that I was going to get. I called D to cancel they gave me an offer that I decided to return the cable boxes and I am carrying 1 HD CV box and the standard triple play which originally covered by internet and telepone. The tv on CV is not as good as Directv. If you can work a deal with either you might do what I did.

I am happy with Directv as the tv provider and CV as the provider for telephone and internet with tv as abackup.

 

[nlk10010]

Interesting you should say that.

I have Dish as TV but OOL and OV double-play on my business. I really do like OOL and OV and, while the Customer Service is often incompetent it is, at least in my experience, friendly and enthusiastic.

I was toying with trying to add 1 HD CV box to get the channels I'm missing with Dish but, even if I can get some sort of Business Triple-Play and the channel selection is the same as non-Business, it would still be a bit too rich for my blood.

But I DO agree that CV is tempting; when they recently started adding channels I almost made the switch but was still missing too many, especially HD, to go through with the move. FIOS will be coming to my complex this Spring but I really have no issue with my Internet and Phone service; it's just channel selection that will make me look at them.

 

[johnner1999]

I have made the switch from DirecTV to CV and two HD TiVO boxes.

Pro - less money now and more servce (tripple play) but after a year not so sure
Pro - TiVo hands down the main reason I switched back to Cable
Pro - local HD seems better then DirecTV

Con - less HD
Con - PQ not as good over all with CV
con - less HD LOL

 

[skohly]

I have made the switch from DirecTV to CV and two HD TiVO boxes.

Pro - less money now and more servce (tripple play) but after a year not so sure
Pro - TiVo hands down the main reason I switched back to Cable
Pro - local HD seems better then DirecTV

Con - less HD
Con - PQ not as good over all with CV
con - less HD LOL

I'm switching this thursday, main reason Triple Play and cutting my phone bills down. I have 4 with Verizon. They also gave me a deal that blew me away with the tv side saving me mucho dollars for 2 years at least over Directv. I'm hoping the PQ issue isn't that large. As for HD Cablevision is actually catching up. And they beat Directv with the HBO's in HD. I am also intrigued by the Video on Demand. I will let you know after install.

 

[eandras]

I'm switching this thursday, main reason Triple Play and cutting my phone bills down. I have 4 with Verizon. They also gave me a deal that blew me away with the tv side saving me mucho dollars for 2 years at least over Directv. I'm hoping the PQ issue isn't that large. As for HD Cablevision is actually catching up. And they beat Directv with the HBO's in HD. I am also intrigued by the Video on Demand. I will let you know after install.

They are not catching up. They have about half of the channels that they say they have in HD. Voom was discontinued last month. HBO HD is an add on package and vod is an extra charge per channel over the free ones. With Directv if you have the channel the DOD is included. Thye only advanage is that CV doesn't require a DVR to have on Demand.

 

[skohly]

They are not catching up. They have about half of the channels that they say they have in HD. Voom was discontinued last month. HBO HD is an add on package and vod is an extra charge per channel over the free ones. With Directv if you have the channel the DOD is included. Thye only advanage is that CV doesn't require a DVR to have on Demand.

I'm no salesman for Cablevison, thats for sure. I was and still am a big fan of Directv. My reason for the move is economic. The Triple Play during these times was something I couldn't resist. As for the HD Content, they have most of the HD channels that I want so no big deal there to me. If you do the count of Directv's HD many of them are Premium or Pay per view, a complaint registered many a times on the boards. The on demand, I couldn't afford to by all the equp needed to make it work with Directv.

 

[johnner1999]

sorry for bringing this old 'dead' post back LOL

I switched back to D* a few weeks after my last post -- thinking of making the switch back to CV and TiVo /// Now with CV has what seems like a boat load of HD channels how is the PQ quility these days - and anyone who has tivo - do you have any issues with cablecards?

 

[iceturkee]

i have tivo with my cable and i have had no issues with the cable cards. the tuning adapter is another story.

 

[nlk10010]

sorry for bringing this old 'dead' post back LOL

I switched back to D* a few weeks after my last post -- thinking of making the switch back to CV and TiVo /// Now with CV has what seems like a boat load of HD channels how is the PQ quility these days - and anyone who has tivo - do you have any issues with cablecards?

Picking up where we left off.....

I have CV now as well as E*; CV is apparently desperate for customers and essentially gave me TV in addition to my business phone/internet for another $15/month, couldn't resist.

You will get varying opinions on PQ; for me, it isn't nearly as good as E* (thus, presumably as D*) on many channels. Certainly MSG-HD, YES and certain other channels get a lot of bandwidth and are very good, others (e.g. WE-HD, AMC-HD, BIO-HD) seem noticeably softer. They have gotten a lot of HD channels; I'm not too familiar with D*'s offerings but, including the 30 channels just announced, you'll gain E!-HD, Style-HD, QVC-HD, WE-HD, AMC-HD, IFC-HD, G4-HD, TCM-HD, NatGeoWild-HD and probably a few others (I can't speak to movie/premium channels). Of course you'll lose BBC-A and RFD-TV (if that matters).

I also can't speak to the DVR, don't have one from CV. I mainly keep the service as a backup, for MSG-HD, YES, 9 & 13 HD and the local News and T&W.

 

[johnner1999]

Just thought I'd give an update....

First off the TiVo units themselves are great; they do have some rough spots yes but I think its just software needing some refinement so it should be fixable. Mainly some performance issues and not all of the menus are what they call HD mode some are still in the older design. BUT its not that bad. I do wish TiVo streamed content from one tivo to an other rather then copy the content. Not a speed issue (actually with my network its fast enough so we can still FF through commercials. Rather my issue is that my local cable co enforces the copy protection flags and some channels will not allow you to MRV. Where as if the content was streamed and not copied it would be OK.

OK but what about the actual Cable portion


I have to say in short -- DirecTV wins the battle.

I'll be staying with CableVision though; as the PQ isn't that far off on the channels/networks I watch most. In fact the locals look same if not better and so far seem to have better audio in surround channels. Some of the more national channels like TLC, USA and Food are close to HD-Lite not as bad but close - but again MUCH better then the SD feeds ever could be. Then throwing in the savings in money and a MUCH faster internet connection - it won the war in my mind. Thats doesn't mean others would think that way.

john

 

[beachrider]

I have had a cablecard. Make sure to get the one that presents two channels simultaneously to your Tivo. CV may ultimately use more SDV (not receivable on cablecard), but there is almost none of it now (except PPV).