Thinking of switching from Dish(hopper) to Directv(Genie) ...any opinions?

[FearTheVoices]

Hi

After having dish for more than 5yrs now and being pretty happy with there service i am considering switching. My mother was unable to get Dish network after my recommendation and then got Directv, i was suprised there menus/OS had changed and it looked great! She had this installed like 6 months ago or so and does not have the Genie. I am thinking since the Genie is free, NOW is the time to sign up and try this out.


First..

Are there any fees at all if i start up the service and cancel within the 30 days or whatever the trial period may be. I know that i would have to pay the part of the plan for the time i had it though.

Second..

The most annoying thing i found with my moms hd-dvr was the ads and countless channels scattered everywhere. Is this solved with the Genie? I tried making her a favorites channels list but that is a serious pain in the arse, especially since if you are viewing that all the time i don't think you would know when you are receiving free trials of other channels? Also, the channels themselves are just scattered everywhere it seems, cant explain it since i am not sitting in front of her setup riight now. But you have to flip through like 30 pages from your locals, to your premiums...At least with dish i go through maybe 7 pages and i go from chanells 0-25 to 300+


Any other benefits or cons from you guys that have made this switch? Anything to watch out for when ordering?

Thanks!

 

[Ronnie-]

The issues you have are not exclusive to non genie equipment. If you get D*, you will have those same (to you) annoyances.

That said, its a great system as far as I can tell.

Can I ask why you are thinking of swapping exactly?

I'd make sure you really want to, as there is no real trial period. Sign up today and don't like it next week? There is an etf fee, as there is with dish.
Sent from my HTC 8x using Board Express

 

[ejb1980]

A favorites list is the best way to go. I started making mine while the installer was still in my house. The channel order, when de-cluttered, is MUCH more logical.

2-69 locals
103-107 3D (if you have that)
108-199 PPV/Cinema
125 (if you put ch 125 in a favorites list, the PPV movies that are "watch instantly" will stay and have pretty pictures in the guide. This solves the problem of seeing the movies over and over but still knowing what's new on PPV. If you don't want the PPV movies, don't put anything from 108 to 200 in your favorites list.)
202-388 "normal" cable channels. Scattered about are stupid infomercial channels. Take those out and it's much cleaner. For the most part, the channels are kinda-sorta grouped by theme, I think you'll see it when the stupid crap is taken out. I will never understand why CNN and HLN are still where they are or why ESPN-NBC Sports are where they are. Oh well.
389-399 DNS (which you probably don't need, if you live in one of the Burlington, VT DMA counties, some people can get 394 CW.)
400s are Spanish channels
500s are premiums and HD extra
600s are most of the sports channels.
700s are Sports packages
800s are music
1000s are On Demand, appearing at their regular channel number + 1000. ESPN is 206, ESPN On-Demand is 1206. On de-mand only are in the 1800s.
2000s are international.

There will be a message in the channel banner for free previews and it will tell you the channel numbers. It takes 10 seconds (maybe 20) to add them to your list for a weekend.


It's kind of a pain to make the first list, but WELL worth it. Do it and get it over with. I know people who got rid of Directv because of the channel order when, for a few minutes, you can pretty much do what you want with it. I absolutely love Directv and one of the few complaints I have (the same as yours) is easily fixed.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Yea, if you make a custom favorites list that will eliminate most of the crap in the guide.

 

[whitewolf8214]

Would be the best move you made switching to Directv and getting the Genie

 

[Juan]

wait until D* announces their price increase for 2013

 

[whitewolf8214]

wait until D* announces their price increase for 2013

I agree with whay juan said besides what I posted above.smat move to move to Directv but wait till they announce there price increase for 2013 and if Direct was smart i wouldn't do any price increase and if they did do a couple dollars