What do D* customers think of D*?

[darrencp22]

Hello everyone,

I mainly post in the E* forums as I am an E* customer. I've been with them for a good 8 months now after being with D* for many years. In any event, i'm pretty disappointed right now. I'm really happy with E's hardware but their HD offering a pretty slim.

How is everyone's satisfaction with D*? Are you guys happy with your service right now?

 

[gadgtfreek]

Had both, liked both.

Biggest things I notice right now:

ViP622 is a slightly better DVR than the HR20, but my HR20 does an admirable job as a DVR. Just missing a little polish.

I dont miss having to use sat 129 on Dish and its low signal numbers

The new mpeg4 offering is great from D*

I have not regretted having to switch, but I just wish D* would get off their butt and add Norfolk hd lils.

 

[ScottChez]

I switched also from Dish to Direct. Both are about the same DVR Wise and channel wise.

Yes Direct has more HD but Dish will catch net fall when there new SATs go up.

Big thing is. NO RAIN FADE. With Dishnetwork the 129 Signal is weak. It goes out a lot.

DirecTVs new SATS seem stronger. They have not gone out or lowered like the Dish 129 sat. No snow or rain fade outages yet for me.

I am sure when Dish launches there new SATs this fall this problem will be fix also.
Competition is good. It forces both companies to try to be the same or equal over time.

 

[MobyMyster]

I've been with D* for about 6 years now and just upgraded to go HD. I've had many rain/snow fades and several complete outs over the years. Just thought I'd add my 2cents.

 

[cebbigh]

Moved to DTV in October after more than 10 years with Dish. Dish has some real deficiencies in the Seattle area with 129 signal drops and Charlie's failure to negotiate a retrans consent with the local Fox affiliate.

Have had no such problems with DTV. No signal loss/drops. I get all four locals. Their HDDVR gets me where I want to go and has functioned flawlessly. I think the hardware is just as good as the 622 and the software isn't that far behind. The PQ on the new MPEG4 channels is superior to anything on Dish. And last (but no least) they don't route their calls offshore.

 

[Indiana627]

Hey neighbor. I've been with D* for almost 5 years now and don't have any complaints. All the new HD is great too.

 

[FKy.Guy]

As an ex-E* customer and have been a D* sub for going on 3 years now.I am a very camper !!!

 

[HDinCincy]

Hello everyone,

I mainly post in the E* forums as I am an E* customer. I've been with them for a good 8 months now after being with D* for many years. In any event, i'm pretty disappointed right now. I'm really happy with E's hardware but their HD offering a pretty slim.

How is everyone's satisfaction with D*? Are you guys happy with your service right now?

Hi... I was with E* for more than 5 yrs., mainly because at the time of my sign-up my cable had NO HD. E* didn't have much but I was thirsty to get something. As time went on I became disenchanted with E*'s adding of locals in HD. Here (Cincinnati) they still don't have them. So this past August I switched to D* and I'm thrilled with their programming. As you have seen in other posts too, and IMHO, their hardware is not quite up to the E* standards. Two things particularly toast me: RF remotes (at least in my house) SUCK. I find myself hitting a number to switch channels and it will repeat or simply not be recognized. The other issue is with the guide. Just not as sophisticated as E*. I can live with the guide but the RF remote is driving me nuts. I hope help is on the way. Hope this helps.

 

[cebbigh]

For me the big differences are with the way they handle the favorites list and channel blocks.

With the 622 you can block any channel and it will be as if the channel does not exist when you do a search. With DTV any search will pull up all the channels (including PPV). This was annoying at first until I got a feel for the channel numbers I wanted and wanted to ignore (like PPV).

With the 622 you can set up your individual favorites lists and name them whatever you want then populate them anyway you want. The HR20/21 goes about it a different way. You are allowed only two favorites lists but you'll most likely find yourself using only one. Basically you use the list to identify the channels you care about. Once on the list there is a preset list of channels by categories such as sports or news or movies or locals or HD, etc. But it has holes. For instance I would expect HDNET Movies to populate under the Movies list. It doesn't. But for some strange reason Chiller does.

I'll be totally honest though, these are really minor things. I'm totally happy with my decision to switch.

 

[Jimbo]

I've been with D* for about 6 years now and just upgraded to go HD. I've had many rain/snow fades and several complete outs over the years. Just thought I'd add my 2cents.

If you just upgraded to the HD, then you more than likely got a new Slimline dish, this will probably solve your signal loss issues, had you still been using your older equipment, I would have suggested getting the dish re aligned.

Jimbo

 

[69Mustang]

I can't comment on E* but as far as D* I'm happy with the latest programming, equip. I do miss my TIVO functions compared to the HR20. PQ is good (locals) to very good (EspnHD, FoodHD, SmithsonianHD, etc) here in southern cal. Some of the latest ch's to go HD still need to bring their programming up to HD such as speedHD and others. Should be even better when everyone starts shooting in HD and D* gets their latest satellite up. I am concerned that all of these additions/Sats will bump up the monthly charges maybe, we'll see.

 

[ScoBuck]

I think that DirecTV as an operating company has its plusses and minuses - just like ALL of them do.

But I like DirecTV for the following reasons:
1) Best Sports offering. My reason in the first place for choosing them over DISH. (Now add in best HD sports offering).
2) Overall my experience with customer service has been great - and that is a comparison to the piss poor customer service I believe I got from my cable company (CABLEVISION) over about 30 years of subbing.
3) I felt 'included' in DirecTV's HD roll-out and expansion plans - I prefer a provider that offers a view into the future - I now see plenty of furstration and questioning from DISH subs because of this very issue right now.

 

[jcrandall]

Here's why I like D* over E* (had both)

1. sports options (mlb & nfl)
2. HD signal integrity (I had problems with 129 on E* like many others)
3. Very good service - and friendly with credits when something doesn't go right (I've had $100s fo credits from D*, E* never game me a dime off my bill - for anything)
4. More local HD offerings - not just markets - but channels too (PBS coming and many markets with more than just the big 4).
5. No more pogramming disputs so these channels will be gone for a while - so your bill doesn't go up (Charlie)

 

[Aridon]

We moved over from E* a few months ago and couldn't be happier. The DVR is excellent once you get used to it, the HD programming is obviously superb and being a football / sports fan you really can't beat D*'s offerings.

 

[goaliebob99]

I too am a very happy camper. I have had directv for 3 months now sence switching from E*. Directv's mpge4 HDTV offerings are bar none the best on the market and definatly the best looking. (not counting FIOS as its not in my area) I just wish D* would start migrating all the MPEG2 channels to Mpeg4, or similcast.

 

[youngbloodz]

I just got DTV in the beginning of December, and it has been great! THEY JUST NEED TO GIVE GULFPORT-BILOXI MS LOCALS!

 

[Reggie3]

Been with D* since 96' and waited out the new Sat to go up and bring the HD channels. Not disappointed at all in the quality and quantity.

Would only consider quitting for FIOS.

 

[skysurfer]

I had D* until October 1, 2007 as a 8 year customer. I got E* in October 2006 (for comparison).

I left D* as I felt like they were getting emperor syndrome.

-My monthly bill kept going up $2-3 each year with no new channels to show for it.

- Price creep on Directv MLB Extra Innings had me take a flyer on the MLB.COM video/audio package for the postseason push. I found MLB.COM offered more games, allowed me to watch games on archive that were blacked out live or going on concurrently with another game I was watching, and the best thing is EVERY MLB game (video and audio) at less than half the price of MLB EI on Directv!

- I also didn't like the blackout on Directv EI when I shouldn't have been, then calling them up and waiting 20 minutes to tell them and they couldn't offer any reason why I was blacked out when I shouldn't have been for a game that didn't involve my normal blackout teams.

- (Worst holier than thou moment from DIRECTV) In the first week of the 2006 season, I was blacked out from Royals games that I should be been getting. I called Customer Service a few times and they couldn't give me a reason. As a last resort, I called RSTN and asked if I should have been blacked out. RSTN told me there was nothing in the contract saying I should be blacked out. They called DIRECTV on my behalf since I was getting no where with customer-no-service and I came to find out there was an error in DIRECTV's Royals Blackout database and when it got fixed a day or two later, I was fine. DIRECTV=Right, Customer-Always Wrong when it comes to DIRECTV, IMHO, and I never got any credit for the week of games I missed due to their error.

E* by comparison has been great - I feel I'm getting great programming value for my dollar and I have a nice integrated DVR/sat tuner to use with their service so no more digital recorders to interface with the sat receiver. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to call E* for a tech problem or billing question and a human was on the line within 2 minutes.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Anyone that got an AMERICAN with a E* support call should feel lucky. I had to go to the ceo email to get my issues fixed because the people one the phone did not speak proper english and could not fix my issue.(they billed me $500 by mistake twice)

 

[Indiana627]

I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to call E* for a tech problem or billing question and a human was on the line within 2 minutes.

I can say the same exact thing about my 5 year relationship with D*. Not trying to dispute you or start a fight, just trying to give both sides to the OP.