deciding between directv and comcast for tv

[sourceninja]

I ditched tv myself a few years back. Bought a mac mini for 800, hooked it to my tv, installed plex, added a few carefully selected plugins and wrote a couple scripts. The shows I want to watch are just there when I want to watch them.

I do everything as legally and ethically as possible.

 

[nickbits]

I have minimal issues with rain/snow and DirecTV.. Maybe a couple times a year it goes out.

 

[Yreka]

We do DTV + Comcast internet.

Same here..

Super happy with DTV as a service, but their "customer care" sucks ass... 2 year commitment, lease fees on receivers plus have to pay for the HW up front depending on if you get a "deal" or not. Any addition or change to the account resets your commitment etc.

NFL exclusive contract makes me their bitch. Other than that, I would probably be back on Comcast for TV simply due to the nickle and dime BS that DTV pulls.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

I too am at a crossroads right now with AT&T Uverse. They got me in the door with a spectacular deal which put my bill for 2 wireless DVRs, a bunch of channels, and internet at $60/mo for about a year. I called and somehow got that extended for another 6 months but now the well has run dry. They wont offer me any more deals, and my bill has gone up to $135/mo. (Their DVR sucks, by the way. Very slow to respond, sometimes resets itself.)

I am getting ready to cut them off completely, just need to find another ISP around here. My girlfriend and kid are fully addicted to the TV though, I told her if she wants it she can pay for it. I'm done. She may go with Dish or DTV eventually. I'm gonna pressure her to just not do it though, because her money might as well be mine...whenever she runs out she just spends my money.

edit: And to top it all off, I'm paying them $190/mo (split 3 ways) for cell phones. So I'm giving AT&T over 300 bucks a month. Makes me sick.

 

[Xonim]

We have DTV + Comcast internet, and service-wise it's ok. Never had a problem with the Comcast internet, nor the DirecTV programming/DVR.

We HAVE had a problem with the DTV billing -- one of the "discounts" is $10/mo for autopay and paperless billing. I'm signed up for both, and 3 months in have yet to have the discount appear. Every time I call, they screw something up worse. My last bill was almost 3x larger than it should have been. If they don't get it right this month, I'm cancelling my service/contract and they're going to be waiving the early termination fee...

 

[Aharami]

not very promising. I was counting on getting those discounts

 

[hclarkjr]

not very promising. I was counting on getting those discounts

i got all my credits that were owed me, never had any problems with customer service in the 2 years i have had DTV

 

[Agent11]

If you want to shop for discounts constantly the answer is whatever provides what you want for the least money while not binding you to contract.

 

[Kneedragger]

I've had Comcast for over a year now and I'm not impressed. DVR misses recordings for no reason and On demand doesn't always have the latest episodes of most shows.

 

[KaOTiK]

I can't bring myself to pay the absurd prices that cable/sat companies want for TV. I never watched too much TV to start with either. I bought a decent OTA antenna and have netflix streaming. If I am interested in watching a new episode of a show a lot of channels have their new episodes up to stream anyways. If I am interested in trying another show and can't access it through above, I will download the first few episodes and if I like it I'll buy the bluray/dvd.

 

[Phoenix86]

Instead of spending $XX every month for channels you don't watch take that money and just get the shows and movies you do want on your schedule.

Cheaper is also better as well if you don't watch much or the free content is most of what you watch.

So it's cheaper and better because it's cheaper? :hmm:

How do you watch current cable only content? Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, local and or out of market sports, etc.? Oh, you don't (legally) so while it's obviously cheaper it's not better.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

DTV & Comcast internet here. For DTV we signed up for a $50 basic plan for 1 yr, the subsqeuent year is supposed to go up to regular pricing. It was some kind of special pricing for Costco members. We're on the 2nd year and I believe the bill is now $76 or something like that. We haven't had too many problems with their equipment, but were disappointed with the plan we had signed up for and the content we thought we would get. I wasn't able to watch a single Giants game outside of the playoffs on Fox and the wife didn't have a few of the channels that Comcast had as their basic pkg. When our contract runs out, we'll be switching back to Comcast.

As far as internet goes, well, it's Comcast only in our area. There's a cheaper company here but their internet is slightly faster than dial-up for the country folk.

 

[Drako]

I wasn't able to watch a single Giants game outside of the playoffs on Fox and the wife didn't have a few of the channels that Comcast had as their basic pkg.

You do realize that Comcast owns the broadcast rights to SF Giants games, right?

You can get Comcast Sports Network Bay Area on DirecTV, you just have to get a Sports package.

Also, CSNBA is not available with a basic package on Comcast, so you will have to pay extra for that too

 

[thestrangebrew1]

You do realize that Comcast owns the broadcast rights to SF Giants games, right?

You can get Comcast Sports Network Bay Area on DirecTV, you just have to get a Sports package.

Also, CSNBA is not available with a basic package on Comcast, so you will have to pay extra for that too

Yea the problem was we were told by the guy in Costco that we would get it and we never could. They wouldn't budge when I called customer service. You have to pay for CSNBA now? I don't remember paying for it when we had comcast before.

 

[Drako]

Yea the problem was we were told by the guy in Costco that we would get it and we never could. They wouldn't budge when I called customer service. You have to pay for CSNBA now? I don't remember paying for it when we had comcast before.

I believe you have to have at least the "Digital Preferred" tier to get it. Also you can't get BTN unless you go up another tier. This may have changed in the last couple years since I switched over, so you should look into it before switching back.

 

[Jimzz]

So it's cheaper and better because it's cheaper? :hmm:

How do you watch current cable only content? Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, local and or out of market sports, etc.? Oh, you don't (legally) so while it's obviously cheaper it's not better.

Game of Thrones...
http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Is-Comi...ame+of+thrones

Walking dead...
http://www.amazon.com/Days-Gone-Bye/...s=walking+dead

You were saying?

And for sports I get piles of NFL and MLB games OTA.
Oh no I don't get to see every single game!!! What will I do. Oh yea I have a life outside of watching TV, you should try it. :awe:

 

[Aharami]

the more i thought about the 2 yr contract, the less appealing DTV looked to me. Also the user comments on the DTV Genie review here says that the genie is beyond horrible - http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/29/directv-genie-whole-home-dvr-review/

So I called comcast back again to see how much limited basic and internet would be. They offered me Digital Starter and internet for $99/month with free DVR and HD box, and free HBO and Shotime for a year. I took that.

 

[Phoenix86]

Game of Thrones...
http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Is-Comi...ame+of+thrones

Walking dead...
http://www.amazon.com/Days-Gone-Bye/...s=walking+dead

You were saying?

And for sports I get piles of NFL and MLB games OTA.
Oh no I don't get to see every single game!!! What will I do. Oh yea I have a life outside of watching TV, you should try it. :awe:

GoT started S3 this sunday, find a legal place to buy it. I wont hold my breath... $2-3/episode can get expensive fast depending on how many shows you follow. You still haven't listed a single "better" aspect in multiple posts.

Oh no, I watch a several hours of TV/sports a week, I must not have a life!

 

[Jimzz]

GoT started S3 this sunday, find a legal place to buy it. I wont hold my breath... $2-3/episode can get expensive fast depending on how many shows you follow. You still haven't listed a single "better" aspect in multiple posts.

Oh no, I watch a several hours of TV/sports a week, I must not have a life!

I have listed several you just don't want to be wrong so you have to ignore even common sense.
I'm happy not spending hundreds for a bunch of stuff I don't watch. Gives me more money and time for better things.
But enjoy sitting inside paying for all that great TV. :whiste:

 

[hclarkjr]

the more i thought about the 2 yr contract, the less appealing DTV looked to me. Also the user comments on the DTV Genie review here says that the genie is beyond horrible - http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/29/directv-genie-whole-home-dvr-review/

So I called comcast back again to see how much limited basic and internet would be. They offered me Digital Starter and internet for $99/month with free DVR and HD box, and free HBO and Shotime for a year. I took that.

shame you did not look here http://www.satelliteguys.us/forums/11-The-DIRECTV-Forum before making your decision. there were some firmware trouble that has been cleared after that article was written. oh well hope you enjoy your comcrap :biggrin:

 

[Aharami]

shame you did not look here http://www.satelliteguys.us/forums/11-The-DIRECTV-Forum before making your decision. there were some firmware trouble that has been cleared after that article was written. oh well hope you enjoy your comcrap :biggrin:

that is good to know. thanks for pointing that out to me. I might still get DTV this fall because I want the NFL sunday ticket
and i took this comcast deal because it would be cheaper than comcast internet + DTV

 

[Drako]

the more i thought about the 2 yr contract, the less appealing DTV looked to me. Also the user comments on the DTV Genie review here says that the genie is beyond horrible - http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/29/directv-genie-whole-home-dvr-review/

Did you quote the wrong review, because they seemed to like it:

"The DirecTV Genie delivers in all the right ways, so much so that it provides a reason to switch providers."

Yep, sounds like they hated it :biggrin:

 

[Aharami]

Did you quote the wrong review, because they seemed to like it:

"The DirecTV Genie delivers in all the right ways, so much so that it provides a reason to switch providers."

Yep, sounds like they hated it :biggrin:

read the user reviews at the bottom. but as hclarkjr pointed out, the issues with Genie have been resolved apparently

 

[Pocatello]

If you like sports, DTV is the way to go. I love the NFL Sunday Ticket, my parents can't live without tennis grand slam coverage by DTV.

 

[gorcorps]

I'm currently in the same boat. The only reason I'm even considering DTV is because I'm a displaced Broncos fan and would really like being able to see those games (especially now that they're worth watching again ) I typically don't like satellite technology and don't like being in a two year agreement, but if I want to see those games it's either stick with the shitty free online streams, pay $300 for the expanded Sunday Ticket which would let me watch it on my ps3 without a subscription, or subscribe to get a year free and would pay ~$100 less to renew sunday ticket the next year (as long as I don't need mobile streaming).

As I'm typing this out I think I'm siding with DTV for football alone. They have me right where they want me.