DirectTV?

[Jschmuck2]

Anyone have any experience switching from cable to DirectTV?

As it turns out, my LOCAL Charter office doesn't carry the MLB Extra innings package due to - lack of interest - and that's the straw that breaks it for me.

Will I have luck if I call and say "I pay $80/mo for cable, I get HBO, Cinemax and Starz as well as the HD package. I want that same thing but with DirectTV."

??

 

[Ns1]

I just switched from TWC to DTV

The good: A TON OF FUCKING CHANNELS. Tivo interface is very nice. No monthly lease commitments.
The bad: cost of equipment. a hair more expensive than cable overall, but I get way more HD channels.
The REALLY bad: 2 year contract

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: Ns1
I just switched from TWC to DTV

The good: A TON OF FUCKING CHANNELS. Tivo interface is very nice. No monthly lease commitments.
The bad: cost of equipment. a hair more expensive than cable overall, but I get way more HD channels.
The REALLY bad: 2 year contract

what was the initial cost and how much extra(hidden fees) do you pay per month?

 

[Cruisin1]

I just switched over from Cox cable to Direct TV.... and it cost less than cox cable! I was paying 75 bucks a month for cox and that was with HBO. Now I pay 49.99 a month and have an HD-DVR (which I did not have with Cox). Not to mention I get way more channels and the interface is great. Not only that but even if your charter office had MLB league pass you wouldn't of gotten the channels in HD if they were offered. Direct TV on the other hand does. I ordered NBA League pass and I get a few channels a day in HD on it, love it!

oh yeah on a side note I paid 99 bucks for the HD-DVR. Which is fine by me because I own it and dont' need to pay a "rental" fee each month like I did with cable.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: Cruisin1
I just switched over from Cox cable to Direct TV.... and it cost less than cox cable! I was paying 75 bucks a month for cox and that was with HBO. Now I pay 49.99 a month and have an HD-DVR (which I did not have with Cox). Not to mention I get way more channels and the interface is great. Not only that but even if your charter office had MLB league pass you wouldn't of gotten the channels in HD if they were offered. Direct TV on the other hand does. I ordered NBA League pass and I get a few channels a day in HD on it, love it!

Intriguing - did you order that via the telephone?

 

[venkman]

Did you just consider signing up for the streaming feeds from MLB.com? It's ~$20 a month and the quality has gotten MUCH better in the last few years. Still not HD yet, though

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Ns1
I just switched from TWC to DTV

The good: A TON OF FUCKING CHANNELS. Tivo interface is very nice. No monthly lease commitments.
The bad: cost of equipment. a hair more expensive than cable overall, but I get way more HD channels.
The REALLY bad: 2 year contract

what was the initial cost and how much extra(hidden fees) do you pay per month?

Monthly
4.99, 1 leased receiver (I have 2, one with HD-DVR and one with just HD)
72.99 PLUS HD DVR

Initial:
19.95 S/H
99.99 for HD receiver (purchase)
+ taxes

Promotions
-10 per month AAA
-10 per month online promo
-200 receiver (factored into amount above)

So, bottom line...

130 or so up front, 70 per month, PLUS a 10 rebate, net 60/month

I get a million channels, HD-DVR on one tv, HD on another

With TWC I was paying 19.99/month for HD-DVR, 0 for cable card, and some 55/month for service with less channels.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Anyone have any experience switching from cable to DirectTV?

As it turns out, my LOCAL Charter office doesn't carry the MLB Extra innings package due to - lack of interest - and that's the straw that breaks it for me.

Will I have luck if I call and say "I pay $80/mo for cable, I get HBO, Cinemax and Starz as well as the HD package. I want that same thing but with DirectTV."

??

It won't work.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Anyone have any experience switching from cable to DirectTV?

As it turns out, my LOCAL Charter office doesn't carry the MLB Extra innings package due to - lack of interest - and that's the straw that breaks it for me.

Will I have luck if I call and say "I pay $80/mo for cable, I get HBO, Cinemax and Starz as well as the HD package. I want that same thing but with DirectTV."

??

It won't work.

...go on....

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Anyone have any experience switching from cable to DirectTV?

As it turns out, my LOCAL Charter office doesn't carry the MLB Extra innings package due to - lack of interest - and that's the straw that breaks it for me.

Will I have luck if I call and say "I pay $80/mo for cable, I get HBO, Cinemax and Starz as well as the HD package. I want that same thing but with DirectTV."

??

It won't work.

...go on....

they have packages?

 

[Dulanic]

I switched from Comcast (HD DVR and Digital Standard) which ran me almost $80. With Direct I get a TON more channels in HD...I have two DVRs one HD. Upfront cost was $99 for the HD-DVR....

HD DVR $72.99
- $10 AAA for 2 years.
- $20 for a year promo.
+$5 2nd receiver.

So basically I get 3x the HD channels for the same price, but save $30 first year and $10 the next year after that.

 

[FoBoT]

if you have a costco membership, they have some deals you should compare

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2

Originally posted by: BarneyFife

Originally posted by: Jschmuck2
Anyone have any experience switching from cable to DirectTV?

As it turns out, my LOCAL Charter office doesn't carry the MLB Extra innings package due to - lack of interest - and that's the straw that breaks it for me.

Will I have luck if I call and say "I pay $80/mo for cable, I get HBO, Cinemax and Starz as well as the HD package. I want that same thing but with DirectTV."

??

It won't work.

...go on....

they have packages?

 

[videogames101]

DirectTV = Teh Suck

/thread

lol

 

[bunker]

FYI, DirecTV is launching another satellite this week (suppose to be today but it got delayed) which means a bunch more HD channels, including locals in HD for the country.

 

[nsafreak]

You do realize now that even though you think you're purchasing the equipment at Best Buy for DirecTV you're actually getting into a lease deal? Read the fine print very carefully and you'll see where it states that. Come to think of it DirecTV has (or had) a lawsuit brought against them for it since it supposedly was not made clear.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: videogames101
DirectTV = Teh Suck

/thread

lol

The rest of the internet says otherwise.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I switched from cable to DTV about 8 years ago. I have zero regrets.

 

[ChaoZ]

How does DTV work if you have multiple TVs?

 

[Jschmuck2]

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
How does DTV work if you have multiple TVs?

Another valid question. Each TV gets it's own box, I think. But everyone in the house can watch something different...right? I seem to recall it not being that way a long time ago.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Originally posted by: ChaoZ
How does DTV work if you have multiple TVs?

$5 per month for each box.

HD costs $10 a month.

You get your base package, plus HD and DVR, plus your boxes. Then add a movie pack or sports pack if you want.

I just cut through all the BS and have the Premier pack + HD and DVR and 5 boxes.
My bill is $140 a month with the protection plan, but for that I also get every movie channel and DVR included.

You can get some sort of a deal initially, but with realistically 30 or 40 of the most watched channels all in HD and all the other providers eating dust at the moment, Directv has been enjoying tremendous growth and is not inclined to do any begging to get you signed up.

If you can get a free HD DVR out of them, I'd take it and run.

A great forum to ask questions and see what other people are getting for signing up is the Directv forums at DBSTalk.com. This and Satelliteguys.com seem to be the 2 preeminent sources of info for satellite tv.

 

[selfy]

I have DirecTV. Only downside, sometimes the special sports packages (MLB Extra Innings and NBA League Pass come to mind) goof it up for us non special sports package subscribers. I was blacked out of the San Antonio NBA game tonight (17 Mar) from my own regional network, Fox Sports Southwest. I called the customer service, they said the team/league has the choice to black it out not the carrier (DirecTV). Still gave me a sad face.

They have the most HD channels, but the satellite signal does travel around 44 thousand miles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary). So at times the bit rates will flutter (some slight frame rate loss or blocky-ness). For the longest time Science channel HD had the worst audio synchronization issue. It was around 0.5 to 1.5 seconds off. For the most part, the synchronizing works it way out. Also, if it is raining/thundering the receiver may have problems in reception. This is just being nit picky but something you might want to think about.

But yea, prices are depending on what you want of course. I have:

1 x HD-DVR
1 x HD Receiver (other room)

Choice Xtra - 54.99
Protection Plan - 5.99 (not absolutely necessary)
DVR Service - 5.99 (yay for subscription fees)
HD Access - 9.99
Sports Pack - 12.00 (I watch European Soccer/Football)

Total - 100.03 a month

Thing to note, the subscriptions are going up in price about 1-3 dollars depending on the channels (HBO is going up 2 dollars a month). Their way of keeping up with inflation I guess.

Cheerio

 

[Jschmuck2]

That seems like a lot to be paying.

 

[Jschmuck2]

Guess not.

 

[Xavier434]

Most of the info you need is already here. The rest comes down to their promotions at the time. Regardless, I can tell you that if you switch to DTV then you will be very satisfied. I rarely meet people that get upset unless they happen to be one of those unlucky customers where "things just went wrong", but every company has those cases. In general, they offer the best TV out there right now.