DirecTV...your experiences?

[Kev]

The cable company we use to have just shut off service for good yesterday, so we have a choice of Comcast vs. DirecTV. My dad didn't want to get DirecTV because he thinks you have to have another phone line to use it.

So if you have or had DirecTV, would you recommend it?

 

[ATLien247]

I have it, and I would definitely recommend it. While I have never seen its competitor (Dish Network), DirecTV does kick the sh(i)t out of digital cable.

 

[bugsysiegel]

I've had Direct TV for about a year now, no problems really. Once in a while when the weather gets *really* horrible, I might lose the signal for a while, but otherwise, the video is nice and clear, sound is good, and the channel line up is cool. I get channels from 200-600, obviously with spaces in there, but I get a butt-load of them. AT&T digital cable is in this area and it's a joke, like 60 channels total, outages a lot, and that famous "cable-company service!"

Also when you get a pay-per-view with the satellite, it lasts from 6am-6am except for like fights and concerts, and you can get letterbox or regular TV screen size. I like the letterbox editions myself.

One final note, I pay $79 a month, without ppv, digital cable here is $59 a month. Pfffffffttt.... AT&T can drop dead.

 

[IgoByte]

DirecTV DSL, you mean?

I have DirecTV DSL and it's great.

 

[RossMAN]

Do you mean:

DirecTV for viewing cable channels?
DirecTV DSL for surfing the internet?
or -both-?

 

[gunf1ghter]

When he talks about needing another phone line for DirecTV I think he is referring to putting a line on the reciever so that it can dial out for pay-per-view and things of that nature.

You don't need a second phone line for this, it will only go off hook late at night and it won't go off hook to dial if it sees your line is being used. It only needs to connect for a few minutes a day AT MOST.

The best thing about DirecTV is going with DirecTIVO... .so sweetttttttttt

 

[Kev]

just for watching tv, no internet. my dad somehow got the idea that you need a modem for it and now refuses to consider satellite. he tends to be a stubborn idiot when it comes to these things.

for example: for the past 2 years i have been trying to get him to switch from our old cable company because they were SO TERRIBLE. it was called popvision, it cost the same as comcast but only had about 14 cable channels as opposed to comcast's 60. i actually wrote this out for him but he still didn't want to change because it wasn't his idea.

the same thing happened with our internet service. he was bent on getting a new phone line installed so that we could have 1 line for talking and 1 line for the computers to go online with. it costs $22/month for the extra phone line and $22 for the f***ing piece of s*** MSN, a grand total of $44. before we got all that, i tried and tried to explain how getting DSL cost only $35/month and was 50x faster, and all the computers could be online at the same time. his response? "yeah but if we get an extra phone line we can use that to call people." my response to his idiotic idea: "we will never, ever use that phone line for calling people." now a year later, we're paying $9 extra per month for a slow, unstable connection. i don't even try to change his mind about anything anymore.

ok, sorry for the rant. i honestly don't care anymore because i'm moving out for good in 2 months, but i just wanted to get an idea of what DirecTV was really like.

 

[ATLien247]

Sounds like it's time to move out...

 

[gunf1ghter]

Sounds like it doesn't matter what we tell you, because you aren't in a position to make decisions about these kinds of things.

 

[Pepsei]

dishnetwork is better..... ymmv

 

[GSOYF]

I have had DirectTV since RCA first came out with it a very long time ago. I never had any problem with it, and it was great for watching every football game on sundays.


My dad didn't want to get DirecTV because he thinks you have to have another phone line to use it.


yes they tell you to plug it into a phone jack, but you do not need to do that. My unit was unplugged from the phone line for about 2 years. And even if you do leave it plugged into the phone jack it only operates early in the mornings, so the chance that it would interfere with anyone is zero. I would just leave it unplugged, and then you do not even have to worry about it. I think that the only times you would need to have it plugged into the phone line was if you ordered a special package, or a movie (pay-per-view). Otherwise it is a great unit, and I highly recommend it.

 

[Linflas]

I love DirecTV for television. I have had it since 1997 and the only time the service is offline is during summer thunderstorms. The longest time out has been maybe 15 minutes. I would not use satellite for data since I am an online gamer and satellite latency is horrid for gaming.

Edit: Ours is hooked up to the voice phone line in our house and I have never had it interfere with my phone service.

 

[rmblam]

<< yes they tell you to plug it into a phone jack, but you do not need to do that. My unit was unplugged from the phone line for about 2 years. And even if you do leave it plugged into the phone jack it only operates early in the mornings, so the chance that it would interfere with anyone is zero. I would just leave it unplugged, and then you do not even have to worry about it. I think that the only times you would need to have it plugged into the phone line was if you ordered a special package, or a movie (pay-per-view). Otherwise it is a great unit, and I highly recommend it. >>



What he said.

At my step-dad's retirement home he has DirecTV and an RCA receiver with a broken phone line jack (no idea how it broke). It took a while, but he eventually filled the card with PPV purchases and now can't get them anymore. If you try and pull up a movie to purchase it says "access card is full". He doesn't care enough about it to replace the receiver.

I have DirecTV using the Sony receiver's and I'll never go back to cable TV (less choices, more outages, and more expensive). I do have cable internet though. 56k can die any day now, please.

The up front fees (cost of equipment) can deter some people from satellite TV, but there are decent packages out there if you look.

You need to do a better job of convincing him. Provide documented facts that are easy to understand; that may help over just saying "dad, this is better" or "we need this". Some people need more conving that others; and it is not always what you say, but how you say it.

Don't get frustrated, learn from it. It will help you do deal with people in the future.

Good luck.