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How is DirecTV?

KentState

KentState

Diamond Member
Had the service about 3 years ago before the newer Genie technology. At the time, the service was pretty decent with only a few weather related issues. The channel guide seemed responsive and picture was decent. Have had Xfinity X1 for awhile, but we've had a lot of outages in the area recently and I noticed that the picture was heavily compressed while watching football yesterday.

So the question is, does DTV still have a decent picture and is the on-screen guide responsive? Price isn't really a concern since both providers seem close in price.
 
I haven't used them in years but since switching to Comcast Xfinity I wouldn't go back. I suppose the service in every area varies though.
 
I have DTV, and things are pretty much how you remember it. I have the Genie, and 2 HR20s, and I'm quite happy with the setup. Since you mentioned football, no one can't beat the Sunday Ticket.
 
Muadib said:
I have DTV, and things are pretty much how you remember it. I have the Genie, and 2 HR20s, and I'm quite happy with the setup. Since you mentioned football, no one can't beat the Sunday Ticket.
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I prefer watching redzone. I don't have to watch the downtime and all the timeout BS. I see every touchdown and every score for every game the entire day. When there's downtime, they switch to another game and show you who is moving in to scoring position.
 
cmdrdredd said:
I haven't used them in years but since switching to Comcast Xfinity I wouldn't go back. I suppose the service in every area varies though.
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The infrastructure here was originally laid down by Adelphia which if you read about was a horrible company. Comcast has done little to upgrade it since taking it over a number of years ago (2005) so it is always having problems.
 
cmdrdredd said:
I prefer watching redzone. I don't have to watch the downtime and all the timeout BS. I see every touchdown and every score for every game the entire day. When there's downtime, they switch to another game and show you who is moving in to scoring position.
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DTV has redzone too! I watch it sometimes after my Vikes usually during the late games.
 
I have DTV w/ a Genie. Briefly switched to Comcast w/ X1 and had nothing but problems with it (first they installed the wrong box, then they forgot to enable HD, then the box kept freezing up). Switched back to DTV right away. Much happier.

Still have Comcast for internet though
 
The wireless client boxes that you can use with the Genie are still getting the bugs worked out but they work pretty well. Personally, I would rather have multiple HDDVRs over a Genie and client setup but that would undoubtedly cost a lot more in initial costs for very little advantage for the average customer.

If you decide to give DTV a run and get the Genie and Clients, make sure that you get the HR44 and not the HR34. Trust me on this. I know because it's my job. If they show up with an HR34, refuse the installation.
 
smitbret said:
If you decide to give DTV a run and get the Genie and Clients, make sure that you get the HR44 and not the HR34. Trust me on this. I know because it's my job. If they show up with an HR34, refuse the installation.
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What's the difference between the two? I'm guessing the HR44 has a bigger drive, but it's just a guess.
 
KentState said:
The infrastructure here was originally laid down by Adelphia which if you read about was a horrible company. Comcast has done little to upgrade it since taking it over a number of years ago (2005) so it is always having problems.
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This can't be said about all previously owned Adelphia neighborhoods as each county has its own franchise authority and the efforts contractual therein vary from county to county.

That being said, you need to be slightly more specific in your neck of the woods as I am in Gwinnett county and have observed the infrastructure deployment being different just between my county and that of Forsyth. I do know that my county's franchise is slower than Forsyth's but I also know that I can get +50Mbps Internet anytime I want it.

Comparatively, AT&T (ahem, BellSouth) infrastructure that was laid down in my neighborhood in 1999 was part of a 1996 fiber experiment and at the time it was great. Now it is still 1999 platform, never upgraded and can deliver a whopping 1.5Mbps Internet and POTS, but no longer any SDTV cable. U-verse (my ass) as the saying goes).

As for DirecTV and how it is that is also a difficult question. I am still against the banning of distant network feeds and forcing consumers to watch/access their geographic local networks. I have had bad experiences in the Atlanta market with SDTV being transmitted deliberately on ABC with local TV replacing prime time network shows and CBS accidentally hitting the switch to SD their HD TV.

Rain fade is still there and will never go away. DirecTV is trying to sell themselves to AT&T and you might want to ask yourself if you want AT&T in your life. Aside from that the only other thing I can say related to the individual channels and their fake content therein. That isn't something DirecTV can control.
 
Muadib said:
What's the difference between the two? I'm guessing the HR44 has a bigger drive, but it's just a guess.
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Stats wise, they are the same. The HR44 is smaller and has an external PSU which means if the PSU dies, you can replace the cable and not have to replace the whole DVR and lose all of your recordings. It also works in RF mode with the newer RC71 remote controls that have better range and battery life than the old RC6xR series remotes.

Hardware differences aside, the HR34 just has bugs. It works pretty well as a standalone DVR with 5 tuners, but when you start trying to drive the Client boxes you'll start getting Gremlins in your system. The worst of which is regular Freeze-Framing and pixellation on the Client boxes especially when multiple Clients are being used at the same time. It just doesn't seem to have the horsepower of the HR44 and that introduces stability and signal issues.
 
I'm in Forsyth county and it's still pretty pathetic here. We have had area wide outages for large portions of the day for awhile now and it's rather frustrating. Now, I can get 105Mpbs down, but not really that great when it's not reliable.
 
I had them the last two years, turned it off a couple weeks ago. Sent it back to cut the cord. If I was keeping a pay service it would be DTV. Had the Genie and four client boxes. It worked perfectly with almost no issues. Towards the end of the contract the Genie started getting sluggish but not to bad. The ability to record that many shows came in very handy in a four person household. The picture was great with quality sound as well. Plus, Sunday ticket rocks. For pay TV they are the way to go. Miles better than the TWC I had.

That said, their retention sucks. When my contract was running out I called to reup but they wouldn't deal at all. Once my contract ran out and the return boxes were on the way they had a sudden change of heart. Sorry but to late now.
 
Turns out that since I had DTV in the last 24 months, I'm not eligible for any of the better deals. Will probably just wait until the 2015 NFL season to switch.
 
The NFL's TV deal is up for renewal too. I wouldn't doubt that Sunday Ticket may longer be a DTV exclusive. Too much money is being left on the table IMHO.

Then again I don't pay for any of it so take this as my objective opinion.
 
If you are a football fan Sunday Ticket makes it more than worth it. I've had some small weather issues, but no way I would consider anything cable provider now.
 
NutBucket said:
Maybe you're right:

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/25/nfl-directv-on-the-verge-of-a-long-term-deal/

But as of today nothing is written in stone.
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At this point, Sunday Ticket and DirecTV are almost synonymous. I would think that both brands would take a financial hit with the loss of the other. This is a mutually beneficial relationship.

I doubt anyone but Comcast would have the Schwag to rip Sunday Ticket away from DirecTV and even then I am certain that Comcast would have to greatly over value it to make an offer than DirecTV wouldn't match.
 
The problem is market reach. Since every provider has limited reach it seems like the NFL would stand to make the most money if they could somehow make Sunday Ticket available to everyone independently of provider. Of course, that will never happen short of the streaming option.
 
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