Moving to Direct TV

[Dulanic]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Queasy
I don't think you can put a new hard drive in the DirecTV branded DVRs. You can for the DirecTivos but you either have to get one off eBay or get a refurb to get one now it seems. I've upgraded both my wife's and my DirecTivos so that we have more recording space and can transfer shows to the PC to save on DVD.

Supposedly, DirecTV is moving to leasing/rental model starting March 1st instead of the current buy model.

What's the advantage of leasing? More money for them? I know that under the current scheme you sign a contract....

Under your typical cable leasing schemes, the advantage is lower entry cost for consumers. Excluding deals, customers have to spend a good deal of money upfront to get DirecTV equipment which scares some away.

However, I'm still not sure what the upcoming leasing scheme is. Over at the TivoCommunity forums, some are saying that you still have to pay for a good portion of the equipment (up to 75%) and then pay monthly leasing fees. That just seems like a horrible idea and I hope it isn't true.

Guess we will find out tomorrow...

I can tell you what it is today.... basic boxes are free. DVR are $99 /w $100 rebate for NEW customers, no longer free after rebate for existing. HDTV boxes $99 /w $100 rebate, same new customer restriction. HD DVR $499 /w $100 rebate.

So all they really did was drop the up front cost by $100 but lower the rebate by $100 and made it so new customers are only ones who got the rebate. So in reality the prices of the boxes got worse, atleast for existing customers. The sucky part is to spend $499 and it's not your box.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Xanis
Good luck. DirecTV has been nothing but problems since day one for me. The signal gets dropped randomly, even on sunny, cloudless days. This has happened many times, and the customer service has been horrible about it, saying that there is nothing that they can do aside from a dish re-alignment which is apparently unnecessary.

This with the new dish or the old style dish? For anything other than the new oval 5 LNB dishes it is pretty easy to tell if the dish is aligned properly. When I did my install I had mine tweaked to high 90's on both even and odd transponders. The only time I would get rain fade was during severe thunderstorms.

 

[AnyMal]

FYI, DirecTivo service will be discountinued at the end of this year.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Dulanic

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Queasy
I don't think you can put a new hard drive in the DirecTV branded DVRs. You can for the DirecTivos but you either have to get one off eBay or get a refurb to get one now it seems. I've upgraded both my wife's and my DirecTivos so that we have more recording space and can transfer shows to the PC to save on DVD.

Supposedly, DirecTV is moving to leasing/rental model starting March 1st instead of the current buy model.

What's the advantage of leasing? More money for them? I know that under the current scheme you sign a contract....

Under your typical cable leasing schemes, the advantage is lower entry cost for consumers. Excluding deals, customers have to spend a good deal of money upfront to get DirecTV equipment which scares some away.

However, I'm still not sure what the upcoming leasing scheme is. Over at the TivoCommunity forums, some are saying that you still have to pay for a good portion of the equipment (up to 75%) and then pay monthly leasing fees. That just seems like a horrible idea and I hope it isn't true.

Guess we will find out tomorrow...

I can tell you what it is today.... basic boxes are free. DVR are $99 /w $100 rebate for NEW customers, no longer free after rebate for existing. HDTV boxes $99 /w $100 rebate, same new customer restriction. HD DVR $499 /w $100 rebate.

So all they really did was drop the up front cost by $100 but lower the rebate by $100 and made it so new customers are only ones who got the rebate. So in reality the prices of the boxes got worse, atleast for existing customers. The sucky part is to spend $499 and it's not your box.

I'm going to put this as nicely as possible coming from a loyal DirecTV customer - That sucks balls.

I can't believe there is someone out there who thought this was a good idea. Why would I spend that much money in up-front costs on equipment that I would't own? This will just force me to go to another provider when I am ready to start watching HDTV.

 

[Genx87]

I have had some comedy gold with DirectTV.
With a credit score of nearly 790 I didnt qualify for the free DVR without a deposit.
Then after telling them to forget it they send an installer out to my house a week later. After telling them for the 2nd time I didnt want their service and now getting phone calls from them telling me they want to schedule a time to have a guy come out to setup the unit lmao. The best part is I got a letter in the mail saying I can request a copy of my credit because I didnt qualify lmao.

Oh and those free TiVo units, make sure it isnt an actual TiVo branded unit because DirectTV is dropping support for those babies in early 07.

The serivce? It is ok, if you have weather the service can suck completely.
Personally I ended up going with Charter digital and got an actual TiVo series 2 unit for 200 bucks with 1 year sub. I dont know what DirecTVs new DVRs are but I havent been hearing good things about them and my TiVo unit is unbelievable. One of the best features is the ability to transfer recorded video through my LAN to a computer for indefinate storage.

You cant do that with the Direct Tivo's and I dont think you can with their new DVRs.

 

[Pantoot]

Originally posted by: NutBucket

Originally posted by: Queasy
I don't think you can put a new hard drive in the DirecTV branded DVRs. You can for the DirecTivos but you either have to get one off eBay or get a refurb to get one now it seems. I've upgraded both my wife's and my DirecTivos so that we have more recording space and can transfer shows to the PC to save on DVD.

Supposedly, DirecTV is moving to leasing/rental model starting March 1st instead of the current buy model.

What's the advantage of leasing? More money for them? I know that under the current scheme you sign a contract....

I think it also allows them to show all the equipment that they 'own' as assets of the company. From that they can show larger numbers on their balance sheet, get tax credits for depreciation, and fatten their bottom line.

 

[Chewy]

just make sure you can point the dish SOUTHWEST...i live in a condo and we're not allowed to have the dish on the roof...and my balcony faces NE i had to cancel

 

[JasonSix78]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: JasonSix78
I've had my DirecTV service for over a year now and it's been great. The only problem I have is when it pours down rain the signal gets killed. I've been thinking about rigging up a little cover for it. Anyway, go for it...you'll be pleased with it.

-Jason

It has little to do with rain on the dish itself. It's caused by the high amount of rain in the air and cloud density. Once the moisture in the air (cloud and rain) is dense enough it causes scattering and absorption of the signal. The only solution is a larger dish.

http://www.solidsignal.com/satellite/rain_fade_about.asp

Hey, thanks for that link. Pretty interesting. So I guess my Dish umbrella wouldn't have worked out too well.

-Jason
A cover is only handy for snow. A wet snow is a real pain as it sticks to the dish and causes signal loss until it melts. A dish warmer is a good idea for that.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: dr150
I'm waiting for DirecTV and Dish to convert their signal to MPEG 4 this year since it requires new hardware apparently.

For the time being, I ask Comcast to promo lower my rate for 3 months since it's gone $30+ over the past three years

DTV has already started their MPEG 4 rollout!!!! You could have gotten the H20 HDTV for free after a $199 dollar rebate at BB or CC. I think the new dish install was $99. I think today is the last day though.