Tell me about DirecTV

[boomhower]

I currently have Time Warner with a cable card set-up. When it works it works great but problem is it doesn't work all the time and Time Warner pretty much sucks. The CC is very picky on the signal quality and it does in and out. So, I am looking into making a change. Since TW is pissing me off I am not going to reward them with more business.

So I am looking at DirecTV.(parents have Dish and I hate their interface) Whole home DVR is a must now that I am used to it. I do have a couple of questions. The whole home piece will mainly be used for the living room and our bedroom TV. We would also have a box in the kids bedroom. Will the box in the kids bedroom use their own tuners or will they take up two tuners from the whole home box? The service comes with $45 of movie channels for free from three months. Can you cancel those and keep the other discounts after the three months? Are the remote apps worth a crap? I know TW's aren't.

 

[BoomerD]

In the past several years, we've had HD service from the following:

Dish. Not bad interface, but not great. Channel selection was mediocre. (and has gotten worse)

Uverse. Probably the nicest overall interface with the most/best information, but the worse overall service and billing.

Comcast. The worst interface of any we've had, but a decent channel line-up and good "on-demand" service.

DirecTV. Good interface, decent channel line-up, billing has been good so far, as has their customer service. (we don't have the "whole house DVR, just the standard model, so I can't speak about that, but one of their repair techs said there's still a few "bugs" in the system and we should wait to upgrade)
Yes, you can cancel the free premium channels...in fact, if YOU don't cancel them, you'll be charged for them after the "free trial period."
The DirecTV remote takes some getting used to...it's a bit different, but overall, it's not horrible. (sometimes it seems slow to respond...that may be the box not the remote)

Picture quality with DirecTV has been good. A few glitches from time to time...stuttering, skipping, pixelations, etc., but it's relatively minor and infrequent.

 

[hclarkjr]

you want to call and ask about the HR34, that is their new whole home DVR. i have had dish, comcast and and am currently with directv. direct is the best of them 3, more HD and picture qualitity is the best among those 3. if you like sports direct is the way to go. i did not have whole home so i can not comment on that part

 

[hclarkjr]

plus right now they are offering sunday ticket for free to new subscribers

 

[Gunslinger08]

I just switched from Dish about a month ago, because of the AMC dispute and to save a lot of money. I ultimately will save over $1000 due to rebates, freebies, and a Costco gift card. Their whole home DVR cinema receiver (HR34) is fairly newish, so it has a couple bugs to work out. Basically, just ignore the installer and plug an ethernet cable directly into the receiver and you'll solve the big issue (skipping in downloaded On Demand shows). The other issue is just some slowness every once in a while. Overall, I really like it. It's great to be able to watch recorded shows in any room with a box.

For you, I'd get a main DVR (not necessarily the HR34 with 5 receivers) and a second box (SD or HD, depending on the resolution of the TV). The second box doesn't use any of the tuners on the DVR - those are just used for recording shows. I have 3 extra HD boxes around my house and I can record up to 5 shows on the main DVR while watching TV on the other boxes.

If you do decide to switch, have someone refer you. You and them both get $10/month off for 10 months. If you don't know anyone, I can give you my account number for a referral. If you're a member of Costco, there was also a promotion running to get a $120 Costco card. Would have to check to see if that's still going on.

 

[dud]

I LOVE DTV but they are unable to meet all of my needs. IMHO they provide superior TV service than cable does ... but because they are SATCOM based they cannot compete with traditional cable providers for Internet bandwidth.

I was with them for many years and miss them. I would go back if they could provide the bandwidth I currently have through BHN.

 

[boomhower]

I just switched from Dish about a month ago, because of the AMC dispute and to save a lot of money. I ultimately will save over $1000 due to rebates, freebies, and a Costco gift card. Their whole home DVR cinema receiver (HR34) is fairly newish, so it has a couple bugs to work out. Basically, just ignore the installer and plug an ethernet cable directly into the receiver and you'll solve the big issue (skipping in downloaded On Demand shows). The other issue is just some slowness every once in a while. Overall, I really like it. It's great to be able to watch recorded shows in any room with a box.

For you, I'd get a main DVR (not necessarily the HR34 with 5 receivers) and a second box (SD or HD, depending on the resolution of the TV). The second box doesn't use any of the tuners on the DVR - those are just used for recording shows. I have 3 extra HD boxes around my house and I can record up to 5 shows on the main DVR while watching TV on the other boxes.

If you do decide to switch, have someone refer you. You and them both get $10/month off for 10 months. If you don't know anyone, I can give you my account number for a referral. If you're a member of Costco, there was also a promotion running to get a $120 Costco card. Would have to check to see if that's still going on.

To clarify the set-up:
Living room and bedroom both HD and need to be able to do multi room. Also need more than two tuners which is why I was looking new one which is I guess the HR34. I currently have four and can't see having less than that.
Two kids rooms at currently SD but will be HD shortly. They do not need DVR.

 

[Gunslinger08]

To clarify the set-up:
Living room and bedroom both HD and need to be able to do multi room. Also need more than two tuners which is why I was looking new one which is I guess the HR34. I currently have four and can't see having less than that.
Two kids rooms at currently SD but will be HD shortly. They do not need DVR.

Sounds like you'll have the same setup as me then. HR34 and 3 H25's. I like the multi room DVR a lot.

 

[SunnyD]

I love DirecTV. I'll probably keep it even after cable comes to my neighborhood. Picture quality and content is better than pretty much all the cable carriers, and DirecTV is easy to work with to keep your bill "competitive" with local cable offers. Most all of their "freebie" deals simply fall off your account without you having to call in to cancel.

As far as the DVR setup, it's pretty good. I don't have the newer one, but I'll probably be upgrading shortly.

If you decide to give it a whirl and need a referral ($10 off/month for 10 months for you and whomever refers you), just PM me.

 

[jhansman]

Yes, if you are new customer, get the whole home package. Also, if you can put at least the DVR where you can hard wire it to your router via ethernet, you can do all kinds of fun things. I still think TV is pretty much a wasteland, but if you're gonna watch it, you might as well go with the best.

 

[boomhower]

Well, I ended up pulling the trigger and have had it for about a week now. They did install the HR34 and three H25's. The install tech was awesome, 10x better than most TW guys I've had.

I love the interface. The way the DVR works is so much better that either WMC or TW. The way it manages recordings is just worlds better. From how they are set, the options you have, and the way they are organized. I like the black theme as well. The HR34 just plain looks cool as well.

The picture is great and after downloading the new update have had no performance issues. I've read about GUI lag and channel changing lag but I've experienced neither. I've still got to figure out on-demand though. It's supposed to be there but I haven't had time to look for it. The iPad app rocks and the iPhone app is so-so at best.

Only one complaint so far, the channel orginazation is a mess. Local channels are in the 1's followed by a bunch of PPV crap until 200's where the sports start. But not all are there, other sports channels are in the 600's. There has to be a better way. This has also confirmed my previous decision that movie channels are a waste of money, I'll stick with Netflix and red box. I've probably got 30 and have watched one movie so far. HBO Go is really really nice though but not worth paying for HBO. ~$15 a month for one channel is insane.

Overall I am very happy with the set-up. Once I get used to the screwy channel line-up I'll be good to go.

OT: One other thing is the kids are in heaven. My six year old running around screaming she has a guide was priceless. Though it did cost me another $600 in new TV's for them. It just seemed stupid to have HD capable satellite on ancient 19" tube TV's. When I pulled in with new 32" LCD's the looks on their faces was worth the cost. Now the NFL season needs to start so I can enjoy this eight game screen!

 

[akshatp]

We just moved and even though I had to sign up for Cable TV service as part of a "triple play" package (phone/internet/tv) I still kept my DirecTV service for watching TV.

Cablevision STB/Interface pales in comparison to DirecTV. Lineup and PQ on DTV is way better too.

 

[boomhower]

We just moved and even though I had to sign up for Cable TV service as part of a "triple play" package (phone/internet/tv) I still kept my DirecTV service for watching TV.

Cablevision STB/Interface pales in comparison to DirecTV. Lineup and PQ on DTV is way better too.

Why couldn't you just do phone and internet. I can't believe it was cheaper to have cable than not. That would be well beyond odd. Heck, just get internet and ooma or vonage.

 

[DeathRows]

Downside to D* is no G4 or Galavision in HD. The remote app has been great for me. Oh and Sunday ticket.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[boomhower]

Downside to D* is no G4 or Galavision in HD. The remote app has been great for me. Oh and Sunday ticket.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Gave up on G4 a long time ago and don't have a clue what Galavision is.

 

[Zee]

It's the most expensive shit ever. Im pretty sure there's not an expensive package more expensive than directv. The only reason anyone would get it is for the sunday ticket.

 

[boomhower]

It's the most expensive shit ever. Im pretty sure there's not an expensive package more expensive than directv. The only reason anyone would get it is for the sunday ticket.

It depends on what your wants are. For my needs TWC was insanely expensive. I want four tuners on the DVR plus two boxes for the kids. For that service with TWC is $145 a month!!! With directv I'm getting it for $80 now and $100 after the first year plus the NFL package. For your wants cable may be cheaper but for mine directv is a lot cheaper. Just out of curiosity how does your wants with cable compare to them?

 

[akshatp]

Why couldn't you just do phone and internet. I can't believe it was cheaper to have cable than not. That would be well beyond odd. Heck, just get internet and ooma or vonage.

I guess I could have done Vonage or OOMA. Didnt really think of it. But yea, to get all three was coming out cheaper than just doing Internet + Phone.

I will eventually use the Cablevision box in the guest room for my mother in law so she can have her South Asian channel. She is coming to stay for a few months to help with our soon to be here newborn in September.

 

[Raizinman]

We were with Time Warner and had the package (Phone, Internet and TV) and we wanted to cut down our bill. We called TW and canceled the land line phone and moved it to Google Phone. That eliminated the phone bill. Then we looked at Direct TV for our TV needs. Our local WalMart was selling the Direct TV that day. We signed up. Here are some of our thoughts.

1) REBATES: There were so many rebate games during our purchase that it took hours of phone calls to get it straighten out. They give you one rebate for 3 months, one rebate for 6 months, one rebate for 12 months, etc. etc. If you don’t follow them closely, you will get screwed. Even if you follow them closely, they will still try to hose you.
2) EQUIPMENT: The equipment is not warranted. We had a box go bad after 3 months. We called and they told us that we didn’t purchase equipment insurance. After much arguing they swapped it out. Time Warner would always swap out problem equipment.
3) PROGRAMMNG: We have a house of HD TV’s. The multitude of HD channels is great. Quality of broadcasting is great. Even though we opted for EVERY channel and movie channel, there are still lots of channels that say we are not subscribed to.
4) FEATURES: We opted for the multi room sharing of programming. Unfortunately it went out a few months ago and Direct TV refuses to assist. We can do without it until our contract runs out. Direct TV seems to have lots of sports channels and they have lots of promotions where they give the movie channels away FREE for months.

The bottom line is that we currently have Direct TV for our TV and Time Warner for our high speed Internet. Together, paying about what we were prior with the Time Warner package of phone/Internet/TV. Direct TV does not have Internet service. So bottom line is: our contract is up in 4 or 5 months and we are going to bundle back with either Time Warner or hopefully Google (as we live in Kansas City) their first test site for fiber optic home service.

My warning to you is, if you get Direct TV. Make sure everything is clear in your contract such as: Rebates, who owns the equipment, warranty on equipment, what happens during strikes and channel loss on Direct TV’s part, as what happed a few months ago.