TV service (Cable, Dish)

[Paul77]

What's cool about HBO on demand is that every episode of every TV series they have is always available for the latest season. So you don't even have to DVR or TiVO them. And if the season is over you can recall them at any time. It's really amazing.

 

Yeah, I loved it when we had it, but it was about the only "Pro" on my "Pros/Cons" list with TWC.

[pitchleague]

I will pile on about the Directivo thing (oh, wait, I'm not supposed to just "agree" with someone as my main point of my post--I remember reading that in the "what's bugging you" thread). I have a R-10 Directivo receiver that they don't make anymore, but after fooling around with my friends Directv-brand DVR, I am so glad I have a Tivo branded DVR built into my receiver.

 

The Directv DVR responds WAY slower than the Directivo. The interface is NOT user-friendly at all. In fact, it is also very hard to read (small print on the television screen). I guess they have had some software updates but it's still not very good. I would seriously recommend looking on ebay or what not for a Directivo receiver.

 

As for somebody's comment about their wife's comment regarding HD, I've yet to see HD programming that makes me say, "Wow!" because I can see the difference. Maybe my eyesight's so bad? Maybe I just need to see SD and HD programming side-by-side. I can't even see it when I go to Best Buy/Circuit City-type places. I'm NOT saying that there is no difference--don't flame on me for that! I am saying that I, personally, can not tell the difference. We are all different, aren't we?

[jwill535]

The bigger tv you have the more difference you can tell. I have a 65" Samsung and a 42 Pioneer plasma and there is a huuuuger difference in picture and the other benefit is that the sound in Dolby Digital in HD. Football and Baseball games are were you can really tell the difference. You can see the individual grains of dirt or the sparkle of the helmets in the light, its really nice.

 

To clarify, she said that its not that big of difference to her to get all excited about, i still shake my head in disgust when i think of it, she was so perfect till then

[mothershipconnection]

Like Jwill said, you really have to compare similar screen sizes, mine is 42" which isn't gigantic, but big enough to be able to tell the difference easily. A fuzzy signal will look absolutely awful on a big screen. On a little 20", the difference wouldn't seem as huge, and the price gap wouldn't be worth it for most people based on picture alone. I get digital channels over the air in both standard and HD and the difference is big. I flipped over to FOX SD tonight just to compare during the football game and was reminded of the difference.

 

Since they don't really sell standard big screens anymore, you can't really look at them side-by-side at the electronics store.

[pitchleague]

I know I've had this conversation with mothership and others before on this site. Eventually, I WILL break down and get once humongous HD television. But for now, my 32" JVC tube tv is great. And my wife says no to a new tv until that gets a little older (it's only 7 years old).

[Ulice Payne]

Check out Uverse from AT&T.

 

https://uverse1.att.com/launchAMSS.do

 

Still limited availability, but very good packages/rates. It comes in over the phone line, no cable or sattelite. I'm anxious to get Internet Protocol TV when it comes to my street.

[Paul77]

Wow, I just spent some time reading about the AT&T U-Verse. Other than the fact that it's not available in my area yet, I have to say it looks very interesting, but really primitive at this point.

 

If it's available in your area (looks like Milwaukee & Wauwatosa so far) there are a few things to know about. The way I understand it is that you are limited to 4 tvs in your house, not a big deal for most. Only one HD channel can be piped into your house at any given time, so if you've got 2 (or more) tv's and 2 (or more) people who want to watch 2 (or more) different HD channels, your out of luck. It also seems the general consensus is that while the video compression is top notch, the actual picture delivered to your set is sub par to satellite and cable.

 

One thing I was interested in, but couldn't find an answer to, was how fast can you change channels. It seems silly, but it would drive me nuts if I had to "wait" 3 or 4 seconds to change channels. I do a lot flipping back and forth between two programs, lag time is not my friend. Cable is virtually instantaneous, Directv & Dish a half second or so longer. I couldn;t handle anything more than that (I know, i know...) I tried finding a video of this thing in action from a real customer (on youtube) but I only found 3 videos, two from some guy who spent a bunch of time reviewing the tv guide-ish magazine and line up card that comes with the unit and another that reeked of stagged marketing.

 

Overall the software seems unstable. I read about a few to many screen freezes and "death" screens for my tastes. I'd imagine those are software issues that should be fixed as the product matures, but as of now it seems to be a problem.

 

The DVR seems like 1.0 version software. In the relatively short amount of time I spent researching the product I came across at least 3 post's that specifically mentioned missing their old "DirecTivo" units. Lets face it, no body does DVR like Tivo. The TWC DVR is inferior. And I've heard nothing positive about the new Directv branded DVR's. One thing I found insanely awesome was the ability to record 4 shows at once with the AT&T U-Verse box. Are you kidding me? Even with a dual tuner in the living room me and the miss'es argue over who gets to record what.

 

I jumped on the Tivo bandwagon from the outset and I have yet to find a better product. Actually, I was all over the ReplayTv when that first came out, but it was WAAAAYYY to expensive at the time ($2,000 for the first units). I got in on the DVR craze when Tivo came down to the mid hundreds ($499 for a 14 hour machine, ouch!). I finally got the ReplayTV a few years later for the bedroom. It had some really nice features Tivo lacked at the time (the ability to access the guide while watching a recoded show was a favorite of mine), but the software was really buggy and the modem was hit or miss. Had the software been a little bit better and the modem worked even half the time, I might have jumped ship. But as it was I sold it on eBay and remained with Tivo. I've turned every single family member on to it, save for my Dad. That's not a really big surprise though. He's been loyal to the rabbit ears since the mid 1980's.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

DirectTV- Is there a contract (since we get installation/equipment for free)

 

I see the current deal is $69.99/mo with free premier.... ($70/mo for NFL Sunday Ticket), and regular price goes up to $99.99/mo beginning with the 5th month... Do we start paying extra for the HBO/Sports Tier/etc with the 5th month, or is that part of Premier?

 

Also, is there anything from stopping me from having DirectTV for 4 months during Football season and cancelling in January?? I'm definitely leaning towards DirectTV because I really want to BigTen network in the Eau Claire are for Badgers Sports.... FSN North i guess i'll have to deal with....

 

THanks!

[bball123h2]

Funny I see this thread now. Yesterday Time Warner was over to install cable on 3 tvs, and hook up the cable modem. I was not home, and all they did was hook up the cable modem. By the time I got home, that didn't work either. Took it back today, cancelled my Time Warner torture (I was on hold for 1 1/2 hours yesterday, transferred 3 times, each time to the "wrong department"), and signed up for DirecTV today. Couldn't be happier! Now... how to get teh internets...