[FEti0TUI]

I've rummaged through a few old threads, and done a fair amount of searching on other more HDTV-oriented forums.

Does sattelite actually have better image quality than cable? I've read elsewhere that it's highly dependent on your area, even among users of the same cable company, as well as specific content (I've definitely noticed different channels/shows being better/worse than others).

From what I can tell it'd save me about $300 the first year, then be about the same price as what I'm currently paying Comcast ($77). I don't really care about all the extra channels satellite may provide.

The kicker for me, and reason I haven't already just switched, is giving up my Tivo Premiere. You'd almost have to pry that thing out of my cold, dead fingers. I've read very unfavorable things from former Premiere owners about Direct TV's DVR's (including the one they slapped Tivo software on).

Any input?

[Arr34ston]

I had comcast cable for awhile and it's not bad, and I also have has dish network which wasn't bad either.
I perfered dish to be honest (and this was 4 years ago) but at the time they had the most hd channels and better line up and price.
I cant remember, but one of the the two big sat companies just brought out a new box that supposedly is the second coming of the DVR. I think it was dish, but not totally sure.
I would look at dish network, but that's just from my personal experience.

[Seisyvose]

That Hopper DVR? Holy crap. I don't need the whole house functionality, but 2TB and the ability to record 6 shows is nice.

The deal breaker for me more than anything is that DISH doesn't carry Peachtree TV last I checked, a local station a good chunk of Braves games air on here in Atlanta.

I'm not totally opposed to a non-Tivo DVR if it's good, but I have to say I've been a Tivo customer for eight years and they've always been very helpful and gone out of their way to take care of me.

[Amfdaaandhaq]

i like my direct tv the hd is pretty good. i do lose it more then id like when it rains and the price is to high .thinking a calling and asking them to drop the price or ill cancell it

[Ruidselisse]

Scratch that, looks like DISH got the Peachtree TV thing sorted last month. Cool. Will have to look into that.

i like my direct tv the hd is pretty good. i do lose it more then id like when it rains and the price is to high .thinking a calling and asking them to drop the price or ill cancell it

I tried doing that with Comcast - told them I was seriously considering switching, anyway, and asked if there were any ways to consolidate my bills for what I'm getting. In a ridiculously long e-mail about how much they appreciate my business was one sentence hidden in there suggesting I check with a local Comcast center to see about promotions.

Wish they would do less sucking up and more getting to the point.

[beethyday]

Can you get UVerse there?

[mikeydesignzinc]

Can you get UVerse there?

My thoughts. Should meet all of his needs. Or Fios.

[kvitacencia]

Can you get UVerse there?

I had a terrible experience with AT&T that soured me on them forever. I will never go anywhere near that again. They tried to screw me over big time, and having their service to test out alongside Comcast made it pretty clear it was vastly inferior at the time.

Can't get Fios here.

[invest7manager]

That Hopper DVR? Holy crap. I don't need the whole house functionality, but 2TB and the ability to record 6 shows is nice.

The deal breaker for me more than anything is that DISH doesn't carry Peachtree TV last I checked, a local station a good chunk of Braves games air on here in Atlanta.

I'm not totally opposed to a non-Tivo DVR if it's good, but I have to say I've been a Tivo customer for eight years and they've always been very helpful and gone out of their way to take care of me.

Dish network are gonna drop AMC, I wouldn't go there unless you don't watch either Mad Men or Breaking Bad.

[bahrains27]

Dish network are gonna drop AMC, I wouldn't go there unless you don't watch either Mad Men or Breaking Bad and don't know how to use the internet.

Fixed.

[WeestDype]

i do lose it more then id like when it rains

That alone is reason enough for me to stay away from DTV. That would drive me insane.

[Boveosteors]

Fixed.

Yeah of course but I'd be pissed if I was paying for premium tv service and then have to miss out on two of my favourite shows.

[Knillagrarp]

I jumped from Comcast to DirectTV.

Customer service
DTV > Comcast

Deals and free offerings
DTV > Comcast
Comcast never saw one. DTV it is all the time. Got NFL Network last year for $5/mo and it is normally $60/mo!

Service
DTV > Comcast (dependent on area)
Comcast cut out a lot. Would freeze etc.

DTV it does lose signal, but only rarely. Not every time it rains, storms, or even hails does it cut out. Very rarely does it. Even when the F4 tornado went by 200yrds from my house, only the strong winds cut out our service by blowing the dish off alignment. Even then, we still picked up some signal to get some 20 channels.


Cost for what you get
DTV > Comcast


Jumped ship 2 years ago. Not sure how Comcast is these days if any change. I do know they like to go by Xfinity instead of Comcast. I think because Comcast got bad rep, they are trying to hide themselves with the Xfinity name. I don't know anyone with it, only peeps with either EPB, DTV, Dish, Charter or UVerse. lol

[enentique]

I've heard weather is barely a factor for satellite these days. I don't know how true that is but you read it all over the place in cable vs satellite comparisons.

So, doing some research into Dish, doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for. Hopper is great except if you watch a lot of cable (I do), and seems they're always having disputes with networks.

Moving on to DTV, from what I'm reading, and this fits with the research I did a few months ago, the THR22 (DTV's "Tivo" box) seems like a piece of junk no one wants to take responsibility for or support. That plus only having two tuners doesn't really make it work for me. That basically leaves the HR34, how fast (responsive) it is, and trying to figure out how much I'd miss the Tivo UI.

Thing is, I was way off in my estimate of saving $300 the first year. I'd save $800-$900 the first two years by switching to DTV, and while not terribly significant would still save about $200 thereafter. If I stick with cable, that's one damn expensive Tivo.

[wmcelesta]

I've heard weather is barely a factor for satellite these days. I don't know how true that is but you read it all over the place in cable vs satellite comparisons.

So, doing some research into Dish, doesn't seem to be what I'm looking for. Hopper is great except if you watch a lot of cable (I do), and seems they're always having disputes with networks.

Moving on to DTV, from what I'm reading, and this fits with the research I did a few months ago, the THR22 (DTV's "Tivo" box) seems like a piece of junk no one wants to take responsibility for or support. That plus only having two tuners doesn't really make it work for me. That basically leaves the HR34, how fast (responsive) it is, and trying to figure out how much I'd miss the Tivo UI.

Thing is, I was way off in my estimate of saving $300 the first year. I'd save $800-$900 the first two years by switching to DTV, and while not terribly significant would still save about $200 thereafter. If I stick with cable, that's one damn expensive Tivo.

The only real problems with satellite TV and weather are 100% thick cloud cover, and trees. By trees I mean the ones in your garden. A lot of people have them and their satellite dishes are trained through them. If it gets windy and they blow around they can often cut off the signal for a second.

EDIT: At some point, all TV is satellite so nothing is immune from the worst of the weather.

[BiseCreesia]

What does TiVo offer over a standard DVR? The DVR (HR23) we have is good.
Well, they were sorta rubbish but DirectTV has been rolling out "secret" weekend updates for select boxes on those weekends which I got on all our units. A new GUI that is HD and pretty and a million times faster.
Also have the HR22. Both with the updated firmware that basically made the boxes like they were brand new, latest and greatest. Seriously, it was like we got new updated units with how fast they got.

Only thing that they don't do that other companies do is the transparent menu. Wish DTV had that, or if they do, at least our boxes.


As far as the weather, like I said, very little issues. When it does cut out, I think it might have to do more with how high the clouds are reaching in the atmosphere.

[Salliter]

What does TiVo offer over a standard DVR? The DVR (HR23) we have is good.
Well, they were sorta rubbish but DirectTV has been rolling out "secret" weekend updates for select boxes on those weekends which I got on all our units. A new GUI that is HD and pretty and a million times faster.
Also have the HR22. Both with the updated firmware that basically made the boxes like they were brand new, latest and greatest. Seriously, it was like we got new updated units with how fast they got.

Only thing that they don't do that other companies do is the transparent menu. Wish DTV had that, or if they do, at least our boxes.


As far as the weather, like I said, very little issues. When it does cut out, I think it might have to do more with how high the clouds are reaching in the atmosphere.

To my knowledge and from what I've been told, a significantly better UI, wishlists and suggestions, faster, and various other things that vary pretty widely based on which DVR it's being compared to.

And always the years I've always consistently heard negative things from other Tivo users switching to other brands. Might be losing the familiarity of the UI or that Tivo is just a better experience, or a combination of the two. I don't know. But I've never used a non-Tivo DVR, so, and I can't exactly test drive one before making a commitment to a satellite company.

[whatisthebluepill]

I've heard weather is barely a factor for satellite these days. I don't know how true that is but you read it all over the place in cable vs satellite comparisons.

I have had DirecTV (came from Comcast) since I have moved back to the Bay Area and have not had it go out, even a single time.

The worst I ever saw was during torrential downpour a couple years ago and it just caused one of the spot beam stations to break up every now and then, the national channels were completely unaffected.

Since, then I have never had a single total service outage under heavy rain, wind, etc. However, I have had a clear shot to all the dishes in the sky when I installed them.

I have had DirecTV only one year less than Comcast and have only had total service interruption on Comcast, which was 3 times. (Not bad over a span of years but infinitely more than none.)

Also, as mentioned, the customer service for DirecTV is top notch. Then on top of that the prices I get for the premium package, whole home DVR, and being able to watch live TV on my iPad and schedule DVR recording from my portable devices, makes me a happy camper.

Regarding the DVR, TiVo's UI is much nicer and more responsive than DirecTV's. At the same time, since the latest UI update to DirecTV, it is now much nicer looking and responsive, even on my older H21 and HR23 boxes.

Also, the sheer number of channels they offer particularly in HD is second to none. They also have numerous dedicated 3D channels. If you or someone in your household is a sports fan, DirecTV is a no-brainer.

[Sensbachtal]

im now with the primer package a course hd dvr and some other bs for around 85 a month

[NEWyear]

I have had DirecTV (came from Comcast) since I have moved back to the Bay Area and have not had it go out, even a single time.

The worst I ever saw was during torrential downpour a couple years ago and it just caused one of the spot beam stations to break up every now and then, the national channels were completely unaffected.

Since, then I have never had a single total service outage under heavy rain, wind, etc. However, I have had a clear shot to all the dishes in the sky when I installed them.

I have had DirecTV only one year less than Comcast and have only had total service interruption on Comcast, which was 3 times. (Not bad over a span of years but infinitely more than none.)

Yeah, I'm not too worried about outages.

Also, the sheer number of channels they offer particularly in HD is second to none. They also have numerous dedicated 3D channels. If you or someone in your household is a sports fan, DirecTV is a no-brainer.

I'm not so much of a sports fan as much as I am a "sport" fan. I'm a diehard Braves fan but I really do not care about any sport other than baseball. For out of market games I usually get a yearly subscription to MLB.tv, which isn't perfect but also lets me watch past games and it's not really worth it for me to fork out for Extra Innings on top of that. I also live alone so my opinion is the only one that counts in my household.

I pretty much get all the cable channels I want right now. Of course, there could be something I'm missing because I have no idea it exists.

Thanks for the info about the DVRs. I've been trying to find legit reviews on the HR24 specifically but haven't come up with much.