DirecTV - What's the scoop?

[Stewie]

My mom came back from visiting her sister and realized she misses cable. Well, not the cable company, as she shares my revulsion for all things Comcast, but cable channels. And wouldn't you know it, the very next day, she got a flyer in the mail for some discount for DirecTV.

The price seems good to both of us: $41.99 plus $4.99 plus $5.99 per month for 2 receivers and a DVR set. I've convinced her that DVR is something we both want. And the startup equipment is free (after a rebate).

So, anyone know of a convincing reason not to go for it?

-Should I believe the commercials that say a stiff breeze will knock out the connection unless I put the dish in cement while practicing my karate and pretending to be an extremely stereotypical family from New Jersey? Or do I continue believing that this is just more filth piped into my home by Comcast?
-Does DirecTV add on $15-$20 per month in taxes and fees as Comcast does?
-Well?

[solarflere]

Move to NYC and get Cablevision Cable. It beats any settelite service. And Comcast isn't that bad, just their internet is slow. I got TV/Internet/VOIP Telephone from Cablevision Optimun service.

[Stewie]

Move to NYC and get Cablevision Cable. It beats any settelite service. And Comcast isn't that bad, just their internet is slow. I got TV/Internet/VOIP Telephone from Cablevision Optimun service.This is of no assistance.

[solarflere]

Get Cable, how is that, Settelite signal can be afected by the weather, trees and builgings inteferance and magnetic and electrical inteferance will afect the picture. Cable is more reliable.

[Stewie]

Ah, thank you.
Have you ever had satellite TV?

[Wanted]

Move to NYC and get Cablevision Cable. It beats any settelite service. And Comcast isn't that bad, just their internet is slow. I got TV/Internet/VOIP Telephone from Cablevision Optimun service.So, even though Cablevision is a decent service, I really wouldn't stick up for them. They cost so much as compared to the down south prices of Mediacom of Huntsville, AL (although, now, I'm not sure how much their prices are).

However, Stewie's asking questions about DirecTV, and I think we should respect that. Too bad I can't acknowledge the fact that I've used a satellite service before.


SPECS ON DIRECTV WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED, THANK YOU!

[The Dork Knight]

I have had DirecTV for five years now. It is definetly worth it. There are times when clouds get in the way and either scramble the signal or shows the black searching for satellite signal screen of doom, but it does'nt even happen that much. All in all, it is worth it. Also, as far as I know (In New York at least) they do not add taxes for the service.

[solarflere]

Its like this, Comcast and Cablevision are very powerfull Cable companies, they provide stable and very good service. There is no reliability with Direct TV or Dish networks. I had them both before I switched. I had no signal every day about 4 hours a day at a time. I tried everything, I gave up on sattelite. The companies, espetialy Direct TV gave me all kinds of noncense: thunderstorms, Trees, Buildings, electrical and magnetical storms in the area. I don't care. I want a dedicated TV line, so I got it.

[Joe Mama]

I have had DirecTv for about a year now, and it's worth it. Lot's O' channels and I especially like the freeview they have on the weekends. On top of that it's cheap..if not cheaper than cable.

[Wounded_Dragon]

I'm a Dishnetwork viewer, but I get the same offers from DirecTV and Dishnetwork so..

As long as you stick to the bare minimum, basic satellite trounces basic cable. The gap between satellite and cable tends to narrow as you add packages.

Yes weather can interfere but hardly as often as the cable companies would have you believe. Occassionally a storm, be it thunder or snow, will be in the exact line and interfere, but it doesn't happen that often, at least for me.

Still, it depends a bit on your location. I live in an outlying area (not really a suburb, the city isn't that big). Solar, I wouldn't dismiss the satellite companies explanations so easily. Some areas really don't work that well with satellite.

That and I'm mad at Comcast for teasing me with broadband. So close yet so prohibitively expensive. Despite all the DSL competition that's over 50 percent cheaper.

[Zach]

I have it, and it's really good. Don't get DISH or anything but DirecTV.

[Stewie]

Don't get DISH or anything but DirecTV.It's DirecTV or nothing. I'm just making sure that there aren't overwhelming reasons to not get it.

[randomguy]

It's DirecTV or nothing. I'm just making sure that there aren't overwhelming reasons to not get it.My family's had DirecTV for about five years not, so I feel reasonably qualified to talk about it. For the most part it's a pretty good service... the audiovisual quality is good, and if the price stacks up reasonably to the cable in your area, I see no reason not to get it.

It's true that the signal cuts out in heavy rain/thunderstorms, though, so if that's something to consider if it's a problem for you. The stiff breeze thing is total bunk, but heavier storms will completely ruin your service. It was never a problem for me, because I rather enjoy the thunderstorms, but I've known it to really bother some people.

[Metroid_spy]

I prefer sattelite TV over cable cause of that program guide right there at a click of a button. And you can check the info of the show your going to watch. Yeah the signal goes out when there's bad weather but that only happens to me in the winter. I have DirecTV too. Another thing that differs from cable is the variety of channels to choose from.

I've convinced her that DVR is something we both want. Lucky. I want DVR. >.<

[EinBebop]

I live in relatively rain-free California, and I've loved my DirecTV. Unfortunately, we had an unusually wet winter, and for some reason it would always be storming during CSI. And I missed a good 20 minutes of the season premiere of 24. Grrrr... If I lived somewhere rainy, I don't know if I'd bother.

I do know that Comcast sucks, though.

[Kinel Ozoa]

My dad installs them for a living, I go on the job with him occasionally to install them. Really it's pretty good, you'd need a pretty badass storm to mess with it, and if it snows you just haft to get the snow off the dish, which if you have an installer worth beans, they would put the dish to where either you or a broom can reach it to get the snow off. I used to have it myself. Pretty cushy. Even had lil mini games in the receiver. Why? I don't know, maybe if you got bored of T.V or something.

I reccomend it, but I ony have bassic cable to compare it too. :sweat:

[Mog]

I've had it for 7 years out here in the sticks. The only time it's ever had trouble is in cloudy storms, and even then it doesn't last too long. The basic package is fantastic, and you can get local channels thrown in also, which was a big plus for me. I also get plenty of channels most others don't get, like G4, Boomerang, Fuse, and Nicktoons. DTV also has tons of sports packages, although I don't care much for them.

So yes, DTV is a great choice if you get sick of cable.

[Zach]

My dad installs them for a living, I go on the job with him occasionally to install them. Really it's pretty good, you'd need a pretty badass storm to mess with it, and if it snows you just haft to get the snow off the dish, which if you have an installer worth beans, they would put the dish to where either you or a broom can reach it to get the snow off. I used to have it myself. Pretty cushy. Even had lil mini games in the receiver. Why? I don't know, maybe if you got bored of T.V or something.

I reccomend it, but I only have basic cable to compare it too. :sweat:
My installer put it up near the top of my house. I can't reach it with a broom. I have to get a ladder. (We used to have it lower but we couldn't get a clear signal. BUt this was back when we had DISH Network.)

[zmanjz]

ok, this is how it is.

At my apartment I have comcast

At my house I have DirecTv.

both are good for different reasons.



#1: Directv has good selection, and an excellent monthly rate for the channels you get.

#2: While storms can interfere with video during the storm, if you have a battery or generator, you can plug your TV and and satellite transponnder in, and have your satellite. Whereas cable, if a line goes down, it stays down until the cable company can fix it. I remember last year, a big storm came tearing through, local cable was down for some people for 2 weeks.... My parents had the satellite running after they pluged it into our computer APC battery. (Then the power came back after 30 minutes.)

#3: In locations that aren't wired for DSL, FIOS, or Cable Internet, you can get satellite internet bundled with the cable. (Roughly 56Kbps-600Kbps)



Now, that's not to say that cable is devoid of anything good. In many locations, Comcast and other cable companies have Anime Network On Demand. (Comcast of Central Pennsylvania is well run, with good customer service and pricing. zmanjz makes no such claim for other cable companies, or other regional divisions of comcast.)

and Cable Internet in some locations can get up to 6Mbps... which at the price comcast charges, beats everyone else except for Verizon's FIOS Internet.

As for taxes, there are always some taxes and fees, but most of the fees you pay with cable are related to their leasing of utility poles from State public utility comissions... while satellite is almost entirely the domain of the Federal government rather than state government.

[solarflere]

I prefer sattelite TV over cable cause of that program guide right there at a click of a button. And you can check the info of the show your going to watch. Yeah the signal goes out when there's bad weather but that only happens to me in the winter. I have DirecTV too. Another thing that differs from cable is the variety of channels to choose from.
Lucky. I want DVR. >.< Cable has a one button guide on the remote as well. I enjoy that function.


And if you are considering settelite, get VOOM while you are at it. It has the strongest signal of them all. It might cost you more, but its a defenetly a higher quality servce.

[zmanjz]

Cable has a one button guide on the remote as well. I enjoy that function.


And if you are considering settelite, get VOOM while you are at it. It has the strongest signal of them all. It might cost you more, but its a defenetly a higher quality servce.

...

???

Higher quality service? how do you figure?

All that Voom is just a package of HD channels.... and they don't even carry most basic cable channels.... and their local channels requires that you also mound a digital reception aerial.....


my response:

Get either comcast, or DirecTv, depending on what packages and internet you want/have. But don't get voom.

(As for Dishnetwork, I had dish network for several years, but personally, I think that Directv does a better job... but Dish network does force Directv to keep the prices down.)

[solarflere]

...

???

Higher quality service? how do you figure?

All that Voom is just a package of HD channels.... and they don't even carry most basic cable channels. As far as I understand, VOOM has a stronger signal than others so it can fully support all HD channels. Stronger signal means less interferance. Or so I think.

[zmanjz]

As far as I understand, VOOM has a stronger signal than others so it can fully support all HD channels. Stronger signal means less interferance. Or so I think.

sigh.

Well, I tell ya, as long as you don't have some huge obstruction in front of the dish, (Don't plant a tree directly in the path between the dish and the satellite) you won't get any noticible interference on a little dish.

Voom is alot of money to be paying for hardly any channels... and while it's getting off topic, if someone is willing to pay ridiculous money for high quality TV, rather than Voom, buy a full on Satellite dish and buy transponder code licences for the networks you like.

[Saelphronarf]

I don't care what you get, just DON'T get DirectTV. Cable has never goofed up on me and I had it all my life.

An avid supporter of cablevision cable, media 1, and Comcast
-Saelphronarf

[Mary_mari]

sigh. Well, I tell ya, as long as you don't have some huge obstruction in front of the dish, (Don't plant a tree directly in the path between the dish and the satellite) you won't get any noticible interference on a little dish.
Gah...that made me laugh. Write an idiot's guide to satellite installation.

Anyway, I'm a traveller of the satellite/cable world. I've had Hartland cable, DirecTV, and Dish Network. The flaw of cable service is channel selection, hands down. Anyone with sense knows that cable TV is the poor man's satellite (and I'm not being literal people*). I had DirecTv for 5 years (lots of the half-decaders here, eh?) and now I have Dish Network. The only thing Dish has that's a pleaser is SIRIUS music stations. That's it. I hate the scheme, they don't offer several channels DirecTV does, and some of Dish's channels "tint" at various times for no apparent reason. DirecTV is beauty in everyway. For example, if you're into music (like me!), their Music Choice channels are gold. Do cable companies offer music channels?? (seriously, do they? I'm curious) Aww, now I miss DirecTV... *teary eye at dead receiver*

Anyway, satellite does NOT lose it's reception as easily as avid cable fans believe. DirecTV has created satellites for RV's, I think they know how to keep a strong signal in gusts. Plus, I live in tornado alley and we only lose reception when we have severe thunderstorms. Now, who would offer satellite television in an area where heavy wind and rain would supposedly "knock it out"? Heck, I'd drop satellite TV if my signal was scrambled on a mere cloudy day. What kind of clouds are those? Are we living on Jupiter? Yeah, they know what they're doing. :D

[solarflere]

Gah...that made me laugh. Write an idiot's guide to satellite installation.

Anyway, I'm a traveller of the satellite/cable world. I've had Hartland cable, DirecTV, and Dish Network. The flaw of cable service is channel selection, hands down. Anyone with sense knows that cable TV is the poor man's satellite (and I'm not being literal people*). I had DirecTv for 5 years (lots of the half-decaders here, eh?) and now I have Dish Network. The only thing Dish has that's a pleaser is SIRIUS music stations. That's it. I hate the scheme, they don't offer several channels DirecTV does, and some of Dish's channels "tint" at various times for no apparent reason. DirecTV is beauty in everyway. For example, if you're into music (like me!), their Music Choice channels are gold. Do cable companies offer music channels?? (seriously, do they? I'm curious) Aww, now I miss DirecTV... *teary eye at dead receiver*

Anyway, satellite does NOT lose it's reception as easily as avid cable fans believe. DirecTV has created satellites for RV's, I think they know how to keep a strong signal in gusts. Plus, I live in tornado alley and we only lose reception when we have severe thunderstorms. Now, who would offer satellite television in an area where heavy wind and rain would supposedly "knock it out"? Heck, I'd drop satellite TV if my signal was scrambled on a mere cloudy day. What kind of clouds are those? Are we living on Jupiter? Yeah, they know what they're doing. :D Cable servise like Cablevision and Comcast both offer Disney Music, Music Choice and others as well. Granted there are some Cable companies to stay away from: New Vision, Time Warner and others. But Cablevision Optimum service and Comcast are infact very reliable and good. I had Direct TV and I could not stand the NO Signal ans Searching For Signal of death crap. I also could not stand the customer service excuses they gave me. They also would not credit me for the lost service with them, they claimed it was not their problem if the weather is bad.

[Feslmogh]

Don't get the dish...
They provide NO LOCAL WEATHER on the Weather Channel!:mad: And they'll lie about it, too!

[the Amanda]

Don't get the dish...
They provide NO LOCAL WEATHER on the Weather Channel!:mad: And they'll lie about it, too!
Everyone here has the internet. Why would you waste time watching the Weather Channel when you can go to weather.com?

[okendri]

Voom went out of business earlier this year. Dishnetwork brought their satellites and is offering their hd channels.

[G1Ravage]

1-800-ok-cable

[Stuckey]

My parents have Direct TV and regular cable. It's good if you want NFL Sunday Ticket, but other than that they don't get any channels that I don't get with my cable and I have DVR but they don't.

[Style]

I've had Dish Network for 7 years, and the weather has to be really, really bad before you lose signal. It's annoying when it happens, but it's not a "day in, day out" problem. It's a "Happens on average about once every 4 months, and when it does happen the signal is usually down for about 15 minutes at most, but usually considerably less" problem.