DirecTV Sucks

[Rhodescholar]

Hey Chicos,

I ordered HD through DirecTV and they showed up today with a bigger satellite. Of course none of this was mentioned when I called. There is no way I'm putting one of those eye sores on my house. It's bad enough as it is, now I'm putting a bigger, more obnoxious one up?

Time to switch back to cable.

[🏀]

Sounds like a bit of an overreaction. DirecTV has been nothing but solid at my house. It rarely ever goes down, unlike cable.

We still have an old-school USSB satellite from the mid-1990's when the dishes were $500. Now they are free!

[muhoosier260]

i don't want to get in the middle of a fire fight but having once had cable (for about 10 years) and recently getting satellite (about 2 years) I can honestly say, in my experience, i would take cable over satellite any day. I've had bad luck, the dish seems so sensitive to any type of bad weather. better off sticking with cable unless you get off to having excess channels

[nathanziarek]

That's funny -- I value my TiVo (which DirecTV hooked me on, funny enough) much more than the company that provides content, but if DirecTV provided an actual TiVo again, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Even in SD the picture quality was better than TimeWarner.

Actually, Chicos, I saw that D* released a USB tuner for Windows Media Center. How about porting whatever needs to be done to make it usable on my USB-having, mpeg-4 capable Series3 TiVo?

(Sorry to hijack the thread  )

-prevent

[rocky_warrior]

Actually, Chicos, I saw that D* released a USB tuner for Windows Media Center. How about porting whatever needs to be done to make it usable on my USB-having, mpeg-4 capable Series3 TiVo?

Hmmm...I haven't seen that...can you add a link with more info?  I've got dish right now and that would solve ALL of my problems.

[NYWarrior]

i don't want to get in the middle of a fire fight but having once had cable (for about 10 years) and recently getting satellite (about 2 years) I can honestly say, in my experience, i would take cable over satellite any day.

That's interesting......I've had the exact opposite experience since switching to DTV about 7 yrs ago.  My reliability exceeds the cable my neighbors get -- by leaps and bounds. 

Plus the digital channels -- cable is so far behind its ridiculous.  The biggest downside is the lowsy selection of ondemand movies, but that's minor.  I just moved and had the 'movers advantage' service  - - got a huge upgrade for next to nothing.   Best part about Directv are the fees -- cable adds all of those hidden surcharges that are created purely by the provider to create profit margin, not to mention higher taxes on the service.  Directv charges are much more straightforward and nearly flat by compare

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hey Chicos,

I ordered HD through DirecTV and they showed up today with a bigger satellite. Of course none of this was mentioned when I called. There is no way I'm putting one of those eye sores on my house. It's bad enough as it is, now I'm putting a bigger, more obnoxious one up?

Time to switch back to cable.

Yeah, it's all of 6 inches larger on each side and 2 inches taller which allows you to receive 100 HD stations now and about 160 by the end of the year.  Hey, enjoy cable with their 12 HD stations...each to his own I guess....it's still a very small dish, smaller then the DISH HD dish...again, each to his own.

[ChicosBailBonds]

That's funny -- I value my TiVo (which DirecTV hooked me on, funny enough) much more than the company that provides content, but if DirecTV provided an actual TiVo again, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Even in SD the picture quality was better than TimeWarner.

Actually, Chicos, I saw that D* released a USB tuner for Windows Media Center. How about porting whatever needs to be done to make it usable on my USB-having, mpeg-4 capable Series3 TiVo?

(Sorry to hijack the thread  )

-prevent

Our new HD DVRs all take usage of the USB ports and allow remote booking, media sharing, etc....but not the TiVos...won't happen.

[ChicosBailBonds]

i don't want to get in the middle of a fire fight but having once had cable (for about 10 years) and recently getting satellite (about 2 years) I can honestly say, in my experience, i would take cable over satellite any day. I've had bad luck, the dish seems so sensitive to any type of bad weather. better off sticking with cable unless you get off to having excess channels

Sounds like a bad install.


According to studies, DIRECTV is at 99.96% reliability, DISH is at 99.38%, and cable varies from 95% to 98%.


This study is based on a continuous signal.  So when satellite goes out, it goes out usually for a few seconds or a minute....when cable goes out...it's often out for hours at a time.  Plus, when someone hits a line, knocks over a cable pole, etc then the entire neighborhood is screwed...unless the Chinese start zapping satellites out of the air, everything is independent of that.

But hey, each to his own.  It's not for everyone....I love my HD stations, I'll tell you that.  I do have to laugh at cable's HD claims of late...talk about lying out of their ass.  Great stuff and the lawsuits are flying.  Looking forward to the courts telling them to pound sand.

[muhoosier260]

i will admit, HD is nice. I don't really watch enough tv in order for satellite to make it worth it for me. All I really watch is espn, courttv, history channel and discovery channel. So while i'm home the satellite is nice, i'm also content @ my apt. with cable

[ChicosBailBonds]

i don't want to get in the middle of a fire fight but having once had cable (for about 10 years) and recently getting satellite (about 2 years) I can honestly say, in my experience, i would take cable over satellite any day.

That's interesting......I've had the exact opposite experience since switching to DTV about 7 yrs ago.  My reliability exceeds the cable my neighbors get -- by leaps and bounds. 

Plus the digital channels -- cable is so far behind its ridiculous.  The biggest downside is the lowsy selection of ondemand movies, but that's minor.  I just moved and had the 'movers advantage' service  - - got a huge upgrade for next to nothing.   Best part about Directv are the fees -- cable adds all of those hidden surcharges that are created purely by the provider to create profit margin, not to mention higher taxes on the service.  Directv charges are much more straightforward and nearly flat by compare

OnDemand will be changing extensively in the coming months...we have a version that just launched in beta and will have similar selection to what cable has.

[Spotcheck Billy]

DirecTV wish customers a Merry Christmas… by hiking prices

Pay TV service providers are among a few groups of companies that customers love to hate, and sometimes they go out of their way to remind us why. As families across the country come together to celebrate the holidays, satellite TV giants Dish Network and DirecTV are wishing them a Merry Christmas by hiking the cost of their service plans.


http://news.yahoo.com/dish-directv-wish-customers-merry-christmas-hiking-prices-144525163.html

[🏀]

Someone's gotta pay for Chicos to be on here all day long.

[Jay Bee]

The reason I am a believer in DirecTV is simple: the C41 Wireless Genie rocks my world.

Putting a TV essentially anywhere in or around the house is a first-world country blessing.

[GGGG]

The reason I am a believer in DirecTV is simple: the C41 Wireless Genie rocks my world.

Putting a TV essentially anywhere in or around the house is a first-world country blessing.

Hell yeah...and a $2 to $5 increase per month?

Won't really even notice it.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Someone's gotta pay for Chicos to be on here all day long.

he works odd hours, brah.

and what's with the chick in the .gif that looks like she's at a party at 4ever's crib?

[real chili 83]

Jay Bee and Sultan seem to be big fans of Direct TV.

I am curious to learn more.  I've got the Comcast bundle.  Not sure if it is the best deal.  I've had a Comcast e-mail address forever.  Does anyone know if I will lose that if I were to drop Comcast? Same goes for the home number too.

How many TV's can you run off a satellite box?  I have 5 HD ready TV's in the house but only have 2 hooked up to an HD box to (1) keep the cost down and (2) not have to make room on the kitchen counter for a box that is bigger than the TV.

[hairy worthen]

The reason I am a believer in DirecTV is simple: the C41 Wireless Genie rocks my world.

Putting a TV essentially anywhere in or around the house is a first-world country blessing.

Does it come with that incredibly hot chick that used to be on the commercials, then it would be worth.

I switched to DirecTV a year ago. Much, much better than cable and no reception problems at all, even during rain and snow.

[Jay Bee]

If anyone is thinking of moving to DirecTV, PM me for a great way to save $100!!!!!

Does it come with that incredibly hot chick that used to be on the commercials, then it would be worth.

No, but that girl looked a lot like Chasey Lain. I will say if you have kids you may want to have some channels blocked... when I'm going through the guide it's amazing to see how much filthy smut DirecTV offers.

Chili - with a Genie box... you've got the one 'main' DVR (that can record a bunch of things all at the same time.. and can be accessed by other TV's/clients)... it's small.

Then I've got a network thingy.. that talks to the Genie Wireless devices.. they are SMALL boxes.. you plug 'em into an outlet, but they require no coaxial cable, etc.. they talk to the DVR through the network thingy.

You can have as many of the wireless things you want (at $6 a pop/month), but only 3 can be used at any one time... ALSO, if your TV is RVU-enabled (a couple of my Samsungs are)... you don't even need the wireless thing.. the TV can talk to the network thingy...

From a clutter/space saving standpoint.. it's great. And not needing a coaxial cable rules.

[GGGG]

Jay Bee and Sultan seem to be big fans of Direct TV.

I am curious to learn more.  I've got the Comcast bundle.  Not sure if it is the best deal.  I've had a Comcast e-mail address forever.  Does anyone know if I will lose that if I were to drop Comcast? Same goes for the home number too.

We had a different cable company.  We were able to keep them as ISP only.  We dropped our home line years ago so I don't know about that.

[MarsupialMadness]

Jay Bee and Sultan seem to be big fans of Direct TV.

I am curious to learn more.  I've got the Comcast bundle.  Not sure if it is the best deal.  I've had a Comcast e-mail address forever.  Does anyone know if I will lose that if I were to drop Comcast? Same goes for the home number too.

How many TV's can you run off a satellite box?  I have 5 HD ready TV's in the house but only have 2 hooked up to an HD box to (1) keep the cost down and (2) not have to make room on the kitchen counter for a box that is bigger than the TV.

I also had Comcast for years, hated it.  We have DISH now, have had it for about a year.  So far, no major complaints.  The satellite only went out once and it was during a major snow storm and it was only out for about 15 minutes.  I enjoy getting the satellite radio stations that I can put on just to kill time when I'm working or cleaning the house or something.

DISH has the Hopper thing now.  Seems really, really cool.  I think it's a lot like DirectTVs Genie, but perhaps has even more capabilities.  I don't have it because the upgrade price will be too high -- that's probably the major complaint I do have with DISH is that I do not want to pay upwards of a couple hundred dollars just for the install of their upgraded product.

I still keep Comcast for my internet, since their internet product is the best around if you ask me (in Chicago area).  So you could switch to DirecTV or DISH and still keep Comcast as your ISP, which in turn would mean you could keep your comast email address.

[Coleman]

Yeah, it's all of 6 inches larger on each side and 2 inches taller which allows you to receive 100 HD stations now and about 160 by the end of the year.  Hey, enjoy cable with their 12 HD stations...each to his own I guess....it's still a very small dish, smaller then the DISH HD dish...again, each to his own.

Not saying which is better (have never had satellite so I can't say, although I am relatively happy with my cable provider), but just wanted to correct something, I get about 100 HD channels with the standard HD package, not 12.

[GGGG]

Not saying which is better (have never had satellite so I can't say, although I am relatively happy with my cable provider), but just wanted to correct something, I get about 100 HD channels with the standard HD package, not 10.

Chicos made that statement almost six years ago.  A lot has changed since then.

But IMO Direct TV even has a better HD picture than my cable company did.

[MU31]

I switched back to DirecTV this week after having DISH for the past couple years.  I prefer DirecTV from an equipment and programming perspective, but DISH is typically a little less expensive.  After you satisfy your two year commitment your price incentives are gone, and by switching you not only get new discounts, but also newer equipment which seems to have changed quite a bit in the last couple years (Hopper/Genie) with no upcharge.  My only beef with the changeover was with the DTV installation the tech told me he couldn't mount my new dish to the built-in mounting block on the side of the house, and had to mount it to a rooftop since the mounting footprint changed and was larger now.  He pulled all the wires from the old to the new, but then left the DISH satellite hanging there with no connections to it.

[tower912]

I have Dish at the fire station.   It loses signal almost daily.   I will never have satellite at home.  Had U-verse, but their prices got jacked up too high.   Currently with Comcast.   Dislike the less simple way to get to HD channels, compared to U-Verse.   Like paying $75 a month less.