Moving to Milwaukee: Cable or DirecTV for HD?

[vegasvic]

I know I'm just one person.  I'm sure (maybe) others have had wonderful experiences with TWC.  MY experience wasn't limited to just one bad apple.  It was from top down over a 6 day period.  I switched to DTV and have loved it.  Having the Sunday Ticket is great as well.

[Movin2Milwaukee]

I know this might be off-topic, but if I get one of DirecTV's brand new HD receivers (they don't have a DVR built in for the latest model)...is it possible to connect a separate HD-recorder or separate HD-DVR to the receiver and just record that way? Or is it best to just wait for the integrated DVR?

[Chinatown]

I will be moving to Milwaukee soon and would like to know what is considered the better option for HD programming, the local cable provider or DirecTV? I, of course, want my locals in HD and don't want to pay an arm and a leg for the 'total packages.'

I had Cable for 15 years, "Dish" for 2, & "D" for the last 5.  In my opinion, "D" is far superior then the other two.  Service is suburb, as well as the equipment. Speaking of the equipment, & the future..........I have pasted the investor meeting.........

http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/12/127160/FINALSlidesInvestorDay2-22-06.pdf

This ought to help you on your choice of providers............

[kevbeck122]

I know this might be off-topic, but if I get one of DirecTV's brand new HD receivers (they don't have a DVR built in for the latest model)...is it possible to connect a separate HD-recorder or separate HD-DVR to the receiver and just record that way? Or is it best to just wait for the integrated DVR?

Not possible unless you want to spend a lot of money (a lot more than the price of a DVR)... wait until the new DVR comes out.

[hggeorge]

I switched to TWC a year and half ago and really like the service.  My wife loves the video on demand movies.  The picture quality is outstanding on the digitals.  Some of the analog channels on an  hd tv get a d+.  But most all cable systems will be switching over to digital by the end of this year.  TWC hd picture quality is out standing.  I had Dish for two years and the picture quality was ok.  But on the sport packages with movement lots of pixel problems due to low band wide.  How that both Dish and Direct are switching over to mpeg4 beware of new equipment and software upgrades.  You also may have problems getting a real strong signal on the dish 1000 antenna system on the 129 satellite location.   Some upgrades from Dish cause problems for my 811 that I didn't have before upgrade.   My gold standard for hd picture quality is my 4dtv c-band receiver and 10 foot dish.  I watch Staz hd on it and only TWC has the same hd picture quality.  

George K9GM
Howards Grove

[oz]

I used to hate TWC too, but I feel their customer service has improved greatly in the last few years.

My recommendation is to try TWC with the HD-DVR – free installation and no start-ups costs.  If you don't like it in a month, cancel for free and switch to something else.

TWC might also be the way to go if you want broadband internet too - you get a price break for ordering internet and cable.

[HDCheeseHead]

Well, I moved to Tosa a little over a month ago from ILL.  In ILL I had DirecTV and their (HD DVR, HD package, HD locals from D*).  So, I had the same decision to make.  I have a 61" RPTV and when I previously had cable, their SD channels were very poor when they got blown up to 61", which is the reason I switched to D* in the first place.  I had 3 DVR's (1 HD & 2 SD) and one regular receiver.  I had spent quite a bit of time wiring the house to support this, since each DVR requires 2 runs of coax.

Well, I opted to give TWC a try for a few reasons.
1) I didn't want an installer to do my installation because I've had and heard of too many problems with installers.  I do it myself and I do it the way I WANT.
2) I didn't want to install the coax runs in the winter
3) I didn't want to put up another antenna for OTA, since D* is not offering Milwaukee locals yet
4) TWC offered a great package.  For $99 I get their DIGIPIC 1000, phone and internet.  I got the same setup as with D* (1 HD DVR & 2 SD DVR) and I don't have any commitment as well, so, I can switch back to D* later.

So, when I add in the HD package, the costs of the extra receivers and fees for DVR's, VOD and HBO, I'm paying $146 + tax.  This is about a wash for me when I added the same services it would cost me if I went with D* $80, SBC Phone $30+ and SBC DSL $26.  Not to mention I get HBO & VOD and internet speeds of almost 10x what I got from DSL.

[jdhd]

I have been a Dtv customer for 8 years. I want to add HDTV so I have both DTV and TWC installed, to compare the two. I have the SA 8000HD DVR from TWC. I haven't come up with any conclusions yet, but here are some observations:

1.) I am on my 2nd 8000HD from TWC and 3rd service call. Still receiving lots of pixellation on HD channels.

2.) According to DTV, they are coming out with a new HD-DVR which will have HD Milwaukee locals. This will require a new dish and a different HD-DVR. They suggested if I want HD that I switch to TWC and suspend my DTV service until July, when the new equipment comes out.

3.) DTV is much clearer on channels like CNN, Bravo, etc.

4.) The 8000HD doesn't even compare to the Directivo DVR.
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[klwillis45]

jdhd, you should swap out that box for the 8300hd. i hated the 8000, but have no issues with the 8300. Also, how many cable jacks do you have? I had 5 installed and an amp was neccessary to stop pixelating. TWC installed it for free.

[jdhd]

Thanks for the advise. The tech is coming back to put in a 8300hd and replace some more cable - hopefully that will solve the problem. I have road runner and just 1 line being used for the hdtv. All my other coax runs are still connected to the directv. I don't want to pull the plug on dtv til I am sure the TWC receiption and equipment will work ok. I am hopeful - but so far it's not looking good.
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[jdhd]

klwillis45 - Thank you! The tech changed ALL of the cable run, but the 8000 still didn't work. He put in the 8300 and it is a night and day difference. Dare I say - the way it looks now, it is good enough to replace dtv.
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[Joseph S]

Having had to deal with TWC "service" again today, I can say if you that if you don't need 'em don't get 'em. Their 5C flags are always screwed up. Today I noticed they've butchered the locals as well while trying to edit a recording as even the locals are now "Copy Once." Calling Time Warner yields a "WTH is a firewire port? We don't know. We don't support it. We don't really have a clue. ..."

I can't wait to ditch them for Satellite, FIOS, or Comcast in the next few months. If the "Wiz" hadn't butchered Alias for 4 years or TNT ran a marathon, I would have already done so months ago.

[Movin2Milwaukee]

Thank you all for the various tips and info...very good stuff!

I want to do this the right way when I move, since I will be getting an HDTV for the first time....buying a nice Sony SXRD 60-incher. Does TWC have HDMI outputs for its DVR? I am still considering DTV but, as someone said, their new HD-DVR that is compatible with the new 5LNB dish won't be out till July. I am moving to Milwaukee in 3 weeks, so I have a bit of a wait ahead. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just give TWC a shot for a few months to see how they look.

You can't help but notice all the ads for satellite companies that offer free multi-room DTV installation, even with HD DVR's. I think the HR20 will be a nifty little DVR for DTV, especially since it's supposed to be able to record something like 60 hours of MPEG4, I think I read. That's pretty good.

Someone mentioned that adding an off-air antenna to get HD locals is sometimes an issue when DTV is already connected. Did I read that right?

[mhz40]

Having had to deal with TWC "service" again today, I can say if you that if you don't need 'em don't get 'em. Their 5C flags are always screwed up. Today I noticed they've butchered the locals as well while trying to edit a recording as even the locals are now "Copy Once." Calling Time Warner yields a "WTH is a firewire port? We don't know. We don't support it. We don't really have a clue. ..."

I can't wait to ditch them for Satellite, FIOS, or Comcast in the next few months. If the "Wiz" hadn't butchered Alias for 4 years or TNT ran a marathon, I would have already done so months ago.

So what's wrong with copy once?  You sellin' to China or what? :eek:  :rofl:

[jdhd]

Does TWC have HDMI outputs for its DVR?
Well yes and no.  The HDMI port is there, but isn't active on my 8300. (ARGH!!) The 8000 had a dvi port but that wasn't active either.

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to just give TWC a shot for a few months to see how they look.
I have both right now for comparison. My DTV is out tonight (it's raining), but TWC is up. Couldn't hurt to try TWC - no contract involved. If DTV's HD offering looks better in July you could always switch then.

Someone mentioned that adding an off-air antenna to get HD locals is sometimes an issue when DTV is already connected.
I tried this for awhile, but I don't have a roof top antenna. I was able to get all channels with a indoor antenna, but I kept having to reposition it, which got old real fast.
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