Called Direct TV...

[syrett4]

Ive recently started looking into D*TV instead of putting up with TWC until UVerse gets to Waterford.  

I am in the "Selling the wife" stage, she isin't into sports so the BTN and NFL Net angle won't fly, and losing CBS HD and switching to an antenna will be another sell, however I may have some success in 70HD channels.

Anyone have a wife that isin't "into" HD or sports and tried to sell them on DTV?  What was your approach?  How did it work out?

[Talos4]

In my case TWC did all the selling for me.

In 1997 TWC operated much the same as they do today, Lousy Customer Service, non responsive service department, when they did respond nothing was resolved,
CSR's no help at all.

We moved to our present home then and had new TWC service installed. Over the first 3-4 months the picture was terrible, interference, lines, snow, outages etc.  Nothing the service tech's did made any difference.

SHE said we need to call Primestar.  

The rest is history.

The wife looked at me like I was nut's when I first started talking about HD. We needed a new TV and she said fine, get one.

Again the rest is history.  She loves watching HD, She doesn't understand it and doesn't care to, (that's what I'm here for)  

Same with the OTA antenna, She actually went out and bought it as surprise for me.:rock:  

She also though I was nut's for adding a passive subwoofer to the "stereo" system way back when.  (she liked that too!)

Now we're up to two HD displays, Two Surround systems, one with enough bass to rattle the dish's in the kitchen cabinets. ( that she's not too crazy about:huh?: )

[Bluto]

Ive recently started looking into D*TV instead of putting up with TWC until UVerse gets to Waterford.  

I am in the "Selling the wife" stage, she isin't into sports so the BTN and NFL Net angle won't fly, and losing CBS HD and switching to an antenna will be another sell, however I may have some success in 70HD channels.

Anyone have a wife that isin't "into" HD or sports and tried to sell them on DTV?  What was your approach?  How did it work out?

HGTV-HD and FOOD-HD are two big selling points in my household, as is the HR20 HD DVR.  

There has to be something in HD your wife would watch, right?  FX, SciFi, CNBC...?

[kjnorman]

My wife doesn't understand it and she doesn't care about HD.  She claims the quality of the picture is not important - its only TV.

Then when we watch a letterbox SD program and I zoom it to fill the TV she complains that it is fuzzy.  Go figure...

[vernoner]

Here's another story for your consideration.

I left TWC for DirecTV and USSB when they first started in the mid 90's.  At the time DTV was more expensive but offered more channels and "digital quality" which was actually extremely good, especially the USSB premium channels.

Over the years "digital quality" has become synonymous with "picture really sucks" due to the pressure to add new channels in the same transmission bandwidth by increasing compression to fit more channels per transponder.

I added the Sony SAT-T60 DVR when it became available and fell in love with TIVO.

Rain fade was always a problem.  I have always had a clear line-of-sight to the primary satellite position (101 long.) but experienced rain fade with almost every rain or snow storm.  Usually only for a few seconds to minutes but up to 30 minutes with the worst storms.  Realigning the dish accomplished nothing and moving the dish impractcalwas impractical.  Not a deal killer but annoying.  I have spoken to other local users who experience the same thing and others who have had very little rain fade.

Along came HD.  I upgraded late in 2005 with the purchase of a H10-250 HD-TIVO (for $700 and a 2-year programming commitment).  At the time DirecTV was promising100 HD channels in the foreseeable future.

It is now 2 years later and the new channels are available to some but not to me.  DirecTV customer service has offered to upgrade me to the new MPEG-4 HD channels for another $300.

NO CHANCE!  In my opinion this amounts to theft by conversion and when my commitment is up on Dec. 5 I will be returning to TWC with its meager HD offerings and no $$$ for hardware or programming commitment.  To me, he who screws me last, loses my business.

(Yes, I tried CSR roulette 'til one SOB said he was noting on my account that I should never be offered a better deal).

I am not looking forward to downgrading to TWC DVRs but some things just aint right.

[RLJSlick]

It's good to hear another point of view on this matter, this board have become a "I have Direct TV, and you don't" site. Nothing wrong with that but it's good to see that some think Direct TV isn't all that great, and going back to TWC.
It's never ever good to hear just one said of the story, so it's very good to hear another side. Thanks Vernoner

Here's another story for your consideration.

I left TWC for DirecTV and USSB when they first started in the mid 90's.  At the time DTV was more expensive but offered more channels and "digital quality" which was actually extremely good, especially the USSB premium channels.

Over the years "digital quality" has become synonymous with "picture really sucks" due to the pressure to add new channels in the same transmission bandwidth by increasing compression to fit more channels per transponder.

I added the Sony SAT-T60 DVR when it became available and fell in love with TIVO.

Rain fade was always a problem.  I have always had a clear line-of-sight to the primary satellite position (101 long.) but experienced rain fade with almost every rain or snow storm.  Usually only for a few seconds to minutes but up to 30 minutes with the worst storms.  Realigning the dish accomplished nothing and moving the dish impractcalwas impractical.  Not a deal killer but annoying.  I have spoken to other local users who experience the same thing and others who have had very little rain fade.

Along came HD.  I upgraded late in 2005 with the purchase of a H10-250 HD-TIVO (for $700 and a 2-year programming commitment).  At the time DirecTV was promising100 HD channels in the foreseeable future.

It is now 2 years later and the new channels are available to some but not to me.  DirecTV customer service has offered to upgrade me to the new MPEG-4 HD channels for another $300.

NO CHANCE!  In my opinion this amounts to theft by conversion and when my commitment is up on Dec. 5 I will be returning to TWC with its meager HD offerings and no $$$ for hardware or programming commitment.  To me, he who screws me last, loses my business.

(Yes, I tried CSR roulette 'til one SOB said he was noting on my account that I should never be offered a better deal).

I am not looking forward to downgrading to TWC DVRs but some things just aint right.

[syrett4]

Turns out it wasn't as big of a sell as I had anticipated.  She was ok with it when I showed her the channel listings.   ....and even though she isin't "into" HD, she definatley likes the improved picture.

I'll probably be calling DTV by the end of the week.

[headshotwi]

All I can say is that I have been with TWC for 7 years and just switched to DTV this last weekend.  We have a 60" sony hdtv LCOS.

We pay LESS MONEY with DTV and get more HD stations by a long shot.  Not only that but our SD stations look 100000000 x better than TWC SD stations.  

I like the DTV HD DVR waaaay better than the TWC HD DVR as well.

[vegasvic]

Oh oh, another "fanboy".

[Jack 1000]

In Milwaukee,

Does Direct TV have CBS, NBC, and ABC in SD (as opposed to not having them at all?)  The independent 24 and CW 18 would need an aerial antenna, right?

Jack

[Jack 1000]

Well I disagree with the 2 directv advertisers.   I had D* for 8 years, and here are some things I don't miss:

Losing signal - it happens more than anyone admits.  You get a lot of 3 second blips during rain/snow

2 year contract - TWC had been leading in HD for a while before D* came out with the new channels.  What if TWC gets the new, flavor of the day must-have channel a year from now and D* doesn't?  What if D* goes back to providing a grainy, HD-Lite picture like they had been?  With cable, I can dump them anytime I want.  Believe me, someday you will want to switch to something else.

Paying hundreds of dollars for buggy equipment.  I have several hundred $$ of obsolete D* boxes sitting around.

Calling D* customer service every 6 months begging for price breaks, etc.  They give price breaks, but only if you call and beg.  I don't want to pay $99 extra for NFL Sunday Ticket in HD when everyone who begs them gets it free.

No local weather channel forecasts

No CBS58 HD

Having to have a D* box attached to every TV in my house (at $5/per) - you can't just run the cable like you can with TWC.

No movies on demand - this really sucks when it's a rainy night and you want to stay in and watch a movie.  You order the PPV movie, wait for it to start in 30 minutes (not instantly like TWC), and then you lose the picture for 10 minutes because of the rain.  Guess what?   Another call to D* to get a credit.  But worse, you can't just rewind the movie and watch the part you missed.  You have to order again, and wait for the movie to play all the way to the part you missed, which is at least 2 hours later if you missed the ending.

Having external "rabbit ears" antennas in the house.  It's 2007, I shouldn't need to be buying silver sensor antennas, stashing it in my closet, and running cable to my box.  I also shouldn't need to run to that closet and climb on a chair to adjust the antenna because 58 HD comes in better with it faces SW and 24 HD comes in better when it's upside down and tilted 10 degrees off vertical.

Having multiple cables running everywhere.  Cable has one cable, and it can be split with a splitter.  D* has multiple source cables coming in from the dish, and diplexers to split the signal.  I regret the fact that I even know what a diplexer is.

Great arguments against satellite here:

Jack

[vegasvic]

And each of those points have already been addressed in this thread.  For those who think TWC is the way to go, that's great.  If HD isn't your thing, if you enjoy paying more, if you enjoy a lousy SD picture. that's fine.  Competition is good for everyone.  TWC just isn't put up much competition right now. D*'s competition is Dish Network and UVerse.

[Jack 1000]

And each of those points have already been addressed in this thread.  For those who think TWC is the way to go, that's great.  If HD isn't your thing, if you enjoy paying more, if you enjoy a lousy SD picture. that's fine.  Competition is good for everyone.  TWC just isn't put up much competition right now. D*'s competition is Dish Network and UVerse.

Down the road,

What do all of you think will be the next big competitor for BOTH cable and dish?  I think it might be the phone companies offering their own tv cable systems.  I heard people have Vonage.  (Isn't there also a company called Vontage?)  Anyway, the more that HDTV becomes common the more competition will exist for it between cable, dish, and phone companies.  Recently, I saw AT&T advertising a programing guide, but that's all I heard about it.  I have learned that increased SDV is needed for the bandwidth to provide additional HD content from the cable companies.  TWC did not want to pay the licensing fees to outside vendors anymore for updates to their Passport and Sara IPG's, so they created their in-house Navigator system, which, while somewhat improved since last January, has been crawling with bugs in the areas of reboots and series recording issues.

IMO, you would need multiple cable companies, multiple dish companies, and multiple phone companies offering the same services in the same areas.  In this regard, you would than have (or be forced to hire) better CSR's and tech support people to stay ahead of your competition.  Right now for almost everyone, it's cable, dish, or the old rabbit ears! hahaha!  Not enough competition yet for the cable companies or even dish companies to improve the quality of service overall.

What types of changes do you guys believe we will see?

Jack

[chadl11]

Anyone have a wife that isin't "into" HD or sports and tried to sell them on DTV?  What was your approach?  How did it work out?

Go the HD and DVR route.  My wife is a big TV watcher and I first sold her on the TiVo thing - now DVR and once she saw it, she was sold.  Then, we upgraded to HD and she was also hooked.  That worked for me.

Now, I'm working on getting another HDTV in the basement so I can anjoy the HD as much as she does!

[Talos4]

Down the road,

What do all of you think will be the next big competitor for BOTH cable and dish?  I think it might be the phone companies offering their own tv cable systems.  I heard people have Vonage.  (Isn't there also a company called Vontage?)  Anyway, the more that HDTV becomes common the more competition will exist for it between cable, dish, and phone companies.  Recently, I saw AT&T advertising a programing guide, but that's all I heard about it.  I have learned that increased SDV is needed for the bandwidth to provide additional HD content from the cable companies.  TWC did not want to pay the licensing fees to outside vendors anymore for updates to their Passport and Sara IPG's, so they created their in-house Navigator system, which, while somewhat improved since last January, has been crawling with bugs in the areas of reboots and series recording issues.

IMO, you would need multiple cable companies, multiple dish companies, and multiple phone companies offering the same services in the same areas.  In this regard, you would than have (or be forced to hire) better CSR's and tech support people to stay ahead of your competition.  Right now for almost everyone, it's cable, dish, or the old rabbit ears! hahaha!  Not enough competition yet for the cable companies or even dish companies to improve the quality of service overall.

What types of changes do you guys believe we will see?

Jack

I'll go down that a road a bit....

Multiple cable companies, let's look at the City of Milw.

the problem I see with that is infrastructure. TWC has the city wired, I'm not sure of all the details but, you already have multiple broadband and VOIP providers using (leasing, renting) the TWC system in place.

Would TWC or the city allow another 1,2 or 3 providers come in and install complete new systems? From a practical standpoint will Wenergies or whoever owns the utility poles allow it?  Can the poles withstand multiple systems hanging off of them?  

If they did, How much would they charge?

How much would the start up of a new cable system be? Would it be cost effective to do?  

In my view, TWC still and always will have a monopoly on the cable side for the reasons listed above. They know it and hence the attitude of you want cable? Fine here's your option. Take it or leave it.

Multiple DBS companies.  

We already have two that are dominating the "mainstream" market. I'm leaving out a discussion of FTA and"BUD" systems as these are not "mainstream" consumer options. (please note the "mainstream" Most who frequent this board are really not what would be considered mainstream TV consumers.

The DBS market is finally heating up with D* providing the heat.

The DBS market has one advantage over cable in terms of infrastructure and that is the physical transmission of their service. To move into a "new" market what do they need in terms of reaching that market?  Subscribers having a contained system installed in their homes.

A new DBS service could do one of two things to provide the service.  Either rent space on existing hardware in orbit or build and launch new satellites.

Now, would new platforms in space be more expensive than cabling an entire city ? I have no idea.

That's where my argument probably falls apart because I have no idea of the cost  
of either one.