uverse here I come

[flash]

Maybe in the Village they may have it but I'm in the town (more towards the lake) and these AT&T guys said they hadn't heard anything about it coming out this far.  Maybe when the weather warms up and they can see the ground again, that will change?

Your probably more right than you know. Generally they don't tell the installers everything. The upper management will decide on where they can make the most money on where they will build out the system first. ( I just wish that Muskego was part of that plan)

[dj1111]

Thanks for all the helpful information.  I'm still not absolutely sure I'm going to make the switch.  Leaving Charter is not a difficult decision.  But making sure I get what "I want to pay for" will take a little time yet.  I have 5 TVs in my house.  Not all of them are watched at the same time but I really like being able to distribute and amplify the analog signal throughout the house having complete control of what you're watching at each TV.  And surprisingly the picture quality is excellent (although not hi def for sure).  Several of my TV's have twin tuner picture in picture and this setup allows me to use that feature.

So that leaves me with what u-verse package to go with.  If I choose the U100 I only get one receiver and any additional are $5 each per month.  Or I could take the U200 package and get 3 receivers plus a DVR.  Still not 5 receivers, but I could probably deal with it.  It's certainly the best deal.  Then I think to myself "200 channels, that's three times more than I have now".  That also means three times more channels with nothing worthwhile to watch.  I currently only watch about 10 channels on a regular basis.  As for the DVR, yes it would be nice but it's not a show stopper.

If I add everything (U200, 3mb internet and unlimited long distance) it comes to $129 per month for 3 receivers.  That's before all the taxes, fees and other federal, state and local ripoffs are added.  I'm currently paying $125 per month for Charter (expanded basic, 3mb internet and unlimited long distance), and all the channels I need.  So although you could argue u-verse is better (and I'm sure it is), it will cost me more.  As for those afore mentioned taxes and fees, those of you currently with u'verse what do they add to the bill?  Charter adds about $17 to my $125 bill.

I have one hi def TV that I use a rooftop antenna to receive HD.  I was so exited in the beginning with the picture but honestly the novelty wore off.  We rarely watch HD now.  I know, some of you are thinking I'm nuts.  The biggest reason we don't watch much HD-OTA is because of the crap programming (reality TV).  If they keep it up and add more (crap) to the mix I may give up on TV altogether.  Yes I'm kidding, but I can proudly say I DO NOT watch any reality TV.

Oh and I forgot to mention, u-verse will only give me Milwaukee locals.  With Charter I get Milwaukee and Green Bay.

[Bigdog]

I would go with DirectTV (still will keep RR tho) but they up front costs are not cheap to duplicate 2 HD DVRs plus another HD box.  That combined with a 2yr commitment and we hope to be moving to a warmer climate in about 18months.

[dj1111]

Well Charter won this round.  I planned to call them yesterday and ironically we just received a promotion in the mail for current customers only.  They could upgrade me to their digital package, a premium movie channel package (don't really need it but...) including HBO, Cinemax and Showtime, plus upgrade me to their 5meg internet for only 5 dollars more per month than I'm paying now.  The guy on the phone (a very pleasant and clearly English speaking person) put me on hold for a while, came back and said he can give it to me for $10 less than advertised.  Maybe because of all the complaining I did about their reliability.  So I ended up with their digital cable (which allows me to continue to get analog at every other TV with no extra charges) their movie channel package, 5meg internet and unlimited long distance for $119 per month.  This is good for 12 months.  And at the end of the 12 months I will call them again to receive what ever promotion is offered then.  Or switch to u-verse maybe?  We'll see.

I would love to go back to Directv but with the extra charges per month for additional TV's and the fact that I have to use Charter for internet (very expensive when ordered without TV) are two of the reasons I will not.  As far as u-verse goes, I found that although they may have a better quality product they will not save me any money.  The fact that I don't need HD or a DVR or multi hundreds of channels makes it easy to shop around for the best deal.  I will continue to use OTA for HD.

As far as my original rant about the poor quality of Charter's service.  I'm going to keep a notebook near the TV for the year and try to log all the problems with dates.  I will use it as fuel to negotiate the best deal next time around.