DirecTV Rocks!

[Tom Snyder]

Tried to set up my DVR to record the Director's Cut of Woodstock this week. Realized it's on Palladia. UGH! Not part of my package.

So I called, and told them they could make me a happy camper if they could just comp me the channel for a month.

They gave me the package for 3 months at no charge!  

In June they gave me Showtime free for 3 months.

I love these guys.

[steve053]

Not trying to burst your buble, but everyone can get the HD Extra pack for free for 3 months (it includes Palladia, and 5 other channels).  After the first 3 months it's $4.99/month.  The nice part is it's easy to drop via their web site, and nicer yet that you'll probably get another free 3 monhts if you add it agian latter (not that I'd know that that )

And they do ROCK! :rock:

[SRW1000]

I think all the providers are willing to bend over backwards right now, as they fight over every consumer dollar.

As an example, my Dish receiver was just obsoleted.  A few emails later, and I got an upgraded HD DVR, all DVR fees waived, and a new dish installed, all at no cost to me, and without any programming obligation.  I don't think that would have been possible a year ago.

It's a great time to shop around and see what you can get.  If you have money, it's a great time to be a consumer.

Scott

[murdoc]

I've got Showtime free for a year.  No calls or anything.  Just a letter in the mail.

[gb4fan92]

I've got Showtime free for a year.  No calls or anything.  Just a letter in the mail.

Where's my letter?

[vegasvic]

I agree it's great you can call them and get that taken care of.  I can't say everything has been smooth for me for the past 9+ years but whenever there has been a problem it's been taken care of quickly.  Just the opposite of TWC.

Everyone gets an "anniversary gift" of some kind.  Usually some free channels for a period of time.  Since I already get every channel they couldn't do that for me.  So they gave me 15 free PPV movies.

[AceRockolla]

Glad to hear of everyone's experiences with Direct TV. I am thinking of jumping from Time Warner so I get the NFL Sunday Ticket and watch all my NFL games in glorious HD. Before the switch I do have a few questions:

1. Is the weather interference all that bad? I have a neighbor that insists he loses his signal every time it snows. That seems a little over exaggerated to me.

2. How big a role do trees play in reception? Do you have to have a completely clear shot to the south to get a good signal for the most part?

3. How is the HD quality compare to time warners HD quality? I have been pretty happy with TW's HD quality and would hope it would be the same or better on DTV.

Thanks for all your input and any further advice would be appreciated. -Aaron

[Talos4]

Glad to hear of everyone's experiences with Direct TV. I am thinking of jumping from Time Warner so I get the NFL Sunday Ticket and watch all my NFL games in glorious HD. Before the switch I do have a few questions:

1. Is the weather interference all that bad? I have a neighbor that insists he loses his signal every time it snows. That seems a little over exaggerated to me.

2. How big a role do trees play in reception? Do you have to have a completely clear shot to the south to get a good signal for the most part?

3. How is the HD quality compare to time warners HD quality? I have been pretty happy with TW's HD quality and would hope it would be the same or better on DTV.

Thanks for all your input and any further advice would be appreciated. -Aaron

#1. NO it's not. Your neighbor is definitely exaggerating.
I've been a D* sub for over 12 years now. In that time I think I've actually lost my signal in the winter only 2-3 times. Really heavy, really wet snow is the worst. Fortunately my dish is on my garage so it makes banging the snow off a bit easier than others with multi story installs.

IF, you will have a multi story or really steep slope situation there are heater that mount to the back of the dish that will help eliminate the problem. They are available with or without thermostats.

I have not had a need for one.  

#2. For the most part the clearer your line of sight the better. In some instances the roof my not be the best location. Ground mounting on a pole may be an alternative. I'd suggest having a site survey done by a D* installer BEFORE you sign up.  Unfortunately I don't have a reference for an installer, I haven't neded one for quite a awhile. Others on the board can help with that.

#3. I can't offer a long term exposure to TWC HD PQ comment other than to say at one of my brothers houses I always ask him... is that an HD picture? He hates that.

I think if you make the change, you'll be happy with the pick up in the number of HD channels with D* over TWC.  I don't have an exact count but discounting the sports offerings and pay channels because I don't if your interested in a lot of sports or pay channels, the number of HD channels that D* offers and TWC doesn't is more than 2 dozen.

[Steve Mann]

IF, you will have a multi story or really steep slope situation there are heater that mount to the back of the dish that will help eliminate the problem. They are available with or without thermostats.

Or in my case, I use the snow against itself. I just make a few snow balls and toss them up and smack the dish with them. So far, it's knocked the snow off every time. You don't wanna throw too hard and knock the dish out of alignment, but as long as its a good tight install, you should be fine.

[Matt Heebner]

I've done that more than a few times. I've actually really, really put my arm into it and have never even come close to knocking my dish out of alignment  

[Steve Mann]

I've done that more than a few times. I've actually really, really put my arm into it and have never even come close to knocking my dish out of alignment  

It's funny... I must admit, I stood out there the first time for a LONG time thinking of what I could throw at the dish. We have golden retrievers, so I had plenty of tennis balls. I threw a few of those before it hit me to make snowballs. Better late than never I guess.  

[jeffski]

Glad to hear of everyone's experiences with Direct TV. I am thinking of jumping from Time Warner so I get the NFL Sunday Ticket and watch all my NFL games in glorious HD. Before the switch I do have a few questions:

1. Is the weather interference all that bad? I have a neighbor that insists he loses his signal every time it snows. That seems a little over exaggerated to me.

2. How big a role do trees play in reception? Do you have to have a completely clear shot to the south to get a good signal for the most part?

3. How is the HD quality compare to time warners HD quality? I have been pretty happy with TW's HD quality and would hope it would be the same or better on DTV.

Thanks for all your input and any further advice would be appreciated. -Aaron

Well,from my experience since having DTV 1 month,we have had one heavy rain which knocked out the signal for about 10 minutes . As far as trees,yes it's VERY important you get a clear line-of-sight. Because we needed the slimline hd dish which needs to point @ 2 sats,we couldn't get dish on roof due to many tall trees on our southern property line. One clear area in our backyard was the ONLY area we could get a good signal and had it mounted on a pole. Will be easy to access at least to knock the snow off

[Tom Snyder]

Something I've discovered is that HD is more susceptible to rain-outs. So when an HD channel disappears during a storm, often I can go to the SD version, if there's one available, and get a signal.

[vegasvic]

I had 10X the outages with TWC than I've had with DTV.

[tencom]

I had 10X the outages with TWC than I've had with DTV.

I had no known CATV outages since   TWC switched   are neighborhood to the Hybrid Fiber Cable system 12.5 year ago. service outages are now a rare event with the updated HFC systems. Our  neighboorhood was one of the first areas that was converted to HFC.