Direct TV

[4AU4LIFE]

I'm looking to change from my current cable provider to Direct TV since they have some pretty good deals going right now on new sign ups.
Would like to get some feedback from any current or former customers and see what you thought of it.
Thanks

 

[D'Ecosse]

Awesome - make sure you get TIVO!!!! TIVO is the best invention since the TV itslef.
If you have HD there are more channels becoming available so something to consider - still just a few however relative to the hundreds available.

 

[ncdogdoc]

Best entertainment decision I have ever made. I get lousy cable reception, and now I get DirectTV with two tuner TIVO recorder so I can record two shows at the same time and watch a third already recorded show while they are being written to disk. Plus, with the deal through my local phone company, I get DSL for 20% off each month. Total cost for DirectTV and DSL is barely more than RoadRunner and basic (15 channels ) cable used to cost me.

You will lose signal in driving rain storms, but picture quality and sound are so consistently good, I will never go back. HTH.

 

[Bobolinski]

Well lets see I have DTV in bot my Georgia and Cali properties thats 6 different televisions. Each of the 5 additional receivers cost 5 bucks a month more. My favorite is my new Hughes HD Tivo box it has changed my viewing experience for the better. It has been difficult to adjust to east coast time but the Tivo takes care of that.I simply record all my prime time and watch it the next day. Be prepared for a much slower guide navigation with the Tivo box.These boxes require two dedicated sat runs and there is some delay but the experience is addictive. 110% recommendation. Enjoy...You must have HDTV to truely experience all DTV has to offer.

 

[BB]

If you're interested in HDTV, Dish Network is generally better choice than DirecTv:

1. Dish has significantly more HD channels. The Voom HD package currently provides 10 additional channels that DirecTv lacks. And in earily January, the Voom package will expand to a total of 15 channels.

2. Dish has far superior HD picture quality. Most of their channels are presented in true 1920x1080i resolution and look tack sharp. Every single one of DirecTv's HD channels has been down-resed to 1280x1080i, resulting in a softer picture.

3. The one area where DirecTv has the lead in HD is for local network channels (i.e. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox). They have been more agressive at going after this than Dish. Although if you are not in one of the top markets (i.e. LA, NY, Chicago, San Fran, etc.) then this is of little benefit. Personally, I find local network TV to be generally poor and perfer the shows on channels like HBO, Discovery & PBS, so I find Dish's strategy of focusing on national HD cable networks to be more to my liking.

The other thing worth pointing out is that the DirecTv Tivo units are nearly obsolete. Because the new DirecTv HD locals use MPEG4 encoding, none of the Tivo units will be able to receive those channels. Your only option is to buy DirecTv's new in-house produced DVR which is not nearly as nice. It's really sad to see them do this because I have always been a big Tivo fan and owned one for years.

 

[heySkippy]

DirecTV is phasing out TiVo for a generic DVR. If you go with them, make sure you find a real TiVo - don't let them give you the new (non TiVo) R15 DVR.