Should we leave D*?

[Bay CIty]

Is it time to leave Directv for greener pastures?
How much more should we be expected to take?

[Earl Bonovich]

Where is there truelly "greener" pastures.

It may "look" greener from this side of the fence..
But just about every combination out there... has a different shade of green, and definently "weeds" or brown spots are there...

You shouldn't be expected to "take" anything.
You are a consumer and well with in your rights to say "I have had enough", time to try something else.

[Bay CIty]

Where is there truelly "greener" pastures.

It may "look" greener from this side of the fence..
But just about every combination out there... has a different shade of green, and definently "weeds" or brown spots are there...

You shouldn't be expected to "take" anything.
You are a consumer and well with in your rights to say "I have had enough", time to try something else.

that is a problem Earl, I`m not sure if there are any. I just wanted to get a little feedback from the subscribers on their current point of view

[Clint Lamor]

The grass is always greener on the other side. :)

I've known many a person who has had that statement bite them in the butt lately :lol:

You should only take what you're willing to take no more no less. There are plenty of companies out there who would love you business. Just as DTV is one of those companies that would love the have the business of the people who's grass has been turning brown on the other side. :)

[Stuart Sweet]

I'm on record as abstaining from this poll. None of the options are free from bias. To me this seems more like seeking support for a rant than an honest assessment of people's opinions.

If there were an option that said, "Sure, I'd rather it were perfect and sure I wish I didn't have to give them so much money, but it's a good product and a good service and I'm confident it's going to get better", I'd vote for that.

[hdtvfan0001]

I'm on record as abstaining from this poll. None of the options are free from bias. To me this seems more like seeking support for a rant than an honest assessment of people's opinions.

Bravo. I thought it, you said it. :)

[Tom Robertson]

Another day, another 3 polls, 45 threads, 500 posts and its just after noon on the left coast. :)

Grass ain't greener, but spring is coming again...
NFLST ain't moving, but season is over for the Packers anyway...(And for most of the NFC teams, 4 just don't know it yet...)
D* is getting better, so sad its so slow (but I do understand, I've written hardware interface code before...)

Chris and Earl both reminded us to remember our families this Holiday Season. I'm glad they did and I'm glad I took their advice.

Hug your spouse, hug your kids, etc. And Have a Happy New Release, whenever it comes out.
Tom

[byron]

<yawns>

if you need assurance from an internet message board about canceling D*, you probably aren't seriously considering canceling anyhow. its really simple.... if you're unhappy and think you would be more pleased with an alternative... cancel, your opinion is all that matters since you're the one paying the bill.

[hdtvfan0001]

<yawns>

if you need assurance from an internet message board about canceling D*, you probably aren't seriously considering canceling anyhow. its really simple.... if you're unhappy and think you would be more pleased with an alternative... cancel, your opinion is all that matters since you're the one paying the bill.

Maybe we can start a "Should 'Bay City' cancel his D*TV service" poll. :D

No.......no......just kidding...no...no....please.......don't do it...... :lol:

[tfederov]

I have no reason to leave. I knew going in that the HR20 was still in its infancy stages and there would be growing pains. DIRECTV offers the packages I'm looking for and I would never think of going back to cable.

[wingrider01]

Is it time to leave Directv for greener pastures?
How much more should we be expected to take?


Please add

Yes-let`s all cancel our contracts with D*, the hr-10 with 6.3X is junk

[cawgijoe]

I'm very happy with Directv and the H20 and HR20. Both boxes work for me.:)

[jal]

I was a Dish subscriber for about 9 years until I switched to Directv about a year ago. Let me explain why I switched. First, I felt that Dish had too many fees, such as the HD "enabling fee," the per box (instead of per account) DVR fee, and the raise in Dish's HD package to $20. I know that Dish has the Voom channels and a few others, but both have the major HD channels, and I didn't want to pay an extra $10 per month to watch Voom repeat itself every other day.

What finally convinced me to leave Dish was when I purchased a 942 HD DVR, only to be told 6 months later that I had to return it to Dish and pay an upgrade fee of $100 for Dish's Mpeg IV DVR, the 622. Before I owned the 942, I had the 921, which froze every day or so, and it made considerable noise. I also had Dish's 211 HD box, which froze at least once a day.

When I switched to Directv, I was so pleased with the HR10-250 and the R10 TIVO boxes. Never had a problem with either box, and the interfaces are terrific.

I can say that the service technicians that come to residences are equally as bad for both services, but Directv's phone support, in my opinion, is far superior, and the CSRs go out of their way to keep the customer happy. When I called Dish, I felt they were not interested very much in keeping customers happy.

Now, Directv took a downward turn when they started making non TIVO DVR boxes. My experience with the HR20-700 is not as good as with the HR10-250. I have experienced several lockups, etc, but nothing near what I experienced with Dish. Overall, I'm pleased with Directv, but I would be very pleased with Directv if they came out with new Mpeg IV TIVO products.

For me, the grass is truly greener on the Directv side.

[spolaski]

I'm just a minor moon in orbit around planet NFLST. I go where it goes.

[jbellanca]

Is it time to leave Directv for greener pastures?
How much more should we be expected to take?

The options in this poll seem skewed to me... Bay CIty - I'm guessing you're not very happy with the HR20 and want to switch providers...

[Tom Robertson]

Jal,

Thank you for sharing your experiences with both companies in detail.

Tom

[Tiger Tony]

Is it time to leave Directv for greener pastures?
How much more should we be expected to take?

I'm not sure where the "greener pastures" are, but I'm strongly considering a switch.

I don't care at this point, I'll just break the contract and pay the $$$ penalty. It's the principle of the matter.

I'm tired of waiting for the HD locals, mad about the OTA mapping problem and basicly sick of the HR20 issues. You can't beleive a damn thing the reps on the phone tell you, because they don't know the answers. Darn it! Now I''m all worked up again.

I might just forget about a TV provider and go strickly OTA for FREE. I'll go buy the best OTA antenna I can buy, put up a mast as high as my neighborhood will allow and watch HD TV for free without the BS.

Oh wait........ I can't live with out HBO and NFL Sunday Ticket and PPV movies.

I know what I'll do. I'll buy all the HBO season series specials that I like (Deadwood, Sopranos, Carnival, Wire, Curb Your Enthusiasm....). And as far as the NFL Sunday Ticket, I'll just go ahead and buy N.O. Saints season tickets. For movies, I have a Blockbuster 2 miles from my house.

So,that's my plan. I can live with that!

[jal]

You are welcome.

[HolmesCo]

I'm on record as abstaining from this poll. None of the options are free from bias. To me this seems more like seeking support for a rant than an honest assessment of people's opinions.

If there were an option that said, "Sure, I'd rather it were perfect and sure I wish I didn't have to give them so much money, but it's a good product and a good service and I'm confident it's going to get better", I'd vote for that.

I agree with this sentiment. Its not a poll, its biased/prejudiced in all selections.

[jclark]

Is it time to leave Directv for greener pastures?
How much more should we be expected to take?

While I am not considering leaving D*, I am having a hard time recommending them and the HR20 to others. It is still unstable for some. Seems like a crap shoot. But it does seem to be getting a lot better.

[Just J]

I am abstaining from the poll because "we" shouldn't make this decision as a group. Each person has to perform their own cost/benefit analysis, taking into account the nature and priority of their needs (including content, format, financial cost, reliability, etc.), and the breadth and depth of their "costs" (including the frequency and severity of any issues they have experienced).

Then each person needs to perform a similar analysis on their available alternatives, doing research on forums similar to this one to get a feel for the issues with each of those alternatives.

Finally, they also need to make an assessment as to how the situation is likely to evolve. Only then can an individual make a quality rational decision.

For me, there is no alternative superior to DirecTV and the HR20, both now as well as I believe events will unfold over the next year or so.

[I]That's not to say I'm happy with the flaws in the box (I just had to do another RBR due to the BSD, losing a couple of recordings). And I certainly don't recommend it to anyone without determining that they have similar needs and constraints that make the hassle worth it. But it's not a perfect world and, for me, this is the least unsatisfactory method of meeting my TV/HD needs.

[tedb3rd]

Hey. Don't jump off the boat yet. I haven't kept up with Direct's receivers like Dish but I have Dish's ViP622 and it sure ain't perfect either. Check some of the posts! It's much improved but it was a nightmare when first released. And we were getting the, "yes, we're working on that" talk too!... Although MUCH imporved, it still gives significant audio problems (especially off the HD channels) from time to time and it's recording capabilities aren't 100% either. Dish is raising prices come Feb (and I understand DirecTV is too)--but I'm looking to switch (back) to DirecTV due to the upcoming prices.

DirectTV has fewer HD channels, but the voom networks are, in my opinion, not worth the $. It's high definition, but the content is about as exciting as (literally) watching people ride bikes down mountains for 12 hours... and then watching 12 hours of too-much-free-time-early-20's-studs talking about some majorly awesome air their getting man on the awesome half-pipe while plowin' some major snow on their snowboards man... totally awesome! Now let's watch some more mountain biking... or how about 24 hours of anarexic models walking in a fashion show. If you like Japanese films from the 1930's to 60's, you can tune to either World Cinema OR Kung-Fu... They've got 2 channels for you! I will give world cinema credit though--there has been one movie I have watched on that channel in the 11 months I've had HD--a german film made in the '90s. (I think they made a mistake or something because it was actually something that somebody from the US might have rented if you were in the mood for a drama and your other choice was a trip to the dentist)

Dish might look not much more expensive, but by the time you add all their !@#$ fees, it can get pricey. My current setup with Dish is going to be about $120/month come Feb. ...was taking a look at DirectTV and the channels I want/plan to get is going to be about $85/month after the promos are all done. That's $420/year difference. As soon as my contract expires in 5 months--I'm done with Dish. Hopefully by then, Direct will have all the kinks out of the hardware.

[DblD_Indy]

I have to go with "Lets wait it out a little longer, they will get it right" or at least 23 months or Dish strikes a deal with Tivo and then I would seriously consider paying the fee to get out.

[Herdfan]

I voted to let them take their time to get it right.

However it is easy for me to say that as I have 2 HR10's that happily record all my programs. If I didn't have those, then the answer would have been different.

E* with TiVo would be appealing especially now that there are more NFL games on than ever before so NFLST is not quite the must have it once was.

[hasan]

I'm on record as abstaining from this poll. None of the options are free from bias. To me this seems more like seeking support for a rant than an honest assessment of people's opinions.

If there were an option that said, "Sure, I'd rather it were perfect and sure I wish I didn't have to give them so much money, but it's a good product and a good service and I'm confident it's going to get better", I'd vote for that.

That is for sure!

Let's hope this doesn't generate a round of "pro" and "con" polls::eek2:

Geez, I thought my poll was a bit "flakey", combining two measures in each category, but at least it wasn't biased in it's wording...it reflected dissatisfaction and paired it with decreasing optimism....but really, this poll is a sorry excuse for information gathering. I've seen the Repubs and Dems be more transparent.

Not responding to this one...it's too pre-cooked for me.

I'm going to wait another update or so, and then re-issue my poll, but without the compound questions...just a straight question on relative satisfaction. Then we can see what it says, and listen to the agenda driven critics (on both sides) try to explain why the results don't mean anything. :D (because the poll doesn't reflect their "feelings".)

[jzoomer]

There should be a category:

"Yes, you should go!" :)

If you are really unhappy with the service you are getting and there is a better alternative, then you should go. I don't know what your options are or what you are looking for so why ask me in a poll!

[dwenn]

Not responding to this one...it's too pre-cooked for me.

It is exactly why I did respond and picked the most rediculous option.
I'll let you all decide which one that was!

[gonzlobo]

Not responding due to biased options. I love the HR20... I'm more than willing to live with a once-a-month lockup * over Comcast's constant 'ghosting'.


*Note: my box was perfect before 0x10b... since then, it's had a few lockups when deleting a show during recording. To get around it, I just stop the recording and delete it. It's a work-around I can live with.

[mrshermanoaks]

I hate to say it, but if by the end of the month they haven't fixed the "loss of trick play", "unwatchable recordings", and "immediate delete" bugs, I'm gone. Gone with the HR20, gone with DirecTV, gone. I've had their service since like 1994 when I paid like $900 for a receiver in desperation to escape a terrible local cable company, and I've always been happy with their service.

But if I can't deal with the HR20, and I want HD, then staying with DirecTV doesn't make much sense. It's too too bad, I've always felt really positive about DirecTV. But I'm at the end of my DVR rope right now and feel like my patience has been taken for granted.

[paulman182]

E* is OK, but if your guy's cable service was like the cable service in this area, NONE of you would give up D* for cable.

Honestly, none of you.

[Bay CIty]

The options in this poll seem skewed to me... Bay CIty - I'm guessing you're not very happy with the HR20 and want to switch providers...

actually no I answered lets give D* more time they will get it right. and in my response to Earl (post #3) I said that I don`t believe there are any greener pastures.

I do believe that Directv should have waited until they had most of the bugs worked out before they released this thing.

It did not happen thou and this is where the division between subscribers lye. Those who would prefer a reliable working box and those who do not mind being beta testers

Just for the record, since the release of 6.3A my hr-10 has locked up and caused me to reboot and miss numerous recording about a dozen times, before that I only had two problems with that box so as mentioned here before the problems
are not only with the hr-20 but across product lines.

What a coinicence as I`m getting ready to close this post I noticed that my windows pc has just downloaded another update. D certainly has a long way to go before they unseat Microsoft as the king of bug fixes.

thanks for you opinion's.

[Tom Robertson]

actually no I answered lets give D* more time they will get it right. and in my response to Earl (post #3) I said that I don`t believe there are any greener pastures.

I do believe that Directv should have waited until they had most of the bugs worked out before they released this thing.

It did not happen thou and this is where the division between subscribers lye. Those who would prefer a reliable working box and those who do not mind being beta testers

Just for the record, since the release of 6.3A my hr-10 has locked up and caused me to reboot and miss numerous recording about a dozen times, before that I only had two problems with that box so as mentioned here before the problems
are not only with the hr-20 but across product lines.

What a coinicence as I`m getting ready to close this post I noticed that my windows pc has just downloaded another update. D certainly has a long way to go before they unseat Microsoft as the king of bug fixes.

thanks for you opinion's.

Remember, Microsoft is building open systems (not as in open source), that must protect themselves from unlimited software from the inside as well as from the outside. The HR20 is a closed system that only has to protect itself from itself.

Cheers,
Tom

[Capmeister]

Where is there truelly "greener" pastures.

It may "look" greener from this side of the fence..
But just about every combination out there... has a different shade of green, and definently "weeds" or brown spots are there...

You shouldn't be expected to "take" anything.
You are a consumer and well with in your rights to say "I have had enough", time to try something else.

Really. Where can I go? Dish, where they barely have NBR and they can't sort out the closed captioning either and they charge you a DVR fee for EVERY DVR you have? Cable where the picture is crappy and their DVR is basically a VCR-like Hard Drive recorder?

I have my disappointments with D* (especially saying that they'd have my HD locals soon and then saying--and not in a big press release--that this would be delayed A YEAR), but I like this DVR and if they could fix CC I'd get a few more.

[hdtvfan0001]

Why is this thread in the HR20 section instead of the general DirecTV section? :rolleyes:

[richlife]

I'm on record as abstaining from this poll. None of the options are free from bias. To me this seems more like seeking support for a rant than an honest assessment of people's opinions.

If there were an option that said, "Sure, I'd rather it were perfect and sure I wish I didn't have to give them so much money, but it's a good product and a good service and I'm confident it's going to get better", I'd vote for that.

Add me to this new option also. DLB :joy: DLB :joy: DLB :joy:

[RAD]

And if you left where would you go? While E*'s 622 is running OK at the moment, E* STB's have know to have problems in the past also, the 811 was their version of the Edsel. Cable folks b*tch about the Motorola and SA boxes. Lets face it, D* spoiled us in the old days by not releasing a STB until it had gone through a lot of testing, the HR20 would still be in the labs in the old days when D* didn't make their own hardware.

[VaJim]

I'm just a minor moon in orbit around planet NFLST. I go where it goes.

I agree....:D