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Leaving DTV after 21 years

4K views 37 replies 22 participants last post by  peds48 
#1 ·
Left DTV after 21 Years

Hated to do it, but the price increases and no deals this year on Sunday Ticket, made me do something I may regret. I switched to Xfinity. I will be fine until I need to call them. But I’m now saving $82 / month and I have nice equipment. For those of you contemplating, here are some observations after a month.

Pros for switching:
X1 much better than any of my HRs, to include being able to change channels on the first try, and any remote function is instant.
Voice remote
On Demand superior
Music Choice vs. Sonic (no comparison)
Red Zone Channel a la carte
Money Savings
Easy setup and reboot takes 1/10th the time of DTV
Whole home responds instantly, no lag like DTV
So I was paying $201.00 to DTV with Choice plus all movie channels and 4 receivers.
Now I am paying $224.00 (that's all fees included) for all of everything Xfinity offers, to include Red Zone and 4 receivers, 150 Download internet, and home phone. Was paying Comcast $105.00 for Internet and Phone. Total savings $82/month.
You know DTV's stuff is outdated when they only wanted 1 out of 4 receivers back

Cons:
Doesn't time warp so much
Need to manually add extra time at end of shows when setting them up, DTV seemed to start a little early, and end a little late, which was good.
 
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#27 ·
Billzebub said:
I am in the unique position of having DIRECTV at home and XFINITY at my apartment in Harrisburg. Overall I prefer DIRECTV but the gap is a lot closer that it was a few years ago.
I have an HR54, an HR24 and an HR21 at home and an X1 in Harrisburg.
There are a few more pluses for Comcast. Their out of home solution is far superior to the mobile DVR DIRECTV uses. Better picture quality, ability to view downloaded programs without an internet connection and, most importantly it works, all the time, while I can rarely use the DIRECTV mobile DVR for anything other than streaming on demand, which I acan do with apps from the various programmers without the DIRECTV app. Also, the customer service, while still not great, is greatly improved from the old days. DIRECTV is still better, but XFINITY is getting better while DIRECTV is going down hill. The gap is most definitely closing. Also, with XFINITY you get the local sub channels without an antenna and AM21 or the need to program in multiple locations because DIRECTV isn't interested in an over the air solution.
On the other hand, as others have mentioned the picture, while not as bad as soon would have you think, is inferior to DIRECTV. Also, again as mentioned by others, the lack of premium channels in HD is a big negative. I know you can watch on demand, but sometimes you just want to watch what is on. Sunday ticket is still a plus for DIRECTV, but the value is getting lessened for me by the number of over the air games each week. The truth is, I mostly watch the red zone channel, which is available by itself from XFINITY. I usually get Sunday Ticket for free and I don't think I would pay for it.
Two additional advantages for DIRECTV in my eyes are:
1. Channel placement - Here in Pittsburgh CBS is on channel 2 whether it's in HD, SD or over the air. On my X1 I need to figure out what Channel the locals are on. Very confusing. They do have a setting where the box will automatically tune to the HD channel if you select the ad channel, but even this work around is clunky at best.
2. I may be in the minority, but I'm a fan of the audience network and some of the foreign programming it has shown. Underbelly and the original rake from Australia come to mind, along with the last seasons of Friday Night Lights and Damages along with Full Circle.

I guess my point is, while I still prefer DIRECTV the lead is nowhere close to what it used to be. While their reasons may be self-serving (let's face it, all business decisions, by definition, are), they have definitely improved in quality and customer service. DIRECTV, on the other hand, has become a bit stagnant and much less customer friendly. I am hoping the next generation of equipment will move towards a client server system with more recording channels available and a more elegant 4K solution, but I expect to be disappointed.
Your two reasons are some of my biggest issues with cable. Why are the channels so incoherently random on the X1 system? It makes zero sense. Audience is a great channel, lots of cool programming, not on cable. The HD lineup on cable here is laughable, too, compared to Directv. The crappy Directv client situation needs to be addressed. My parents have X1 and have a second box in another room from the main TV. There have been zero connectivity issues with that unit, which is I believe is a client based system. They were Dish people for my mom to have CW until they got a local CW. They had the Superstation Pack and it gave them 3 CW options. Once they got a CW, Dish took away those channels and added the local CW. They don't care about sports or even HD (they have even less HD, if that is possible) so bundling with X1 works for them. It's been a year for them, and the channel numbers still confuse them to this day. "I told it go to channel 3. Now it's up on channel 700 something and I can't find channel X."

But it was great the other day when the power went out, and then came back on and Comcast was out for like 3 hours longer while I was watching Directv, with heavy wet snow falling, with no signal problems.
 
#28 ·
ejbvt said:
Your two reasons are some of my biggest issues with cable. Why are the channels so incoherently random on the X1 system?
Because cable isn't a single national system, and is the result of 40 years of growth, consolidation, and extremely slow forward progress combined with incredibly long reaching backwards compatibility and government-imposed standards developed by third parties.

Channel placement is random because there used to be thousands of cable companies. The local cable company was just that...local. Over time they've consolidated into the Charters and Comcasts of the world, but through that consolidation the systems are still physically separate, and there is no real reason to standardize. Who cares if TNT or CNN is on channel 18 in Pittsburgh but channel 36 in Atlanta? Same thing kind of goes for the locals, too. Yeah, they're not where they are over the air, but in the long run what does it matter..most people aren't bouncing between OTA and cable, so once they know where a given network is, that's where it's at.

Cable is also very, very slow to change, and is very old. DirecTV has been around maybe half as long as cable, so there's a lot of legacy baggage cable has to deal with in terms of bad decisions and just old technology. Plus, DirecTV has been much more willing to rip off bandaids when necessary and push changes when it makes sense. Plus, DirecTV controls 100% of their stack. Cable companies don't control their systems, Arris and Cisco do. Plus, they have to adhere to standards that they may not have any input to, and provide compatibility with 3rd party hardware like TiVos, old hardware like older TiVos and older TVs, and more. From a pure service perspective satellite and cable and telco are the same (multi-channel linear video programming) but from a technology and implementation details, you might as well be comparing cars with microwave ovens.
 
#29 ·
Taxi77 said:
Left DTV after 21 Years

Hated to do it, but the price increases and no deals this year on Sunday Ticket, made me do something I may regret. I switched to Xfinity. I will be fine until I need to call them. But I'm now saving $82 / month and I have nice equipment. For those of you contemplating, here are some observations after a month.

Pros for switching:
X1 much better than any of my HRs, to include being able to change channels on the first try, and any remote function is instant.
Voice remote
On Demand superior
Music Choice vs. Sonic (no comparison)
Red Zone Channel a la carte
Money Savings
Easy setup and reboot takes 1/10th the time of DTV
Whole home responds instantly, no lag like DTV
So I was paying $201.00 to DTV with Choice plus all movie channels and 4 receivers.
Now I am paying $224.00 (that's all fees included) for all of everything Xfinity offers, to include Red Zone and 4 receivers, 150 Download internet, and home phone. Was paying Comcast $105.00 for Internet and Phone. Total savings $82/month.
You know DTV's stuff is outdated when they only wanted 1 out of 4 receivers back

Cons:
Doesn't time warp so much
Need to manually add extra time at end of shows when setting them up, DTV seemed to start a little early, and end a little late, which was good.
My brother is under contract (equipment upgrade) with DirecTV until March 2017.

He is considering leaving for Comcast. He wants Red Zone Channel and couldn't get it with DirecTV unless he signed up for NFL Sunday Ticket. (He doesn't want to spend the money to subscribe.)

If he does it, bundling television and Internet will be a help for overall costs.

In this area, Detroit, Michigan, 75Mbps is the Performance package. I think I came across a report that some areas' 75Mbps will move up to 100Mbps.

Can I ask you your television market, Taxi77?
 
#30 ·
Northern Virginia. So my 150 is supposed to move to 200 soon. And as far as everyone talking about channel numbers, they will be learned, not an issue for me. For now, I just tell the remote "Watch Fox News" and it goes there until I learn all of the numbers that I am interested in knowing. It's been 4 weeks now and, knock on wood, no problems.
 
#31 ·
Up to a week ago I was ready to do the same. Can't get a small enough and affordable package for what I watch nowadays. Been with D* 22 years.

Xfinity looked to be a sound technical choice - especially with fibre to the house which goes back to TCI just before Comcast bought them. Then, wandering through Xfinity forums, I found folks from Pittsburgh to the Rockies getting upset over a recent decision to begin downrezzing HD feeds to 720P.

Enough to remove consideration. If they realize how dumb that is and turn it around, I'll give 'em a try. But, for now, everything I see - including direct quotes from named CSRs - says this is a nationwide rollout.
 
#32 ·
Ed Campbell said:
Up to a week ago I was ready to do the same. Can't get a small enough and affordable package for what I watch nowadays. Been with D* 22 years.

Xfinity looked to be a sound technical choice - especially with fibre to the house which goes back to TCI just before Comcast bought them. Then, wandering through Xfinity forums, I found folks from Pittsburgh to the Rockies getting upset over a recent decision to begin downrezzing HD feeds to 720P.

Enough to remove consideration. If they realize how dumb that is and turn it around, I'll give 'em a try. But, for now, everything I see - including direct quotes from named CSRs - says this is a nationwide rollout.
Not only downgrading the signal to 720p, but also compressing the ever-loving tar out of it. I miss DirecTV for three things - better picture, better guide and channel arrangement, and better trick-play. Comcast is better or equal in all else, especially cost.
 
#34 ·
JeffBowser said:
Not only downgrading the signal to 720p, but also compressing the ever-loving tar out of it. I miss DirecTV for three things - better picture, better guide and channel arrangement, and better trick-play. Comcast is better or equal in all else, especially cost.
How is the channel arrangement for Comcast???
I love how they have it on ps vue. No numbers, they just go by alphabetical on the top. Time on the left.
 
#35 ·
mcl77 said:
How is the channel arrangement for Comcast???
I love how they have it on ps vue. No numbers, they just go by alphabetical on the top. Time on the left.
Just like Ed said. Seemingly random. DirecTV had an excellent and logical arrangement.
 
#36 ·
Taxi77 said:
The channel changing or waiting for other remote functions put me over the edge. And even the screen saver on the X1 shows nice pictures and local headlines, not a bouncing AT&T ball. But, I'm a realist, it is XFinity and one day I'm going to have to call them. I'll just go ahead and say "Ugh" in advance!
the only way I contact them is via chat and twitter and responses have been snappy.

I'm contemplating coming back to DTV after I left when no HD TiVo was out. Moved to Comcast to keep the TiVo love going, but they recently moved from gracenote to rovi for guide data and it's now a pile of junk and moved their support way offshore. Pitiful fall from grace.
 
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