Making the move away from DirecTV... Seeking Input.

9131 Views 61 Replies 28 Participants Last post by robl45, Apr 8, 2012

ChiWavDave

Discussion Starter · Mar 28, 2012

First off, please... I beg of you, don't weigh in with any snide or fan-boy type comments. I've decided to leave DirecTV after 10+ years for a variety of reasons that are valid to me. I've given this a lot of thought and I know that I can come back to DirecTV with one of those whizzbang new customer deals and save a boatload of $ anyway and get the upgraded HW. So for me, 6 or 12 months in the desert is completely acceptable.

First off everybody will ask why.. so, here goes.
(in no particular order)

lack of basic cable HD, that I or my family watch. (DIY, Food Channel, HLN, TCM, BBCA, E!)

DVR that is so slow and intermittent that it frustrates me beyond anything.

The savings $$ wise to bundle (home, cell, internet, TV etc.)

snow on the dish in snowy years (this year has been awesome!), but the previous 2 have been brutal)

So I am down to UVerse, or Comcast I can bundle both and save anywhere from $75-$100 month in the first year at least. I know both have their pluses and minuses and I know many users have come back to DirecTV following their experiences there. But I trust the opinions of the folks on this board and was curious of their experiences.

I am leaning 1 way, but don't want to shape the conversation. So Discuss..

Thanks in advance for your help

Dave

1 - 20 of 62 Posts

harsh

· #2 · Mar 28, 2012

It is always good to look around whether you're happy or not.

Be sure you look at the price trending because in my area, Comcast raises prices twice a year. What looks good now will likely not look as good when the honeymoon is over.

As VOS notes, the DVR issue may gain a lot more traction if you're even more frustrated by lack of functionality or reliability. The other DVRs may win for channel changing speed and guide presentation quickness but for many, those aren't things they use all that often (surfers/jumpers need not comment). I would recommend a exhaustive test drive of the TV equipment before entering into any kind of long-term contract.

Even though lots of people have Comcast, no two franchises are the same so that research needs to be conducted close to home.

mdavej

· #3 · Mar 28, 2012

In my area u-verse is the far better option. Cable is much more expensive for less content, worse hardware and customer service and abysmal picture quality. But PQ and channel line up in other parts of the country are quite good on cable, depending on the provider, so there is a huge YMMV factor.

Paul Secic

· #4 · Mar 28, 2012

ChiWavDave said:
First off, please... I beg of you, don't weigh in with any snide or fan-boy type comments. I've decided to leave DirecTV after 10+ years for a variety of reasons that are valid to me. I've given this a lot of thought and I know that I can come back to DirecTV with one of those whizzbang new customer deals and save a boatload of $ anyway and get the upgraded HW. So for me, 6 or 12 months in the desert is completely acceptable.

First off everybody will ask why.. so, here goes.
(in no particular order)

lack of basic cable HD, that I or my family watch. (DIY, Food Channel, HLN, TCM, BBCA, E!)

DVR that is so slow and intermittent that it frustrates me beyond anything.

The savings $$ wise to bundle (home, cell, internet, TV etc.)

snow on the dish in snowy years (this year has been awesome!), but the previous 2 have been brutal)

So I am down to UVerse, or Comcast I can bundle both and save anywhere from $75-$100 month in the first year at least. I know both have their pluses and minuses and I know many users have come back to DirecTV following their experiences there. But I trust the opinions of the folks on this board and was curious of their experiences.

I am leaning 1 way, but don't want to shape the conversation. So Discuss..

Thanks in advance for your help

Dave

Don't*go near U-verse because you must be close to a VRAD box. Two years ago we didn't have TV from 4am to 6pm on a Saturday until a tech came and fixed it.

Scott Kocourek

· #5 · Mar 28, 2012

Good luck with whatever service you decide to go with. You may want to consider suspending your DIRECTV account and not closing it right away, this way you can come back if you want to without having to purchase the equipment you will send back.

mreposter

· #6 · Mar 28, 2012

My parents (who live in another state) switched from Time Warner cable to UVerse last summer and like many experienced lots of problems getting the system set up properly. Most of my friends around here who have switched have also told similar stories of weeks of initial headaches getting both the internet and tv services to work reliably, but once everything is fixed they're pretty happy, especially with the fast internet speeds.

If you're just talking TV, my personal opinion is the Directv is still a better service than Uverse, with better picture quality and better DVR, Whole Home, etc. UVerse TV is pretty good, but D* is better. But if you mix in the internet service this may be what tips things in Uverse's favor.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

cariera

· #7 · Mar 28, 2012

Visted the in-laws in Texas last week where they had U-Verse (I am a current DirecTv sub). My initial reactions were favorable. Now keep in mind, I wasn't watching a whole lot of TV, I wasn't there for their inital install and I don't know how far they are from the VRAD.

Picture quality appeared to be as good as DirecTv, although I was watching on smaller sets.

The guide and channel changing was definitely quicker than DirecTv

I enjoyed the preview window in the guide, that showed what was on the channel highlighted.

They are limited to 3 HD/1 SD streams

They provide access to a remote recording app, like DirecTv.

I didn't like the duplicate SD/HD channel numbers that they like other providers use, it makes the guide unfriendly

Overall, in the brief time that I experienced U-Verse, it seemed just fine. Also, of course, the availability of programming and channels would factor into any decision to go with U-Verse.

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rrdirectsr

· #8 · Mar 28, 2012

From talking to people on the phones at my job

I hear Comcast is the better of the 2.

Davenlr

· #9 · Mar 28, 2012

ChiWavDave said:
So I am down to UVerse, or Comcast

In our town, U-verse sucks. Constant picture freezes, weekly lockup requiring long reboot of the gateway. Your town might be better.

Comcast: IF they have completed the digital roll out there, and you want some good PQ, I would vote for them. I have their HD Digital Preferred package along side my DirecTv package (for several of the reasons you mentioned).

One suggestion, if you can afford it...Get a Tivo Premier rather than a Comcast DVR. You will be MUCH happier. With the Premier you can copy recorded programs to your computer to save, the interface is much snappier than DirecTv boxes, although in HD GUI mode, it can slow down sometimes. Easy to upgrade the harddrive yourself to 2TB. Comcast will give you a $2.50 credit for owned video equipment if you use your own. They also will supply up to 2 free SD converter boxes for any SD TV's you might have. Otherwise, check the price of the equipment.

There are two plans with Comcast, one is "No commitment" and is higher than the one with a commitment, but make sure you specify one or two years when you sign up. Local offices usually do the 1 yr if you select the lower price $39.95/mo for Preferred. After the first year though, it justs up around $80 plus. If you go with the two year, it goes to $59.95 for the second year.

Internet cannot be beat here. Its fast, and I never have any issues with it at all. I had them run two separate drops from the pole, one for internet, one for TV, since using splitters on one line caused modem reboots. Im about 75' for the pole. They charged me $20 to run the second cable. Well worth it.

If you have any questions on Xfinity, feel free to PM me.

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harsh

· #10 · Mar 28, 2012

Scott Kocourek said:
Good luck with whatever service you decide to go with. You may want to consider suspending your DIRECTV account and not closing it right away, this way you can come back if you want to without having to purchase the equipment you will send back.

If the issues are value and missing channels (as it appears to be), it may be better to close it down completely. The DIRECTV price isn't going to get appreciably better if the OP simply re-activates but it may improve appreciably along with updated hardware in a winback scenario.

Substantial addressing of the missing HD channels question appears to be more than a year (possibly more than two) away at this point.

Scott Kocourek

· #11 · Mar 28, 2012

harsh said:
If the issues are value and missing channels (as it appears to be), it may be better to close it down completely. The DIRECTV price isn't going to get appreciably better if the OP simply re-activates but it may improve appreciably along with updated hardware in a winback scenario.

Substantial addressing of the missing HD channels question appears to be more than a year (possibly more than two) away at this point.

I speak from experience, I canceled my DIRECTV a few years back because I thought the grass was greener. I'm not sure why you think it would be better to just close it down completely, what would be the harm? After all there is no fee to suspend an account.

CurtP

· #12 · Mar 29, 2012

I had Comcast when I lived outside of Chicago a few years ago (Plainfield) for both TV and internet. It was an awful experience and has soured me on Comcast forever. Constant outages, horrible PQ and unusable DVR. I hated every minute of it. No experience with UVerse. Is FiOS available in your area?

I've tried to leave DirecTV a few times and always come back. If you end up coming back later, consider having your dish mounted on a pole instead of the roof of your house. That way when it's covered in snow, you can go out and wipe it off easily.

ThomasM

· #13 · Mar 29, 2012

I see the new DISH ads offer the Hopper/Joey for free. It's tempting especially since I don't have HD from DirecTV.

It's too bad you can't check out the competition without commiting except for U-Verse (which isn't available where I live) or cable. My experience with Time-Warner was awful which is why I got DirecTV 12 years ago. I can't imagine they've changed. It's too bad DirecTV has, gouging customers with big rate increases yearly and dropping instead of adding channels from packages. The $2 "regional sports" charge is just about the last straw for me since I hate sports and never watch. A $6/month increase (Package: $3 DVR:$1 Sports: $2) is outrageous with this economy and gas over $4 a gallon.

Perhaps I'm lucky I've never had DISH since like DirecTV they give away the house for new customers (and treat old customers like-well you know

)

Hoosier205

· #14 · Mar 29, 2012

"ThomasM" said:
I see the new DISH ads offer the Hopper/Joey for free. It's tempting especially since I don't have HD from DirecTV.

It's too bad you can't check out the competition without commiting except for U-Verse (which isn't available where I live) or cable. My experience with Time-Warner was awful which is why I got DirecTV 12 years ago. I can't imagine they've changed. It's too bad DirecTV has, gouging customers with big rate increases yearly and dropping instead of adding channels from packages. The $2 "regional sports" charge is just about the last straw for me since I hate sports and never watch. A $6/month increase (Package: $3 DVR:$1 Sports: $2) is outrageous with this economy and gas over $4 a gallon.

Perhaps I'm lucky I've never had DISH since like DirecTV they give away the house for new customers (and treat old customers like-well you know )

1. Every provider raises their rates annually.
2. Dish is the satellite provider dropping channels, not DirecTV.

Davenlr

· #15 · Mar 29, 2012

What channel is G4 on?

ThomasM

· #16 · Mar 29, 2012

Davenlr said:
What channel is G4 on?

Or CLOO or NASA or CCTV9?

Oops, pardon me CLOO requires a package upgrade. And NASA requires a SLIMLINE (HD) upgrade. And CCTV9 requires some exotic international dish.

All were included in Choice Extra in the past with only a 3-LNB dish.

And what NEW channels have been added for a $6/month increase?? Perhaps some more shopping/religious channels nobody watches?

Hoosier205

· #17 · Mar 29, 2012

"Davenlr" said:
What channel is G4 on?

A single low rung channel...ouch. Compare that to the channels dropped by Dish.

ThomasM

· #18 · Mar 29, 2012

Hoosier205 said:
1. Every provider raises their rates annually.
2. Dish is the satellite provider dropping channels, not DirecTV.

Is DISH also slowing down the response of their DVR's and taking away popular commands/functions thus irking subscribers? (trickplay with the PIG displayed; dash-dash delete; irritating message on remote TV's using SD outputs from HD DVR)

Hoosier205

· #19 · Mar 29, 2012

"ThomasM" said:
Or CLOO or NASA or CCTV9?

Oops, pardon me CLOO requires a package upgrade. And NASA requires a SLIMLINE (HD) upgrade. And CCTV9 requires some exotic international dish.

All were included in Choice Extra in the past with only a 3-LNB dish.

And what NEW channels have been added for a $6/month increase?? Perhaps some more shopping/religious channels nobody watches?

CLOO and CCTV9? Those are your examples? HAHA! Forget it then. You're right. How dare they move those to a different package.

Hoosier205

· #20 · Mar 29, 2012

"ThomasM" said:
Is DISH also slowing down the response of their DVR's and taking away popular commands/functions thus irking subscribers? (trickplay with the PIG displayed; dash-dash delete; irritating message on remote TV's using SD outputs from HD DVR)

DirecTV has increased the responsiveness of their equipment. You realize it is a new UI...right? Adjustments and changes are made routinely. I didn't realize dash-dash-delete was a deal breaker. Enjoy.

1 - 20 of 62 Posts

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