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Satellite TV?

mdbuschsr

mdbuschsr

Just playing for fun
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Do we have any satellite TV users? I'm considering making a change to Direct TV and I'm looking for opinions from those I know I can trust.

If you use it, do you have any issues?
 
I have direc tv and it's getting the axe this Saturday. Why? Because I'm becoming full time with a certain cable giant and I will get Internet, phone and tv for next to nothing. Direc tv is ok. For the most part I don't have too many issues but I do have some. My upstairs HD box keeps putting out no signal to my tv for no reason. I hit it a few times and it comes back. And I just got a new box. The HD dvr is pretty good but sometimes has sound issues. Signal cuts out in bad storms with heavy rain or snow. The NFL package is awesome but grossly over priced. Basically it was my only choice when I got HD tv's so I went with it. I don't have any horror stories I guess.
 
mdbuschsr said:
Do we have any satellite TV users? I'm considering making a change to Direct TV and I'm looking for opinions from those I know I can trust.
If you use it, do you have any issues?
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I have DirecTv and the only problem we encounter is loss of signal in heavy rain. I also had to clean the snow from the outside dish one time to make it work (the only snow we have had in a few years) I love the DVR feature and use it a lot.
 
No major complaints from our direct tv service. Same as most with loss of a signal during heavy rain, and snow. We are considering going to Verizon Fios as soon as it's pulled into the neighborhood though. I will always avoid going back to comcast if possible!!!
 
Johnboy12.5 said:
No major complaints from our direct tv service. Same as most with loss of a signal during heavy rain, and snow. We are considering going to Verizon Fios as soon as it's pulled into the neighborhood though. I will always avoid going back to comcast if possible!!!
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I bet you would if it was all but free lol. I'm having to eat those very same words.
 
All of the above plus I think they're HDDVR is slow to process but this comes from a guy that was used to having a TiVo UI. Honestly, I think they're great. I've been through cable and Dish and I used to sell all of those and nothing compares to DTV. Fortunately, from past history I know all their backdoors and workarounds so if there's any issue I need resolved I can get them done quickly at minimal cost. I can understand the cost issue as some have eluded to but if there's something you want that no one else provides (i.e. Sunday Ticket) you're gonna have to pay for it. Exclusivity always comes at a price.

Fios on the other hand sounds interesting but unfortunately I have no experience with them and is not available in our area yet.
 
We have directv and we love it. The only complaint is that yes we have lost our signal during heavy thunderstorms. We do not typically get snow in Atlanta so I cannot speak on how this affects the signal. I would assume that all satellites suffer from signal loss during heavy thunderstorms but I could be wrong. We had comcast a few different times and had horror stories about dealing with them. I could not wait to get back to directv as I had them in college 1 year and loved having the NFL Sunday ticket package. Unfortunately we were facing the wrong direction in a few apartments so we could not get the service. I know OEM Kevin said that the NFL package is grossly overrated but I would personally have to disagree with that. There is not a fair comparison to make with the NFL package as no other satellite or cable provider offers the package. I am a huge NFL fan so i love having all of the games as opposed to just the standard one 2 oclock and one 4 oclock games. The NFL package is practically free your first year (they try to hook you) and then it is more expensive after that. I know for us if we were to go to a bar to watch nfl games 1 Sunday we would EASILY spend what it costs us for 1 month of the NFL package with directv. That is just my .02 cents and the wife agreed so it is not just me justifying it to her. We have been more than happy with directv. Hopefully this helps you some.
 
I kind of figured rain storms would knock out the signal, but I was hoping against hope that it had gotten better. Signal loss during a storm would drive me crazy, and probably have the wife ready to shoot me.

We are with AT&T Uverse right now, and we've been happy with it, just looking at different options.
 
I went to DirecTv a few years ago simply for the football package. The package was awesome. Every game in HD was a dream come true. Problem was that even on just a really overcast day I would lose the signal sometimes. If it rained it went out no questions. I have been really disappointed with it and I will be going back to cable soon. Plus the football package is ungodly expensive.
 
We have had satellite for a few months now. I also had it for 7 years previously. I left and came back for a couple of reasons. I can tell you that overcast we never lose service (with either provider). Rain it might glitch here and there and with heavy rain, we lose it for a small period.

I outweigh that con with better channel selection, more options for 3D (early adopter) and that they are the trendsetters, not the followers. I also add to that that the customer service is far superior to that of cable and when there is a problem its fixed promptly rather than "when we get to it".

We loved Verizon Fios, but it is not offered in our neighborhood now.
 
I have had Dish for the past 4 years an love it. I haven't had an major problems other than snow and down pours. I like having the one box that controls two TVs. I think that is why I like Dish.

On another note, my brother-in-law has the ATT Uverse and loves it. I think if it was in my area I would try it out.
 
Like everything, satellite TV is subjective. I have Dish and could not be happier. My dish is on the roof of my house, and snow has never been a issue. I have never had it go out in the winter and clean the dish. In the spring/summer, service can be lost for a few minutes during a heavy thunderstorm and there is no getting around that, but the outages are normally brief.
I am very happy with Dish.
 
I have had Comcast which I used a tivo box on, brighthouse(same as time warner I think), and now I have Directv.

The only thing that could make me happier is if I had tivo on dtv and that is supposedly coming this year...

I have never lost a signal at all even in heavy rain and where I live we do not get any snow. Their customer service has been absolutely incredible and they have been the only provider whose installers showed up EARLY! that never happens!

After it was all installed the guy stayed a little longer and expained to me all of its features and how to use the remote.

I am going to get a wireless bridge done soon so that I can have the ondemad feature that they have been advertising and it will also get rid of any of the lag that is experienced while looking through the guide as the one in the bedroom has just a phone like hooked to it and the guide is really quick.

We also use their cinema service about once a month if there is something that we really want to see and it isnt on netflix yet.

And best of all, the picture is far and beyond what we got with the cable companies and I love having all the HD channels now....however, I find it to be almost painful to have to watch SD now as I have gotten so used to the HD.
 
I've had Direct for about a year now and love it. I can only remember 2 or 3 times where we lost signal during rain. Even then we didn't lose all the channels, just some. The locals were coming in fine, which was nice for the weather reports. One time it wasn't even raining at my house. It has more to do what is going on between the dish and the satellite in space and not so much at your house. We went through two heavy snow storms this past winter and never lost the signal either time.

The DVR is great, especially the whole home option which is only a couple of bucks a month. Record on the DVR, then watch anywhere in the house. Lots of HD channels. I don't see me changing anytime soon.

I'll be the first to say that if you decide to get it, if someone refers you, we will both get $100 off the bill. Nice little feature if you get others involved. All you would need is an account number that referred you and it starts on the second bill.
 
I'm not the big TV watcher in my home. So, I'll have the wife read through this and let her make the decision. Thanks everyone for the input.
 
Ive had cable and I've had DTV and the only problems where loss of reception during storms.At one point I had both Dish and DTV and DTV would lose signal during storms before Dish.I now only have Dish and it has gotten better than it was during storms but on the really bad storms it's gone.I have a attic antenna and go to it for locals during storms and since they've went digital I can expierience signal loss even going to air.
I say they are all about the same except cable is better in areas with severe weather but it's really about who offers what you want for the best price.That's just my opinion.
 
I live in the Northwest right in the "convergence zone" which is the heaviest rain area in the Puget Sound. I have DirecTV and can count on one hand how many times I have lost signal due to rain in the 15 years I have had it. We get snow every year and I have lost it a couple times due to really heavy snow. I get the NHL package every year and have no complaints. They do a golf multichannel thing for every major golf championship that is pretty cool. In 15 years, I've only had to call them once for an issue which was resolved quickly. My only real grumble is how they jack up the monthly cost by charging you for every little thing they can think of. Every cable/sat vendor does that though.
 
Have you thought about going with Time Warner cable? I used it exclusively through college and never had a problem with it. Ended up being a bit cheaper than DirecTV + Cable internet. DVR that they give you was decent and I never really had any problems with lost signal. My bill was roughly 125/mo with TWC bundle. It would have been around 150 with DirecTV/internet plus the equipment fees.
 
I have had DirecTv for 13 years, and I would never get rid of it. The storms have to be really severe for me to lose signal, and I do love it when after a major storm my neighbors are all complaining that there cable has been out for days, but the second the storm passes, my signal is back to crystal clear. Also, if you are able to in your area, it is awesome to get the local networks, and the national feeds as well. I am only able to do this on NBC in my area, but it is awesome if I forget to set something I want to watch at 8, that I can record it at 11 on the west coast NBC. All in all, I have had very few complaints, other than that they offer great deals to new subscribers, but for people like me, that have been with them for a while, you don't get anything, unless you call and complain. A little reverse loyalty would be nice but the cable company isn't doing it either, so I guess it wouldn't matter.
 
jefrazie said:
Have you thought about going with Time Warner cable? I used it exclusively through college and never had a problem with it. Ended up being a bit cheaper than DirecTV + Cable internet. DVR that they give you was decent and I never really had any problems with lost signal. My bill was roughly 125/mo with TWC bundle. It would have been around 150 with DirecTV/internet plus the equipment fees.
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If he went with cable, if it's like here, most places you only get a choice of either Time Warner or Comcast (or some other company). My only choice is Time Warner. He may be in a Comcast area or some other companies area.
 
I had the wife read through the thread, and she still wants to stay with AT&T Uverse. If it were left up to me, we'd probably switch to dish.
 
My Neighbors hate it they keep it only for Football Package. I love my BrightHouse
 
I have had ATT Uverse and Direct TV as well as cable. Uverse is by far the best of the 3 in my opinion. Cable is just too expensive for what you don't get. Direct TV had no issues with the service but their customer service was terrible. Not one issue with ATT.
 
Speaking of directv. They sent me another hd box for my upstairs tv and this blows too. It keeps not putting out a signal just like the other one. Why didn't they send a new box? As in the latest one instead of a four year old one.
 
OEM Kevin said:
Speaking of directv. They sent me another hd box for my upstairs tv and this blows too. It keeps not putting out a signal just like the other one. Why didn't they send a new box? As in the latest one instead of a four year old one.
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Because they don't appreciate your business :D

I would call and complain Kev.
 
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