Directv problems.......

[The_Tick]

Hold the horses folks....just got off of the phone with DirecTV.

It is 3.00 a month. Yes.

But you do have to have the silver "switch" box swapped out that is right next to your receiver outside of your house. You also will have a "deca" box (about the size of a deck of cards) next to your receiver.

In total it will run you about 160.00.

You can also get free HD programming (normally a 10.00 monthly fee) for free if you setup for auto payment from your checking acct. or a credit card.

The fee is doable. I have 2 HD DVR's right now, and this is a non-issue for me. When we put the next TV up in the Fall I wont have to get anything greater than and HD receiver for that room.

All in all...not bad.

[Donuthole]

Hold the horses folks....just got off of the phone with DirecTV.

It is 3.00 a month. Yes.

But you do have to have the silver "switch" box swapped out that is right next to your receiver outside of your house. You also will have a "deca" box (about the size of a deck of cards) next to your receiver.

In total it will run you about 160.00.

You can also get free HD programming (normally a 10.00 monthly fee) for free if you setup for auto payment from your checking acct. or a credit card.

The fee is doable. I have 2 HD DVR's right now, and this is a non-issue for me. When we put the next TV up in the Fall I wont have to get anything greater than and HD receiver for that room.

All in all...not bad.

So you still need a receiver for any TV you would like to use it on, right? Meaning if you wanted to use HD on two TVs, you'd have to have the HD DVR, plus an HD receiver on the second TV, plus the deca box on the second TV. Right?

[falafel]

Hold the horses folks....just got off of the phone with DirecTV.

It is 3.00 a month. Yes.

But you do have to have the silver "switch" box swapped out that is right next to your receiver outside of your house. You also will have a "deca" box (about the size of a deck of cards) next to your receiver.

In total it will run you about 160.00.

You can also get free HD programming (normally a 10.00 monthly fee) for free if you setup for auto payment from your checking acct. or a credit card.

The fee is doable. I have 2 HD DVR's right now, and this is a non-issue for me. When we put the next TV up in the Fall I wont have to get anything greater than and HD receiver for that room.

All in all...not bad.

What do you mean the total will run you $160? A month, or up front? If that's per month, that's a lot of money for tv.

[The_Tick]

So you still need a receiver for any TV you would like to use it on, right? Meaning if you wanted to use HD on two TVs, you'd have to have the HD DVR, plus an HD receiver on the second TV, plus the deca box on the second TV. Right?

That is correct.

[The_Tick]

What do you mean the total will run you $160? A month, or up front? If that's per month, that's a lot of money for tv.

160.00 one time fee.

I would assume if I was a new customer then the switch box would come compatable. Alas I am not.

The only fee is 3.00 monthly.

This will allow me to get rid of my 2nd DVR I think.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

What do you mean the total will run you $160? A month, or up front? If that's per month, that's a lot of money for tv.

Not if you have the Playboy and Spice Channels.

[il Padrino Ute]

I'm a long time Dish user and was thinking about going to DTV because of the MTN and because DTV would be cheaper for 24 months (with all the discounts and crap that you get for new subscribers). Also, DTV is currently waiving the extra fee for HD access for life if you sign up right now.

Of course, I love Dish and there are a couple of things that Dish does that DTV doesn't do:

- Picture in Picture. I can't believe DTV doesn't support this yet. Their customers have been begging for years.
- Dual TV outputs so you can run two TVs off the same tuner. Not a big deal but it saves me an extra receiver.

These two things are nice but I was willing to give them up to get the MTN and have it be a bit cheaper for 24 months. Aside from those two items what else sucks about DTV? Why would you avoid switching if you were me?

My experience has been that the technology and customer service of Dish is far superior.

I've needed to reset my receiver at least once/month because the response time in changing the channel or bringing up the menu really gets bogged down. Last week, I counted 5 full seconds from the time I pressed the menu button until it showed up on the screen. I never had that problem with Dish.

I've called DTV a few times with problems and have ended up arguing with the person on the phone that the problems are not my doing - I am using their equipment and I don't try to fix problems myself. Dish was always willing to resolve any problem I've had without making me think they were blaming me. Also, I had to remind DTV of their alleged great deal they gave me (the first 6 months is only $xx.xx per month) each of those 6 months when they jacked up the price each month. It was a huge hassle, especially convincing them that the mtn came with the basic package. (I ended up with the entire sports package at a discounted cost after I laid into one of the supervisors after having to deal with them telling me that I had to get the sports package to get the mountain for the first 4 months I was with DTV.

The only reason I dumped Dish was because of the mtn, but there are plenty of places I can go to watch Ute games if I didn't have it. And now that Dish is offering HD free for life, I have more incentive to go back. I at least know that Dish will honor that deal.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

My experience has been that the technology and customer service of Dish is far superior.

I've needed to reset my receiver at least once/month because the response time in changing the channel or bringing up the menu really gets bogged down. Last week, I counted 5 full seconds from the time I pressed the menu button until it showed up on the screen. I never had that problem with Dish.

I've called DTV a few times with problems and have ended up arguing with the person on the phone that the problems are not my doing - I am using their equipment and I don't try to fix problems myself. Dish was always willing to resolve any problem I've had without making me think they were blaming me. Also, I had to remind DTV of their alleged great deal they gave me (the first 6 months is only $xx.xx per month) each of those 6 months when they jacked up the price each month. It was a huge hassle, especially convincing them that the mtn came with the basic package. (I ended up with the entire sports package at a discounted cost after I laid into one of the supervisors after having to deal with them telling me that I had to get the sports package to get the mountain for the first 4 months I was with DTV.

The only reason I dumped Dish was because of the mtn, but there are plenty of places I can go to watch Ute games if I didn't have it. And now that Dish is offering HD free for life, I have more incentive to go back. I at least know that Dish will honor that deal.

My experience has been the same. Dish's DVR was far superior and I dare say the picture quality was better, though that could just be a problem with my installation.

[Drunk Tank]

I had my issues with Dish, mainly their customer service. I did like their DVR better. I cancelled my contract with them 2 months early (cost me $40 I think) and switched to Directv. During the call to cancel my dish service, the rep kept trying to "save" me as a customer but I wouldnt have it. Finally she told me that in order to become a dish customer again, it would require 3 years upfront payment to restore services. Thats right, roughly $4000 to become a dish customer again. I laughed at her and said a few choice words and hung up.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I run the backend on a Linux box currently although I am thinking about moving to a Mac or FreeBSD for the backend. I have a hauppauge 1212 that I picked up off ebay for a deal. The driver works well with Linux and I am thinking about porting it to either FreeBSD or Mac OS X. The advantage of FreeBSD is that I could use ZFS which makes adding more hard drive space a breeze.

I run the MythTV frontend on a Mac in my home office so I can watch TV (live or delayed) while I work in a window. SG talked me into buying a PlayStation 3 which I used for bluray DVDs and streaming MythTV content to our home theater room (via UPnP).

This all sounds really cool, can you explain it to me like I am a 6 year old? I don't understand any of what you have written here.

[Coach McGuirk]

This all sounds really cool, can you explain it to me like I am a 6 year old? I don't understand any of what you have written here.

That is basically what I have been trying to say in 6 posts. That sums it up nicely.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I run the backend on a Linux box currently although I am thinking about moving to a Mac or FreeBSD for the backend. I have a hauppauge 1212 that I picked up off ebay for a deal. The driver works well with Linux and I am thinking about porting it to either FreeBSD or Mac OS X. The advantage of FreeBSD is that I could use ZFS which makes adding more hard drive space a breeze.

I run the MythTV frontend on a Mac in my home office so I can watch TV (live or delayed) while I work in a window. SG talked me into buying a PlayStation 3 which I used for bluray DVDs and streaming MythTV content to our home theater room (via UPnP).

This post has put me in a stranglehold.