Any advice in buying Direct TV?

[jwilly]

So my freaking Comcast cable TV/Internet has been down for 9 out of the last 15 days. Long story but their customer service was so ridiculous I collected up all of the receivers and modem and took them and shoved them up their a$$... :angry2:

So now I need something for TV service before my kids die from withdrawal or call the authorities for child abuse. I have done some looking but was wondering if anyone has had any good experience or found some good deals on Direct TV?

Thanks in advance!

JW

 

[sin_loki]

love it, most people i know actually save money over comcast because of it its package setups. Plus come sports time you really can see every game, and has the the most HD content than cable as well.

i have had them since they first offered it, when i lived in hollister there was no cable service at the time in my area (good old rabbit ears) and it is very good service. they even had people working on X-mas day.

EDIT: almost forgot, if you install it your self check with local city rules and regulations on how they have to be mounted. (some areas they don't want them a certain height on houses.)

 

[RonBB]

Had DirectTV for several years now. Fairly happy. Not sure about deals. They send the monthly bills & I pay them. They seem to edge up every year or so, but then so does everything else. I called them with an issue a few years ago & they said my receiver was shot. I had purchased it myself from a local appliance shop several years before that. They sent me a new receiver gratis. The current TV has picture in a picture & I don't have an input for the second picture (channel) would be the only thing noteworthy. In heavy rainstorms I will sometimes lose the signal but that isn't very often. I installed the system myself & thought that it was easy. Hope this helps.

 

[jmdaniel]

Be prepared to get reconditioned junk for equipment. Also, if you are interested in the Sunday Ticket for NFL football, be prepared to be kissed this season, then, well, you know, next season and seasons after. You get a sweet deal the first year, then every year after that, they charge $99 for SuperFan, which is all the games in HD, wrapped up like a turd with a bunch of stuff only fantasy geeks need. Never mind that you are already paying for regular programming in HD; in order to see the games in HD, you have to buck up for the SuperFan package. HD used to be included with ST, until DirecTV overpaid the NFL for the exclusive rights. Voila! The next season, SuperFan was an added cost!

I would advise checking out AT&T's U-verse, if it is available in your area.

 

[sin_loki]

Be prepared to get reconditioned junk for equipment. Also, if you are interested in the Sunday Ticket for NFL football, be prepared to be kissed this season, then, well, you know, next season and seasons after. You get a sweet deal the first year, then every year after that, they charge $99 for SuperFan, which is all the games in HD, wrapped up like a turd with a bunch of stuff only fantasy geeks need. Never mind that you are already paying for regular programming in HD; in order to see the games in HD, you have to buck up for the SuperFan package. HD used to be included with ST, until DirecTV overpaid the NFL for the exclusive rights. Voila! The next season, SuperFan was an added cost!
I would advise checking out AT&T's U-verse, if it is available in your area.

really? when i moved they brought a new dish from outta the box and a new HD sat box.

 

[Silent]

I've had DirecTV for a few years now and I've got no complaints. Unlike Comcrap cable, my reception doesn't start failing 3 months after they replace the drop and become progressivly worse untill they replace the drop again... Rinse, repeat. In the last 3 years or so, I've only had to re-aim my dish once, and it takes a helluva storm for me to have a reception problem.

 

[Rondo777]

I had direct for a few years and when I moved to a new home I switched to Dish. Both good. I'm not sure what the direct tv rates are now but I have every premium channel, and I'm paying 110 a month. It was, at least at the time I signed up a much better deal then direct and all equipment was nice. I have 1 dual tunner DVR running 2 bedrooms and 1 HD reciever for the theater rm. I think its still a decent deal and the service hass been outstanding. No outages for over a year now.

 

[jcrouch]

I've been with them for several years. No complaints, really. Every time I have upgraded I've always received brand new gear. I had to give up TIVO eventually because they had their own DVR, and I was pissed about it initially, but their box turned out to be pretty damn good, actually better in several ways. TIVO is easier to learn and more intuitive, but DirecTV software works excellently once you get used to it. They were willing to maintain my service with my TIVO box but it did not support all 5 satellites, so if I wanted all the HD channels I had to change. The money's the money, I mean, they're not giving it away, but it's no worse than the next service. Signal's stays up even in some pretty heavy weather.

Jay

 

[donaldb]

jwilly.......

I was one of directv's first customers, IIRC my billing # was something like 00000(forget the # of 0's)-192

I always liked them, service was great, never a billing error, no problems w/customer service. When I upgraded to HD last December, they would cut me no slack, full rate, deposit on DVR HD receiver, blah, blah, blah....on and on.

So I ck'd w/Dish.........they made me a hell of a deal and I am satisfied w/the picture and channels and selection, etc., but it took a couple months getting some details worked out, it about to become a hassel......but it got straightened out.

Suspect you likely would not go wrong with either service. I think you would be happier than w/comcast.

 

[El Toro Joe]

I've had Direct TV for sveral years now, had Dish Network prior to Direct. Direct offers more channels than Dish Network, and a Buttload more than Cable. Make the switch...it's worth it

 

[HotRodZilla]

We have Dish Network and my inlaws have Direct TV. I gotta say I like Dish better. There is not as much delay time in the way the remote works. We are able to take the channels we don't subscribe to off our list, so when we hit the program guide, all that shows is all that's available.

I do gotta say that Direct TV has some channels that Dish did not have when we got it, but now I think they have caught up. I just don't wanna pay more for stuff I "might" watch.

The DVR is really cool and easy to use. Ours was installed by Dish, and we have had very few outages. A really bad rain broke the signal for about 5 minutes the other day, but that was it. It's kind of weird that snow has never caused it to go out. Customer service has always been good and the entire thing is WAY better than Comcast. I'll never go back to those idiots.

 

[uctofeej]

+1 on the above. Directv is great. Had it for years.

When I first moved to BR, we had cable for about a month. Even my nine-year old said it was awful and she wanted DTV back. How's that for an endorsement?

One warning: Satellite sometimes goes out in bad weather. But it's usually not long and if you record stuff on the hard drive, it's not really a problem.

 

[Bounce]

Have had DirectTV since they bought out the company I used to have (who bought out the company before that). My folks have had Dish and I hate it when I go there (their menus and other functions work much slower than our DirectTV functions and are missing many of the features we take for granted).

If it's in your budget, get their DVR. If you have HD, get the HD-DVR and the HD pack. Muy bueno!

--update for below--

we get local channels and, in the next month, will have them all upgraded to their HD feeds. there is one local channel hold out and maybe that is NBC but they're being dicks and missing the change of pardigm.

 

[thompsonian]

My only gripe with DirecTv is that I don't get any "local" channels. Maybe I'm just some young dork, but I like seeing the local news every once in awhile, but our local NBC affiliate won't allow a signal to DirecTv, so no NBC. Other than that, I like them a good deal. Got the HD package with all the movie channels and crap. They work for me.

 

[BobbyBlue]

Tom,

Sorry I have no advice to offer..I....I...suck it out of the air for free....I can only state my utmost happiness at having my children grown,happy, healthy,....and living on their own. I leave all the tube amps on standby however. Good luck !

Bobby

 

[Bustanut joker]

I don't believe Direct TV has any "gay" channel access so, you may be a bit disappointed.

Hey I've been nice to ya for too long willy.

:jester:

 

[Scab]

Yes, I have advice on buying Direct TV...Buy Dish Network instead.

 

[jwilly]

Yes, I have advice on buying Direct TV...Buy Dish Network instead.

Oh, Your into the gay channels? BTW, I can't room with you at EOM!!!

 

[Badcat]

Directv is tons better than Dishnet. I work with Dishnet stuff daily and it has an incredible failure rate. Take that Scab!!!