Direct TV - Anyone Happy or Unhappy with Service?

[on-ramp]

Our Adelphia cable service is getting out of hand from a cost perspective.

We're thinking of switching to the satellite Direct TV.

any positive or negative reviews on this service? we figure we could get the top plan and still pay less than Adelphia right now.

thanks is advance.

[skipdup]

I love our DirecTV. Recomend it to anyone that asks.

HD TiVo is huge for us and worth every cent.

- Skip

[kang]

The only thing I don’t like about satellite is that many of the cable only channels, like TNT, CNN, Spike, etc, are all shown on east coast time.

[jluetjen]

Ditto Skip's remarks. I've never had any complaints as long as snow-covered tree branches don't block the signal.

[Moses]

Originally posted by skipdup
I love our DirecTV. Recomend it to anyone that asks.

HD TiVo is huge for us and worth every cent.

- Skip

+1

[hook682]

Funny that this thread popped up. I just had the service guy come by to upgrade to hd dish. I have had regular service for 4 years now and never had a problem. He told me that the new dish will look another 10 degrees to the SW and that I might have a problem with reception. Supervisor will come by to look at the situation during the next 3 days. That is a shame because if it wont work then I might have to switch to cable for the hd service.

[Jim Richards]

We had Direct TV, Dish, and Adelphia when we lived in NoVA. Of the three, I would recommend Direct TV. Best equipment of the three, good value (programming content vs. price) and good service. Only down side is the loss of signal during moderate to heavy rainstorms, and snow / ice build up on the dish itself. The latter issue impacted us as our dish was stupidly installed just below and close to the peak of the roof, and snow aways seemed to pile up there. A good installer wouldn't made that mistake.

[stomachmonkey]

I just switched from Direct TV to FIOS about 2 months ago. Primary reason was no video on demand with Direct TV. Other than that I had nothing but a positive experience with them.

You do loose signal in a heavy downpour but it does not usually last that long and anything severe your just as likely to loose power altogether so it's kind of irrelevent.

Re: the placement. If you tune it right then obstructions should really not be an issue. At least my situation tells me differently.

When I bought this house I planted a "bush" that I was told would max out at 8-9 feet.

Yeah right.

My signal strength was always in the mid to high 80's.

[Jays72T]

Good service for 4+years.

[Neilk]

Originally posted by kang
The only thing I don’t like about satellite is that many of the cable only channels, like TNT, CNN, Spike, etc, are all shown on east coast time.

When you get Tivo or a DVR box, consider that a plus. Just record the shows and watch them at your convenience or even earlier than West Coast time.

[mikester]

Originally posted by kang
The only thing I don’t like about satellite is that many of the cable only channels, like TNT, CNN, Spike, etc, are all shown on east coast time.

Love ours - don't have this problem though. Have you called them about it? Maybe you're on the wrong feed?

Anyway, we have had it for quite some time now. Wife used to work for them so when we moved in we kept it. I used to work for cable companies so I had always had cable. In socal the rough weather is typically few and far between so I don't think we've had an outage in the last 5 years with them.

[dd74]

I'll switch to Direct TV very soon. I've pretty done with cable, particularly Time-Warner cable.

[trekkor]

I am not able to get any cable service out here in the country.
Direct TV has been very reliable. I lose signal about two or three times a year during the most amazing storms. Seems to only effect some channels. So I am rarely ever *out*.

I like SPEED TV, History channel, etc ch 286 and down.

Is Speed on 607 for everyone?
Some of those DYI programs make me scream, though.

KT

[azasadny]

We've had our DirecTV for a year, along with a TiVO and the Slingbox and we love it. We've had a few heavy thunderstorms take the service out for an hour here and there, but nothing significant.

[Neilk]

Anybody switching to Directv, please PM me... Directv has a referral offer where we can both get $50 off our next bill.


Correction: $10 off our next 5 bills. Still $50 though.

[dd74]

Originally posted by trekkor

Is Speed on 607 for everyone?

Where I've seen Speed on Direct TV, it's always been 607. Aren't the channels standardized throughout the U.S. for shows on Direct TV?

[JavaBrewer]

No experience with Direct TV but last year we moved to Dish Network. The HD and DVR are really nice and easy to work (wife can use it). The HUGE downside for us is that despite purchasing the local channel option we lost the Padres games which are exclusive to local cable providers. Even if I order the season MLB package we can't see the Padre's games... I'm going back to local cable once our 1 yr. commitment is over.

[Big Ed]

I suggest visiting Satellite Guys Website to research this. It's the Pelican of the satellite TV world.

Right now, Dish Network has more HD programming than Directv. Directv has promised a lot for the coming year though, so we'll have to see how that pans out.

In my area, my cable choice is Time Warner and they suck, don't even OFFER HD. Dish Network has been good for me, except in the rare electrical storm.

[trekkor]

If you are on the phone talking to one of your buddies while watching a game *live*. the Direct TV signal is delayed about 5 seconds behind cable. The signal has to go up and back, you know.

Your friend on the line with cable will tell you what happens before it happens. Eeeeeee....

KT

[Seahawk]

Ten years plus with no issues...we also have internet on the same dish, which I am delighted with since the only other alternavtive is dial-up.

Edit: I get the football package as well since I've been a 49'er fan all my life and I wouldn't ever get to see them without the package.