Getting away from Dish - so DirecTV or Comcast?

[radhak]

Oh, I wish rabbit ears would do for me! I watch very little, but the kids need their channels and most of them are not on local. Do local channels (on Rabbit Ears) carry AMC, or some of the main sports, like the Olympics?

I have realized now that no solution is fully good, and I'm gonna get dissatisfied with everybody; so I'm going to switch my providers every two years, once the initial contract dies out. There's really nothing that holds me back to a provider, and switching saves me money! Unlike cell-phones.

[BigguyZ]

Just a note for people who like to switch providers... Don't get a DVR if you want to keep switching... 200 episodes of Holmes on Homes on my DVR means I'm not dropping anything!

Too bad the collection of Wood Works episodes got lost when my original DVR died....

[Rand]

I started with Primestar which got purchased by Directv. I was happy with the service until I moved in 03 and they told me it would take 2 weeks to get an installer out. I called Dish and they installed a DVR the next day. I was reasonably happy with Dish but they kept raising my rates while offering great deals to new customer. I asked for a better deal and they would not deal so I switched back to Directv which saved me $60/mo. for the first year.

I like the skip ahead 30 second feature on the old Dish DVR better. It's instantaneous where the Directv box fast forwards. It takes longer to skip commercials.

The search feature is better on the Directv DVR.

Currently Directv is in a dispute with Viacom so I can't get channels like Comedy Central and Spike TV.

[JimD]

I've never used a DVR but my son has a TiVo and I used to watch some stuff on his (when he lived with me). Can you move things off a DVR onto a DVD?

I used to have TimeWarner but got fed up with the price going up every year and switched to a package with Windstream that includes Dish for the TV. It's less money and almost everything is in HD (versus nothing on my more expensive TimeWarner package). When I called TimeWarner to cancel they had all kinds of deals for me. They were all one year deals. I have three TVs that are supposed to work off my two boxes but one doesn't. I guess I should call them but it's not a big deal. I lose signal during storms but it's not a huge deal. If I feel like I really to watch TV, I switch to streaming Netflix (which works well and is a far better value).

I don't like it that I spend more most months on my TV+internet+phone package than I do my electricity bill. It doesn't seem right but I want these things and haven't found a cheaper way to get them.

Jim

[Cochese]

Almost all DVRs do not allow copying off of. There are ways around this, but it's difficult at best and provides poor results and is illegal at worst. You can hook up an external drive, but it will only work while hooked up and will deactivate the internal drive while it is.

I have Comcast internet and DirecTV. This was the best combination for me, but it is much more expensive than bundling. However, I get more for my money as well, and haven't been disappointed with anything about DirecTV except the expense.

Discounts are available, but it depends on how far along you are with your contract and your payment status. It doesn't benefit them to give you discounts right after you sign a contract.

DirecTV's DVRs are far and away better and more responsive than Comcast's. Signal loss is only apparent with heavy rain, as long as you aren't trying to cut between trees with your signal. The contract negotiations with Viacom are a shame, but it's going to be more frequent, and not just with the dish companies.

[LCHIEN]

AT&T suggested I try U-verse. I had AT&T DSL and was looking for a hd tv signal. Seemed like a natural fit. AT&T disconnected old DSL the night before the install. Technician discovered my house was too many cable feet from their whatever (switch,router, CO). After spending two hours or more on the phone on three different days was told - once you disconnect from the "old" DSL you are not allowed to reconnect. That left dial-up as the only option. Final incident was a spammer got into my att mail box and sent bogus offers to everyone in my address book, AT&T decided I was the spammer and would not let me back into my email. This August my 2yr AT&T mobile contract is up. I will then be a Verizon or Clear customer. AT&T was the first stock I bought some 42 years ago, will sell that before the year is out.

they put me back on DSL after i dropped u-verse

[radhak]

Update

So, Comcast proved to be a joke. At the outset, it looked like I'd just pay $20 more to get TV added to my internet, but that's without DVR, which would cost me $10 more, and the TV is only 'Digital Economy' which does not get me much, the Digital Preferred is $19 more, and I have to pay 'installation' for the DVR box (because it is only free from new customers and since I already have internet I am not new); and all of these are discounted rates which last only 6 months...

DirecTV was much simpler : their website gave me all the info I needed, and even gave me added discount for purchasing online, and almost everything is free or discounted (ie, the DVR, the installation, additional receivers if I needed them, content on multiple gadgets). And their discounts are all the way for 24 months, the duration of my contract. So effectively, the time all the higher prices hit me, I'd be a free-agent, able to move elsewhere if I wanted. By my calculation I am saving around $60 per month from my Dish bill, and something close to that compared to Comcast the 7th month onwards. This almost feels like I earned some extra cash now !

The only hitch was when their 'schedule installation' calendar showed me first available dates in September ! I called, and got shunted to three different operators before the last one told me that the installation was already scheduled for tomorrow. Not too bad.

Pity I have neither FIOS nor UVerse available here. I had the mood to do a full market survey of all options...

[gerti]

All got to expensive for me. Getting all the big networks overt the air in impeccable HD for free,n onto a nice TiVo (still the best DVR around). And for the rest we rent the episode DVDs once they come to Netflix.

[jAngiel]

I've had Directv since 1994 and have gotten upset with them only a couple of times. Mostly about their local channels vs network feed policies. They do a good job of trying to entice customers to stay with them. Every couple of years or so they would call to offer a free upgrade to whatever the current deal is for hardware for free, including free installation. Only cost was another two years, used to be one year commitments but that's been gone for a long time.