anyone have directv?

[Palo Alto Labs]

just getting settled into my new place and as the laundry list of repairs, paint, wood molding, ect.. comes closer to an end.. its about time i hook up a tv to scramble any brain cells that I have remaining.

I was looking into hooking up directv instead of cable. The past ownder had directv and left behind the dish and a few channel boxes. the entire house is wired for the satellite, but can be turned back to cable tv in about 5 mins.

ive always had cable tv... so a little apprehensive about satellite... but satellite is cheaper per month and has a better channel line up in my area.

whats everyones experience with directv or other satellite tv services?




oh and btw... i found the best cure for insomnia. i havent had a tv in 6 weeks.. havent really missed it bc ive been keeping busy.. but ive noticed that I pass out within 5 minutes of laying down. i was plagued with insomnia bouts for a long time. due to this, Im not going to put a tv in my room, just the living room.
but if you cant sleep.. unplug the tv for a few days.... let boredom lullabye you to sleep

 

[FcuktheFDA]

Dishes are bad news during storms.

 

[Delta Force]

I've had directv for over 10 years and really love it, the picture quality is superb since all channels are digital and the channels line up are good as well, look in to getting a tivo set box those things are awesome

 

[TripDog]

just getting settled into my new place and as the laundry list of repairs, paint, wood molding, ect.. comes closer to an end.. its about time i hook up a tv to scramble any brain cells that I have remaining.

I was looking into hooking up directv instead of cable. The past ownder had directv and left behind the dish and a few channel boxes. the entire house is wired for the satellite, but can be turned back to cable tv in about 5 mins.

ive always had cable tv... so a little apprehensive about satellite... but satellite is cheaper per month and has a better channel line up in my area.

whats everyones experience with directv or other satellite tv services?




oh and btw... i found the best cure for insomnia. i havent had a tv in 6 weeks.. havent really missed it bc ive been keeping busy.. but ive noticed that I pass out within 5 minutes of laying down. i was plagued with insomnia bouts for a long time. due to this, Im not going to put a tv in my room, just the living room.
but if you cant sleep.. unplug the tv for a few days.... let boredom lullabye you to sleep

Dude I couldn't function without watching "the soup" late night.

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

Dishes are bad news during storms.

i know the picture can go out during heavy cloud coverage.. but that doesnt bother me too much.
I had 50mph winds yesterday and the dish is still in place. its been up for atleast 2 years now and looks fine.
if a hurricane's coming... i can always take it down too.

 

[Gtarzan81]

i know the picture can go out during heavy cloud coverage.. but that doesnt bother me too much.
I had 50mph winds yesterday and the dish is still in place. its been up for atleast 2 years now and looks fine.
if a hurricane's coming... i can always take it down too.

Thats always the best thing about hurricanes:they make appointments. "Hurricane Bubba will be here Friday about 3pm."

Tornadoes here in Texas though, they just kinda show up unannounced. Never thought I'd miss hurricanes.:fool2:

 

[AE14]

I have had it the last 6 years and am dumping it friday for fios. Fios is cheaper, just as good in terms of options for channels etc... and when it rains I will actually be able to watch the tv

 

[pmiller383]

I like the actual Dish service, but the billing and customer service is horrible at directtv. I signed up with them in December and since then I have had to call 2-3 times a month which usually takes about 1.5 hours each time. They messed up my billing so bad that they overcharged $900 dollars initially and my bill is usually $10-$15 higher than it should be. I have had to have two DVR boxes replaced because they would freeze constantly. If you are just getting a basic box and get your bill right from the start they are good but past that be prepared for a lot of lost time on the phone.

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

I have had it the last 6 years and am dumping it friday for fios. Fios is cheaper, just as good in terms of options for channels etc... and when it rains I will actually be able to watch the tv

unfortunately FIOS is a few years away in south florida

^^ pmiller...good to know. you should probably just dispute the $900 with your credit card.. much faster

 

[ShakesAllDay]

I just signed up w/ DirecTV last week. So far, so good.

 

[pmiller383]

unfortunately FIOS is a few years away in south florida

^^ pmiller...good to know. you should probably just dispute the $900 with your credit card.. much faster

Yeah, tried that and the case is still unresolved according to the credit card company. That one was actually in my dads names but I handle all his stuff so I have had to deal with it.

 

[Dwight Schrute]

i know the picture can go out during heavy cloud coverage.. but that doesnt bother me too much.
I had 50mph winds yesterday and the dish is still in place. its been up for atleast 2 years now and looks fine.
if a hurricane's coming... i can always take it down too.

Its weird. In very heavy rain it goes out sometimes. Hurricane Charlie ripped through here and I was watching the dish at 4am. It never went out.


Overall I love it. I DO have Comcast as well because it comes with the HOA fees but I get directtv for the sports packages.


I've dealt with their customer service reps a couple times for upgrades and never had a problem. I've had them since 2005.

 

[Dadof2]

I have Direct TV as I am in a rural area and cable is not an option anymore. Here are my observations.

As far as quality goes they are about the same.

As far as reliability goes they differ a bit, both have pro's and con's.

Direct TV will go out if a storm is headed in your direction, but it comes back as soon as the storm passes. With cable you do not have this issue, but you do have times when your cable does go out and when it does you can go days without cable service.

Cable generally has the option that lets you bundle tv, internet, and phone service for a single monthly rate. As far as I know, this is not an option with Direct TV. So that is something to consider.

 

[Goat]

just getting settled into my new place and as the laundry list of repairs, paint, wood molding, ect.. comes closer to an end.. its about time i hook up a tv to scramble any brain cells that I have remaining.

I was looking into hooking up directv instead of cable. The past ownder had directv and left behind the dish and a few channel boxes. the entire house is wired for the satellite, but can be turned back to cable tv in about 5 mins.

ive always had cable tv... so a little apprehensive about satellite... but satellite is cheaper per month and has a better channel line up in my area.

whats everyones experience with directv or other satellite tv services?




oh and btw... i found the best cure for insomnia. i havent had a tv in 6 weeks.. havent really missed it bc ive been keeping busy.. but ive noticed that I pass out within 5 minutes of laying down. i was plagued with insomnia bouts for a long time. due to this, Im not going to put a tv in my room, just the living room.
but if you cant sleep.. unplug the tv for a few days.... let boredom lullabye you to sleep

I had the worst customer service experience of my entire life with Direct TV. I had 3 different reps come to install and each one was a retard or couldn't do it, or entered the info wrong to the system so no one else would come, I waited for 36 hours and called them 20+ times while they kept telling me "someone will be there in an hour" or "your house is not ready for installation" because the guy was to scared to climb on the roof of a 4 story house.

Like I am going to make my house shrink 2 levels and they will come right back.

In the end they paid me $200 for two full days of wasting my time.

That was after finally having the boss "address the problem" by getting DVR installed then telling me that TV could not be recorded.


I am with Dish Network now, not a single problem.

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

I had the worst customer service experience of my entire life with Direct TV. I had 3 different reps come to install and each one was a retard or couldn't do it, or entered the info wrong to the system so no one else would come, I waited for 36 hours and called them 20+ times while they kept telling me "someone will be there in an hour" or "your house is not ready for installation" because the guy was to scared to climb on the roof of a 4 story house.

Like I am going to make my house shrink 2 levels and they will come right back.

In the end they paid me $200 for two full days of wasting my time.

That was after finally having the boss "address the problem" by getting DVR installed then telling me that TV could not be recorded.


I am with Dish Network now, not a single problem.

good to know.. directv is already wired, so the install would be a joke.. but all of the customer service issues have me second guessing....... its prob worth the extra $5-10 a month for Dish network or something with better customer service

 

[AE14]

Cable generally has the option that lets you bundle tv, internet, and phone service for a single monthly rate. As far as I know, this is not an option with Direct TV. So that is something to consider.

this is one of my reasons for going with fios. they are cutting me a sweet deal. A buddy of mine just got it and loves it, and the price is certainly right

 

[Dadof2]

good to know.. directv is already wired, so the install would be a joke.. but all of the customer service issues have me second guessing....... its prob worth the extra $5-10 a month for Dish network or something with better customer service

For what it is worth, I have never had any problems with the Direct TV customer service. I hooked the system up myself, and called them when I finished, and they turned it on. That was the extent of my interactions with Direct TV customer service. I have never had any problems that required me to call customer service, as the satellite is quite reliable (except in the instances that I had previously pointed out in my other post in this thread).

If everything is hooked up, (and even if not doing it yourself is really easy) then take the chance with Direct TV, and spend the difference on supps :woohoo: or gas :aargh:

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

For what it is worth, I have never had any problems with the Direct TV customer service. I hooked the system up myself, and called them when I finished, and they turned it on. That was the extent of my interactions with Direct TV customer service. I have never had any problems that required me to call customer service, as the satellite is quite reliable (except in the instances that I had previously pointed out in my other post in this thread).

If everything is hooked up, (and even if not doing it yourself is really easy) then take the chance with Direct TV, and spend the difference on supps :woohoo: or gas :aargh:

I called them the other day.. apparently the 2 channel boxes that the previous owner left me will STILL require me to pay $5/mo for each of them.. even though I technically own them.
So their "bargain" $30 plan ends up costing closer to $50 just to hook up 3 sets (1 with dvr). and after 12 months, this goes up closer to $80. ehhhhh.... doesnt make it any more attractive then cable at this point. I just bought the house 5 weeks ago so I have to be cheap when it comes to luxuries for the next few months. The only reason that I was going to sign up for Directv now was bc of the 'special' that they had.

I signed up for netflix ... for the next few weeks im just going to utilize this for entertainment.

thanks for everyones help.

 

[ShakesAllDay]

I hear ya on the extra costs. You have to pay extra $/month for extra receivers, more $ for DVR/HD. And, they are kind enough to give you most of the movie channels for "free" for 90 days. But, they are also kind enough to keep you signed up for the movie channels, fees and all, if you don't physically call and cancel them before the 90 days.

I got the Verizon/DirecTV bundle. It sounded good at first, but after adding in the costs for some of the 'extras', plus the fact that your 'bundle savings' are relinquished after 12 months, along w/ the other BS they have going... it was a tough call.

But, I still went with them. Glad I did. Much more stuff to watch now.

I called them the other day.. apparently the 2 channel boxes that the previous owner left me will STILL require me to pay $5/mo for each of them.. even though I technically own them.
So their "bargain" $30 plan ends up costing closer to $50 just to hook up 3 sets (1 with dvr). and after 12 months, this goes up closer to $80. ehhhhh.... doesnt make it any more attractive then cable at this point. I just bought the house 5 weeks ago so I have to be cheap when it comes to luxuries for the next few months. The only reason that I was going to sign up for Directv now was bc of the 'special' that they had.

I signed up for netflix ... for the next few weeks im just going to utilize this for entertainment.

thanks for everyones help.

 

[AnonyMoose]

you can get it through verizon now and you don't need the dish. it works through your current cable line.

 

[Palo Alto Labs]

we dont have verizon service down in south florida... only ATT.. the only option here is cable or a dish.