Thinking about Directv

[ault45]

I am considering getting Directv. I have Time Warner now and am just getting sick of constant service calls. What is the overall impression of D* and how is the reception during inclemant weather? There initial start up costs kind of concern me. how is there customer service and is it easy to make changes to your account. any help would be appreciated. thanks.

[FlyingJ]

Can only speak from my experience, I love my D*, I have for 13 years now, what more can I say.

[jpdublin]

I too love it, the programming is by far the best and IMO the future HD programming will not be matched. I have had it 7 years and will never go back to cable.

[Robbiee19]

I have been with D* since 1999 and love it.

[FlyingJ]

I too love it, the programming is by far the best and IMO the future HD programming will not be matched. I have had it 7 years and will never go back to cable.

JP, get that order in for your HR20, so we can gawk at all of our new channels in about three weeks! Okay, I admit, I liked the HR10-250, okay, maybe I even loved it,(moved it to the bedroom) wait, that didn't sound right:eek: , but I am getting use to the HR20. I am saying this because your signature had the 10-250 on it, so if you have done it already than shut my mouth!

[Robbiee19]

Knew there was something wrong with you FlyingJ! :eek: :D

[Scott]

Not to go too far OT, but D* On Demand coming soon to networked HR20s----Link

[Scott]

ault45, I have had DirecTV for 5 years and despite their business model changes, I have been pleased overall. First to market with an HD TiVo, although it was continues to be plagued with bugs, soon-to-be unmatched HD content, Sunday Ticket, etc.

Startup costs can be high, but I recommend looking into some of the DirecTV boutique shops (like CC & BB) for special deals not offered on through DirecTV on installation and equipment.

As for customer support, their first tier would rank about a 6 out of 10. As with most large companies, it takes some time for information on deals or bug fixes to filter down to tier 1 support and you can ask the same question to 10 different reps and receive 10 different answers.

Tier 2 support I give about a 7 out of 10. They often have more reliable information; however, they only have the power to do so much before passing you along to tier 3. After spending a good amount of time on the phone trying to troubleshoot a hardware issue, tier 3 has the power to send out replacements, issue credits, etc.

Customer retention--you'll have to ask for them, are really good about trying to keep you as a customer. You will find the longer you stay with D*, the more CR reps will be inclined to hook you up with better deals, credits, etc.

[FlyingJ]

Knew there was something wrong with you FlyingJ! :eek: :D

Well, ummmm, errrr.... guilty.

[jpdublin]

FlyingJ: I do have the HR20, just haven't updated my sig, my bad.. even though I do miss the Tivo brand in the DVR, I am slowly getting used to it and it has been about 6 months or so. I will get that changed soon. ouch

[TvPat]

A poster to AVS Forum recently posted that new HD channels were showing up on DirecTV in engineering mode. I don't think these are the final channel numbers, but it gives you an idea of what is coming in a couple of weeks.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11463534 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11463534)

9800 CSTV
9801 FSN Midwest
9802 FSN Bay Area
9803 FSN Houston
9804 Disney Channel
9805 Animal Planet
9806 FSN North
9807 FSN New England
9808 FX
9809 Toon Disney
9810 ESPN News
9811 FSN Northwest
9812 FSN New York
9813 CD USA "The 101"
9814 Cinemax HD
9815 National Georaphic
9816 FSN Pittsburgh
9817 MSG
9818 MTV
9819 HBO West
9820 NBA TV
9821 FSN Rocky Mountain
9822 SportsNet New York
9823 A&E
9824 Starz Edge
9825 NFL Network
9826 FSN South
9827 YES
9828 Starz West
9829 Starz East
9830 NHL
9831 FSN Southwest
9832 Science Channel
9833 History Channel
9834 Showtime West
9835 Outdoor
9836 FSN West
9827 SportsSouth
9838 Discovery
9839 Movie Channel
9840 Tennis Channel
9841 FSN Prime Ticket
9842 Speed
9843 Fuel
9844 HGTV
9845 Spike
9846 Sun Sports
9847 Starz Comedy
9848 Big Ten
9849 CNN
9850 Comcast SportsNet Chicago
9851 FSN Ohio
9852 Sho Too
9853 The Weather Channel
9854 TBS
9855 Cartoon Network
9856 FSN Cincinnati
9857 Starz Kids & Family
9858 Bravo
9859 Comedy Central
9860 Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic
9861 FSN Florida
9862 TLC
9863 CSN West
9864 Versus
9865 MASN/ SportsTime Ohio
9866 Altitude
9867 Cinemax West
9863 Sci-Fi
9869 MHD
9870 FSN Arizona
9871 Chiller/ SAC MNT
9872 ABC Family
9873 USA Network
9874 Nickelodeon East
9875 FSN Detroit
9876 NESN
9877 CNBC
9878 The Food Network
9879 VH1

[nolberg]

Not to go too far OT, but D* On Demand coming soon to networked HR20s----Link
will howard stern's channel Howard TV be on this?

[GenoG]

Well I signed up for DirecTV. I was given the Superfan package once I signed up for the Sunday Ticket, very cool. My only complaint is that installation is not available until October 2nd. Has anyone had any luck when signing up for the cancelled/no show appointment? I want them to call me whenever they have a cancellation. Any tips on getting service installed earlier than quoted?

[ault45]

well i bit the bullet as well and am getting D* installed next monday the 17th. 1 5lnb dish, 1 hr20 dvr, and 2 h20 boxes on the way. I really hope I am happy with it. will the ota antenna that i have that mounts to the dish(clip on) work with directv the same as it did with dish network?

[GenoG]

How did you get installation so quickly? When did you order. I ordered on Sunday night and the earliest was Oct 2nd. I'm frustrated with D* right now already.
well i bit the bullet as well and am getting D* installed next monday the 17th. 1 5lnb dish, 1 hr20 dvr, and 2 h20 boxes on the way. I really hope I am happy with it. will the ota antenna that i have that mounts to the dish(clip on) work with directv the same as it did with dish network?

[snodgrass23]

Here are the planned channels getting turned on next with channel numbers. They willl be the same channel as the current SD one, except with a -1 like the locals. The planned go-live right now is the 19th of this month (September). Obviously, you'll need an MPEG-4 capable receiver to receive the new channels.

A&E HD 265
Big Ten Network HD 220
Cartoon Network 296
Cinemax HD East 512
Cinemax HD West 514
CNN HD 202
ESPNews HD
Food Network HD 231-1
FSN New York HD 624
HBO HD West 504
HGTV-HD 229-1
The History Channel HD 269
Madison Square Garden HD 621
NFL Network HD 212
National Geographic Channel HD 276
Showtime HD West 540
Smithsonian Channel HD 267
Starz Comedy HD 519
Starz Edge HD 522
Starz Kids & Family HD 518
Starz HD East 520
Starz HD West 521
TBS in HD 247
The Movie Channel HD 544
Versus HD / Golf Channel HD 604
The Weather Channel HD 362

[Gimpy McFarlan]

Not to go too far OT, but D* On Demand coming soon to networked HR20s----Link

Cool! :cool: I'm on the fence about upgrading to the HR20 and the on-demand function would be a huge bonus. How do you network connect the HR20? :confused: I downloaded the User Manual from the D* site but it says the USB & RJ45 ports are for future use. :(

[snodgrass23]

Well, today was the day the new channels were supposed to be up. The only info I'm seeing right now is that they ran into some kind of problem and it has been delayed. No news on how long of a delay it will be.

[Scott]

Good luck getting to DBS Talk to find out what the problem is. Looks like they got hit pretty hard from the D* HD crowd. Site has been down all morning.

[Gimpy McFarlan]

Site has been down all morning.

8:11pm and they are still down. :(

[zelig2]

It's back up today. They switched to a load balancing solution across multiple servers in order to handle the extreme load.