jump over to Direct TV?? - Blu-ray Forum

Jutty · 08-19-2014, 02:31 PM

Just really looking for some advice / opinions..
At the moment we have our cable / internet with Hargray. and for a 30 meg connection plus our basic cable with premier digital( which is only about 60 channels) our bill is now going to be over $200.

My only option would be to go with DirectTV ( partnered with CenutryLink for internet).
Now the price for direct TV bundle would be $142,94 for 12 months then it would go up to $179.00
The internet connection would drop down to 25 meg,but it does have the Ultimate channel bundle.

How good is direct TV? is it worth the change?, also have been reading some negative reviews..

R3P0 · 08-19-2014, 02:45 PM

DirecTV is expensive as well but there video packages are bar non the best quality out there. I recently left them as after 8 years my bill went up just way to high and I could no longer get any discounts from them to drop the bill. If you are a sports fan you will love there options for sporting events.

DirecTV will require you to sign a 2 year contract. They also charge like 7 dollars per additional box, 10 Dollars for HD plus an additional, 8 Dollars for DVR service, if you want total home DVR that is another 3 dollars. They are also a pain in the ass to upgrade equipment from they actually charge you to rent the boxes and they charge you like 100 dollars per upgraded box as well.

As for the internet you really will never need anything more then 25mb down in all honesty unless your big into downloading and uploading. Personally I never dealt with DirecTV customer service reps they are horrible, I always called the Office of the president directly for any and all service issues I had.

Jutty · 08-19-2014, 02:52 PM

the Quote i got from direct TV people is that 2 mini genie boxes plus the genie HD/DVR would all be included in the price of 72.99 ( for the first 12months) then it would go up to the 81.99.

Century link would be 69.95 for 25 meg connection.

Actually just got off the live chat with Hargray and they said that i could drop my primer digital package ( losing 62 channels ) and she would add a 10 promo discount which would bring my bill to about 166 plus tax.

movielib · 08-19-2014, 06:17 PM

I have had Directv for almost 1.5 years and I am mostly happy with them. I have it only for TV (I still have internet and phone with Charter where I used to have TV).

If you are getting the Genie be sure to insist on an HR44 DVR main unit. We originally had the first Genie, the HR34. The HR34 had been rushed to market before it was really ready and was followed by the greatly improved HR44 only about six months later. We started having big trouble a few weeks ago (after many minor issues). It deteriorated fast and completely crapped out on the weekend of August 2. Because of their schedule and ours, I couldn't get it fixed until August 8.

As we were having minor problems with the HR34 (glitches, dropouts freezing) I had asked a few months ago if we could upgrade to the HR44 and they said, sure, for $300. Or I could wait until our 2 year contract was up. Only if I were having major problems would we be able to get the upgrade for free earlier. The problems at that time weren't what I could call major so I would have to wait. Then the problems did get major. So major the DVR became unusable. We were essentially without TV.

Even then, when I called and made an appointment and asked for an HR44 replacement, I was told they couldn't put in an order for the specific unit. If the technician had it on his truck we could get it but there was no guarantee he would. Well, when he came he did have it so we were able to get it.

During this whole ordeal, I talked to two CRs. Both were as helpful as could be but they were constrained by company policies. The technician who fixed our system was also excellent but he too was constrained. Fortunately he had the HR44 for us. If he hadn't I would have had to reschedule to get one. He told us they were no longer manufacturing HR34s but they were refurbishing them and sending them back out.

We were lucky in that I was able to rerecord every show we missed while we were down, either through rebroadcasts or on demand. But that cannot always be done.

If you go with Directv (and I'm still mostly happy with it, far more than I was with Charter) do not accept an HR34. It's a piece of junk and I can only expect refurbished units to be even worse.

In addition, the HR44 is much faster than the sluggish, slow to respond HR34.

But the Genie system with the HR44 is great. You can record five shows in HD at once in four different rooms (which you could do with the HR34). With Charter we could record only two and the capacity of the DVR was only a tiny fraction of the Genie. Of course, when it rains hard all bets are off.

Jutty · 08-23-2014, 12:54 PM

Thanks for the input guys,, Went to my cable provider and told them i wanted to cancel my services,and they dropped $45 off my monthly bill... now thats customer service

Also didn't have a good enough line of sight for DirecTV,,a few branches needed to be moved ( not a major obstacle )... was looking forward to direcTV.. but with 45 off my bill,im not gonna complain.

shanedalton · 08-23-2014, 06:09 PM

Sounds like you're going to stay with cable, but still wanted to throw this out there...

If you have cable Internet and ever think of going to a satellite based Internet, STOP! Satellite based Internet is basically for people who have no other choice than dial up. You'll get great speeds, but more often than not you'll have very bad usage limits...like 10 GB a month bad for $60.

If you think about switching from Cable to satellite (either Direct or Dish) for TV, that's one thing, but NEVER switch from Cable to Satellite for Internet. When I worked for Dish, anytime a customer asked about our Internet package, my first response was always "what else do you have available in your area?"

movielib · 08-23-2014, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shanedalton

Sounds like you're going to stay with cable, but still wanted to throw this out there...

If you have cable Internet and ever think of going to a satellite based Internet, STOP! Satellite based Internet is basically for people who have no other choice than dial up. You'll get great speeds, but more often than not you'll have very bad usage limits...like 10 GB a month bad for $60.

If you think about switching from Cable to satellite (either Direct or Dish) for TV, that's one thing, but NEVER switch from Cable to Satellite for Internet. When I worked for Dish, anytime a customer asked about our Internet package, my first response was always "what else do you have available in your area?"

Yeah, that's why I stuck with Charter for internet and phone as I said in Post #4.

08-19-2014, 02:31 PM	#1
Jutty Power Member Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Beaufort SC (British Expat) 4K collection:253 Blu-ray collection:1273 DVD collection:46 MA collection:2 Digital collection:1033 iTunes collection:79 Trading Score:22	jump over to Direct TV?? Just really looking for some advice / opinions.. At the moment we have our cable / internet with Hargray. and for a 30 meg connection plus our basic cable with premier digital( which is only about 60 channels) our bill is now going to be over $200. My only option would be to go with DirectTV ( partnered with CenutryLink for internet). Now the price for direct TV bundle would be $142,94 for 12 months then it would go up to $179.00 The internet connection would drop down to 25 meg,but it does have the Ultimate channel bundle. How good is direct TV? is it worth the change?, also have been reading some negative reviews..

08-19-2014, 02:45 PM	#2
R3P0 Blu-ray Duke Member since:Jun 2008 Blu-ray collection:46 Trading Score:1	DirecTV is expensive as well but there video packages are bar non the best quality out there. I recently left them as after 8 years my bill went up just way to high and I could no longer get any discounts from them to drop the bill. If you are a sports fan you will love there options for sporting events. DirecTV will require you to sign a 2 year contract. They also charge like 7 dollars per additional box, 10 Dollars for HD plus an additional, 8 Dollars for DVR service, if you want total home DVR that is another 3 dollars. They are also a pain in the ass to upgrade equipment from they actually charge you to rent the boxes and they charge you like 100 dollars per upgraded box as well. As for the internet you really will never need anything more then 25mb down in all honesty unless your big into downloading and uploading. Personally I never dealt with DirecTV customer service reps they are horrible, I always called the Office of the president directly for any and all service issues I had.

08-19-2014, 02:52 PM	#3
Jutty Power Member Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Beaufort SC (British Expat) 4K collection:253 Blu-ray collection:1273 DVD collection:46 MA collection:2 Digital collection:1033 iTunes collection:79 Trading Score:22	the Quote i got from direct TV people is that 2 mini genie boxes plus the genie HD/DVR would all be included in the price of 72.99 ( for the first 12months) then it would go up to the 81.99. Century link would be 69.95 for 25 meg connection. Actually just got off the live chat with Hargray and they said that i could drop my primer digital package ( losing 62 channels ) and she would add a 10 promo discount which would bring my bill to about 166 plus tax.

08-19-2014, 06:17 PM	#4
movielib Blu-ray Guru Member since:Dec 2008 Location:Madison, WI	I have had Directv for almost 1.5 years and I am mostly happy with them. I have it only for TV (I still have internet and phone with Charter where I used to have TV). If you are getting the Genie be sure to insist on an HR44 DVR main unit. We originally had the first Genie, the HR34. The HR34 had been rushed to market before it was really ready and was followed by the greatly improved HR44 only about six months later. We started having big trouble a few weeks ago (after many minor issues). It deteriorated fast and completely crapped out on the weekend of August 2. Because of their schedule and ours, I couldn't get it fixed until August 8. As we were having minor problems with the HR34 (glitches, dropouts freezing) I had asked a few months ago if we could upgrade to the HR44 and they said, sure, for $300. Or I could wait until our 2 year contract was up. Only if I were having major problems would we be able to get the upgrade for free earlier. The problems at that time weren't what I could call major so I would have to wait. Then the problems did get major. So major the DVR became unusable. We were essentially without TV. Even then, when I called and made an appointment and asked for an HR44 replacement, I was told they couldn't put in an order for the specific unit. If the technician had it on his truck we could get it but there was no guarantee he would. Well, when he came he did have it so we were able to get it. During this whole ordeal, I talked to two CRs. Both were as helpful as could be but they were constrained by company policies. The technician who fixed our system was also excellent but he too was constrained. Fortunately he had the HR44 for us. If he hadn't I would have had to reschedule to get one. He told us they were no longer manufacturing HR34s but they were refurbishing them and sending them back out. We were lucky in that I was able to rerecord every show we missed while we were down, either through rebroadcasts or on demand. But that cannot always be done. If you go with Directv (and I'm still mostly happy with it, far more than I was with Charter) do not accept an HR34. It's a piece of junk and I can only expect refurbished units to be even worse. In addition, the HR44 is much faster than the sluggish, slow to respond HR34. But the Genie system with the HR44 is great. You can record five shows in HD at once in four different rooms (which you could do with the HR34). With Charter we could record only two and the capacity of the DVR was only a tiny fraction of the Genie. Of course, when it rains hard all bets are off. Last edited by movielib; 08-19-2014 at 06:21 PM.

08-23-2014, 12:54 PM	#5
Jutty Power Member Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Beaufort SC (British Expat) 4K collection:253 Blu-ray collection:1273 DVD collection:46 MA collection:2 Digital collection:1033 iTunes collection:79 Trading Score:22	Thanks for the input guys,, Went to my cable provider and told them i wanted to cancel my services,and they dropped $45 off my monthly bill... now thats customer service Also didn't have a good enough line of sight for DirecTV,,a few branches needed to be moved ( not a major obstacle )... was looking forward to direcTV.. but with 45 off my bill,im not gonna complain.

08-23-2014, 06:09 PM	#6
shanedalton Member Member since:Dec 2009 Location:Pearisburg, VA 4K collection:6 Blu-ray collection:625	Sounds like you're going to stay with cable, but still wanted to throw this out there... If you have cable Internet and ever think of going to a satellite based Internet, STOP! Satellite based Internet is basically for people who have no other choice than dial up. You'll get great speeds, but more often than not you'll have very bad usage limits...like 10 GB a month bad for $60. If you think about switching from Cable to satellite (either Direct or Dish) for TV, that's one thing, but NEVER switch from Cable to Satellite for Internet. When I worked for Dish, anytime a customer asked about our Internet package, my first response was always "what else do you have available in your area?"

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