October 13, 2007

• I finally made the switch, no more cable TV for me, no more TiVo for me, it's all Direct TV satellite service now. I spent the majority of this past Friday revolving around Direct TV. Straight from coming home from my graveyard work shift, rearranging rooms to accomodate the installation, the DirectTV guy showing up relatively on time (8:20am), done installing by 11am, spent the rest of the afternoon settting up my channel preferrences (still a lot of channels I don't get to filter out), and then spent the rest of the evening just playing around with the DirectTV service. I'm surprised I was able to stay up the whole day with requiring no sleep, but that's dedication to you right?

  My primary reason for getting DirectTV is to take advantage of the fact that they are the best in getting High Definition content to my HDTV. They really are the best at that, but honestly, besides sports fans out there getting something like the NFL package, there really is no other reason to get Direct TV. There I said it, so you cable TV owners don't have to fret with what you got, because believe me it's not *that* big of a deal. Okay, maybe I am downplaying it a little bit, but the main appeal of watching high definition tv content is that it is more detailed than standard digital cable right? Yes it is more detailed, and in some cases there is a stark positive difference in quality, but the primary relevant appeal is that you get to watch TV taking full and proper advantage of that widescreen format that HDTV uses. That's the trick, the widescreen. Almost all HD feeds are still not in "full quality" 1080P high definition, and most of them are just 480P (DVD quality) upscaled to 720P (HD that starts making a difference). I don't really want to get into too many technical jargon here, but the hype for high definition is honestly only half justified right now.

  In many cases, I actually am already missing my TiVo service. I gotta give them credit for making the DVR experience the best there is, because now that I only have the DirectTV DVR system to go with, I'm missing some key features that TiVo had. TiVo's remote control features are clearly a step above DirectTV's, and some DVR functions aren't as "smooth" as TiVo. The program guide for TiVo is a lot more robust and more promptly detailed too, as I'm actually still waiting for Direct TV to fill in the "gaps" in the schedule for this upcoming Monday and Tuesday that's preventing me of putting some shows on my recording list (TiVo would have had it up two weeks ago!). The simple task of putting my TV on close captioning mode (I use it a lot more than you would think) is also more of a hassle using the DirectTV remote. Admitedly DirectTV and TiVo does have a combo service to go with each other, but I'm not really willing to pay that extra fee.

  Speaking of fees, for those wondering if DirectTV is cheaper than cableTV, it is, and at the same time it isn't. If you get the basic DirectTV service it is cheaper, but there will be a channel or two that you would have gotten with basic digital cable TV that won't be included and that you'll really want. So you are put in a position to get the next level up, which will put you on par with the same price as cable TV, but with more of the channels you want, and a lot more that you never got before (XM radio too). Don't forget that the High Def package is yet another additional price that to me puts it a little above the digital cable TV + TiVo monthly fee. There's also the initial fee of getting the DVRs themselves, which while they record many more hours than TiVo does still has that $300 entry fee per HD-DVR, in addition to the monthly lease of  $6. So I basically am paying more or less the same as I used to, except with more channels and in High Def. I'm not saving money, but I'm getting more for my buck.

  *edit* It has to be mentioned here that I did pay over $600 for initial installation. Yeah, that's a steep price to pay but at that moment I was already in deep of wanting to get Direct TV that I just agreed to the price. It turns out that the initial fee varies between customers based on their credit history, and some people pay as little as $200 for what I got to as much or more than what I paid for. I thought I had a decent credit history, but I didn't think it would cost me an extra $300! It was a credit fee of $300 plus the $300 for the HD-DVR. I didn't know that until I saw the bill online. So keep this in mind if you are considering getting Direct TV. Find out first how much they are charging extra because of your credit history, before agreeing to what Direct TV package "you qualify for."

  To top off my luckluster excitement on what I just got, I didn't realize that the second DirectTV box that I got for the bedroom (HD-DVR went to family room) wasn't even a DVR. I made a mistake in thinking that all their boxes are DVRs and I ended up with one that isn't. I had to pay an extra $100 to order a DVR for the bedroom, because I honestly can't go back to a non-DVR TV watching world. Seriously.

  So buyer's remorse then? eehhh, dunno, because I'm watching an HD feed of a channel that I never got before right now, on a dual-tuner DVR that I never had before. That is what I got DirectTV for, so I think I'll be okay.

  • 10:31 am
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