Comment My DirecTV Notes (Score 1) 1218
I've had DirecTV for about two years now in the suburban Maryland / Washington DC Metropolian region. My roommates have comcast land-line cable via the local comcast franchise. So I've seen both and I'll report on my experiences.
1) Picture quality. I consider the picture quality of my DirecTV system and my roommate's comcast digital cable to be about the same. 98% of the time the picture is excellent and I'm impressed with the sharpness and colors on my Sony 27" Triniton. The other 2% of the time the broadcast provided to DirecTV by the supplier (such as TBS Superstation) is low-quality and pixellation and color problems are noticeable. Note that I can see the same problems with either digital cable or DirecTV when the supplied programming is low-quality. For things like HBO original content, the picture quality is excellent!
2) Viewing Experience: I have two DirecTivo units -- Tivos designed specifically for DirecTV satellite signals -- and I couldn't be happier. The combination being able to easily navigate channels, automatically record my favorite shows, record two shows while watching a third and suggest programs to Tivo that it will record onto unused disk space is a joy. I don't watch commercials anymore and I watch what I want when I want. This means sitcoms take about 22 minutes to watch when I skip the commercials, and I can watch West Wing with 2-3 clicks of a remote control while I'm eating breakfast the morning after it's aired. With my two DirecTivos, that's four tuners available at one time and about 200 hours of available on-demand programming.
3) Cost and Reliability: My DirecTV service costs about $39 a month for basic service and local channels re-broadcast through the satellite dish. I add another $12 for HBO and that's much lower than my roommate's would pay for the same service with comcast. I get a better experience at a lower price. I haven't had ANY downtime with my Tivos or my DirecTV service -- I experience none of the disruption others have complained about during rain or snow.
4) Comparison to cable: While I've had consistent good experiences with DirecTV, my roommates suffer the pains of our local comcast franchise. Perhaps our local company is not as good as others, but I have observed them going through week-long periods of having to call the cable company and fight their way through to clueful people in order to resolve problems with service. We have a long history of our house of bad experiences with comcast and it hasn't gotten any better.
I definitely recommend DirecTV -- especially WITH DirecTivo-style Tivo service -- to anyone that asks. Other than the price break you may receive with a land line cable tv + cable internet + phone package, I can't see why anyone would not want the DirecTV setup I have :)
Disclaimer: I'm an honest guy -- I receive no kickbacks, funds, bribes or other compensation from DirecTV. I'm worried about Rupert Murdoch owning DirecTV and things might not be as good in the future, but I'm happy with them enough to recommend them right now!
1) Picture quality. I consider the picture quality of my DirecTV system and my roommate's comcast digital cable to be about the same. 98% of the time the picture is excellent and I'm impressed with the sharpness and colors on my Sony 27" Triniton. The other 2% of the time the broadcast provided to DirecTV by the supplier (such as TBS Superstation) is low-quality and pixellation and color problems are noticeable. Note that I can see the same problems with either digital cable or DirecTV when the supplied programming is low-quality. For things like HBO original content, the picture quality is excellent!
2) Viewing Experience: I have two DirecTivo units -- Tivos designed specifically for DirecTV satellite signals -- and I couldn't be happier. The combination being able to easily navigate channels, automatically record my favorite shows, record two shows while watching a third and suggest programs to Tivo that it will record onto unused disk space is a joy. I don't watch commercials anymore and I watch what I want when I want. This means sitcoms take about 22 minutes to watch when I skip the commercials, and I can watch West Wing with 2-3 clicks of a remote control while I'm eating breakfast the morning after it's aired. With my two DirecTivos, that's four tuners available at one time and about 200 hours of available on-demand programming.
3) Cost and Reliability: My DirecTV service costs about $39 a month for basic service and local channels re-broadcast through the satellite dish. I add another $12 for HBO and that's much lower than my roommate's would pay for the same service with comcast. I get a better experience at a lower price. I haven't had ANY downtime with my Tivos or my DirecTV service -- I experience none of the disruption others have complained about during rain or snow.
4) Comparison to cable: While I've had consistent good experiences with DirecTV, my roommates suffer the pains of our local comcast franchise. Perhaps our local company is not as good as others, but I have observed them going through week-long periods of having to call the cable company and fight their way through to clueful people in order to resolve problems with service. We have a long history of our house of bad experiences with comcast and it hasn't gotten any better.
I definitely recommend DirecTV -- especially WITH DirecTivo-style Tivo service -- to anyone that asks. Other than the price break you may receive with a land line cable tv + cable internet + phone package, I can't see why anyone would not want the DirecTV setup I have
Disclaimer: I'm an honest guy -- I receive no kickbacks, funds, bribes or other compensation from DirecTV. I'm worried about Rupert Murdoch owning DirecTV and things might not be as good in the future, but I'm happy with them enough to recommend them right now!
