Anyone have Direct TV and can explaint pros/cons?

[RadioFanatic]

We have timewarner cable right now and pay $175 a month for interenet/cable/dvr.

We got an ad in the paper saying 150 channels, 2 free dvrs and hd receivers, free install up to 4 rooms for $29.99/month for a year and save $16/month second year. Bc I hate paying as much as we do, I'm thinking about it, but would like unbiased views bc obviously the company won't give it to me.

1. What's the normal cost? meaning how much would i be paying the second year if the deal is only $16 less vs. the $29.99.
2. anyone able to get them down after contract? would i be able to get them down in second year of this contract?
3. they don't have internet, correct? what do you do for internet and how much do you pay for it?
4. is it as good as cable?
and any other opinions would be appreciated too!

 

[sam_gordon]

1) For more in depth details, go to http://www.satelliteguys.us.
2) As far as "normal cost", I'd go to their website. A normal cost is going to depend on level of service (# of channels, # of receivers, HD/SD)
3) Speaking of cost, I'm wondering if the cost you quoted is for SD service only. That may not matter to you, but if you have an HDTV, you don't want SD service only.
4) I HIGHLY doubt you'll be able to renogotiate the contract in the 2nd year. Why should they? YOU signed the contract. If you try to bail out early, they'll hit you with early termination fees.
5) I would not use internet from a satellite company. I have DSL from our phone company (yes, we still have a landline).
6) Satellite is generally better than cable, unless it's Verizon's FIOS (which uses fiber).
7) Other notes: you'll need a clear line of site to the south. Tall tress could interefere.
8) Heavy rain/snow could affect performance down the road. If you are in the snow belt, I suggest having the dish mounted where you can access it to clear off snow (even if you use a broom).
9) Outages on satellite are usually limited to <5 minutes, although heavy storms can knock you out for 30 minutes. Unlike cable where if a line get broken, you could be out for days.

Hope this helps.

 

[bicker]

Just a note about #6 and #9

Regarding #6, I switched from Comcast to FiOS. The Internet service is much much better. The television service is not - not because FiOS isn't good, but simply because Comcast was so good, here in my area, that it wouldn't be reasonable to expect any television service, not even FiOS, to be any better. They are both "practically perfect".

And that brings me to the issue with #9. While #9 is true, in many areas cable outages are substantially less frequent than satellite outages. It is all a matter of how new, how well-designed, and how well-maintained the cable system is.

 

[HM]

Depending on your needs you may end up paying close to the same amount you are currently paying after the promotional time is over. We just finished a two year stint with Direct TV, which we liked very much but just our satellite bill was over $150 by the time the two years was up (we still had TW internet and Frontier phone). We just changed back to TWC for cable, phone, and internet for a start up of $136 which will go up to around $170 for everything after the three month promotion. With TWC we aren't locked into a contract.

Just so you know- We have 2 HD DVRs and one other cable box currently. With Direct we had one HD DVR, one regular DVR and two other boxes. We got a discount for direct pay using our CC each month. With both we chose a tier that did not include HBO or any similar channels.

The $29.99 is a real nice come-on, but it's not the reality for most people with what they want in in thier house. All the boxes and DVRs and additional channels add up to quite a bit more.

Good luck deciding what to do.

 

[DawnM]

You get free installation, but not free receiver service per month.

If you want DVR service, add $7/mo. Each receiver (DVR or not) will be an additional $10/mo.

I am not sure if HD will be included in your package or not, if not, add $10 for HD service.

Which programming package is included in the $29/mo. fee?

We currently pay $105 for Directv. We started out paying $65, then it went up to $75, then $85.......now this last bill was $105! We have the Total Choice Plus with HD and DVR service. We have 3 TVs.

Our contract is up next month.....we are ditching it completely. They would have to lower it back to $65/mo to get us to stay. We are just DONE.

Right now we pay:

$105- Directv
$43- RoadRunner Cable modem for Computer
$0- Ooma phone service (initially $199 but no cost now)

If we get rid of Directv, we are moving to HuluPlus and Netflix for less than $20/mo! We will keep our RR cable as we need internet.

Dawn

We have timewarner cable right now and pay $175 a month for interenet/cable/dvr.

We got an ad in the paper saying 150 channels, 2 free dvrs and hd receivers, free install up to 4 rooms for $29.99/month for a year and save $16/month second year. Bc I hate paying as much as we do, I'm thinking about it, but would like unbiased views bc obviously the company won't give it to me.

1. What's the normal cost? meaning how much would i be paying the second year if the deal is only $16 less vs. the $29.99.
2. anyone able to get them down after contract? would i be able to get them down in second year of this contract?
3. they don't have internet, correct? what do you do for internet and how much do you pay for it?
4. is it as good as cable?
and any other opinions would be appreciated too!

 

[BCV2003]

I love my DirecTV Service. They have been my provider for about 12 years now.

1) I currently pay $90/month for service on 4 TVs with HD & DVR
2) I call about once a year and ask them about any deals and they are usually willing to work with me and take anywhere from $10-$20 off my bill for a certain period of time. My bills were in the $70 something range so I need to call again. I approach it from the aspect of I know you have lots of specials for new customers but what are you willing to do to keep me.
3) I use Comcast for my Internet service and pay $37/month for that.
4) To me it is better than cable

As far as my service goes. It is far more reliable than my Comcast Cable service ever was. I have only lost service once in all of those years and not for longer than an hour or so but maybe I'm just lucky. I've never lost service during heavy rains or even when we got 2 feet of snow.

 

[ICF]

You get free installation, but not free receiver service per month.

If you want DVR service, add $7/mo. Each receiver (DVR or not) will be an additional $10/mo.

You do get 1 free receiver a month and the 2nd and subsequent receivers are $6 / mo - per their website.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/new_customer/base_packages.jsp?#_h

My package - which I dont think is offered any longer - includes DVR service in the package costs and is not extra.

I currently pay -- a base fee of $79.99 + $10 for two extra receivers (all 3 are HD and 2 are DVR's). There is no DVR fee and I called about 6 months ago and they offered me free HD for 2 years - since Dish Network had a similar promo going.

You can also get a $10 mo credit for 2 years - new custs only - by calling a special AAA # and another $5 / mo if bundled with ATT service.

My total bill after all credits -- and including the HBO/Cinemax pacakges was just under $84. Next biling cycle it looks will go up $10 as my AAA discount will drop off.

I've had them for 2 years and been very happy with them. Signal drop outs are rare (assuming you have a good line of sight) and usually last a couple of mins at most during very hard storms. If it goes out often, you likely had a poor install or issues with your equipment.

 

[badblackpug]

I love my DirecTV! We switched from comcast cable. We paid $98 a month for basic cable and DVR on 2 TVs and HD on all of them (4) Outages are rare. It seemed my cable went out in every electric storm. I also had HUGE customer service issues with comcast. I have never had any costumer service issues with DirecTV.

 

[Nayan]

Please note that you may be hit up with a 'lease fee' of up to $300 if your credit isn't what they deem good enough. And that you will have to pay that up front! It was a big reason I didn't sign with them.

 

[Mrs. Bob Loblaw]

DirecTV screwed me over once - basically what happened is I had to HDDVRs in my home and there was a known issue that often one HDDVR would get interrupted service because of the other. There was no resolution to the problem, so it could not be fixed, but they expected me to continue paying for service that was inadequate and would not let me out of my contract. They weren't providing the service I signed up for, so it was very frustrating.

Stupidly, after I moved to Philadelphia a couple months ago, my husband and I decided to try them again. We ordered it with Fios internet, but when we moved in, we were given DSL (not DirecTV's fault). Because we could not get the fast internet we required, we decided to go with Comcast and canceled services. We canceled DirecTV within a week, but they called us back and said we could try it for free for 30 days. We said ok since we didn't have cable yet. 2 weeks later, we decided we definitely didn't want to stay with DirecTV and we called to cancel. They said that by agreeing to try it out for 30 days, we committed ourselves to a 2 year contract!! We were never told this on the phone, it was nowhere in writing, and we were shocked that a free trial was really a binding contract! The cancellation fee was something like $300. So beware if you go with them. They are as shady as it gets. I did some searching and this has been done to tons of people, it's awful!