HD quality: U-verse vs. Dish (any U-verse comments welcome)

[DizBelle]

We're "hearing" that the HD quality with U-verse isn't as good as Dish. Does anyone have any experience with it? Is it different? Is it different enough to make a difference to you?

 

[Micca]

I'd like to know too. U-verse will be available in our area soon and we're thinking of making the switch from cable.

 

[lemondog]

We have HD with U-verse. I guess I don't really have anything to compare it to since we upgraded from regular basic cable and have never had HD before. It looks good to us!

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Actually, we have U-Verse, but don't have the HD package. So I can't help you there.

I do love it though. I've had very little quality issues with it since we got it a year and a half ago. Usually, if there is a problem, they try to fix it asap. There was only once where we were without cable for more than a day or 2. That was only because the power/battery backup that it goes through was friend when lightning struck our house. I had to get a new battery backup and when I got it, it didn't work. So I called them and they were there that afternoon and got everything fixed. We've had one time where we lost cable for 2 days because our dvr died. They couldn't get a tech out for 2 days, but they replaced it. Then upgraded our package for free for 6 months for our troubles.

Cable, phone and internet has gone out very rarely in the last year. When it does, it's usually up and running very soon. Even with storms.

I love being able to have 1 dvr, record any show from any reciever and watch on any other reciever/dvr. And the ability to program the dvr from the internet. My only complaint is that you can't change the start times for the recordings, only the end times.

 

[bicker]

The most common concerns I see expressed about U-Verse is that the service supports only a certain number of television streams per household. So if a couple of your are trying to watch HD programs, while your DVR is trying to record a couple of HD programs, one or more of you are going to be denied. That kind of surprise is something that would never happen with linear cable or satellite service.

I have also read that U-Verse is beginning to ratchet up compression on their HD, so that would make it comparable to cable companies. Other providers, specifically Verizon FiOS and DirecTV (but not Dish Network) explicitly do not over-compress HD, and so if superior picture quality is your main priority, U-Verse is probably not for you. However, if your alternative is Dish Network, you may find that quality is comparable; for some things U-Verse will be better, for other things Dish Network will be better. Dish Network is definitely the low-cost satellite service. If (again) HD quality is a priority, then you should consider DirecTV instead.

 

[Micca]

Thanks for weighing in Bicker, I was hoping you'd find the discussion here.

 

[Karibeth19]

Something else to consider will be availability of certain channels. I have Direct TV, but I have seen scrolls running on several channels saying they are being discontinued by U-Verse, and customers should voice their complaints. Channels such as AMC, WE, and IFC are among those being dropped. It happens all the time that there are contract disputes between channels and providers, and the providers will sometimes drop channels, but right now there seems to be a large number of channels getting ready to be dropped by U-Verse. That's something to think about as you consider which provider to choose.

 

[bicker]

Yes, but that does indeed happen with most providers, at some time or another, and such in-public negotiations are temporary (at least all the major disputs have been temporary, so far). However, if you're aiming to see Mad Men this summer, then perhaps that alone may be enough to hold-off switching to U-Verse until these negotiations are completed.

 

[bicker]

DALLAS, July 14, 2010 – Rainbow Media and its parent company Cablevision are threatening to take AMC, IFC and WE tv channels away from AT&T U-verse(r) TV customers. AT&T* has provided the following statement to update customers on its programming negotiations with Rainbow Media:

We are making every effort to reach a fair agreement and continue providing these channels to our customers. It’s unfortunate that Rainbow Media, owned by Cablevision, is clearly not negotiating in good faith, is trying to charge significantly more than the average of what our TV competitors pay for these channels, and is acting in a way that harms competition and limits consumer choice.

We’ve made numerous proposals to reach a fair resolution before our current contract with Cablevision’s Rainbow Media expires at midnight on July 14. However, Cablevision’s Rainbow Media has rejected each of them, instead making unreasonable proposals that give it an unfair competitive advantage.

We don’t want customers to lose their programming. We’re fighting for a fair deal because our customers deserve the programming they want, at a fair price. We want to reach an agreement that is fair to our subscribers and for all parties.

 

[daughtersrus]

We're "hearing" that the HD quality with U-verse isn't as good as Dish. Does anyone have any experience with it? Is it different? Is it different enough to make a difference to you?

There was similar thread on the Budget Board.

Here's a link if you're interested.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2479843

This was my response.

We looked into getting UVerse a few months ago and decided not to. DH is famous for rewinding live TV. (especially when watching sports). This is not possible with UVerse. The only way to do it is to record every program that you're watching. You can then rewind the recording.

Someone else mentioned lightening. A very good friend of ours had their house hit by lightening a few weeks ago. It blew a hole in the roof (no fire thank God!). The only thing that they lost was everything UVerse related. They lost their phone, internet and everything TV related. AT&T sent a guy out to fix it. After working on it for 2 days, they got it back up running, only to have it go out several more times. AT&T not only charged them for the service calls, they charged them for all of the equipment that was damaged. Of course, our friends are turning it all in to their homeowners insurance but State Farm isn't sure if they'll cover it or not.

Even before this, they weren't too happy about the service and quality plus had a lot of billing problems. AT&T was continuing to bill them for the phone like before plus adding it on again to the UVerse bill. AT&T even threatened to have the phone disconnected for non-payment even though they were paying for the phone service through the UVerse bill.

We decided to stick with Dish Network. They gave us a deal for 24 months to stay so we're happy.

 

[Jeafl]

There was similar thread on the Budget Board.

Here's a link if you're interested.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2479843

This was my response.

We looked into getting UVerse a few months ago and decided not to. DH is famous for rewinding live TV. (especially when watching sports). This is not possible with UVerse. The only way to do it is to record every program that you're watching. You can then rewind the recording.

We have UVerse and we CAN rewind live TV. We used to have Dish Network, but changed to UVerse. Personally, I don't see much difference between them, but my husband does, and he prefers UVerse. However, I am pretty unhappy about them losing AMC, and WE channel. I watched those two all the time.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

We have UVerse and we CAN rewind live TV. We used to have Dish Network, but changed to UVerse. Personally, I don't see much difference between them, but my husband does, and he prefers UVerse. However, I am pretty unhappy about them losing AMC, and WE channel. I watched those two all the time.

I can rewind too. But, only on the dvr. The receiver boxes won't rewind live tv, unfortunately. I'm hoping that will be a feature they add soon. I did like when they changed to be able to record from the reciever boxes, though.

If I know there are times when I'll be interrupted during something I want to watch (on receiver), I'll just hit the record button and then I can rewind and finish watching after I'm done with whatever. I can just delete it after I've finished watching. The tv with the dvr is rarely watched.


I'm sorry for others that UVerse lost those channels. However, I don't care for myself since they're rarely watched in my house. I hate AMC putting all those commercials into movies.
Now if UVerse lost TCM, I'd be upset.

 

[ThisIsJason]

I have Uverse with the HD package, and I love it.

Yes, compared to Dish Network or DirecTV the HD is a little "soft". It is still HD, and still looks amazing. The only place that I have really noticed this is on sports, you might get more microblocking over Dish/DirecTV. But the difference isn't that big enough of a deal for me.

The only thing that might be a problem is how many programs can be recored/watched live. That being four. 2HD/2SD (though some areas it is 3HD/1SD). Is that a big deal breaker? For some people it has been. I don't have a problem with it, seeing it is just my wife and myself right now.

 

[bicker]

After a fair amount of public posturing, AT&T and Rainbow Media Holdings have hammered out a new carriage accord.

...

"We're pleased to have reached an agreement with AT&T for AMC, WE tv, IFC and Sundance Channel that truly recognizes the value of our networks," said Rainbow in a statement. "We look forward to continuing our partnership with AT&T and are excited to continue to bring their subscribers our award-winning programming, including the new season of AMC's Mad Men on Sunday, July 25."

The telco issued its own statement Thursday evening: "We are happy to report that AMC, IFC and WE tv will remain on AT&T U-verse TV. We're very satisfied that we were able to reach the fair deal we wanted for our customers -- one that includes the right content, across platforms, at prices that are in line with the marketplace, and that helps us with important strategic content initiatives. We are very grateful to our customers for their support."