A Few Questions about DirecTV from Potential New Customer

[JusJim]

I've been with Dish for a number of years and seriously considering switching to Directv, but I have a few questions first.

If I just go with the HMC HD DVR to begin with, and then decide to add another room later does Directv usually give you the needed HD DVR for free, or would I have to purchase one at that time? We're down to just the wife and I, and we've not turned our TV on in the bedroom in well over a year. We both get up VERY early, and when we head to bed, we are usually ready to sleep, not watch TV.....but who knows what we might want in the future.

In regards to the On Demand service. It says at no extra cost, and in the small print it says to go to diretv.com/entertainment. When you go to that page the first thing you see is in the top right corner it shows if you order 4 movies you get $10.00 back, so I assume I'm misunderstanding the "7,000 On Demand shows and movies at no extra charge"?

The on demand service has to be connected to the internet. Can this be done wirelessly?

 

[SA Holly Springs GA]

I've been with Dish for a number of years and seriously considering switching to Directv, but I have a few questions first.

If I just go with the HMC HD DVR to begin with, and then decide to add another room later does Directv usually give you the needed HD DVR for free, or would I have to purchase one at that time? We're down to just the wife and I, and we've not turned our TV on in the bedroom in well over a year. We both get up VERY early, and when we head to bed, we are usually ready to sleep, not watch TV.....but who knows what we might want in the future.

In regards to the On Demand service. It says at no extra cost, and in the small print it says to go to diretv.com/entertainment. When you go to that page the first thing you see is in the top right corner it shows if you order 4 movies you get $10.00 back, so I assume I'm misunderstanding the "7,000 On Demand shows and movies at no extra charge"?

The on demand service has to be connected to the internet. Can this be done wirelessly?

I'd get the 2nd dvr before installation or the 2nd dvr will be 200 bucks. There are NO deals after Installation!!!!!
The on demand really does give you around 7000 shows and movies at no extra charge.

The on demand can be done wirelessly but I'd prefer the wired version if applicable.

As a retailer we used to charge nothing for the wired version but 50 bucks for wireless.

 

[Kb Cool]

The HMC cost me $129 up front.But,the H25 and HR24 was free! YMMV! The free on demand movies are "NOT" new release movies that you could rent at blockbuster. Those cost money and are PPV. WHat you do get is access to content provided by the channels you subscribe too. Like HBO, Starz ect.....

 

[Coach Knight]

The HMC cost me $129 up front.But,the H25 and HR24 was free! YMMV! The free on demand movies are "NOT" new release movies that you could rent at blockbuster. Those cost money and are PPV. WHat you do get is access to content provided by the channels you subscribe too. Like HBO, Starz ect.....

So that feature is somewhat similar to Dish's Blockbuster streaming then?

 

[Lazy Senior]

Dish's interface for streaming Blockbuster is horrible and nearly unusable unless you have a lot of patience. The Directv interface for streaming is quite good and even the search function is ok. Streaming is a much better experience from Directv.

Yes I have been a customer at both companies recently.

 

[Coach Knight]

Thanks, Lazy Senior. I just wanted to try to verify if it was a similar setup in terms of the types of movies/shows you can watch on demand. I totally agree the Dish interface is terrible, at least on my 722s. I am also considering the move, just like the OP, so I wanted to ask for that clarification. Thank you again.

 

[Lazy Senior]

Thanks, Lazy Senior. I just wanted to try to verify if it was a similar setup in terms of the types of movies/shows you can watch on demand.

Yes, very similar content, free content from Channels you subscribe to. The content that costs $$$ are PPV streaming.

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

I had 3 rooms installed, and then added my own customer owned dvr (r22, so it was hd) on the same day, it does extend your contract, but since i added it on the day of install it was the same. Im down to just my HR24 and R22 because I really only watch two tvs, and my promo;s are ending. I sent 1 box back, and the other is in my closet, thinking about sending it back as it costs me 6/month. I do reconsider that thought alot, because if i ever want the box again, im going to have to pay to have it installed, AND sign another two years. Kinda sucks. I usually get around the upgrade fees by buying owned equipment off ebay, just verify the rids and cards with dtv first. that way when you take it off you can keep it. altho adding it back on will just renew you again.. Someone correct me if im wrong, but im pretty sure Im not.

 

[raoul5788]

I had 3 rooms installed, and then added my own customer owned dvr (r22, so it was hd) on the same day, it does extend your contract, but since i added it on the day of install it was the same. Im down to just my HR24 and R22 because I really only watch two tvs, and my promo;s are ending. I sent 1 box back, and the other is in my closet, thinking about sending it back as it costs me 6/month. I do reconsider that thought alot, because if i ever want the box again, im going to have to pay to have it installed, AND sign another two years. Kinda sucks. I usually get around the upgrade fees by buying owned equipment off ebay, just verify the rids and cards with dtv first. that way when you take it off you can keep it. altho adding it back on will just renew you again.. Someone correct me if im wrong, but im pretty sure Im not.

You are right about getting owned equipment, but when you add it to your account it shouldn't extend or start a commitment.

 

[JusJim]

Thanks for all the responses so far. Just a couple of other questions. With (my current) Dish setup I have two "actual" dishes. Both obviously point south with one pointing kind of southwest and one pointing more southeast. The one pointing SW still has a good clear view while the one pointing SE appears to have a tree that could be growing tall enough to be "in the way" a bit. We've noticed a bit of "pixelating" on some of the shows on the network channels occasionally....maybe this "tree" is the problem.

Anyhow which one of these most closely mimics which direction the Directv satellite points?

Secondly do the major networks offer their shows on the "on demand" service? If so is it just the current year, or do they go back a few years?

 

[raoul5788]

In between them actually. The Directv dishes point at 101 and also pick up 99 and 103. The Dish dishes point to 114.5 and 61.5, IIRC.

 

[ejb1980]

NBC and ABC are the only English broadcast networks with on-demand. From what I can see, it's only current-year. Despite Fox's occasional mentions of Fox On-Demand, I personally know of no provider with it. There is also Univision On-Demand.

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

your pretty sure on the owned not extending commitment, i called directv a few times and everyone has said activating any box, owned or leased will extend the commitment. strange...

 

[raoul5788]

I may be remembering it wrong. Perhaps Stonecold will chime in and give us the straight poop.

 

[JusJim]

Another couple of questions. Are the programs/movies that you download from the on demand service still available if you cancel the service in which the program came from. For instance when you sign up you get the premium channels free for 3 months. If I understand it, you can go to the on demand service and there will be movies from (for instance) HBO from maybe a few months ago. If we download a movie and then we cancel the HBO is that movie still available on our DVR?

Also, when I signed up last night I noticed that there was an $8.00 charge added to our upfront costs that was called a "user tax". This isn't something that's going to end up being added each month is it?