Back with DirecTV - some observations.

[Jimbo]

Well, after turning D* back on and making my observations, I ended up cancelling D* today and paying the ETF to do so.

Between the screwy recordings because Channels I Get is messed up and the totally ancient UI with all its fiddleyness, I decided that I like Dish much better overall.

I will miss the extra info about shows and the better fast action sports HD differences though...

Maybe going forward the AT&T buyout might get something done about both those issues and I'll revisit if it does.

I'm confused ...
After all the discussions of you thinking about going back, you went back and then cancelled ?
You knew all the details before you signed back up and you did anyways, now your out the ETF .... that bites ... but you knew going in everything ahead of time.

What were you expecting ?

The Channels I get has NEVER worked well, since the beginning, not sure why anyone would even try it, just make a custom list, there would be channels you didn't want in your CIG list anyways.

 

[Jimbo]

If by "industry", you mean the satellite TV industry, you may be right if you limit it to just D* and E*. But, if you are talking about all TV carriers, cable, fiber, and satellite, you are incorrect.

I have both at work, and the difference is negligible for most programming, ranging from barely noticeable to not noticeable, other than fast-motion-sports, as has been noted.

However, FAST motion, stuff should NOT be EXCLUDED.

 

[Jimbo]

That would drive me nuts too, if it was true. But, it's not, at least not with my original series Joey.

This is using a broad brush ... as with both D* and DISH, some people don't have issues with recvrs while others do.

You can't say ALL Joeys are bad (slow) because they aern't, just like you can't say all HR34s are junk, many people have 34's that work great.

Personally, I think as far as recvrs running fast or slow, may have a lot of reasons behind them, one being how many different things you have going on in your system.
The current software they are running on the recvrs also has an effect.

 

[GaryPen]

This is using a broad brush ... as with both D* and DISH, some people don't have issues with recvrs while others do.

You can't say ALL Joeys are bad (slow) because they aern't, just like you can't say all HR34s are junk, many people have 34's that work great.

Personally, I think as far as recvrs running fast or slow, may have a lot of reasons behind them, one being how many different things you have going on in your system.
The current software they are running on the recvrs also has an effect.

Not much going on in my home system. One original Hopper, and one original Joey. Both running latest SW. Both work fine. PQ is great. (I don't watch a ton of sports. But, I have never noticed an issue with hockey or baseball.) The Joey is certainly not too slow to use.

My sister's home D* system is also fine. (She has whole-home, I don't know which models.) I don't see anything horrible in the UI. It certainly looks more modern than the E* VIP receivers, that's for sure.

At work, I don't really see any difference in PQ between the two. We have D* H23's and H24's in one building, and E* 211k's and VIP612's in another. But, it's not the best environment for watching TV. Although, I do often project onto large screens for watching special events. And, again, both carriers look great.

I definitely prefer D*'s SWM wiring method, though.

 

[lparsons21]

I'm confused ...
After all the discussions of you thinking about going back, you went back and then cancelled ?
You knew all the details before you signed back up and you did anyways, now your out the ETF .... that bites ... but you knew going in everything ahead of time.

What were you expecting ?

The Channels I get has NEVER worked well, since the beginning, not sure why anyone would even try it, just make a custom list, there would be channels you didn't want in your CIG list anyways.

OK, a little background. about a year ago I got both services with the intent of keeping one or the other at the one year mark. There was and is lots of things about both services that I like and/or hate. I suspended D* for a few months for some reason I don't actually remember.

Now I started D* back up as the primary and backed E* down to a pretty minimal sub as I still wasn't quite sure which I liked overall. It was that primary useage that showed me I probably wouldn't keep D* going forward. Too fiddly to accomplish what I can with the HWS/SJ setup, primarily because PTAT takes the potential of conflicts pretty much out of the picture.

CIG was and is a big irritant. But not so much that the list itself is purely bogus, but its effects on series links that are not tied to a single channel. THAT is the CIG issue that really sucks. Every day, and I do mean EVERY day I had recordings of crap on channels I don't subscribe to. Taking up space and just irritating the hell out of me every time I saw that crap in the recording list.

Series search and record on 'boxing' and making them all HD gets tons of recordings most of which are on channels I didn't get, or were reruns with bad program descriptions that got recorded. That's with D*.

Same setup for 'boxing' gets me new boxing shows in HD only on channels I really do get.

The other issues are more trivial but just added all up to a system I didn't want going forward.

As to the ETF, well one or the other would have had to be paid since both services were about the 1 year mark. That was already factored in when I set up to have both services.

 

[lparsons21]

However, FAST motion, stuff should NOT be EXCLUDED.

If it was horribly different I would very much agree, but it isn't at that level. D*'s HD PQ with fast action sports is better, just not as much better as many would imply. My sports watching is golf (nothing really fast action there!) and boxing. With Boxing there is plenty in some fights not so much in others, but overall is tolerable.

How good/bad/indifferent it is otherwise is just too close to call to my eyes and my big-A$$ screen!

 

[Jimbo]

If it was horribly different I would very much agree, but it isn't at that level. D*'s HD PQ with fast action sports is better, just not as much better as many would imply. My sports watching is golf (nothing really fast action there!) and boxing. With Boxing there is plenty in some fights not so much in others, but overall is tolerable.

How good/bad/indifferent it is otherwise is just too close to call to my eyes and my big-A$$ screen!

I guess in your viewing, fast motion isn't an issue ...

 

[dishfan82]

I recently had my D* gear turned back on as I wean myself off of having both services. Been using the Hopper/SJ with Dish for quite a few months. Here's some observations, warts and all!

1. The first thing I noted was how much of a step backward the UI is on D*! I've said before that D* missed an ideal opportunity to make a really good UI when they brought out the Genie. Unfortunately they chose not to. The HD GUI is nothing more or less than the old text UI gussied up a little. And also so much wasted space on the screen while in the UI. The day of small screen, non-HD TVs is long gone. This needs a lot of work in the look and feel department.

2. Channels-I-Get - what a mess! It should be 'channels I can get if I want to pay more', because that is much more descriptive of what it actually is. And if all it did was make a fairly meaningless listing, it would be not so much of an issue. But it affects series links and such. I'm seeing lots of recordings of boxing shows on channels I do not get, which is just clutter that has no value. A couple years ago it was noted that D* was 'embarassed' about it, but it seems not enough to actually fix it!

3. 1.5 guide width - again, waste of space for no really good reason

4. EHD support = just a poor way to do it. No archiving, no using what is on it if you have to change out a DVR for any reason. This should have been changed years ago.

Now some good...

1. PQ is noticeably better on fast actions sports, not so much to my eyes otherwise. I like that.

2. Chronological listing of what's on a channel, I really like that, comes in very handy at times.

3. Show info - always did like that D* has the cast and info about them, like upcoming shows or which shows/movies a particular actor is in.

4. The Genie mini remote - I've learned to love it. Once you figger out the quirks it has, it is a really nice remote. Would be nice if it was really programmable, or at least allow for turning on/off an AVR but that's not a big deal to me.

I'd like to see a complete change in the UI's look and feel, but with AT&T buying D*, I'm not sure we'll ever see that. Currently the UI is very old and looks ancient compared to almost any other UI on a cable/sat box, or at least the ones I've seen.

Overall I'm OK with either service, and they both have the channels I watch in HD with the exception of Showtime Extreme being HD on Direct and only SD on Dish.

I don't understand how they can put logos in the banner and have a good looking banner UI but the guide itself just looks outdated with no channel logos. With Dish updating their UI this summer then it'll make the Genie Guide UI even more less appealing.

 

[ejb1980]

I don't understand how they can put logos in the banner and have a good looking banner UI but the guide itself just looks outdated with no channel logos. With Dish updating their UI this summer then it'll make the Genie Guide UI even more less appealing.

This is one of my personal dislikes of the Directv guide. Logos make the guide a lot easier to read. Companies pay a lot of money for branding, the most visible is the logo. Channels you like will stick out because of the logo. A string of a bunch of letters doesn't stick out like a logo.

 

[dishfan82]

Here's observations I've noticed:

1. No EHD option for transferring shows from the Genie to the EHD. Was told when I signed up this was an option to be able to do that.

2. Channels I get: what a complete mess that's all I can say.

3. Genie Guide UI - in need of a massive overhaul. Guide should be totally redesigned with a text option to make it easier to read. Channel logos should be added in the Guide, competition has them and don't get why directv doesn't ?

4. Genie DVR play list- this can greatly be updated. After you view a show and then go back to it later, it's grayed out making it super hard to see when you want to see it again.

5. Client - can't believe how Laggy this client is. I've called directv and they just insist on sending a tech out to fix it but I've told them the tech mentioned there was a little lag but didn't think it would be this bad.

Some good I've noticed

1. Genie HR-44 is super snappy. The guide scrolling and jumping to other areas is really quick.

2 search option for sports - another area that's well done. Can find a live game fast by searching for it by sport, team etc.

Overall their claim that the Genie is the most advanced DVR should be changed because it isn't.

 

[maverick22]

Here's observations I've noticed:

5. Client - can't believe how Laggy this client is. I've called directv and they just insist on sending a tech out to fix it but I've told them the tech mentioned there was a little lag but didn't think it would be this bad.

What is the "client"? Mini Genie? Wireless Genie?

Thanks

 

[dishfan82]

What is the "client"? Mini Genie? Wireless Genie?

Thanks

Mini Genie. It lags enough where I don't like watching tv in the Bedroom.

 

[Jimbo]

Here's observations I've noticed:

1. No EHD option for transferring shows from the Genie to the EHD. Was told when I signed up this was an option to be able to do that.

2. Channels I get: what a complete mess that's all I can say.

3. Genie Guide UI - in need of a massive overhaul. Guide should be totally redesigned with a text option to make it easier to read. Channel logos should be added in the Guide, competition has them and don't get why directv doesn't ?

4. Genie DVR play list- this can greatly be updated. After you view a show and then go back to it later, it's grayed out making it super hard to see when you want to see it again.

5. Client - can't believe how Laggy this client is. I've called directv and they just insist on sending a tech out to fix it but I've told them the tech mentioned there was a little lag but didn't think it would be this bad.

Some good I've noticed

1. Genie HR-44 is super snappy. The guide scrolling and jumping to other areas is really quick.

2 search option for sports - another area that's well done. Can find a live game fast by searching for it by sport, team etc.

Overall their claim that the Genie is the most advanced DVR should be changed because it isn't.

The current Score Guide is terrible.
So much so that I don't use it anymore .... the old one I used all the time.