Welcome to the forum SonicRob. I'll see if I can answer some of your questions. And congratulations on the new projector!
First off, let me say that it is a VERY good idea to begin your research now in order to make your Voom vs. Direct decision in February. Just keep in mind that a lot of things could change between now and February. So let's address 4 items here: Content, Equipment, Billing, and Future.
Content: No question about it, if HD is your thing, Voom has more than D*. The Voom exclusives get bashed a lot for repeating the programming, but there is some good content. Voom's movie channels play most older movies, but there are always a few good ones. Direct has HDNet and HDNet Movies (2 channels) that Voom does not have. Voom has Starz and Cinemax in HD, and Direct does not. Direct has a wider selection of SD channels, and they have sports packages like NFL Sunday Ticket. Direct has pay per view movies and Voom currently does not.
Equipment: You expressed interest in a DVR, and Voom is reported to be working on one, but details are limited. Two of those details are the price, and whether or not you have to buy it, or rent it. Direct has the HD Tivo, but it costs $1000 retail (you can get 10% off at Value Electronics if you mention that you are a member of this forum). The HD Tivo unit is reported to be a superior HD receiver, but there have been some problems reported with the HDMI port. Most posts on the HD Tivo have been very positive. Voom's current STB is made by Motorola. You will see a lot of negative comment about this box. Speaking from personal experience, my STB has been operating since January 2004 without any of the problems that some others have posted about. As Voom customers, a lot of us are waiting for the DVR, which is rumored to be 'close', but we have no details on when, or how much it will be.
Billing: Since Voom is my sole provider, I can't really comment about billing from DirecTV. Billing from Voom has had a lot of problems. If you read the threads in the forum related to billing, there are many stories of overcharging, people being billed after they terminate the service, and one guy even got cut off when he wanted to pay by check instead of credit card. Again--from personal experience, I haven't had a problem. Voom sends me a paper bill, and I send them a check. I would say truthfully that Voom really needs to get their accounting practices in order, but there are some of us who have not had the billing problems that others have encountered.
Future: DirecTV has promised to add 'a lot' more HD by May 2005. They have scheduled the launch of additional satellites in 2005 and again in 2007. Voom has made announcements about new equipment, to include the DVR and an elliptical dish to pull signals from it's current satellite and a new satellite that was reported to be leased as of 10/1/2004. We don't have any solid information about the new satellite or the implementation of the elliptical dish. There have also been rumors of Voom getting bought out or taken over, but again, no details. All DBS companies tend to make a lot of promises, so one important factor to consider is how well do they follow through on what they promise.
Good luck on your decision making process. You have found a great source of information in coming to satelliteguys.us. Just about any questions you have can be answered here. There are a lot of experienced people in here willing to help and to offer opinions.
