So I've been with D* for a bit now and love the service for the most part. Recently decided to move and the HOA we are moving into has a bulk deal with Comcast. Checked out the pricing and it works out like this:
30mbs internet and the equivalent to D*'s Ultimate (Essentially everything except HBO, Max, Show and Starz).
Total $67 per month without taxes including HD for everything. Amazing pricing.
Obviously as a bulk account our HOA dues cover a good bit more but that would be a sunk cost regardless of who we are with. Dues work out to $217 a month and include lawn care, pest control, water / sewer, trash pick up, expanded basic cable (75 stations or so), gated / guarded community and the pools / Basket ball / tennis / mini golf etc. Not a bad deal really.
Anyway,
Let me chronicle my experience:
Contact Comcast on April 10th and get the pricing for the new place. Can't really beat the price so we set up our account to start on May 1st.
April 20th contacted D* to cancel. We already had a lot of credits so there wasn't much more they could do. Told them we loved the service and may be back sometime and thanked them for their time.
April 21st, got on Ebay and picked up a code for steep Tivo discount. Purchased Tivo that night w/ lifetime.
April 23rd, Tivo comes in. Update it to the newest software. Put it back in the box.
May 1st, move to new address. Set up modem for internet and call in to get the MAC address added to the new account. They can't see the modem and I can't sync up to the net. Schedule a tech for May 7th which really pissed me off.
May 7th, Tech shows up. Nice guy. Ran a new drop to the Comcast box. SNR is high so they put a powered amplifier on the line. Net is mediocre at best compared to our old address but its good enough. Only getting 15mbs of the advertised 30 but DSL would be crappier so I'll live with it.
Tech leaves. I break out the tivo. Hook everything up. Call the cable card dept.
Got some idiot on the phone who tries to enter everything in the system. Tells me that the cable card is listed as a cable box and there is an inventory problem and she couldn't activate the account. I'm fairly pissed but convince her to pass on the truck roll and try to add the info anyway. She insists it will not work but I insist she tries.
Adds the cable card numbers to the account. Sends activation signal. TV is up and running. I thank her for trying my suggestion and she was polite enough to apologize that she didn't want to try in the first place.
Comcast vs Diretv:
Picture quality is about a wash. They are both excellent. I have them both up now and for the most part they are identical. Comcast just got done with a huge upgrade in this area last year so I'm not surprised. D* turns off tomorrow and I'm going to disconnect it tonight.
Tivo Roamio vs HR24. No comparison. The roamio is simply faster at everything. The guide shows more and everything is faster. Much less the extra tuners. Tivo still needs to address some of the SD menus but other wise no comparison. D* has the Hr44 which is a nice box but the Roamio is an amazing box. Nothing like the old premiere. If you are on cable then its the only way to go IMO. I wish satellite companies didn't receive a cable card exemption.
Comcast on demand is much better than D*'s.
I was used to the guide layout on D* so I might be biased but I think their channel layout is better than Comcast's although I'll get used to it.
Living in SE FL I won't miss the D* rain fade. We'll see if Comcast has any reliability issues as time goes on.
I think D* has better phone support than Comcast.
Anyway I post this not to pee in anyone's cheerios. Just sharing my experience and I'm sure at some point we will be back with D*. However for now, there is no comparison in what we are getting for the money and I was pleasantly surprised with Comcast's picture quality and the new Tivo's performance. Sure it was a good bit of money out of pocket but I would of had to fork over some $$ for a HR44 for D* and I like having the option to buy lifetime on the Tivo and not get nickled and dimed to death monthly for years and years.
D* has been good to us and I'm sure at some point we will be customers again.
30mbs internet and the equivalent to D*'s Ultimate (Essentially everything except HBO, Max, Show and Starz).
Total $67 per month without taxes including HD for everything. Amazing pricing.
Obviously as a bulk account our HOA dues cover a good bit more but that would be a sunk cost regardless of who we are with. Dues work out to $217 a month and include lawn care, pest control, water / sewer, trash pick up, expanded basic cable (75 stations or so), gated / guarded community and the pools / Basket ball / tennis / mini golf etc. Not a bad deal really.
Anyway,
Let me chronicle my experience:
Contact Comcast on April 10th and get the pricing for the new place. Can't really beat the price so we set up our account to start on May 1st.
April 20th contacted D* to cancel. We already had a lot of credits so there wasn't much more they could do. Told them we loved the service and may be back sometime and thanked them for their time.
April 21st, got on Ebay and picked up a code for steep Tivo discount. Purchased Tivo that night w/ lifetime.
April 23rd, Tivo comes in. Update it to the newest software. Put it back in the box.
May 1st, move to new address. Set up modem for internet and call in to get the MAC address added to the new account. They can't see the modem and I can't sync up to the net. Schedule a tech for May 7th which really pissed me off.
May 7th, Tech shows up. Nice guy. Ran a new drop to the Comcast box. SNR is high so they put a powered amplifier on the line. Net is mediocre at best compared to our old address but its good enough. Only getting 15mbs of the advertised 30 but DSL would be crappier so I'll live with it.
Tech leaves. I break out the tivo. Hook everything up. Call the cable card dept.
Got some idiot on the phone who tries to enter everything in the system. Tells me that the cable card is listed as a cable box and there is an inventory problem and she couldn't activate the account. I'm fairly pissed but convince her to pass on the truck roll and try to add the info anyway. She insists it will not work but I insist she tries.
Adds the cable card numbers to the account. Sends activation signal. TV is up and running. I thank her for trying my suggestion and she was polite enough to apologize that she didn't want to try in the first place.
Comcast vs Diretv:
Picture quality is about a wash. They are both excellent. I have them both up now and for the most part they are identical. Comcast just got done with a huge upgrade in this area last year so I'm not surprised. D* turns off tomorrow and I'm going to disconnect it tonight.
Tivo Roamio vs HR24. No comparison. The roamio is simply faster at everything. The guide shows more and everything is faster. Much less the extra tuners. Tivo still needs to address some of the SD menus but other wise no comparison. D* has the Hr44 which is a nice box but the Roamio is an amazing box. Nothing like the old premiere. If you are on cable then its the only way to go IMO. I wish satellite companies didn't receive a cable card exemption.
Comcast on demand is much better than D*'s.
I was used to the guide layout on D* so I might be biased but I think their channel layout is better than Comcast's although I'll get used to it.
Living in SE FL I won't miss the D* rain fade. We'll see if Comcast has any reliability issues as time goes on.
I think D* has better phone support than Comcast.
Anyway I post this not to pee in anyone's cheerios. Just sharing my experience and I'm sure at some point we will be back with D*. However for now, there is no comparison in what we are getting for the money and I was pleasantly surprised with Comcast's picture quality and the new Tivo's performance. Sure it was a good bit of money out of pocket but I would of had to fork over some $$ for a HR44 for D* and I like having the option to buy lifetime on the Tivo and not get nickled and dimed to death monthly for years and years.
D* has been good to us and I'm sure at some point we will be customers again.
