I thought I would share my initial thoughts with a user review of Fios TV for those wondering if the fuss is worth it. I have been exploring and disseminating my install for 2 days now. I have had Dish for two years with HD and DVR, and previous to Dish, Direct with Tivo. I will base my amateur review on these products. I own a 36” Sony Wega as well as a 60” Sony LCD projection television. Both have been equipped with Fios TV's HD DVR's.
DVR
My first concern was the DVR; when I left Tivo for Dish's version... well, yikes. It was pretty bad, so I was worried about Fios since this is their first foray into Tivo-ville. I have been pleasantly surprised. It is very easy to record with one touch. Touch the record button twice and you have set up your “Season Pass”. You can further go into options for first run, all episodes, etc. The unit has dual tuners.
PICTURE QUALITY
Obviously since the pipeline is huge with fiber optics, there is no need for compressing the signal ala satellite. I tend to zoom the picture to fill all 60” (something my wife hates) and things still look pretty dang good without the paste-y look you get with digital compression. Of course, you are still at the mercy of SD's resolution as well as the mercy of who is putting the signal out. I suppose I was looking for a more drastic difference, but garbage in... you know. HD is fantastic with a slight boost in sharpness compared to Dish, which is already great. MTV has their HD channel running and looks incredible.
INSTALLATION
I was scheduled between 1pm-4pm, and my three friends showed up about 5pm. They happened to all be from Texas as I am, but also said they have guys coming in from all over the try and keep up. They took 2 hours from the install (I already have Fios Internet) in 3 rooms, with one being quite tricky. They have been putting in 12-14 hours days, six days a week, so be nice (hehe)! They knew what they were doing and everything went smoothly.
PROGRAMMING/COST
I was sold on quality of picture but to sell to the wife, you show her all the channels you get... which is pretty much everything. I didn't go for the sports package, but for the movie package. I think in all it must be about 200 channels, HD, 2 HD DVR's, and one SD box for a tad over $70. Just a hair over Dish and having the bottom feeder package with what, 60 channels? I lost Voom, gained Universal HD, ESPN 2, and MTV HD. National Geographic is not running in my area yet. All these channels in two packages? Awesome.
VOD/PPV
Not bad, not fantastic. Here is where you'll see some compression. At this point there aren't tons of offerings, but it's not awful either. As far as Starz, you will have access with Video On Demand for every one of their movies; very convenient. The downside is that there seems to be no VOD or PPV for HD! I was a little surprised by that! Probably in the works. You can treat the VOD just as you would a VCR with ff/rw, etc. My daughter loves it with no DVR in her room- she now has the next best thing.
CONCLUSION
Highly recommended! Picture quality, cost, and convenience. The DVR isn't Tivo level, but it's pretty darn good. The guide isn't the best, but very well, and simply laid out. I really see no reason to keep Dish or Direct (can't comment on cable) if Fios is offered in your area. Worth the wait? You bet. If you have a question, I'll try and answer as long as it isn't very technical--- there's plenty of other guys that can help you there. Now, GO BITE THE BULLET!
DVR
My first concern was the DVR; when I left Tivo for Dish's version... well, yikes. It was pretty bad, so I was worried about Fios since this is their first foray into Tivo-ville. I have been pleasantly surprised. It is very easy to record with one touch. Touch the record button twice and you have set up your “Season Pass”. You can further go into options for first run, all episodes, etc. The unit has dual tuners.
PICTURE QUALITY
Obviously since the pipeline is huge with fiber optics, there is no need for compressing the signal ala satellite. I tend to zoom the picture to fill all 60” (something my wife hates) and things still look pretty dang good without the paste-y look you get with digital compression. Of course, you are still at the mercy of SD's resolution as well as the mercy of who is putting the signal out. I suppose I was looking for a more drastic difference, but garbage in... you know. HD is fantastic with a slight boost in sharpness compared to Dish, which is already great. MTV has their HD channel running and looks incredible.
INSTALLATION
I was scheduled between 1pm-4pm, and my three friends showed up about 5pm. They happened to all be from Texas as I am, but also said they have guys coming in from all over the try and keep up. They took 2 hours from the install (I already have Fios Internet) in 3 rooms, with one being quite tricky. They have been putting in 12-14 hours days, six days a week, so be nice (hehe)! They knew what they were doing and everything went smoothly.
PROGRAMMING/COST
I was sold on quality of picture but to sell to the wife, you show her all the channels you get... which is pretty much everything. I didn't go for the sports package, but for the movie package. I think in all it must be about 200 channels, HD, 2 HD DVR's, and one SD box for a tad over $70. Just a hair over Dish and having the bottom feeder package with what, 60 channels? I lost Voom, gained Universal HD, ESPN 2, and MTV HD. National Geographic is not running in my area yet. All these channels in two packages? Awesome.
VOD/PPV
Not bad, not fantastic. Here is where you'll see some compression. At this point there aren't tons of offerings, but it's not awful either. As far as Starz, you will have access with Video On Demand for every one of their movies; very convenient. The downside is that there seems to be no VOD or PPV for HD! I was a little surprised by that! Probably in the works. You can treat the VOD just as you would a VCR with ff/rw, etc. My daughter loves it with no DVR in her room- she now has the next best thing.
CONCLUSION
Highly recommended! Picture quality, cost, and convenience. The DVR isn't Tivo level, but it's pretty darn good. The guide isn't the best, but very well, and simply laid out. I really see no reason to keep Dish or Direct (can't comment on cable) if Fios is offered in your area. Worth the wait? You bet. If you have a question, I'll try and answer as long as it isn't very technical--- there's plenty of other guys that can help you there. Now, GO BITE THE BULLET!
