Long time VOOMer out!

[Geno]

I hated to do it. I really hated it. I installed D* with the HD DVR last Wednesday. Thursday, I called VOOM and told them to cut it off. Don't flame me. I've been through thick and thin since November of '03. When the CSR asked for a reason, I don't think he expected a tirade of what I thought doomed VOOM. Marketing, buggy boxes, etc. And after I summed it up by saying I was tired of the drama, and blamed its almost certain demise on a suicidal board of directors, he said " you must be one of those "satellite guys" guys.

Loved all the HD, but after switching for just a few days, I make the following observations.

D* has ALOT of channels. They don't have as much HD, but I have all my HD movie channels, HD ESPN, Univ HD, Disc HD,and I have HDNET and HDNet movies. That ain't at all bad. I LOVE the DVR. I didn't want to wait another 6 months for a DVR even if VOOM survives that long. They honored my old lifetime TIVO subscription and assigned it to my new box. I get it free forever!

VOOM was great, but with only 26k subscribers after a full year, I just think its hopeless. It's just a modern case of Beta vs. VHS. You older guys know about that. The marketing monster beats down the better product.

I bought my equipment, so if totally wrong (and I'm fine with it if I am) maybe I'll plug it back in and jump back in the pool. But I don't expect it to happen. I wish all current VOOMers the best. I hope you can keep it going. I've done my part for 14 months. I need a break. Thanks for listening. God bless Scott, Sean and even Vurbano.

My only worry now is that Mel Ott is probably hopping in a plane to fly up here and give me a big fat face-to-face "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" Uuugh!

 

[SeattleVoomer1]

"Mel Ott"!

You have been on here a long time, Geno.

Still watching HDTV (Monsters at the momenet) under cloudy Seattle skies, Gill

 

[The Stone Man]

"Mel Ott"!

He means user name Tarmack, whose real name is Mel. I'm pretty sure his last name is not Ott, but that is what Geno called him.

Both of them are long-termers.

 

[Geno]

I don't think Mel is still around here. Don't you guys remember how he used to call us stalwarts, and end about every post with BOOM! If Tarmack is Mel, his last name is definitely Ott. He was named after his uncle (I think he said uncle) who was a hall of fame baseball player. I think he was an outfielder for the NY Giants. He dropped VOOM a long time ago, but he hung around here forever giving us a hard time. Not a bad guy really. He just wouldn't let up.

 

[vurbano]

Good luck Geno!

 

[Sean Mota]

Good luck... It was quite pleasant to have you here. Thanks again for all your contribution to the forum.

 

[bbtkd]

Me too - just cancelled and jumped to Dish

Yesterday the Dish Network guy showed up and threw a new reflector and feed on the Voom mount, used the existing cabling and terrestrial antenna, installed a new multiswitch, doled out a few receivers and we're good to go. So far, the picture is superior to Voom and to cable.

I just called to cancel Voom and when they asked why I said because of the multi-room cost and because they are going under. He said they are going to continue - breaking news! I told him that I understand their desire to, but they weren't. If Voom would have come out with a statement of their intentions within a day or two and it sounded reasonable, I may have stayed a bit longer.

They scheduled someone to come out for the receiver on the 11th - and said they don't typically take any antennas. I asked about them sending a box for return of the receiver and while they do that, I would have had to pay postage. Not!

Now I've got 4 receivers, a DVR will arrive in March, and I am adding another single receiver - for a total of 6 rooms of coverage. Caller-id works, I have PPV, I have a multitude of channels, the picture is great, my monthly bill will be $9 more than I paid for one room of Voom - and I can finally cancel cable! Sure - there are a few less HD channels, but most of the ones lost are runway models, fishtanks, and other crap I never watched. Dish and DirecTV will both go MPEG4 and add HD - and within a year Voom will be a distant memory. I'll keep monitoring the Voom situation - as a spectator though...

 

[subdude212]

They don't have as much HD, but I have all my HD movie channels, HD ESPN, Univ HD, Disc HD,and I have HDNET and HDNet movies. That ain't at all bad. I LOVE the DVR. I didn't want to wait another 6 months for a DVR even if VOOM survives that long. They honored my old lifetime TIVO subscription and assigned it to my new box. I get it free forever!

...My only worry now is that Mel Ott is probably hopping in a plane to fly up here and give me a big fat face-to-face "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!" Uuugh!

Geno:

After having VOom for the same 14 months I find that I rarely watch a channel if it isn't in HD, I just skip right past the SD ones. If I end up having to move to DirecTv or Dish I won't be swayed by the number of SD stations they carry.

Which DVR did you get? Is it HD?

Mel turned out to be a prototype for a whole vulture subculture (say that 10 times fast) here that seemed to gain purpose for living if VOom showed signs of failure or trouble. I don't quite understand how one gains pleasure from a company's failure but it must be like watching a car race for the inevitable accidents. To me this grave dancing business is a puzzling bit of human nature.

 

[Geno]

Geno:

After having VOom for the same 14 months I find that I rarely watch a channel if it isn't in HD, I just skip right past the SD ones. If I end up having to move to DirecTv or Dish I won't be swayed by the number of SD stations they carry.

Which DVR did you get? Is it HD?.

I got the HR10-250. $999 at Circuit City. I might have found it cheaper elswhere, but I just wanted to get it done.

I know what you mean about the HD and all. But there is too much other programming I like thats not HD, so SD is still important to me.

Mel turned out to be a prototype for a whole vulture subculture (say that 10 times fast) here that seemed to gain purpose for living if VOom showed signs of failure or trouble. I don't quite understand how one gains pleasure from a company's failure but it must be like watching a car race for the inevitable accidents. To me this grave dancing business is a puzzling bit of human nature.

Boy did you nail it. In some small part I think they contributed to the downfall, and unfortunately they take satisfaction in that.

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

MEL OTT (aka Tarmack) turned up in recent posts a couple of weeks ago! He bet somebody a case of beer last spring that Voom would not have 500,000 subscribers by 12/31/04, and he was posting his "SEND BEER!" demand. Didn't anybody else notice his posts?

Yeah, I remember his old posts, mainly on the Yahoo list, and his posts always did end with ......BOOM! or .....BITE IT!

Well, I enjoy Voom too much to consider alternatives, of which there are none. I watch only HD, and I love the Voom exclusives, and I hate TV commercials. That leaves me with the Voom exclusives and the HD premium channels. I will stick with Voom until the candle flickers and dims, and I hope never to see that.

 

[jagouar]

Im looking at BEV/StarChoice as my next provider..... I am not going to deal with locals on sat anymore, everybody in canada gets them with not local problems.

Plus Stargate:Atlantis in HD and StarTrek:Enterprise in HD.... as soon as I find the better deal and get BEV/SC installed I'm calling voom.

 

[rgarbonzo]

Me too with the BEV/StarChoice thing. One of them has the network feed in hd I think

 

[jagouar]

both of them do just starchoice has 5 channels and shows the networks e/w feeds.... And basically combine multiple networks channels but you get better PQ vs having dedicated E/W channels but worse PQ.... Its quite the dilema.

 

[Walter L.]

Geno:
I hate to tell you this (if you already don't know it) but the D* HDTiVO that you purchased will be obsolete very soon as D* migrates to MPEG-4. As of today, it is undefined what upgrade options (if any) will be available.
Anyway good luck!

 

[Geno]

It's the story of my life. I bought a new reel-to-reel deck a week before the 8-track decks showed up at Walgreens. I bought an 8-track the week before Mr. Wiggs offered the first cassettes for sale. I bought an auto-reverse cassette deck a week before Barney Miller's offered a CD player for sale. I found a great deal on a laser disc machine a week before Ovation showed their first DVD player. My DVR becoming obsolete is just par for the course, baby! Heard of early adopters? I'm a late adopter. I probably personally doomed VOom by subscribing.

 

[gross67]

It's the story of my life. ....... Heard of early adopters? I'm a late adopter. I probably personally doomed VOom by subscribing.

What I want to know is where do you keep your Betamax?

 

[Ronald_Jeremy]

I bet you have a Sony beta max too!!!

 

[Cliff]

What's a reel to reel.

 

[James Long]

I called VOOM and told them to cut it off.

Welcome to the club. Over 6,500 people have made that call to Voom.

JL

 

[ram1220]

And after my latest billing fiasco and a call to a clueless CSR last night, I am added to the list. And it feels really good knowing I don't have to deal with Voom again.