Moving and need to pick a TV provider

[GATownsend]

Hi Everyone,

We will be moving at the end of July, and I am in the process of evaluating our options for TV/phone/internet. We are currently in Windstream territory and have local phone/long distance, DSL and Dish Network through Windstream (all on one bill). We currently have no HD tvs, and have a DVR 625 which has served us well for several years. Had been a DirecTV customer way back, but the bundle pricing with Dish/Windstream was too good to pass up.

The new house has an HD tv home theater in the basement (stadium seating and everything - Daddy is WAY happy). So we will have HD in the basement and SD in the family room and master bedroom. New house is located in AT&T and Time Warner territory, but is NOT eligible for Uverse from AT&T (at least not yet). I may upgrade to HD in the family room and/or bedroom at some point, but for the time being those will remain SD.

I have generally been happy with the 625, but having all the "slave" tv's watch the same show has proved problematic at times. I would really like a whole-house DVR solution, and had been lusting for Uverse due to it's 4-tuner set up. Since that will not be happening, I am trying to evaluate my remaining options, which I've decided are:

1. Dish Network, billed separately, with AT&T for phone and DSL.
2. AT&T package that includes DirecTV/phone/internet.
3. Time Warner package that includes tv/phone/internet.
4. Time Warner for TV and internet, AT&T for landline phone (wife is nervous about option #3 as she doesn't trust Time Warner for phone service).

I have a few quesitons I'll list below, but one BIG question I have since I'm new to HD is: if I record everything in HD on the DVR, can I still watch it on the SD televisions in the family room and bedroom? Time Warner told me yes when I stopped into the local office today, but I really want to hear from people who are actually using one of the above options. I've read terrible reviews of TW's Navigator software their DVR uses, but it also sounds like the newer boxes seem to work better with it. Pricing-wise, Time Warner appears to be the worst option, and AT&T/DirecTV the best.

A few random questions:

1. Does either Dish or DirecTV offer a 4-tuner DVR option ? It didn't look like it from their websites. I really like having all the recordings available on all TVs, so this is something I'm interested in. Time Warner does this by apparently connecting two DVRs, but it doesn't appear to be as refined as the Uverse product seems to be (I just need to let go of Uverse since I can't get it!)
2. For the DirecTV product. It appears you have a main DVR, and then slave boxes at the other TVs that access that DVR (same for Time Warner). Do the slave boxes have tuners so each one can watch a different program? If that's the case, I think I could live with just a two-tuner DVR as I could be recording two things on the DVR and still watching live TV on the other TVs that have the "slave" boxes on them.
3. Following along the thought process in question #2 above, if the slave boxes are on SD televisions and the DVR is hooked up to the HD television and I set the DVR to record from a slave box, will it record in HD or SD? Or, is the HD/SD determined solely by how the program is broadcast and has nothing to do with which TV initiates the recording?

I have Googled around quite a bit, but can't find detailed information on the above. If someone knows of a link please let me know, as I am happy to do some reading to learn more. I would prefer to know exactly what I can get BEFORE placing my order for service and getting stuck in a contract for something that doesn't do what I want, so any tips and/or pointers are greatly appreciated. Move is scheduled for 7/25/2011, so I have some time to figure things out and get the product that works best for us. If I've left some information out that would be helpful to provide a good answer, please ask.

Thanks,

Gary

 

[isaacmorseMI]

BIG= Yes. You can view HD programs on the SD TV and you have an HD box. The box will down convert the program to SD.

Cable based phone service is great and much better sound quality than AT&T. The cable voice modem includes a battery backup so If you lose power you will still have phone service.

You could do Dish billed separately and Time Warner for phone and internet. Time Warner internet is much faster than AT&T.

1. No
2. Yes
3. If you tell it to record an HD channel it will record it in HD. You need an HD box on the second TV for DirecTV's Multiroom DVR product. But the box does have outputs for SD tv's.

 

[GATownsend]

Thanks for the information. I've been reading for hours on the various features and FAQs for Time Warners whole-house DVR and DirecTVs, and I believe I'm going to go with DirecTV. The channel line up suits us well, and the I like DirecTV's whole-house DVR features a tad better than what Time Warner has to offer. I also like the DirecTV2PC application, which would be useful in my home office.

I think I'm going to do my subscription through Dishstore.net. When I priced it on AT&T's website the pricing was the same as on DirecTV's website, except through AT&T they were also charging me some shipping or delivery charge (or something similar) that was free on DirecTV's website. I think I'd prefer to go through Dishstore.net and have something come back to satelliteguys.us for hosting such a helpful website. I also think I'd prefer to have the direct relationship with DTV, as going through Windstream to get to Dish has proven to be a pain sometimes (and seems to keep me from being able to use HBO's Android app).

Thanks again,

Gary

 

[jarvantgroup]

You may want to wait for Dish Network's release of their new multi-room DVR/HD rcvr (XIP813) due out later on this summer. It sounds like it will be a viable alternative to TWC's whole-house DVR system. Google XIP 813 and see what you think. It might be an upgrade worth waiting for.

 

[GATownsend]

Well, this was an interesting excercise. I had made up my mind to get AT&T for phone and DSL, and DirecTV for TV/DVR. Main reason for AT&T was wife wanted POTS telephone (she doesn't trust IP telephony). Main reason for DirecTV was their whole-house DVR functionality and channel line-up fit best for us.

Well, I wasted the better part of an afternoon on the phone with AT&T only to have them finally tell me there was no DSL on my street (I had already found out there was no Uverse). I just about fell outta my seat. The only service they could provide me was a POTS line. My current home is in an almost semi-rural area (we have numerous farms around, but also have Target, Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle just a few miles away). This new house is in a well-established, more urban suburb, so I fully expected DSL. Talked to the seller of new home and one neighbor I've managed to meet (we haven't moved yet), and both said AT&T was a disaster, and neighbor said avoid TWC like the plague, too. I called TWC nonetheless since my options seemed limited. They want a 24-month contract, but when I called they could not tell me what my price would be after the first 12 months. They also don't have the 50mbps internet if I wanted to spring for Signature Home, but wouldn't knock anything off the price despite the lower internet speed. So I said no thank you to them.

Found out from the new neighbor we have Wide Open West as an option, so I checked out their website and ended up getting phone and internet from them (wife is willing to give IP phone a try after watching me suffer through the AT&T call). Got 8gbps down and 1gbps up, and can upgrade to 15gbps down for an additional $10 per month. They even include a backup battery for their modem so you have phone during power outages.

I'm pretty psyched, as the internet will be a nice increase from my 3mbps DSL I have from Windstream.

Thanks again,

Gary

 

[isaacmorseMI]

Well, this was an interesting excercise. I had made up my mind to get AT&T for phone and DSL, and DirecTV for TV/DVR. Main reason for AT&T was wife wanted POTS telephone (she doesn't trust IP telephony). Main reason for DirecTV was their whole-house DVR functionality and channel line-up fit best for us.

Well, I wasted the better part of an afternoon on the phone with AT&T only to have them finally tell me there was no DSL on my street (I had already found out there was no Uverse). I just about fell outta my seat. The only service they could provide me was a POTS line. My current home is in an almost semi-rural area (we have numerous farms around, but also have Target, Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle just a few miles away). This new house is in a well-established, more urban suburb, so I fully expected DSL. Talked to the seller of new home and one neighbor I've managed to meet (we haven't moved yet), and both said AT&T was a disaster, and neighbor said avoid TWC like the plague, too. I called TWC nonetheless since my options seemed limited, but they want a 24-month contract, but when I called they could not tell me what my price would be after the first 12 months. They also don't have the 50mbps internet if I wanted to spring for Signature Home, but wouldn't knock anything off the price despite the lower internet speed. So I said no thank you to them.

Found out we from the new neighbor we have Wide Open West as an option, so I checked out their website and ended up getting phone and internet from them (wife is willing to give IP phone a try after watching me suffer through the AT&T call). Got 8gbps down and 1gbps up, and can upgrade to 15gbps down for an additional $10 per month.

I'm pretty psyched, as the internet will be a nice increase from my 3mbps DSL I have from Windstream.

Thanks again,

Gary

IP Phone gives you the same amount of reliability as POTS but a much better sound quality because of the larger pipe. You might want to go for the 15/1. The extra speed makes a huge difference!