Slight rant and info about US Digital HDTV

[CharredPC]

US Digital was a company I really liked awhile back. They sold two kinds of boxes (well, ok, the exact same box with slightly altered firmware) at WalMart; a straight OTA HD receiver for $200, and a $20 version that required you to subscribe to their broadcast pay channels to activate. If you ever cancelled subscription service on the $20, it essentially acted like the $200 version... so a good buy, anyway. The pay channels were decent enough for the $20/month fee; Food Network, Toon, some other stuff. Just buy the box, take it home, hook it up, subscribe over the phone if needed and away you go.

So, the ex-wife took my HDTV box awhile back, and while my FTA satellite hobby is fun, my fiance really wants the Food Network. As she hardly watches anything else except the major networks, I thought- this would be perfect! $20 per month is much cheaper than cable, and I'll just buy a new box at Wal-Mart. Off I go to try and get one...

They changed everything. You simply cannot buy one of their HD boxes anymore. You can purchase a "Startup Kit" which is a little cardboard deal with adverts and a promo cd inside. You can pay at the register for a $24.99 "installation fee." Then you call them up and set up an appointment for them to come "install" it. Fine, I thought, whatever. But how irritating.

Oh, but it gets worse. You call up (M-S, during business hours only) and they want to run a credit check on you immediately. A credit check?? I want the dang US Digital DB-2010 box again, the same as I used to own. I have my credit card out, if I have to pay even more to get one... unfortunately my ex destroyed my credit before leaving. They tell me I'll have to pay a $75 deposit on the box, as it's rented... ?! I tell them, you know what? I'm going to go buy one of your DB-2010 boxes from a third party, plug it into the wall outlet and antenna the same way I did with the last one (I must be so clever to be able to 'install' it!), then I'll be calling up for service without this hassle. The rep starts warning me I'm going to pay a fortune for the box, what it retails for, etc... I inform him I've picked them up at thrift store for under $15, and they sell on ebay for under $40.

Now I get to go back to Wal-mart and try to get a refund on the "installation fee," ie the little packet of marketing junk. HDTV enthusiasts beware. I'd have been first in line pushing this USDtv stuff six months ago; now it's a headache I wouldn't even wish upon my ex. Almost...

 

[roashru]

CharredPC, thats pretty bad, i am waiting to find a reliable off-air set top box made with the 5th gen. lg 8vsb chip. i thought about trying one of those US Digital receivers. the activated voom receivers are still currently the best buy. i updated my web space on this info: http://home.att.net/~roashru/Voom.html

 

[partyharty]

That stinks,

Sounds like a lot more people found the "loophole" than they were expecting. Oh well it had to end sometime (because its definatly costing them more than $20 to make these things). On one of your other posts you said they were having problems with people selling the $20 versions for $200 via Ebay (which led to a lot of people being ticked at US Digital). Sounds like the iopener all over again.

They sold these at a local walmart up until about 3 mo. ago. Then they "clearanced" them for $119 (ha), Finally got rid of them at $75 ea. Now all they have is the $25 promo disk.

Of course as you said you can still get one (or a similar unit) on ebay for less than $40. Probably be the way to go

 

[jegrant]

My B&M WM used to sell the non-subscription version (as we don't yet have OTA USDTV) for around $200 and then it just disappeared. I think the only solution they currently offer is either integrated DTV tuners or DirecTV.

I think it would have made more sense financially to just offer a $200 plain tuner, or a $200 tuner + 1 year service package. Then they'd get money up front regardless, and most people (IMO) would probably buy the one that comes with the year's service free of charge.

 

[CharredPC]

I ended up getting my old box back from the ex (not fun) and getting a clueless new agent on the phone at the US Digital call center. He had me reset the box to factory specs using a remote button combo, then wiped the last people's account info and set me up with service. When I called to do this months and months back, I was told they couldn't, as my box was linked to someone else's account. Hooray for incompetance! Anyway, I now am paying $20 per month for a dozen or so pay channels, plus all the locals (more now than there were last I used it!). Now to see if I can get the money back from Wal-mart for the "installation kit..."

 

[charper1]

I see you are in Utah?

What do those 11 pay USDTV channels (minus the locals and the other stuff that comes in free OTA) Is it $25/mo for just those 11? ($2.27 PER CHANNEL?) Is this correct?

Isn't that somewhat high? I mean I know its less total, but more per, like buying pints of milk as opposed to one gallon all at once.

DirecTV: 0.290/chnl (TC)
DirecTV: 0.875/chnl (family pkg)?
Dish: 0.500/chnl (AT60)
Dish: 0.512/chnl (family pkg)

And of the 11 pay, if any have HD, do you get that?

Are they the same 11 pay channels everywhere?

Help me out, I was thinking this might be cool for my grandmother, but if its really $25/mo the value is not there. I would pay the additional $15 - $20 to add all the choice of the Dish Network Family pack or the DirecTV TC.