It has been several weeks since my initial install and first hand review of my FiosTV. Now that newness and excitement have diminished, plus that fact that I've had ample opportunity to evaluate things better- here comes and update review!
PICTURE QUALITY
Some channels astound me on how good they look. Some channels are still highly compressed; I would hazard a guess that this is coming from the stations themselves and nothing to do with Fios. As I have previously stated, I tend to zoom most channels up to fill my 60" widescreen Sony, so you REALLY see errors; let me state once again, the better channels look pretty darn close to DVD quality. On my 36" Wega, I'm shocked at the picture just about every time I turn it on. There also seems to be a more consistent black level- in other words, you know how some channels their blacks are more grey, well it just seems like I'm not adjusting black levels at all anymore. Very nice, and will get better when stations put out better.
DVR
Yep, there are some definite hiccups in this department, but certainly not a deal breaker just frustrating at times. I have 2 DVR's and can verify this on both: they will just freeze you for sometimes a second or two and sometimes much more. The scenario is that you are ff through commercials and hit play. It just doesn't always stop BUT it sure remembers how many times you've hit play, so when it decides to work, you will play/pause/play/plause/rew/play...
Other than this glitch, which isn't too often, the DVR is nice. It's easy to record what you want and has enough options to make you happy. Don't be expecting Tivo because it ain't. For the most part, it's quite satisfying.
HD will EAT your 160mb quicky! Granted, I love that I can actually record HD now, but boy, you best be cautious!
SERVICE
Fios has never been out, and doesn't seem to interrupt anything. My wife complained the other day that the sound dropped out a couple time, but for all I know this is the station and not Fios.
I did encounter one quirk- when they installed it, I had a white cable running to the bedroom tv, and I KNOW it isn't up to snuff. The left it on, and sure enough half the channels would come on. I simply replaced the cable myself and things are peachy- just take note in your install to make sure and do a quick run of all the channels in case you wiring isn't up to snuff either.
CHANNELS/HD CONTENT
Wow, going from the basic package on Dish to an everything package for the same cost is VERY nice. I believe the step was 60 channels on D to 180 (not including the movie package). The only strange thing and a channel I miss is G4 (a gaming channel) which is shoved in the sports package which I don't have. I'm sorry, but even though I'm a gamer- I don't consider it a sport. Oh, well. And my boss misses the Golf channel, but I believe they told him it would be coming.
HD content is great. I had Voom on Dish ever since it came on board and got real tired of the SAME content (I hope you guys have more now), but there is always something good on HD and if there isn't I have some recorded.
CONCLUSION
Very satisfied, as I believe you will read from others here that have FiosTV. Great content, great price, great picture, and an okay DVR that is begging for greatness! I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND Fios when it comes your way. I don't believe there is anything out there that is better after using cable, Directv, and Dish. :up
PICTURE QUALITY
Some channels astound me on how good they look. Some channels are still highly compressed; I would hazard a guess that this is coming from the stations themselves and nothing to do with Fios. As I have previously stated, I tend to zoom most channels up to fill my 60" widescreen Sony, so you REALLY see errors; let me state once again, the better channels look pretty darn close to DVD quality. On my 36" Wega, I'm shocked at the picture just about every time I turn it on. There also seems to be a more consistent black level- in other words, you know how some channels their blacks are more grey, well it just seems like I'm not adjusting black levels at all anymore. Very nice, and will get better when stations put out better.
DVR
Yep, there are some definite hiccups in this department, but certainly not a deal breaker just frustrating at times. I have 2 DVR's and can verify this on both: they will just freeze you for sometimes a second or two and sometimes much more. The scenario is that you are ff through commercials and hit play. It just doesn't always stop BUT it sure remembers how many times you've hit play, so when it decides to work, you will play/pause/play/plause/rew/play...
Other than this glitch, which isn't too often, the DVR is nice. It's easy to record what you want and has enough options to make you happy. Don't be expecting Tivo because it ain't. For the most part, it's quite satisfying.
HD will EAT your 160mb quicky! Granted, I love that I can actually record HD now, but boy, you best be cautious!
SERVICE
Fios has never been out, and doesn't seem to interrupt anything. My wife complained the other day that the sound dropped out a couple time, but for all I know this is the station and not Fios.
I did encounter one quirk- when they installed it, I had a white cable running to the bedroom tv, and I KNOW it isn't up to snuff. The left it on, and sure enough half the channels would come on. I simply replaced the cable myself and things are peachy- just take note in your install to make sure and do a quick run of all the channels in case you wiring isn't up to snuff either.
CHANNELS/HD CONTENT
Wow, going from the basic package on Dish to an everything package for the same cost is VERY nice. I believe the step was 60 channels on D to 180 (not including the movie package). The only strange thing and a channel I miss is G4 (a gaming channel) which is shoved in the sports package which I don't have. I'm sorry, but even though I'm a gamer- I don't consider it a sport. Oh, well. And my boss misses the Golf channel, but I believe they told him it would be coming.
HD content is great. I had Voom on Dish ever since it came on board and got real tired of the SAME content (I hope you guys have more now), but there is always something good on HD and if there isn't I have some recorded.
CONCLUSION
Very satisfied, as I believe you will read from others here that have FiosTV. Great content, great price, great picture, and an okay DVR that is begging for greatness! I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND Fios when it comes your way. I don't believe there is anything out there that is better after using cable, Directv, and Dish. :up
