First Impressions from a brand New Customer
Well I had posted my Saga in the Regional Area (I'm in Miami FL) But I'll relate it here since there is more Traffic...
I ordered Voom on Nov 29 .
I had my Voom Installed On Monday the 6th. The installers in our area, ProSat called to confirm 3 days before. I had a question about DVI and HDMI. I recently replaced my 51" Sony WS500 with a WS520 RPTV. The power supply had gone bad on the first one and it took month to get the replacement. The Best Buy Tech came the day after Thanksgiving and apologized for the delay. He gave me a choice, he could open up the TV and replace the part or he could write it up as irreparable and give me a No-Lemon replacement Voucher and I could pick out an equivalent unit (and Take advantage of the Post T-day sales @BestBuy.) I chose the latter and got This years model at an extremely discounted price. (Extended warraties Gooood)
Anyways in the New version of the Sony they replaced the DVI with HDMI, so when I talked to ProSat, I asked them what the VOOM kit came with. They didn't know what HDMI was so I confirmed that the installation was still on and that they had all the parts (and a DVI cable). I then went to BB and bought the HDMI to DVI adapter. ($25.00 but cheaper than the cable by $125.00!!)
Install day arrived and I took the morning off from work to do this. Around 11:00 I get a call from the Installer who said he was having some delays and could not make it till 3:00PM I asked if he could do 2:00PM and he said he would try. To his credit he was waiting for me @ 1:45!
He then setup the New dish in between my 2 E* dishes.
My roof now looks like mission control.
He used the existing DE* cabling and added some other new hardware. I had taken the boxes inside and set them up in the 2 rooms.
We got Good Signal (97) or the Sat but I was leery about the OTA which was only getting 80. I didn't really know what questions to ask. (even after reading this site its still difficult to remember all the details or know what I should be looking for, heck I'm still not sure about alot of it.) When he plugged in the box in the "Big Room" (500 sq ft) with the RPTV it was already activated and I was getting ALL the channels. I tried to get him to let me keep it but he said he couldn't because serial #'s didn't match the Activation Info back at VOOM. He said it was either a refurb or a Store Demo unit and that it may get de-activated. So he brought a replacement from the Truck.
It was dead
So he built another castle, but it burned down fell over and sank into the swamp! (Sorry gratuitous Monty Python Reference
)
The Third Box Worked.
After getting it all hooked up to my system (Ooh HDMI, RGB and TosLink Fiber-optic Goodness to my amp) He said it would take about half hour to populate the PG and get all the Channels Working. But most worked, (HD News, Some local Channels DSCHD etc) unfortunatly it was late and I had to go to do Final Exams at School so I signed the release and Sent him on his way..........
Well Here are the Problems I have or had.
1. STB would lock up whenever I tried to go to Animania.
2. Not all HD Content was available.
3. Local Channels were missing. Not many but enough! CBS ABC ,FOX.
4. Some channels look funny on my Bedroom TV which is Not HD and has the most basic Controls. I get PillarBoxes on Regular channels! (more on that later)
Oh NBC was there, so was Public TV (5 flavors!) the Spanish Stations. and ALL the Religious stations! Grrrrrrrr I missed Monday night Football in HD
and Worse yet my Wife thinks this whole thing is a Fiasco! (SHE's the one who was upset about missing the the game! and losing NOGIN for the Kids)
Well I wake up and its a brand new Day. and what a difference!
1. The Firmware upgrade happened. now I have 726 on Both.
2. All the HD Channels came on and it no longer locked up on Animania
3. Caller ID Works flawlessly.
4. PQ is AMAZING even the SD Channels blow E* (DishNetwork) out of the water!! (SciFi Channel was Esp prone to Pixelation on Explosions and stuff)
I know some some folks say the SD Quality Blows and other people complain about "Skeeters" and other artifacts but frankly I don't see it. Maybe I'm a Newb to this HD stuff and don't know what to look for. (I occaisionally see Pixelation when switching from one HD Channel to the Next but it clears up quickly enough.)
However Problems Remain!
1. Still missing the main Local Channels (In desparation I went outside and Futzed with the OTA antenna I was able to Picked up CBS 1 down 2 to go!) I realized that my Antenna is pointing Down into my neighbors roof, That could be my problem!
2. Bedroom TV (nonHD) still has funky formatting. I was able to play with the Sqeeze and lettebox settings and now its acceptable on most Channels but some stations (the Public TV ones) and the Surf bar get cutoff.
3. Fox Sports Florida (regional programming which was added by the Sales guy in San Antonio) was not available even though they said I woulld get it for free!
Sooooo I called up Customer service and made an appointment to have the OTA problem fixed. They are coming on Friday (as in 3 days from now). They will try an repostion the OTA Antenna to the Peak of my roof to clear the obstruction If that doesn't work then they will authorize a Multi directional Antenna If that is waht is deemed as a solution. Very Nice Customer Service Folks, very prompt and a minimum of "Let me look that up" time.
She even told me about the Fox Sports Florida problem. She said that VOOM only has a limited contract with FSFL and as soon as Baseball Season Starts up I will have access to my Marlins games again. OK I can handle that That what I wanted it for!
So now I'm waiting for the Tech to come! (and for VOOM to add NOGIN and Tech TV INHD would be nice too....
On a related note my parents just bought a Panasonic HD Plasma and their Cable Company (Adelphia) gave them a "Cable card" so they could get HD without an STB. They get all the HBO SHO Etc. in HD but other then those they only get about 3 or 4 dedicated HD channels.
And the Quality is Dubious! I could not believe the amount a Droput out and signal fade on the HD Channels (what little there were)
I've attached a photo with an example of this while we were watching "The Santa Clause II" on STARZHD (NOT on VOOM.) This kind of dropout was prevalent on all the Channels but he HD Channels seemed the most affected. My parents took it in stride and said "well everythings Digital nowadays why not the Static??"
Not VOOM----It CableHD Courtesy Adelphia!
Minor glitches aside (I expected some I just didn't know what) I am pretty happy with the PQ. Even the the old Cheesy Movies on the Cinema Channels (Omega Man looked FABULOUS I had not seen it in a loong time.)
I even like MOOV! (thats the former Druggie in me talking I suspect. Might as well call that the Acid channel!
I'll keep you all posted on what happens after the Tech arrives. and if anyone has anytips on tuning the picture on my SD TV please feel free chime in!