Voom goes dark!!! (And comes back)

[Conjuror]

I came home today for lunch, turned on TV, Voom's box, etc... and the screen was totally black and silent! I tried switching channels, tuning to OTA but nothing, no guide, no message, nothing but a scary red light on the receiver itself. I was totaly shocked while a million thoughts went through my mind, one of which was "oh no, they even disabled OTA tuner!" Yeah, OTA wasn't working either. I ruled out STB problems since my box locked up maybe not even 5 times in over a year, it would do that usually hours after software upgrade.
Anyway, tried to figure out what in the world was going on for few minutes when I noticed that the TV was set to receive signal from Dish 811 receiver, not Voom, and the Dish receiver was turned off. The red light on the Voom's reciver came from a low signal strength from one of OTA channels.
OMG. I experienced few very scary minutes without Voom and still can't figure out how I gonna live without it. I've never cancelled Dish HD pack and was considering getting new 942 DVR but that sob costs $700 bucks plus $10 for 5-channel HD pack. Oh yeah, in addition to that I supposed to pay $5 each month for a DVR service charge even if I own the DVR :shocked ?!?!
Why, oh why Voom is going away? The alternative is to pay more and get waaaay less. What a sad time for HD folks.

 

[crspam]

consider comcast. I spent some agonizing times these past few weeks trying to find some alternative to VOOM that wouldn't cost a mint. Although being a bit unsure.....I pulled the trigger for comcast. After having it now for about 5 days.....I'm very, very pleased. The HD content is not too shabby. You get all the local HD (cbs, abc, nbc, pbs, fox, wgn, etc)...TNTHD (at least here in the Chicago area).....HBOHD as part of the sub (or starzhd or cin-maxhd...depending on how many premiums you choose)...inhd1, inhd2, espnhd, csn-hd. There may be one other that i've missed.......

At any rate...PQ is great. The cost? Well...with the dish by back special...I get the digital silver pack with HBOs at $25/month off for 16 months, then the HD channels for $5/month, DVR for $10/month. Also...the STB is a dual tuner HD box with DVR. Other than the monthly costs I already mentioned....you get the box for free and installation for free. No activation cost. Damn good deal compared to E* and the ridiculous offers by D*.

Although its not Voom.....I'd say comcast has been good. Much, much better than anything you can get via E* or D*.

good luck!

 

[wase4711]

consider comcast. I spent some agonizing times these past few weeks trying to find some alternative to VOOM that wouldn't cost a mint. Although being a bit unsure.....I pulled the trigger for comcast. After having it now for about 5 days.....I'm very, very pleased. The HD content is not too shabby. You get all the local HD (cbs, abc, nbc, pbs, fox, wgn, etc)...TNTHD (at least here in the Chicago area).....HBOHD as part of the sub (or starzhd or cin-maxhd...depending on how many premiums you choose)...inhd1, inhd2, espnhd, csn-hd. There may be one other that i've missed.......

At any rate...PQ is great. The cost? Well...with the dish by back special...I get the digital silver pack with HBOs at $25/month off for 16 months, then the HD channels for $5/month, DVR for $10/month. Also...the STB is a dual tuner HD box with DVR. Other than the monthly costs I already mentioned....you get the box for free and installation for free. No activation cost. Damn good deal compared to E* and the ridiculous offers by D*.

Although its not Voom.....I'd say comcast has been good. Much, much better than anything you can get via E* or D*.

good luck!

I agree 100%...I am in the Chicago market, and I have the Digital Platinum pack..PQ is fine, HD offerrings are BETTER than Dish or Direct, and there is no commitment whatsoever.
Direct's offer to me sucked(over 100 per month)Dish offerrings are even worse, so its really a no-brainer moving to comcast..
Feel sorry for you folks with Adelphia/time Warner as your Cable provider, but even those options are better in the short term than either of the "D's"