S
slriv
Guest
Original poster
Hi, Newbie Voom person here. I threw together some notes so far in a
review context last night, but here's the gist of it all. I realize
not everyone thinks like I do, so this is just my opinion.
Enjoy.
Voom
I recently signed up for Voom on their $1 promotional offer. The
installation cost made it a no-brainer to try, and if it didn't work
or reception was unacceptable, I could easily drop it within a short
period. The installation does bind you to a 6 month contract, however.
Installation
My installation was a mess. The installer was completely unprepared.
He didn't have the right equipment and refused to make a cable run
through my apartment without trying to get another $79. He was a nice
guy, but he was a typical sub-contractor trying to get out of doing as
much work as possible. My cable run is long, but it is within the 125
ft limit that is offered in the Voom installation, so technically Voom
owes me another install.
Since I'm an apartment dweller, I'm forced to use a tripod for dish
installation. I already have a tripod and a dish setup for DirecTV.
The Voom installer didn't bring one and acted like it would be weeks
before he could come back, so I let him go ahead and commandeer the
DirecTV gear to get it working which effectively disabled my existing
service. I had planned on dumping DirecTV anyway, but it is sad the
installer was not prepared especially when it is clear where I live
from the work order. The other nit about this and why I didn't bother
to wait is the installer was going to try charging another $100 to get
the tripod installed. Add that to the cable run and you see my
dilemma.
OTA Antenna Installation
I'm a lucky guy, there is no doubt. Since I live on the top floor in
my complex, I can receive virtually every digital channel broadcast in
the region even with the cheap antenna that came with the Voom gear.
Frankly, I'm so impressed with this, I'm considering dumping all the
sat gear and getting an HD tuner card for my HTPC and be done with it.
Sadly I would lose SciFi and Starz Westerns channel.
Experience
Well, it's HD. the 30 some odd channels are primarily composed of a
bunch of Voom content with the standard movie channels and a few
extras broadcast in HD. Most cable channels are still in SD and have
years before they have to bother with upgrading (2010).
As far as content, Voom has fewer channels (dramatically so), but
almost all the ones I care about are there. Besides, who needs 10
shopping channels, 5 or 10 relgious brainwashing channels or 100
sports channels? This however does beg the question of why Voom is the
same price as the competition.
Menus and guides on the receiver are atrocious. I'm a bit of a snob
here having lived with TiVo for the past 5 years and DirecTV for 10
years straight, but I just don't get why the guide only shows 5
channels a page, and then if you move forward in time you run into
this weird bug where shows that wrap across pages (horizontally)
sometimes move back to the right even though they should be moving to
the left. It's very disconcerting and basically a bug. There are NO
advanced features in the guide. There is no easy way to search for
content and basically you are stuck paging through broken menus to
find when stuff is broadcast. Again, I am spoiled here, I'm used to
typing in a name and a list of matches showing up. I actually found
myself logging into tvguide.com to find out what was coming on.
You never know just how much you rely on a PVR until you don't have
one. Voom is planning to release their HD DVR sometime in March, but
like so many of these things I wouldn't hold my breath. When I made my
order I asked about this and they only committed to the first half of
2005 which is suspicious considering what was being said at CES.
Picture quality is excellent on the HD channels, but SD channels are
extremely soft. I tried an SVideo cable, and things didn't improve.
I'm not sure why this is the case but it's made watching SD
unpleasant. I'm starting to think perhaps they are over-compressing
these channels.
Conclusion
Pros
* HD is here, and Voom is delivering.
* The system works, and although the local channels require a
separate terrestrial antenna the guide seamlessly marries the two
feeds. See AntennaWeb.org to check your home.
Cons
* No PVR/DVR device is out yet. I think odds are not good and
especially considering they are giving mixed signals.
* Menu Guide system is 1980's technology and forces you to think
in channel numbers instead of programs... Very annoying
* Installation is bollocks, be prepared for an unhappy experience
* Again, why only 5 channels per page in the guide??? What the
hell are they going to do with the other 3/4's of the screen. And
don't tell me advertising, I'm paying for this damn service.
* No firewire output, which means you can't use an HD VCR unless
it's WVHS with component inputs ($5K and they aren't made anymore!!!).
* Possibly SD channels are over-compressed making them very soft,
but that's only speculation.
You be the judge, but if you are a snob, like me, you will probably be
disappointed. The current $1 offer is great and is worth trying out.
It does commit you to a 6 month contract however. Not everyone will be
able to sign up for Voom because of satellite location. I'm pretty
lucky, but the actual direction of the satellite requires you don't
have any buildings or mountain ranges due east.
------------------------
review context last night, but here's the gist of it all. I realize
not everyone thinks like I do, so this is just my opinion.
Enjoy.Voom
I recently signed up for Voom on their $1 promotional offer. The
installation cost made it a no-brainer to try, and if it didn't work
or reception was unacceptable, I could easily drop it within a short
period. The installation does bind you to a 6 month contract, however.
Installation
My installation was a mess. The installer was completely unprepared.
He didn't have the right equipment and refused to make a cable run
through my apartment without trying to get another $79. He was a nice
guy, but he was a typical sub-contractor trying to get out of doing as
much work as possible. My cable run is long, but it is within the 125
ft limit that is offered in the Voom installation, so technically Voom
owes me another install.
Since I'm an apartment dweller, I'm forced to use a tripod for dish
installation. I already have a tripod and a dish setup for DirecTV.
The Voom installer didn't bring one and acted like it would be weeks
before he could come back, so I let him go ahead and commandeer the
DirecTV gear to get it working which effectively disabled my existing
service. I had planned on dumping DirecTV anyway, but it is sad the
installer was not prepared especially when it is clear where I live
from the work order. The other nit about this and why I didn't bother
to wait is the installer was going to try charging another $100 to get
the tripod installed. Add that to the cable run and you see my
dilemma.
OTA Antenna Installation
I'm a lucky guy, there is no doubt. Since I live on the top floor in
my complex, I can receive virtually every digital channel broadcast in
the region even with the cheap antenna that came with the Voom gear.
Frankly, I'm so impressed with this, I'm considering dumping all the
sat gear and getting an HD tuner card for my HTPC and be done with it.
Sadly I would lose SciFi and Starz Westerns channel.
Experience
Well, it's HD. the 30 some odd channels are primarily composed of a
bunch of Voom content with the standard movie channels and a few
extras broadcast in HD. Most cable channels are still in SD and have
years before they have to bother with upgrading (2010).
As far as content, Voom has fewer channels (dramatically so), but
almost all the ones I care about are there. Besides, who needs 10
shopping channels, 5 or 10 relgious brainwashing channels or 100
sports channels? This however does beg the question of why Voom is the
same price as the competition.
Menus and guides on the receiver are atrocious. I'm a bit of a snob
here having lived with TiVo for the past 5 years and DirecTV for 10
years straight, but I just don't get why the guide only shows 5
channels a page, and then if you move forward in time you run into
this weird bug where shows that wrap across pages (horizontally)
sometimes move back to the right even though they should be moving to
the left. It's very disconcerting and basically a bug. There are NO
advanced features in the guide. There is no easy way to search for
content and basically you are stuck paging through broken menus to
find when stuff is broadcast. Again, I am spoiled here, I'm used to
typing in a name and a list of matches showing up. I actually found
myself logging into tvguide.com to find out what was coming on.
You never know just how much you rely on a PVR until you don't have
one. Voom is planning to release their HD DVR sometime in March, but
like so many of these things I wouldn't hold my breath. When I made my
order I asked about this and they only committed to the first half of
2005 which is suspicious considering what was being said at CES.
Picture quality is excellent on the HD channels, but SD channels are
extremely soft. I tried an SVideo cable, and things didn't improve.
I'm not sure why this is the case but it's made watching SD
unpleasant. I'm starting to think perhaps they are over-compressing
these channels.
Conclusion
Pros
* HD is here, and Voom is delivering.
* The system works, and although the local channels require a
separate terrestrial antenna the guide seamlessly marries the two
feeds. See AntennaWeb.org to check your home.
Cons
* No PVR/DVR device is out yet. I think odds are not good and
especially considering they are giving mixed signals.
* Menu Guide system is 1980's technology and forces you to think
in channel numbers instead of programs... Very annoying
* Installation is bollocks, be prepared for an unhappy experience
* Again, why only 5 channels per page in the guide??? What the
hell are they going to do with the other 3/4's of the screen. And
don't tell me advertising, I'm paying for this damn service.
* No firewire output, which means you can't use an HD VCR unless
it's WVHS with component inputs ($5K and they aren't made anymore!!!).
* Possibly SD channels are over-compressed making them very soft,
but that's only speculation.
You be the judge, but if you are a snob, like me, you will probably be
disappointed. The current $1 offer is great and is worth trying out.
It does commit you to a 6 month contract however. Not everyone will be
able to sign up for Voom because of satellite location. I'm pretty
lucky, but the actual direction of the satellite requires you don't
have any buildings or mountain ranges due east.
------------------------
