Hey everyone,

Let me preface this with saying I'm the type that researches things endlessly before making a choice, hem and hawing over every detail.

I have TWC in NC, and not happy with the quality of the service. Some HD channels look great, but everything else is iffy and I have service reliability issues. Switched digital isn't helping, either. I called to order Directv today.

This has probably been discussed ad nauseam, but as of today, what is the thought of HD quality on Direct? It seems there's a lot of conflicting info out there. Anyone else make such a switch and are you happy with it?

I won't cancel TWC until I know I'll keep DTV, but I'm guessing I'll be out some equipment costs if I don't want to keep it. I haven't been able to extensively see DTV's HD channels and run side by side tests on my TVs, so I'm a bit in the dark.

Thx much!

Since the conversion to MPEG4 and adding 4 new satellites to their fleet, Directv's HD offerings have been much improved over their older offerings. They had bandwidth issues in the past which required them to downrez their 1080i channels, commonly refered to as HDLite.

Since the conversion to MPEG4 and adding 4 new satellites to their fleet, Directv's HD offerings have been much improved over their older offerings. They had bandwidth issues in the past which required them to downrez their 1080i channels, commonly refered to as HDLite.

Yes -- thanks! I remember reading that a bit, but those blog posts and what not were a bit dated and I'm seeing a few conflicting posts.

Well, I imagine there will never be consensus on such a topic as to which is better, but might as well bite the bullet and give it a shot. It's only money. ;)

Yes -- thanks! I remember reading that a bit, but those blog posts and what not were a bit dated and I'm seeing a few conflicting posts.

Well, I imagine there will never be consensus on such a topic as to which is better, but might as well bite the bullet and give it a shot. It's only money. ;)

Equipment costs and a 2 year contract. I'm a Directv sub so I'm not trying to scare you off. It's only money but quite a chunk of it unless you keep it. Good luck with your choice.

Equipment costs and a 2 year contract. I'm a Directv sub so I'm not trying to scare you off. It's only money but quite a chunk of it unless you keep it. Good luck with your choice.

Thx! Yeah, I figured that. Was hoping there's a short "return window" or something -- but apparently not.

I had Directv w/ Tivo years and years ago, and it was the best. I'm not holding my breath for a successful installation. I'm not willing to put the dish on the side of the house or the roof, so that leaves a pole mount where it blends in with landscaping. On top of that, I need a SWM8 install, routed through the crawlspace. Between that and an extra HD DVR, the entry cost may be a bit high -- but I won't know about the install costs until the installer comes out.

The new HD installs are supposed to use the SWM enabled dish, if that's what they bring you, they can tie into the existing cabling in the house.