twitchee3
03-02-07, 05:52 PM
We are currently reviewing our TV service and highly considering a switch from our current provider, Time Warner Cable, which recently took over for Adelphia in our area (SoCal, about an hour north of LA). In our area, our choices are pretty wide, with Time Warner Digital Cable, Verizon FIOS, and of course DirecTV and Dish Network being our available choices. With TWC, we currently have two HD DVR Moxi's serving our two HD sets. We also have 3 SD TV's.
Comparing price quotes for similar programming packages (at least the packages that we would most likely order from each provider if we signed up) revealed that the price differences are very slight, so the question at this point is in quality of service. One of the biggest concerns we have is HD DVR functionality, since the Moxi's currently play a huge role in our television viewing.
I would like to hear any comments you all might have about these HD DVR's, and I would especially appreciate anyone who has switched services recently and may have had experience with two or more of these DVR's so that I can get opinions from people who have had a REAL comparison between some of these units.
A few additional questions that I have are: Is there anyone who knows for a fact that there is a way to get E* to provide TWO VIP 622 HD DVR's, as having two HD DVR's, as we have now with the Moxi's, is an ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONALITY ISSUE for us, and we would require such capability in order to switch to a new provider. Also, when i set up my system on D*'s website, it appears I can only order one HR20-700 from them, however i know they will support more than one in a household. What channels would i have to go through to get two of these units from them at the same price with the same discounts they list on the website, would a simple phone call accomplish this?
Finally, does anyone know how the DISH HD programming stacks up to other providers? Which channels (if any) are not in the HD lite catagory and are transmitted uncompressed? Can i assume they do not compress the major network's HD content? I would expect that FIOS PROBABLY has the best HD PQ due to the huge bandwidth available with a fiber optic infrastructure, however D* has just upgraded their system and supposedly has a new system capable of MANY more (advertised as 150+) HD channels. With cable, our current HD PQ is not superb, especially since the switch was thrown from Adelphia to TWC in early August '06.
As a side note, OTA functionality is not an issue in our case because i believe we are too far from any broadcast tower to reasonably receive digital OTA, and sufficient locals in SD and HD are offered to us through all providers (including D* and E* LA locals) in our area, not to mention the fact we don't want to deal with an extra antenna.
ANY input would be GREATLY appreciated. Mostly i would like to know how you guys think the Fios, D*, and E* HD DVR's stack up, but comments on service, PQ, and future speculation about the different service providers is also appreciated.
Thanks for your help =)
Comparing price quotes for similar programming packages (at least the packages that we would most likely order from each provider if we signed up) revealed that the price differences are very slight, so the question at this point is in quality of service. One of the biggest concerns we have is HD DVR functionality, since the Moxi's currently play a huge role in our television viewing.
I would like to hear any comments you all might have about these HD DVR's, and I would especially appreciate anyone who has switched services recently and may have had experience with two or more of these DVR's so that I can get opinions from people who have had a REAL comparison between some of these units.
A few additional questions that I have are: Is there anyone who knows for a fact that there is a way to get E* to provide TWO VIP 622 HD DVR's, as having two HD DVR's, as we have now with the Moxi's, is an ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONALITY ISSUE for us, and we would require such capability in order to switch to a new provider. Also, when i set up my system on D*'s website, it appears I can only order one HR20-700 from them, however i know they will support more than one in a household. What channels would i have to go through to get two of these units from them at the same price with the same discounts they list on the website, would a simple phone call accomplish this?
Finally, does anyone know how the DISH HD programming stacks up to other providers? Which channels (if any) are not in the HD lite catagory and are transmitted uncompressed? Can i assume they do not compress the major network's HD content? I would expect that FIOS PROBABLY has the best HD PQ due to the huge bandwidth available with a fiber optic infrastructure, however D* has just upgraded their system and supposedly has a new system capable of MANY more (advertised as 150+) HD channels. With cable, our current HD PQ is not superb, especially since the switch was thrown from Adelphia to TWC in early August '06.
As a side note, OTA functionality is not an issue in our case because i believe we are too far from any broadcast tower to reasonably receive digital OTA, and sufficient locals in SD and HD are offered to us through all providers (including D* and E* LA locals) in our area, not to mention the fact we don't want to deal with an extra antenna.
ANY input would be GREATLY appreciated. Mostly i would like to know how you guys think the Fios, D*, and E* HD DVR's stack up, but comments on service, PQ, and future speculation about the different service providers is also appreciated.
Thanks for your help =)