DirecTV HDTV - Page 459

Anyone ever have the screensaver come on while watching tv?

Yes

I’ve never had SatTv, and would like opinions on reception. I like the price and channel lineup from Dish but in my area [Omaha, NE], N-o-b-o-d-y likes them.

In fairness to Dish the people I talked with had them years ago, not recently. I also live very close to a military base if that matters.

When I read the Dish HDTV forums, the complaints are more channel related than service / reception.

Bottom line, I really want to go with Dish, but with a low fixed income, I can’t afford to throw money away.

Opinions from people who have had both services would be appreciated.

I haven't had dish but friends of mine have it and I have DirecTV. IMO the quality of DirecTV IS MUCH better than Dish. The channel lineup is also IMO is much better. Just my 2 cents.

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You realize this is a Directv thread right?

Start with the channel listing and choose the provider based on that first.

Yea, but many have switched from Dish, I'm, curious if it's reception or channel listing.

As I originally stated, I like the channel listing and price of Dish. Just thought dtv owners might have an unbiased opinion of the reception issue. Primarily, is the equipment faulty, lower quality or is it an installation issue.

I'll see what the Dish thread has to say.

I was at my In-Laws for Thanksgiving and they have DirecTV. About 95% of everything in their guide/list had the thumbnail in the top-right. Mine only has a few here and there. If I go through my whole guide (about 200+ channels) I'm lucky if I see three thumbnails of the movie/tv show. Also, after the install on Tuesday Night my guide was very fast and responsive and I was very impressed with the speed of everything. Yesterday and today it seems slow and buggy. Takes about 5 seconds or more to respond from button push. Could all of this be from the Genie still downloading info? As I mentioned before I have one client box and it requires that small seperate box that plugs into the router via ethernet and then into the genie via coaxial cable. Would it make any difference if I add another ethernet cable from my router to the Genie? Sorry for all the questions but the installers were not that helpful.

Dish does have a dish configuration requirement that is a bit wonky, but with proper setup it works as well as any. It's just not as tolerant of idiot installers.

Mine says that about the internet a lot. I just unplug the network cable from the internet inserter box dongle thingy and it seems to solve that problem. Mine does show the thumbnails in the upper right corner of the guide while browsing the guide.

Now that's hilarious

Ok seriously, I just never like DISH for reasons I don't know. My parents have it and every time I visit and use it I feel it's so 2nd rate compared to directv. It's like they're not as sharp and advance as directv. And IMHO the PQ is better too.

My guess is, the system is still populating that stuff. It might take several days to fully aquire all the extra information.

I know myself, nearly every listing has a thumbnail image. If I could give you mine, I'd be glad to since I really don't care whether I have them or not.

That's just a sign you've had the TV on too long.

it took a good 3 or so days for my Hr-24 to fully populate the guide etc. I've found that with D boxes (or any other box I've had) it helps to unplug it and reboot when guide etc. gets slow or buggy, but I wouldn't do it on new installation until it's had 3 or 4 days to stabilize.

I have current experience with both (DirecTV at home and Dish on one of the demo sets at work). PQ is definitely better on DirecTV--Lots more overcompression on Dish. This is obvious on both local channels and nationwide "cable channels". It's not a matter of installation either--with digital there is no gradual deterioration as signal strength goes down-it's either as good as it's gonna get or not there at all.

As I suspected the Genie was still downloading/populating info. I checked today and pretty much every listing has a thumbnail. The guide still seems a bit slow especially since I know how fast it can be, as it was super fast and responsive for about 8 hrs after the install. I'll give it through the wknd before I call DTV or try a reboot. Thanks for all the info.

Are the Genie's really responsive, I've got two HR20-100s and I think it's an HR23-100 and they are all slow as can be, they used to all be very responsive, but they've all been just dogs for the last what seems like a year, but they definitely have become very sluggish and changing channels by directly punching in the channel can be infuriating as it only recognizes a button press here and there and it's just ridiculous compared to how the units functioned for many years prior to the new guides, which didn't really do a thing for me, but sure did slow the entire surfing experience to a crawl and made it a very frustrating experience.

My Genie is very responsive.

My Genie is fairly unresponsive - not as bad as my old HR21, but not real quick either.

Yes, has ruined my HD recordings of the American Music Awards and of the HD version of a Matt Helm movie showed by Sony this afternoon. I talked to a friend who says she also gets the screensaver coming on while watching, and so do her parents. Isn't DirecTV addressing this issue?!

I have 5 HD DVRs and have never seen it happen, have you contacted them about a replacement?

Appears to be a widespread problem, so it may not be related to a defective receiver. The new programming may just have the screensaver pop up peridiodically if you don't press any of the remote buttons after so many minutes.

Well, my DirecTV HD DVR (HR24-500) stopped responding to my remote control and so I rebooted it, and as I dreaded, after the self-check it reported there was a problem with the hard drive and gave me a code to give to Customer Service. They said they are going to send me out another DVR in the mail and to expect it within 3 days. Sucks I just lost all my DVR recordings, but o well. First world problems!!

Question - If I did NOT have the 5.99 support plan would they be harassing me to pay for a replacement DVR?? I am not sure if my 5.99 plan played any part in getting a replacement without incident.

Without a doubt

I don't really understand DirecTV's policy on the equipment. I have to pay a monthly lease and if the device you gave me fails than I have to pay shipping and then other fees associated with a new box?? I know Comcast and Uverse never handled device issues in this manner. Also, when I asked to change out a box a year ago from SD to HD they insisted I sign up for another 2 year agreement or pay $100 for the HD box. Annoying to say the least. I don't know what makes these boxes so special they treat it like I own it, but then charge me a monthly lease and if I cancel my service you also want the equipment back?

NO, the ONLY benefit you get with the PPP on receivers, is that you normally have to pay $20 S&H to have a replacement receiver sent; otherwise, they are replaced FREE as long as it is a leased receiver. And most of the time, you can very easily get them to waive the S&H fee, particularly if you are a good, long-term customer. I've had many clients have to get replacement receivers, & they all had NO problem getting the S&H waived. (after I told them this secret )

Personally, I think the PPP is a total waste of money, & discourage my clients from getting it. Even if you have a receiver break EVERY year, you're still money ahead over spending $72/year.

i have the genie and 1 client. the client is super slow but the genie is not much faster. genie was unbelievably fast for about 12 hrs after install last week but then became sluggish. i rebooted a few days later and it seemed faster but it is now slow again. should i reboot again or call tech support ?

We have never had the protection plan & have replaced 4 or 5 broken receivers (since the 1990's) without charge or shipping cost. Might be because of being a long-time customer, as dishrich mentioned above. At the most, you should only have to pay for shipping on a replacement.

The reason I have the P/P is I live in East TX and it's because of several lighting storms we have every year. I don't remember how many receivers I've had to replace over the years.

Not to mention a couple of dishes,wiring,TV's,computers,phones you get my drift it's just piece of mind for me.

Ditto for the same situation in South Florida. Torrential thunderstorms, Tropical storms, Hurricanes, searing heat, etc, etc. Need the PP, especially for outside wiring, connectors, Dish parts. etc.

Where can u buy insurance priced at $5.99/mo on anything? Wish I could find health insurance pricing that was at that price!