The cable company just jacked up our monthly rate by more than 20%; which has us paying close to $180 for cable, Recording, and Internet. Kind of ridiculous in that we only watch a third of the channels we pay for and have pretty much a basic package.

Looking at Direct TV and at least in the first year I can get a lot more channels that I would watch for half the price. Although they want a two year agreement and we all know what happens in the second year.

Any of you have or had Direct TV? Interested in how you like or dislike it. Looks like Direct doesn't offer NBC which is a killer for my wife as some of her favorite shows are on NBC.

Thanks.

Mike

we have DTV but you have to really watch it with them... they sneak sh!t upon you and you end up paying up the yang for it if you dont pay attention...

when you get the service, you will get 3 or 4 months of Showtime, Hbo, Starz and all that crap for free, like 45 movie channels, if you dont remember to cancel that before the expiration of the "promo" its like 50+ bucks a month for just those channels, on top of your "package price"...

also, they will give you a "free HD DVR", for a certian time, after that, they charge you 20 bucks a month for just that one device...

as for the service, i love it, the HD channels are great, they have been way cooler customer service wise than Comcast ever was... we are just about coming up on the 1st year here in a couple months, so i cant say whats gonna happen after that price wise, but i know that right now, its a good deal... we also had it at our cabin for about 4 years, and never had an issue there either with them...

just pay attention to when your promo ends, cancel things that were "free" before the trial expires, and you should be golden... DONT screw up on the contract tho if you agree to one, im not 100% but i think its 200 bucks for each month you have left if you terminate the contract early, which can be a hefty sum, and then any other cable company will make you pay a big ass deposit to them for service, because you are a liability..

We've had Direct TV since 2004. Haven't had any issues. The only time we lose signal is when snow builds up on the dish.

Did you mean that Dish doesn't carry NBC?

Have had Direct since 1998 and absolutely no problems, especially in the customer service department. Two receivers in the Motorhome, and 4 in the house, and 1 in the shop, all SD (not HD). As for rain/snow fade, get a larger diameter dish, i.e., 30 incher, problem solved.

We like it, I haven't shopped for price, but I absolutely LOVE that it keeps my money out of the cable franchise holders pocket.

the latest playboy rag came with an offer for direct tv which included 3 months of the playboy channel free...

Thanks for the responses. Wife is calling today to get some more questions answered. Good points RH. We have Time Warner out here in Idaho. Can't say I have been unhappy with the service; just that every year the price takes a huge jump. In the past my wife has been able to talk them down; but this time they were only willing to drop the price by $20 if we incorporated a landline phone into the deal.

Snow can be an issue out here so the advice on the bigger dish is a good one; the wife will check that out when she calls today.

Thanks.

Mike

Direct TV is quick to lower the price for your service if you tell them you found something better and want to cancel.

I got a season of NFL sunday ticket,6 months of HBO and ST for free,and they knocked the cost of our monthly bill in half for a year.

All because I called and told them I wanted to cancel because they didn't offer the Pac-12 network.

Options suck for me.....no cable out here, so everything is satellite-dependant. We have Hughes for internet and Dish for TV. I opted for two different providers, rather than have everything go down at once.....or up at once, as the case may be.
I don't know where I'm going to finally end up with retirement this year and cutting back on expenses. We are paying about $100/mo for both now then you add the smart phone charges and we need to cut back pretty soon.
Anyone know a grant?

Had Direct and moved to Dish, haven't looked back since.

Spray some Pam on the dish and you shouldn't have any trouble with snow, rain or what have you. With the power these systems put out you don't need a bigger dish.

Fishy

power they put out?

2 watts ?

I live in the sticks and satellite is the only option.

I've hated few things in life as much as dish network. I switched to directv and have no issues.

At the time, directv offered versus and quite a few other channels that dish couldn't touch unless I went with the premium package.

Also, directv offers a lot of $ saving options that dish wouldn't match when I asked them about it:
If you have AAA, directv will take $10/mo. for 2 years
If you use auto bill pay, another $5/mo.
Tell them a friend referred you (I.e., good ol' twitchy) and you get $10/mo., AND the person who referred (good ol twitchy) you gets $10/mo.

The list goes on... Again, dish wouldn't honor any of these deals.

Best yet, call the customer service number, and within a couple rings you are talking to an English speaking person, not an automated system or 'bill' with an Indian accent.

If anyone is thinking about switching to directv, send me a pm, I'll give you my account number for a referral and we'll both save some $$!

and they have the Genie ...

Power output from the sat signal, I don't know what it is but when I was in the military we could blast everyone with just 10 watts and usually ran just 3-4.


Fishy

I'm more or less convinced the triumvirate of Cable, Dish, and DirectTV will all get their licks in on you given time. Cable is probably a bit worse, though, since they have no competition in most markets.

I gave up cable last year. The day I go back to paying for TV is the day providers start offering a la carte, non-premium, channels so that I don't have to pay $100/month for the four or five channels I watch. That day will also be, not coincidentally, uncharacteristically chilly in hell.

Word.