DirecTV

[NineMileSkid]

Tell me how much I am going to love DirecTV. Shade it with the knowledge that I currently am unable to get the tennis channel, even SD, and that I don't get ESPN2 in HD on the television I watch tennis on.

I will be getting it this Saturday.

[jhick]

Originally Posted by NineMileSkid

Tell me how much I am going to love DirecTV. Shade it with the knowledge that I currently am unable to get the tennis channel, even SD, and that I don't get ESPN2 in HD on the television I watch tennis on.

I will be getting it this Saturday.

I wish I still had DirecTV. We moved and with the tree coverage of our neighborhood, there wasn't a spot on the roof where we could get clear reception. Didn't want the satellite (or as my wife called it "the mothership") in our yard, so we dropped it. DirecTV even let us back out of our contract for free, which still had a few months left on it.

Had to go to cable (only cable company is crappy Charter) and everything is worse: service, channel selection, less HD channels (including tennis channel not in HD). Price is comparable for the time being.

[mikeler]

Wait until the Australian Open begins when you can watch 5 matches at a time the first week. Channels 600-607 I think.

[jhick]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Wait until the Australian Open begins when you can watch 5 matches at a time the first week. Channels 600-607 I think.

Yeah I miss that too.

[JRstriker12]

Originally Posted by jhick

I wish I still had DirecTV. We moved and with the tree coverage of our neighborhood, there wasn't a spot on the roof where we could get clear reception. Didn't want the satellite (or as my wife called it "the mothership") in our yard, so we dropped it. DirecTV even let us back out of our contract for free, which still had a few months left on it.

Had to go to cable (only cable company is crappy Charter) and everything is worse: service, channel selection, less HD channels (including tennis channel not in HD). Price is comparable for the time being.

Cut off 10 feet of the tallest tree, attach 30 ft pole with Direct TV dish attached. Problem solved

[jhick]

Originally Posted by JRstriker12

Cut off 10 feet of the tallest tree, attach 30 ft pole with Direct TV dish attached. Problem solved

Thought about pruning trees but the interfering trees were our neighbors. Plus I couldn't justify the extra expense to my wife, who at this point was lobbying that we drop cable/satellite entirely.

[FuriousYellow]

For a tennis fan, nothing beats DIRECTV. The HD mix channels during the slams are awesome.

If they would just get AMC, BBCA, TCM, and NatGeo Wild in HD, I'd be 100% satisfied.

[NineMileSkid]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Wait until the Australian Open begins when you can watch 5 matches at a time the first week. Channels 600-607 I think.

Oh. My. God.

[NineMileSkid]

Originally Posted by FuriousYellow

For a tennis fan, nothing beats DIRECTV. The HD mix channels during the slams are awesome.

If they would just get AMC, BBCA, TCM, and NatGeo Wild in HD, I'd be 100% satisfied.

I was under the impression that that was only the US Open.

I think I've died and gone to heaven.

[FuriousYellow]

Originally Posted by NineMileSkid

I was under the impression that that was only the US Open.

I think I've died and gone to heaven.

Nope. They've been doing the HD Mix channels for all four slams for a few years now. However, they still only cover the first week of the event.

[Kevin T]

Originally Posted by NineMileSkid

I was under the impression that that was only the US Open.

I think I've died and gone to heaven.

As others said, nothing beats this. The sports options were the primary reason I went with DirecTv and I'll NEVER EVER EVER go back. Customer service has been awesome in my experience. I haven't had my signal go out a single time in 14 months. I'm on the west coast, so with the Aussie, I come home from work and enjoy 5 channels of live tennis, plus the mix channel that has all matches going on at once. It's awesome because you get to avoid ESPN's incredibly annoying broadcast teams. If you're a golf fan, you get that same awesome coverage for PGA slams. You're going to love it.

[mikeler]

I forgot about the PGA coverage at the Golf slams. It is very good too.

[JRstriker12]

Originally Posted by jhick

Thought about pruning trees but the interfering trees were our neighbors. Plus I couldn't justify the extra expense to my wife, who at this point was lobbying that we drop cable/satellite entirely.

Bummer. Honestly, I find myself watching less TV and more online-streaming. I have a buddy that totally dropped cable for an HDTV antenna and Roku box. I'm not that brave. IF Tennis TV (online streaming) was cheaper, I might be temped.

Just wondering. For the Direct TV peeps - how does it perform in bad weather?

I have Verizon FIOS TV (we get ESPN 3 online and subscribe to Tennis Chan), and I'm pretty happy, but Direct TV seems to have some advantages on the tennis front.

[scotus]

Originally Posted by JRstriker12

Bummer. Honestly, I find myself watching less TV and more online-streaming. I have a buddy that totally dropped cable for an HDTV antenna and Roku box. I'm not that brave. IF Tennis TV (online streaming) was cheaper, I might be temped.

Just wondering. For the Direct TV peeps - how does it perform in bad weather?

I have Verizon FIOS TV (we get ESPN 3 online and subscribe to Tennis Chan), and I'm pretty happy, but Direct TV seems to have some advantages on the tennis front.

Bad weather can definitely ruin it. Lots of rain on the satellite dish, and you will lose signal.

Having said this, cable is not much better in this department. I have had cable service go out much more often. Also, I have noticed that the cable companies themselves get their signals from humongous satellite dishes they operate (At least the one I have in my area). So the bad weather can wreak havoc on cable services as well.

[PeterPanda]

It's great i've had it for years.

In general you will like it.

I will warn you though. Be prepared for a lot of hassles the first couple of weeks. i.e., the installer coming with wrong equipment, then you call and they don't have you listed as having the great promo pricing that you thought you would get. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE NAME AND OPERATOR ID NUMBER OF EVERYBODY THAT YOU TALK TO AT DIRECTV.

Make sure you do your rebates online BEFORE THE INSTALLATION!!!!

They are shady companies all these cable/satellite companies. It's not just DirecTV, but just make sure you are getting everything you asked for, and don't give up. If it is bad, take my advice. Complain with legitimate issues on DirecTV's facebook page. I did and that was the only way to get my problems resolved.

But the programming and CinemaPlus are fantastic.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by JRstriker12

Bummer. Honestly, I find myself watching less TV and more online-streaming. I have a buddy that totally dropped cable for an HDTV antenna and Roku box. I'm not that brave. IF Tennis TV (online streaming) was cheaper, I might be temped.

Just wondering. For the Direct TV peeps - how does it perform in bad weather?

I have Verizon FIOS TV (we get ESPN 3 online and subscribe to Tennis Chan), and I'm pretty happy, but Direct TV seems to have some advantages on the tennis front.

Here in Central Florida, we get some serious thunderstorms most days in the summer. We never lose the non-HD channels, but if there is a very heavy rain going on we will lose the HD channels for a few minutes.

I know two people now that have dropped cable and get HD channels over the air. Both of them also got the Roku boxes. I watch mostly sports, so this would not work for me.

[JRstriker12]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Here in Central Florida, we get some serious thunderstorms most days in the summer. We never lose the non-HD channels, but if there is a very heavy rain going on we will lose the HD channels for a few minutes.

I know two people now that have dropped cable and get HD channels over the air. Both of them also got the Roku boxes. I watch mostly sports, so this would not work for me.

Same here. Besides a few select shows, most of my TV viewing is sports - mostly tennis and soccer with a mish mash of other evnts thrown in. IMHO - If you are not a sports fan, then going over the air HD + a streaming serivce is the way to go..... until the media companies get smart and start charging a lot for streaming media.