DirecTV

[dmclone]

I went in and talked to a sat dealer today for just a few seconds so this is not anything official...
First off I told him Don't give the promotional crap pricing for 4 months. I want to know what I am going to be paying in the long run.
I told him I wanted HD, DVR and a 2 other regular boxes for now. We watch a lot of movies and sports so here was the breakdown.

$72.99 HD + DVR Package
$12 starz
$11 sports Pak
$10 lease 2 boxes

$12 ish tax
------
$118


So Qwest has a good price on 7Mb Internet right now at $34.99 plus a bunch of taxes and a basic phone line with Caller ID runs $25. One problem is I only get 1.5 service.
So,
$35 Internet
$25 Phone
$9 ish.. Taxes
-----------
$69


So $118 + 69 = $187 Approx.... So they don't just give it away.

I will say if you don't need DVR, HD, extra boxes and movie channels it is really cheap compared to cable.

Now compare that to Mediacom

Basic $52
Starz $11
Digital Plus $8
HD $10
DVR $5
Sports ???
HD DVR 7.50
Additional receiver $5
Mediacom Online $50
Mediacom phone $30
Taxes $7

So $185 and you get a less less sports, a lot less HD, and a lot fewer channels.

I made a gradual transition from Mediacom to Directv. I first went to Directv for TV. It was about the same price but a lot better content.

About 3 months later I switched to Quest 1.5 DSL. It's slower but I only notice it when I'm downloading huge files and I think I'm paying $25/month compared to $50.

As far as phone, I've always had just basic quest with no long distance. My cell phone is used for long distance.

As also don't go through Quest for my Directv billing even though it would be a little bit cheaper. I've heard that have a habit of screwing things up.

[jumbopackage]

I went in and talked to a sat dealer today for just a few seconds so this is not anything official...
First off I told him Don't give the promotional crap pricing for 4 months. I want to know what I am going to be paying in the long run.
I told him I wanted HD, DVR and a 2 other regular boxes for now. We watch a lot of movies and sports so here was the breakdown.

$72.99 HD + DVR Package
$12 starz
$11 sports Pak
$10 lease 2 boxes

$12 ish tax
------
$118


So Qwest has a good price on 7Mb Internet right now at $34.99 plus a bunch of taxes and a basic phone line with Caller ID runs $25. One problem is I only get 1.5 service.
So,
$35 Internet
$25 Phone
$9 ish.. Taxes
-----------
$69


So $118 + 69 = $187 Approx.... So they don't just give it away.

I will say if you don't need DVR, HD, extra boxes and movie channels it is really cheap compared to cable.

Price out that same package without promotional pricing from mediacom and I bet it's pretty similar. My DirecTV bill is around 130/month and that includes:
5 receivers
whatever the largest channel package is
HBO/Cinemax/Starz
Sports pack (all the regional FSNs plus a handful of extra channels)
HD and HD extra pack (HDNet Movies, Smithsonian HD (which rocks) and a couple other channels I don't remember what they are)
4 DVRs

The equivalent package on Mediacom, which would have far fewer channels, would be the Digital plus pack (10/month), HD pak (7/month), 4 star pak (48/month), DVR (9/month- per receiver? ), sports pak (4/month) which brings you up to 80 bucks at least before you even talk about basic/expanded/digital cable plus the cost of leasing the receivers.

[CYKID]

I just switched back to Mediacom from Dish Network. We run seven TV's in our house and sharing Dish Boxes sucked. Mediacom gave us(VIP) Internet, Phone and 4 receivers for $75 a month. I ran lines to our other TV's and added DVR for $9 so Our total bill with taxes is about $93. I was paying $142 for all three services before. I really won't miss the Big Ten Network. I only need two or three ESPN's and will go to a bar to watch the one or two games that are must see. If the big Twelve had a network and Mediacom didn't have it I would consider switching again but until then I will be perfectly happy with Mediacom.

[Indyclone]

I just switched back to Mediacom from Dish Network. We run seven TV's in our house and sharing Dish Boxes sucked. Mediacom gave us(VIP) Internet, Phone and 4 receivers for $75 a month. I ran lines to our other TV's and added DVR for $9 so Our total bill with taxes is about $93. I was paying $142 for all three services before. I really won't miss the Big Ten Network. I only need two or three ESPN's and will go to a bar to watch the one or two games that are must see. If the big Twelve had a network and Mediacom didn't have it I would consider switching again but until then I will be perfectly happy with Mediacom.

How in the world does sharing boxes suck? I have Dish Network with two receivers controlling 4 tv's. You can watch seperate channels on two tv's that are controlled by the same box, so what is wrong with that. It also saves me $10 as I would need two more boxes at $5 each for the other two tv's.

Another thing is you may have gotten that deal now with Mediacom as they are almost begging people to come back, but call and find out what your rate goes to after this promotional allowance is up in a year that they gave you. I would bet almost anything it will be over the $142 you were paying. Also good luck with phone service from Mediacom.

[CYKID]

I have seven tv's. You can only get four different channels at a time on any dish. I had to tie the garage with the living room etc. With cable I can just run a single line to the garage and hook it to the back of the TV.No box required. My deal with Mediacom is two years. When two years is up I will find the best deal and threaten to switch if Mediacom doesn't match it. These retention departments always give in if they think you are serious about leaving. It kind of reminds me of the days when long distance companies were battling it out. They would pay you money to switch your service and had no leg to stand on when you switched back. I've never had a problem with Mediacom phone but we rarely use our house phone anymore. I only have it for emergencies If my cell phone rang in the middle of the night I may or may not hear it(or have it near me), but the house phone is loud. I don't doubt Dish works for best for some people but I did miss the local access channels and the midwest connections channels.

[jumbopackage]

I have seven tv's. You can only get four different channels at a time on any dish. I had to tie the garage with the living room etc. With cable I can just run a single line to the garage and hook it to the back of the TV.No box required. My deal with Mediacom is two years. When two years is up I will find the best deal and threaten to switch if Mediacom doesn't match it. These retention departments always give in if they think you are serious about leaving. It kind of reminds me of the days when long distance companies were battling it out. They would pay you money to switch your service and had no leg to stand on when you switched back. I've never had a problem with Mediacom phone but we rarely use our house phone anymore. I only have it for emergencies If my cell phone rang in the middle of the night I may or may not hear it(or have it near me), but the house phone is loud. I don't doubt Dish works for best for some people but I did miss the local access channels and the midwest connections channels.

Why can you only get 4 channels at a time on any dish? That doesn't make any sense, especially if you're talking DishPro or DishProPlus LNBs. You should be able to tune as many channels as you have tuners.

[CYKID]

you are only allowed to have four tuners per residential household. Maybe you could get more with a commercial package but I can't imagine he price on that.

[HandSanitizer]

Price out that same package without promotional pricing from mediacom and I bet it's pretty similar. My DirecTV bill is around 130/month and that includes:
5 receivers
whatever the largest channel package is
HBO/Cinemax/Starz
Sports pack (all the regional FSNs plus a handful of extra channels)
HD and HD extra pack (HDNet Movies, Smithsonian HD (which rocks) and a couple other channels I don't remember what they are)
4 DVRs

The equivalent package on Mediacom, which would have far fewer channels, would be the Digital plus pack (10/month), HD pak (7/month), 4 star pak (48/month), DVR (9/month- per receiver? ), sports pak (4/month) which brings you up to 80 bucks at least before you even talk about basic/expanded/digital cable plus the cost of leasing the receivers.

What package do you have to have 4 DVR's, 5 total receivers and all the channels and The Extra HD for $130? I see DTV has an everything package for $105, but then you have to add HD with is like $10 for regular HD and $5 for HD Extra, + $20 for leasing 4 boxes? So do you just have 1.5 Mb internet with a basic phone line with no features from qwest? Because that is the only way I can get under $200. Maybe

I get Starz, HBO, VOD, MC Sports pak, 10Mb Internet and about 20 HD Channels and expanded basic to all other TV's currently for
for $138. And that is wall all taxes.
Then I added MC Phone service with all features for $30.

I don't doubt that Direct is not better, I just have to sell the wife on DTV (not literly) and find out what all the cost are while figuring out the pros and cons of both. And there are pros and cons of both.

PS...
Doesn't Direct only have a One DVR tuner box? I forgot to ask the dude that. I know Dish and Mediacom have a dual tuner DVR that only needs one cable.

[Cyclone62]

It sounds like some people watch a lot of tv.

[jumbopackage]

What package do you have to have 4 DVR's, 5 total receivers and all the channels and The Extra HD for $130? I see DTV has an everything package for $105, but then you have to add HD with is like $10 for regular HD and $5 for HD Extra, + $20 for leasing 4 boxes? So do you just have 1.5 Mb internet with a basic phone line with no features from qwest? Because that is the only way I can get under $200. Maybe

I get Starz, HBO, VOD, MC Sports pak, 10Mb Internet and about 20 HD Channels and expanded basic to all other TV's currently for
for $138. And that is wall all taxes.
Then I added MC Phone service with all features for $30.

I don't doubt that Direct is not better, I just have to sell the wife on DTV (not literly) and find out what all the cost are while figuring out the pros and cons of both. And there are pros and cons of both.

PS...
Doesn't Direct only have a One DVR tuner box? I forgot to ask the dude that. I know Dish and Mediacom have a dual tuner DVR that only needs one cable.

I have TC Premier (104.99) which includes everything except for HD, which would be another 10/month (115) plus another 20 for receivers (the 5th one I only activate during fball season for tailgating) which is 135. I guess I'm paying 140 or so now with the HD extra dealie. I remembered it being in the 130 range. My internet is through Mediacom (8mbit down/512k up) for 65/month. I also have qwest for a phone line, but I'm thinking of getting rid of that since I never use it, and don't really need it since the DVRs are all wired to the internet.

Honestly, my directv bill moves all over the place thanks to the sports subscriptions kicking in and out and whatnot, so I don't often actually pay just the 140/month.

All of DirecTV's DVRs are two tuner boxes. They all require two cables to use both tuners. Unlike Dish, no DirecTV box has two separate outputs, so you have to have one tuner per TV.

[Broodwich]

BTW,

For those of you who aren't in the know. DirectTV is STACKED for Olympic coverage. There are a lot of cool extras that have shown up on my PVR.

[arndog77]

I have had Directv for years and I love it. It has had stacked coverage for the olympics, the masters, and some other sports stuff. I also have the HD package which is totally awesome. here in NW Iowa we get Comcast Chicago, FSN North with FSN Wisconsin. C. Chicago mostly broadcasts the Cubs and WhiteSox games in HD when they cover them, while the Twins and Brewers games will be in HD a lot, too.

[Landshark]

I think there's about 48 threads on this very same subject aren't there?

Yes, but it only reminds me of how happy I've been since Febuary when I switched from 10 years of Mediacom to Direct TV.

Direct TV is so great in oh so many ways...Mediacom is nothing but a joke, minus Channel 22 which kept me held hostage for way too long.

[jumbopackage]

Yes, but it only reminds me of how happy I've been since Febuary when I switched from 10 years of Mediacom to Direct TV.

Direct TV is so great in oh so many ways...Mediacom is nothing but a joke, minus Channel 22 which kept me held hostage for way too long.

I agree about that.

All that being said, I just did the math and decided to cancel my qwest service and use Mediacom for phone and internet.

they have a 1 dollar a month phone deal at the moment, so I'm getting 20mbit/2mbit internet, phone, and pretty much everything DirecTV has for under 200/month, until Jan when it'll go up 50 or so (at which point I'll probably just ditch the home phone).

[dmclone]

and pretty much everything DirecTV has

How many HD channels does mediacom have now? When I left about 2 years ago I think I remember less than 10 but I'm sure they've added a bunch since.