Renewal Deal? in Verizon FIOS TV http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r22555008 en Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:21:40 EDT Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:21:40 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586671 robjlevin : I never knew there was a 50 show limit, but I have to tell you...that's simply not an issue for me. I have a hard enough time following the 10 or shows I do record.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586671 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:42:07 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586656 robjlevin : My dish is mounted about 8 feet high on the side of my house. Not an issue but I agree it's something to be considered in cold weather areas.

There are things you can do to avoid that problem, though.:

»www.thesatelliteshop.net/satelli···871.html]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586656 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:38:42 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586624 GeekGirl1 :
said by gregg62 See Profile :

said by MacGyver973 See Profile :

I would not go back to Directv. We had some torrential storms roll through yesterday and it was nice to not have the picture black out like it used to when I had Directv.
Absolutely. The picture would go out on me every time it rained when I had Directv. It got to the point that I would watch the weather forecast just to see if I could watch TV that night.
Just wanted to mention that you also need to think about snow on the dish. Try waiting for that to melt. There's no way I could reach the dish to knock the snow off it, either.

It's because water (moisture) is very good at absorbing the RF signal at that frequency. Think microwave oven, but at a very low power level. Ku-Band is the reason, not the service.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586624 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:32:15 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586457 gmsbf5104 :
said by robjlevin See Profile :

Comparable DVRs? This takes us back to paying more for better quality. :) FiOS DVRs are nowhere near comparable to DirecTV's.
See for me DTV DVRs will never be a superior product to any DVR as long as they have a limit on how many shows you can setup for repeat recordings. Designing a DVR with a 50 show limit when no other DVR does that as far as I know is a bad decision in my opinion. Of course as a result if you need more than 50 shows you have to get another DVR which is incentive enough for DTV never to address the issue.

said by robjlevin See Profile :

Here's what I have now: 2 HD DVRs ($199 for the first, $99 for the second) and I just added an HD receiver for $99 (which extends my contract but like your dad I'm in it for sports) and three SD receivers. (I'm out of pocket $400...what are those TiVos going to cost you?)

But I'm on an older package which includes HD and DVR and so I get the national, non-premium HDs along with HBO (FiOS shines here with additional HBOs in HD) and the HD Extra package

For that I pay $122/month including tax. For the first year it was about $95 but let's not get into introductory offers.
I paid $300 total for both Tivo HDs. I haven't decided what service plan yet but I will probably go with one lifetime for $300 and either another lifetime for $300 or yearly for $100. They hold their resale value so it isn't much of a risk plus I gain all the perks of Tivo and its features like backing up every night to my server.

I am also on a package that includes DVR but not HD. The problem is you can't get either of those anymore which is why I didn't use them in the comparison. I also didn't use bundle prices since that widens the gap even more.

My bill comes to $155 with tax. I have 4 Tivos and the top package along with the E/W SD feeds for NBC and ABC so I pretty much pay 145. If I take into account I pay 94 after taxes for phone and internet with Verizon, my total a month is $239. The same package with Fios with 4 Tivos would run me $142.99 plus taxes and Tivo fees depending how I go.

said by robjlevin See Profile :

According to VZ's site, their DVRs are $15.99 a month and the HD receiver is $9.99. That's $42/month before you even start thinking about programming.
Correct which is why I said $30 a month for 2 DVRs. With DTV it would be $10 for the two DVRs plus $5.99 for DVR service since it isn't free anymore and then for HD receiver it is $5 plus $9.99-14.98 for HD programming plus the initial cost. Yes it is only $20.99 if you don't take into account programming but programming is where they tack on the fees with DTV especially since all the benefits you and I have are no longer an option. Also make sure you never deactivate the receiver they have flagged as primary. If you do you may find you lose your grandfathered package and can't get it back based off what I have read on dbstalk.com.

said by robjlevin See Profile :

Let's understand one thing here...the only point I'm trying to make is that nobody should be doing this for price only. Either company is going to get your money and at the end of the day, even if FiOS saved me $20, $30 or $40 a month (and let's face it, that isn't going to happen) I would stick with DirecTV.

I'd be miserable (and was) with FiOS TV because the HD sports, especially hockey, was and still is sorely lacking.

Bottom line is pick the service you're going to be happy with when you turn it on, not when you pay the bill and be really happy that you have a choice. The competition is keeping all the providers on their toes.
I agree somewhat, but at a certain point price does become a factor especially if it is more than $10 or so a month. Until I get my first bill without discounts on Fios I can't say how much my savings will be but it is definitely looking like more than $10 even with paying monthly for multiple Tivos. I just don't know what Tv taxes will end up running since I believe locally they tax differently based off satellite vs cable vs Fios.

I definitely agree though price becomes less of a factor if one provider doesn't carry what you want while the other does and regardless you should pick and stay with the one who makes you happy.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586457 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:47:02 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586273 robjlevin : Comparable DVRs? This takes us back to paying more for better quality. :) FiOS DVRs are nowhere near comparable to DirecTV's.

Here's what I have now: 2 HD DVRs ($199 for the first, $99 for the second) and I just added an HD receiver for $99 (which extends my contract but like your dad I'm in it for sports) and three SD receivers. (I'm out of pocket $400...what are those TiVos going to cost you?)

But I'm on an older package which includes HD and DVR and so I get the national, non-premium HDs along with HBO (FiOS shines here with additional HBOs in HD) and the HD Extra package

For that I pay $122/month including tax. For the first year it was about $95 but let's not get into introductory offers.

According to VZ's site, their DVRs are $15.99 a month and the HD receiver is $9.99. That's $42/month before you even start thinking about programming.

Let's understand one thing here...the only point I'm trying to make is that nobody should be doing this for price only. Either company is going to get your money and at the end of the day, even if FiOS saved me $20, $30 or $40 a month (and let's face it, that isn't going to happen) I would stick with DirecTV.

I'd be miserable (and was) with FiOS TV because the HD sports, especially hockey, was and still is sorely lacking.

Bottom line is pick the service you're going to be happy with when you turn it on, not when you pay the bill and be really happy that you have a choice. The competition is keeping all the providers on their toes.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22586273 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:47:55 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22585582 gmsbf5104 :
said by robjlevin See Profile :

Replacing a defective receiver does not extend the contract, AFAIK. Upgrade one, OTOH, does.

But, IMO, the analogy does work in this case because FiOS charges $10/month more per box, it doesn't take very long to make up the difference.
Last time my parents had to replace their defective DTV DVR, R15 I believe, they had to renew a 2 year contract and it was a leased receiver. Maybe the CSR lied or told them this incorrectly I have no idea since I never dealt with leased receivers with DTV. My father stays for the Sunday Ticket so a commitment doesn't matter to him.

So out of pocket you paid $300 and then $11.99 a month for the two DVRs on DTV based off current packages which comes out to around $25 a month for the 2 year commitment.

Fios you pay $30 a month for 2 comparable Fios DVRs for two years.

I find the $5 is easily made up in the package costs since I find Fios to be cheaper than DTV especially when you look at bundles. Fios is 87.99 for the top package no bundle with all movie channels. DTV is 109.99 + 9.99 for HD + 4.99 for HD plus for all channels. Fios with top package and 2 DVRs comes to $118 before taxes and DTV is $136 before taxes for the same setup. Also that doesn't include the initial cost for receivers.

Also don't forget if Fios releases a new DVR I imagine swapping out to upgrade wouldn't cost anything unlike with DTV most of the time. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22585582 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 01:09:42 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22584020 robjlevin : Replacing a defective receiver does not extend the contract, AFAIK. Upgrade one, OTOH, does.

But, IMO, the analogy does work in this case because FiOS charges $10/month more per box, it doesn't take very long to make up the difference.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22584020 Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:01:14 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22581243 gmsbf5104 :
said by robjlevin See Profile :

I forgot that they changed the packages but even so, you only pay that fee once even if you have 5 DVRs. But should a receiver crap out, they will swap it out just like the cable companies. The lease fee is sort of like the down payment on a car lease.

The HD and DVR are included in the package I have now. But I got a pretty good deal. I paid $199 for the first HD DVR and $99 for the second one and got four SD receivers free.

But let me real clear about this...I don't mind spending more to get what I want. So a few bucks a month to get what I want is well worth it.

If I were a movie nut, I would go FiOS but as a hockey fan (especially in the NY/NNJ market) DTV is the clear winner.
The problem with that analogy is most people tell you never to put money down on a lease since it is just throwing money away. ;) Yeah they replace it at the cost of shipping and with a 2 year contract extension. I never had a cable company extend a contract for replacing one of their defective receivers.

Oh I agree I don't mind paying more for what I want which is why I bought 2 Tivo HDs for $150 each in preparation for the switch to Fios. Worst case I can always sell them if I decide to return to DTV.

Yeah not a sports fan so all of Directv sports packages do nothing for me at all. My brother on the other hand wants to switch but won't because of the Sunday Ticket. Keep in mind I am not trying to say one is better than the other since obviously what everyone is looking for in their TV provider is different. I have been with DTV for 6 years or so and I am ready for a change. I just refuse to pay more to do so especially when the extra costs are just to add HD versions of the same channels I get now.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22581243 Fri, 19 Jun 2009 23:10:32 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22575224 robjlevin : I forgot that they changed the packages but even so, you only pay that fee once even if you have 5 DVRs. But should a receiver crap out, they will swap it out just like the cable companies. The lease fee is sort of like the down payment on a car lease.

The HD and DVR are included in the package I have now. But I got a pretty good deal. I paid $199 for the first HD DVR and $99 for the second one and got four SD receivers free.

But let me real clear about this...I don't mind spending more to get what I want. So a few bucks a month to get what I want is well worth it.

If I were a movie nut, I would go FiOS but as a hockey fan (especially in the NY/NNJ market) DTV is the clear winner.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22575224 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:41:02 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22570851 gmsbf5104 : Sorry I was thinking about the Dvr fee which went up to 5.99 a month recently which is on top of the lease fee.

You seem to be forgetting the upfront cost of leasing a receiver from Directv. With Directv you also have to pay the $100 or so depending on which receiver to lease it even before you pay monthly for a box you don't own. They don't come with the benefits of leasing from a cable company either since if it breaks it isn't a matter of simple swapping it out for free in my experience.

Actually for three receivers assuming one is a DVR you are looking at 12-45 on Fios versus 15.99 on DTV since you forgot the DVR fee which is no longer bundled with the top package. The reason I say 12 on Fios is you have a choice of buying a Tivo and only renting cablecards or even just going OTA.

I wouldn't know about the Motorola boxes since I will be going with Tivo when my Fios is installed next week. If they are crap compared to DTV DVRs they must really be bad since the DTV DVRs are nothing to brag about imho especially when it has a 50 show limit.

For me I am switching to Fios after 6 years of Directv since it saves me money every month for the same package but I gain HD. I currently pay $250 a month for phone, internet and DTV. Fios is going to run me around $200 a month for all three. On top of that I get full featured Tivos over the Directivos which DTV offers. Any cost of purchasing the new Tivos in my mind is a wash since I would have paid just as much to upgrade to the new HD Directivo if and when it comes out in 2010 not to mention the additional monthly charges they have said will apply if you want a Tivo over a DTV DVR.

If you don't care about the various sports packages, Fios to me is the clear winner. If you do then DTV is really your only choice. ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22570851 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:33:47 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22570773 robjlevin : I don't know where you got that $5.99 figure...it's $5.00 and the first set is free. For someone with SD only, it's pretty much a wash with FiOS but with FiOS the fee for HD DVRs is something around $15.00. DTV charges the same $5.00 no matter the receiver.

Assuming you get a DTV package similar to FiOS (one including HD and DVR) and have 3 HD sets you're already looking at $45.00 month on FiOS just for the boxes vs $10.00/month on DTV.

And I might add those Motorola boxes are crap compared the DTV DVRs.

I'm paying about the same amount per month that I would be paying for FiOS but I'm getting programming in HD that's important to me.

And just one more thing...my DirecTV bill has never been wrong.

Look, I'm not trying to get anyone to switch. FiOS is a terrific service for many people but VZ, DTV, T, CVC and the rest are in business for one reason only...to separate you from your money in the most efficient means possible.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22570773 Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:55:07 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22566782 keyboards :
said by louielouie :

As a note,if its storming....bad...I shut my tv down, it cost wayyyyyy to much to get zapped by power inconsistancy.
That's why I have a 1500W power conditioning UPS on my home theater system except for the power hungry Surround Sound amp (and one on the BBU to keep the TV and Internet alive). Keeps going even if the power goes out (at least for an hour).
--
REMEMBER: Stupidity should be painful !!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22566782 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:01:23 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22565304 anon : I switched from DTV to FIOS because they would not waive the hd/dvr up front fee to a customer of 6 years.

Would I ever go back....NEVER!

As a note,if its storming....bad...I shut my tv down, it cost wayyyyyy to much to get zapped by power inconsistancy.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22565304 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:59:44 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22564544 gmsbf5104 : Yeah but DTV is really bad about it. If you own equipment you pay a 5.99 mirroring fee to each receiver. These days all new equipment is leased and they charge you a fee upfront to lease the equipment. They then waive the mirroring fee but charge you a 5.99 lease fee which results in owned equipment costing more over the lifetime of the unit.

In reality the owned equipment should have no additional monthly fee similar to how Verizon charges you nothing for owning a Tivo but will charge you a rental fee for a cable card.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22564544 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:08:48 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22564492 robjlevin : True, but DTV doesn't charge more for HD or DVR boxes per month. VZ will nail you on a monthly basis for those.

All of the providers get their pound of flesh one way or the other. Just pick your poison.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22564492 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 07:46:50 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22559804 guppy_fish :
said by cmullen8 See Profile :

said by guppy_fish See Profile :

You have to pay 99 for the HDTV DVR receiver so you can then rent it
I get at least one piece of junk mail per week from them with a "special offer" to waive the usual HD DVR fee. I agree with everything else you said though.
DTV's offer waves the fee for only the first 12 months, your then billed the rental fee for the second year of the agreement

Once your a customer, your locked in hard ... it cost me 230 to make the switch ( but FIOS incentives covered all of this ). DTV also are raising the rates, again, the rates quoted are only for the first year of a two year lock in. This was the final push for me to switch, being locked in and having to pay higher rates]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22559804 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:14:23 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22559411 cmullen8 :
said by guppy_fish See Profile :

You have to pay 99 for the HDTV DVR receiver so you can then rent it
I get at least one piece of junk mail per week from them with a "special offer" to waive the usual HD DVR fee. I agree with everything else you said though.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22559411 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 11:10:34 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22559010 guppy_fish :
said by robjlevin See Profile :

With which dish? With the new larger dishes, I won't say the picture never goes out but it takes a pretty good storm to do it and it usually only lasts a few minutes.

Annoying? Absolutely, but not nearly as annoying as watching hockey in standard definition. ;)
We have the latest 5-lnb AT5 dish aligned as near perfect as possible ... its goes out in the thunderstorms for more than a "few minutes" here in Lakeland, typically 30-90 minutes depending on the daily storms we have.

the Mpeg4 ( Ku band ) is the first to go, so the glorious HD you speak of is long gone before the Standard def is also rain faded]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22559010 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:03:16 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558818 gregg62 : Don't know which dish it was. It was about 2 to 3 years ago, so it might have been the old dish. But to me, I'd rather watch hockey in SD, then have it go out even if it is just for a few minutes. FiOS has NEVER gone out on me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558818 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:30:00 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558746 robjlevin : With which dish? With the new larger dishes, I won't say the picture never goes out but it takes a pretty good storm to do it and it usually only lasts a few minutes.

Annoying? Absolutely, but not nearly as annoying as watching hockey in standard definition. ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558746 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:13:01 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558667 gregg62 :
said by MacGyver973 See Profile :

I would not go back to Directv. We had some torrential storms roll through yesterday and it was nice to not have the picture black out like it used to when I had Directv.
Absolutely. The picture would go out on me every time it rained when I had Directv. It got to the point that I would watch the weather forecast just to see if I could watch TV that night.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558667 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:56:35 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558518 MacGyver973 : I would not go back to Directv. We had some torrential storms roll through yesterday and it was nice to not have the picture black out like it used to when I had Directv.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22558518 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:13:22 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22556306 guppy_fish : Keep in mind two things with direct tv's offer

You have to pay 99 for the HDTV DVR receiver so you can then rent it

You have to sign for two years, the termination fee is 440.00, which they then discount 20 bucks a month, so if you want to change to another provider in 12 months, its a 220 ETF

You also need to consider the cost difference on the FIOS bundle as 3 vs 2 play ... I did all the math and made the switch to FIOS, our household as no regrets

DTV comes up with some attractive offers, but if one has the FIOS option, its better in total cost, channel count, on demand and no rain fade]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22556306 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:47:20 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22556090 geekski : Ask for the retention department and they will probably give you some kind of incentive. Probably not as good as the DirecTV offer, but better than nothing.
I asked the rep to give me a reason to not switch to cable for a month, switch back, and then receive the $150 incentive VZ is offering to new customers. They gave me a monthly discount for one year to keep me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22556090 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:13:39 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22555560 chitchatjf : One possibility would be to test DirectTV's best offer and add it to Verizon's internet/phone bundle.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22555560 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:38:54 EDT Re: Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22555350 JPL : Verizon generally doesn't give special deals or promos - but if you renew you do so with whatever the current bundle prices are.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22555350 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:59:26 EDT Renewal Deal? http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22555008 anon : My one year contract for the "Triple Play" is about to expire. Generally, I've been very happy with FIOS and will probably renew. My old provider (11 years with DirecTv) has been calling with sensational offers however, some of them so good, I should consider them.

Anyway, my question is this: Will Verizon negotiate a special deal for a 3 year contract? My rep says Verizon will not match DirecTv's offer as it is against company policy) but is there no incentive to renew?

Thanks all.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,22555008 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:03:11 EDT