| Time Warner Cable Vs DirecTV I've been back with DirecTV now for about 36 hours and off the top of my head compiled a list of what I've noticed so far. Overall, I can't say I'm overly impresseed with DirecTV as a whole. There's a few bright spots, but I could never use them as my main source of TV. The grass isn't greener on the other side afterall.
Time Warner Receiver – Cisco Explorer 8642HDC running ODN 5.0.0_6
DirecTV Receiver – HR-34-700 running 0X4C9
DirecTV Cons/Time Warner Pros
- The DirecTV EPG is god-awful looking as it stands. I’d rather have Time Warner’s 4:3 graphics then DirecTV’s stretched graphics. I obviously do not have the HD GUI yet. And with how small the window is, at this point I’d rather not even have the video while the EPG is up.
- Ads in the EPG. I HATE that DirecTV promotes content on the premium movie channels in the middle of the guide. I already have the movie channels, thank you very much.
- While the On Demand channels are ‘prettier’ and more graphical, I like the way TW as them sorted by category, not to mention I think it’s totally retarded that you can’t surf through the On Demand channels with the channel up and down buttons, you need to use the red and the green. Also very little HD content On Demand.
- When channel surfing sometimes the screen blanks out for a second when going from an HD channel to an SD channel, and yes, native is off, everything is being converted to 1080i. Sometimes the banner will blink as well.
- The sports channels in the 600s are really hard to follow. Don't understand why CNN and CNN HD can both occupy channel 202 but MSG Alternate is 638 and the HD feed of that is 638-1.
- Not having nearest tune sucks.
- While Sonic Tap has a broader selection over Music Choice, the Music Choice interface is superior.
- While I appreciate being able to skip ahead and back in the guide 12 hours at a time using the red and green buttons, I like it better with TW's Navigator where you can just enter the number of hours you want to jump ahead and hit the right arrow.
- I harped on Time Warner for this. Overall lack of professional looking channel info. Many channels are missing channel logos or are using outdated logos, the EPG abbreviations, while more uniform then TW, still need work, and some need to be corrected. Showtime 3 has not been in existence for years. it's called Showtime Shocase.
- Channel changing is SLOW compared to Navigator! And it bugs the hell out of me that the audio tunes before the video does
- I wish the channel banner just displayed the channel info, don’t need it to also be a neutered settings menu where you can control closed captioning, check your messages and so on.
- Occasionally get a searching for satellite message even though my signals on nearly all CONUS transponders on all the birds are in the high 90s.
- Occasionally get a ‘Your TV does not support this resolution’ error
- DirecTV's HD line up blows! No Tru TV HD, No ID HD, no H2 HD, no DIY HD and a bunch of others. Terrible line up, especially considering they brand themselves 'the HD leader' on their access cards. They don't even carry all of my locals in HD.
Time Warner Cons/DirecTV Pros
- HD picture quality is superior. MUCH less compressed, sharper, crisper and better color saturation. When comparing channel by channel, you can easily see the difference. Also, this is probably due to less compression, I always keep my TV set to 240 Hz and I have yet to see any motion blur on DirecTV.
- Improved audio quality. I always thought that Dolby 5.1 was Dolby 5.1. But while doing picture quality comparisons, I noticed DirecTV does a much better job with bass and is better in the rear channels. Audio is louder and fuller. And yes, my A/V receiver is using the same exact audio setting for both inputs.
- Superior 3D channel selection and it’s free. No way in hell is ESPN 3D worth the $10 Time Warner is selling it for. I would be willing to pay a modest price for a few 3D channels, but DirecTV provides them for free. 3Net looks to be a very cool channel
- DirecTV receivers, or at least the new HR-34 can auto detect 3D content and automatically forces the TV into 3D mode. No additional actions need to be taken. This has improved with Time Warner with recent updates, but it’s not as seamless, you do have to press the D button on the remote and tell the box to tell the TV whether the content is in over under or side x side
- I have my Buffalo Sabres back
- Customizable channel lists. This is something Time Warner will probably never do, because they want you to see the channels you don’t subscribe to and hope just by launching the EPG and seeing something you may be interested in that you’ll upgrade your package. One of my negatives for DirecTV was going to be how there like 15 infomercial channels all randomly placed throughout the lineup, but thanks to having customizable channel lists, I don’t even know that they’re there.
- Smart Search is a cool, although I’ll probably never use it. Although I do like when a sporting event is blacked out it searches to see if available on other channels. That’s pretty click.
- Media share is also cool, but all of my other crap is DLNA, so I have no use for it
- News Mix/Sports Mix, interesting concept, too bad it wasn’t HD
- The obvious, an HD DVR with 5 tuners and a 1TB hard drive, that I’ll never fill more than 3%. But with its quarks, it can be a pain in the ass to use.
- The EPG while is ugly and retarded looking, and while channel changing is slow, the EPG has lightning fast scrolling
- I like the time banner at the bottom of the screen better when using the DVR functions or when watching from the buffer.
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2011 Time Warner Cable Forum @ DSLReports Poster Of The Year!
Voted Unanimously on by ChillyCat and Elyria!
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 RacerbobPremium
join:2001-06-24
Webster, NY | One word about DirecTV... Actually Two Words.
Bottom Line
Summary
Statement Date: February 3, 2012
Account Number xxxxxxxx
Date Due: February 17, 2012
Amount Due: $17.27
Previous Balance 16.99
Payments -16.99
Current Charges and Fees 110.98
Adjustments and Credits -94.99
Taxes 1.28
Amount Due $17.27
Please Do Not Pay, Recurring Debit payment will occur on or about February 17, 2012.
Activity
Start End Description Amount
Previous Balance 16.99
01/17 Payment - Thank You - VISA -16.99
Current Charges for Service Period 02/02/12 - 03/01/12
02/02 03/01 CHOICE XTRA Monthly 65.99
02/02 03/01 SHOWTIME Monthly 12.99
02/02 03/01 HD Access Monthly 10.00
02/02 03/01 DIRECTV DVR Service Monthly 7.00
02/02 03/01 DIRECTV CINEMA Tune to Ch. 1000 for more info 0.00
02/02 03/01 DIRECTV Whole-Home DVR Service Monthly 3.00
Fees
02/03 Leased Receiver 6.00
02/03 Primary Leased Receiver 6.00
Adjustments & Credits
01/30 Refer a Friend -10.00 Credit
01/30 Refer a Friend -10.00 Credit
01/30 Refer a Friend -10.00 Credit
01/30 Cash Back for 12 Months -5.00 Credit
02/02 03/01 SHOWTIME 1-Yr Free SHOW: Remaining Mos -12.99 Credit
02/02 03/01 HD Access Free HD Access w/Auto Bill Pay -10.00 Credit
02/02 03/01 CHOICE XTRA 24 Mo Rebate: Mos 1-12 -26.00 Credit
02/02 03/01 CHOICE XTRA 12 Month Online Rebate -5.00 Credit
02/03 Primary Leased Receiver -6.00 Credit
Taxes
Sales Tax 1.28
Amount Due $17.27
The most my second year bill will be with D* is $65.99 a month. I can deal with any shortcomings...trust me.
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DirecTV is pretty neat. If you want a referral ask me. |
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 Elyria
join:2011-10-12
Elyria, OH | Well done Bud.
Actually, your 2 year deal looks even sweeter if you'd take
the next years $65 monthly total , add this years total , and then
devide by 24.
The "net" for 24 months gonna look impressive , considering
what ya got for your money.
It's that exact stratagy , that seperates the Adults from those "kiddies" |
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RacerbobPremium
join:2001-06-24
Webster, NY | Yes, well this year's was supposed to be $45.99 a month, but I got the three referrals (looking for more by the way) ...the $17 bills are good for a bit longer since the referral credits kicked in at different times. My first year is up in June. But you are right...add it all together and then divide by that 24 and the savings is considerable. Of course, sometime before the end of year two I will be negotiating with somebody to see where we go next.
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DirecTV is pretty neat. If you want a referral ask me. |
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| reply to Steve Mehs
DirecTV loses for one simple reason: their HD channel lineup is utterly pathetic.
I don't subscribe to premium television services for pretty guides and gimmicks. I subscribe for the content. DirecTV lacks that content.
Key channels DirecTV lacks in HD include:
BBC America
Cooking Channel
DIY
E!
Fuse
G4
Game Show Network
H2
HLN
The Hub
IFC
Investigation Discovery
Lifetime Movie Network
National Geographic Wild
OWN
Style
Sundance Channel
Turner Classic Movies
Amongst many, many others. That's just pathetic. "HD leader" my ass. Time Warner carries over 40 more HD channels than DirecTV. With all the documentary programming shifted off History and new episodes of former History documentary programs like Modern Marvels limited to H2, not carrying H2 in HD is a deal breaker.
DirecTV has no plans to add new HD channels in 2012 so who knows when they'll address this issue. Meanwhile, TWC continues adding new HD channels. |
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| reply to Racerbob
I like Steve's comment that the HD picture is a lot better on DirectTV than Time Warner. Also, you never mentioned all the different HD sports channels DirectTV carries as opposed to Time Warner. Which ones are available to you and which ones are blacked out? |
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RacerbobPremium
join:2001-06-24
Webster, NY | Oh I don't have time or the inclination right now to run down thru channels for you guys, but in case you all haven't noticed, I am not critical of Time Warner very much because after a while I will probably be back with them. DirecTV has more than enough channels to keep us happy. The picture quality is perfect (yes, I think better than cable) and we are very pleased with the channels that we have here. I search for good deals and take advantage of promo offers in order to keep our home entertainment expenses as low as I can. We don't even take full advantage of the DVR service we have here because there is more to life than watching TV all the time.
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DirecTV is pretty neat. If you want a referral ask me. |
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| reply to Rick4769
quote:
Also, you never mentioned all the different HD sports channels DirectTV carries as opposed to Time Warner. Which ones are available to you and which ones are blacked out?
What HD sports channels are you talking about? Basically the only useful sports channels I have access to on DirecTV that I don't on Time Warner are MSG and NFL Network. I have Premier so I get all of the out of market RSNs like, NESN, MASN, and all of the 20 or so FSNs, CSNs and Root channels, but of course any and all pro sports on those channels will be blacked out, except for Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians baseball as those are two of our ‘home baseball teams’. I forgot which channel it was, MASN maybe, yesterday when I was flipping through something was blacked out that was not a live game. And besides most of these channels carry the same content, unless it’s team specific. Where these channels do come in handy though, is if you’re a fan of a particular team, like the Boston Bruins for example, you can catch their pre and post game shows on NESN, just can’t watch the game live unless you have NHL CI.
DirecTV carries alternate channels for the ESPNs, MLB Network, NHL Network and NBC Sports Network but those are very rarely ever used. When I had DirecTV before, I never once saw the ESPN alt feeds used ever, did see them used a few times when I had Dish and ESPN had regional NHL coverage. DirecTV also has TV Games if horse racing is your thing and they carry Universal Sports but neither of those in HD. That about rounds it out. If you’re a soccer fan however, you get screwed. Time Warner includes Fox Soccer Plus in their $6 Sports Pass package that includes a bunch of other specialty sports networks. DirecTV charges $15 for just that one channel and I don’t believe they even carry the HD feed.
I think instead of getting MLB Extra Innings this year, I’ll save that money and use it for NFL Sunday Ticket next season. One of my regrets when I had DirecTV before was not to give Sunday Ticket a try, and at that time it would have been great since I was a Titans fan.
Not that I've had a whole lot of experience with having access again to HDNet and HDNet Movies, all I have to say is Time Warner did us all a huge favor by removing them. I always thought those two channels were useless once we got beyond 15 total HD channels nationwide, but in looking them over, I didn’t think it was possible, but they got worse.
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2011 Time Warner Cable Forum @ DSLReports Poster Of The Year!
Voted Unanimously on by ChillyCat and Elyria!
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| Steve,
Have you recieved notice as to when you will be getting the new DTV HD Guide? Some of the features with the cover art for movies and shows are now a part of the new TWC Navigator advanced search in a few TWC markets.
I am sure you have seen the screen-shots, but here they are for anyone else who is interested:
»www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/t···hd_guide
Satch |
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RacerbobPremium
join:2001-06-24
Webster, NY | We got the new guide and graphics a couple weeks ago on DirecTV.
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DirecTV is pretty neat. If you want a referral ask me. |
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 djrobx
join:2000-05-31
Valencia, CA
kudos:1
 ·Verizon Wireless..
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·VOIPo
·PHONE POWER
1 edit | reply to Steve Mehs
Generally pretty happy with our DirecTV service, but some of the missing HD channels like DIY are getting on my nerves. They had (have?) capacity to add them, but they blew it all on HD premiums and HD PPV.
DirecTV was very bullish on HD, but it seems since Mike White took over that party has ended.
I'm pretty unimpressed with the new HD guide. It's prettier, and the guide got a little faster, but that's about it. The guide still shows a very limited amount of data with a large font.
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AT&T U-Hearse - RIP Unlimited Internet 1995-2011
Rethink Billable.
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np23
join:2005-10-28
united state | reply to Steve Mehs
There will be new HD added this year, guaranteed, including at least one basic channel by the end of March. There will be more. |
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 hobgoblinSortof AgoblinPremium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
kudos:4 | said by np23:There will be new HD added this year, guaranteed, including at least one basic channel by the end of March. There will be more.
Guaranteed by who?
Define Basic channel?
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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| reply to Steve Mehs
Bottom line seems to be: more channels on TWC, better picture and audio quality, Direct TV.
As a TWC subscriber, I find the compression to be quite noticeable and would pay a bit more for a cleaner, less compressed HD picture. I live in a very bandwidth challenged TWC are (NE Ohio) where they had to write a special, low bandwidth version of their software to accommodate the limits. My understanding is that other areas are less compressed. |
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Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
| said by oldbuzzard:Bottom line seems to be: more channels on TWC, better picture and audio quality, Direct TV.
As a TWC subscriber, I find the compression to be quite noticeable and would pay a bit more for a cleaner, less compressed HD picture. I live in a very bandwidth challenged TWC are (NE Ohio) where they had to write a special, low bandwidth version of their software to accommodate the limits. My understanding is that other areas are less compressed.
I don't think TWC is hurting for bandwith in 99% of their systems North East Ohio is a typical 750MHz system except for the systems fed of Akron and Erie PA Surburbs that are 860MHz and 860MHz or 1GHz. The software does not affect the picture quality as the picture problem is having to convert from MPEG4 at ~8 Mbps off of the satellite to ~12 Mbps MPEG2 for HD channels. My TWC system carries more HD than Directv and it was even mentioned in a blog about 20 HD channels we in December that Directv is not planning on big content additions in 2012. |
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np23
join:2005-10-28
united state | reply to hobgoblin
Sources at Directv...no, not lowly CSRs, but real people higher up.
Basics...like regular channels such as History, USA, TNT, ect. Not premium like HBO, Showtime, etc. |
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Reviews:
·Time Warner Cable
| said by np23:Sources at Directv...no, not lowly CSRs, but real people higher up.
Basics...like regular channels such as History, USA, TNT, ect. Not premium like HBO, Showtime, etc.
I find that hard to believe as I think the Directv CEO came out and said last year no big content adds in 2012 and that they would be lowering capex on programming for 2012.
Not to mention they are almost all the way full bandwidth wise.
Only thing I can see directv adding is truTV HD just for March madness like last year. |
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np23
join:2005-10-28
united state | reply to 45612019
Who cares who has more if the channels you watch are in HD? There's no economic or bandwidth incentive to add fringe channels that nobody watches and doesn't create a ratings blip.
Look at the top 20 primetime networks: »www.deadline.com/2011/12/2011-ba···bs-down/
When Directv added AMC-HD they pretty much filled the last hole in the top 20 primetime networks.
And look at the total-day viewership numbers: »www.scribd.com/doc/76679201/Cabl···ank-2011
When you look at total-day viewership numbers, I believe TruTV #15 is the only missing HD channel in the top 20. Then it's down to #31-Investigation Discovery, #32-LMN & #33 E!. |
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np23
join:2005-10-28
united state | reply to motorola870
said by motorola870:said by np23:Sources at Directv...no, not lowly CSRs, but real people higher up.
Basics...like regular channels such as History, USA, TNT, ect. Not premium like HBO, Showtime, etc.
I find that hard to believe as I think the Directv CEO came out and said last year no big content adds in 2012 and that they would be lowering capex on programming for 2012. Not to mention they are almost all the way full bandwidth wise. Only thing I can see directv adding is truTV HD just for March madness like last year. That doesn't mean there won't be additional channels, they're just not going to add a whole bunch. There's bandwidth room for a few. Also, truTV will be fulltime HD this year I bet. |
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