  baineschile2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI |
130 HD channels FRAUDThe only thing direct tv has going is the amount of HD channels, 130. Of course, 10 are PPV, and 40 or so are west feeds from movie channels (starz, hbo, etc), but who really pays attention to that anyways.
Satellite will demise unless direct tv and dish partner up; even then, it will be nearly impossible to keep up with the infrastructure that cable and the telcos offer | |
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 |  Matt3All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 8:56 am
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDI have to agree. There is a core subset of channels that are nice to have in HD and the rest is fluff. | |
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|  dnoyeBFerrous Phallus
join:2000-10-09
Southfield, MI |
to baineschile
I don't see why that will happen. If they offer solid TV, then they will be fine. They don't need to offer 130HD channels at the same time. Only about 4 channels need to be available simultaneously.
The triple play is meaningless. Comcast tries to sell me on that every time I call for something. Their sale price is $33, Vonage regular price is $15. Comcast has no intention on being competitive. | |
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| | Matt3All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 8:59 am
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDsaid by dnoyeB:The triple play is meaningless. Comcast tries to sell me on that every time I call for something. Their sale price is $33, Vonage regular price is $15. Comcast has no intention on being competitive. They aren't trying to compete with an inferior product. The cable VoIP (digital phone) offering is a much more mature, stable, product than Vonage. They are trying to compete with POTS. | |
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| | |  rsa0
join:2003-01-25
Birmingham, AL |
rsa0
Member
2008-Sep-18 9:11 am
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDWhatever you are smoking, it ain't working..."compete with an inferior product" - and how is Comcast or any other cable phone provider superior? when the cable is down, they are down too !!! Customer service ? ha ! enlighten me please ! | |
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| | | | Matt3All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 9:27 am
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDsaid by rsa0:Whatever you are smoking, it ain't working..."compete with an inferior product" - and how is Comcast or any other cable phone provider superior? when the cable is down, they are down too !!! Customer service ? ha ! enlighten me please ! Instead of asking me to do your research for you, how about you put the lazy pipe down and go read the technical docs on why the MSOs digital phone product is superior to VoIP ... especially the part that requires them to register as a CLEC to meet certain regulations ... and then the part about the difference in the VoIP packets traveling over a private QoS controlled network vs. the public internet. That should get you started. | |
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| | | | | fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDAround these parts, SUPERIOR means CHEAPER.. I don't think I will ever conform to that standard of thinking. (Now before the opportunistics jump on this, more expensive doesn't mean better either)
He also forgets when your DSL or Cable Modem goes down, so does your vonage. I mean, the arguments around here area generally always held on the surface and never get deep enough to matter. There is much more to "technology" and "excellence" than just things like price and "I hate comcast" (or insert name of cable company here) | |
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to Matt3
MSOs do not have to register in Ohio as a CLEC. | |
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Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDNO they don't. Ohio calls them a VoIP provider. They do not have to follow CLEC laws.
Cause if they did TWC Ohio would provide battery backup which they DO NOT. Also CLECs are required by Law in Ohio to have the Lifeline program which TWC does NOT have.
Cable Information LLC is their holdings company. If you did not know that. Many large companies do have LLCs where they put all of their assets. This is because if they are sued nobody can touch those assets.
Also do you believe everything you read? | |
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SillyRabbit to dnoyeB
Anon
2008-Sep-18 10:24 am
to dnoyeB
Many of the channels are fluff and yet they still have more HD than any other provider. The picture quality is better than most companies except for maybe Verizon FiosTV. They're all liars. However, DirecTV provides a satisfying TV viewing experience. If they want to do tripple play, maybe they should partner with Clearwire? | |
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| | |  jt1
@comcast.net |
jt1
Anon
2008-Sep-18 11:05 am
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDnot sure if clearwire would do it considering comcast has put over a billion into the company. i think they would try to make it so that does not happen. | |
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| | | Matt3All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC |
to SillyRabbit
said by SillyRabbit :
Many of the channels are fluff and yet they still have more HD than any other provider. The picture quality is better than most companies except for maybe Verizon FiosTV. They're all liars. However, DirecTV provides a satisfying TV viewing experience. If they want to do tripple play, maybe they should partner with Clearwire?
I had the opposite experience. So much so that I paid their ridiculous ETF to go back to cable. And I saved money and got an HD DVR. | |
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Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDJust because your DirecTV experience was bad doesn't mean their business will fail. | |
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| | | | | Matt3All noise, no signal.
Premium Member
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC |
Matt3
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 3:55 pm
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDsaid by asdfghjklzx5:Just because your DirecTV experience was bad doesn't mean their business will fail. If you read what I wrote, I never said that. I was offering a contrasting opinion. | |
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1 recommendation |
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDYeah sorry about that. The cable service in my town is so horrendous that I have trouble with the concept of cable competing with satellite.
Love that Linux Haters Blog BTW. | |
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| | jt1
@comcast.net |
jt1 to dnoyeB
Anon
2008-Sep-18 11:02 am
to dnoyeB
comcast digital voice is not the same as vonage . try calling regular 911 with vonage. does vonage still work in a power outage. comcast digital voice does. i hate when stupid people only look at price. you have to take a look at what you get and how it works too stupid people. | |
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Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDComcast Qos is better than vonage, but they need to work on price. AT&T just put out $30.00/month digital voice, and that could easily give comcast a run for their money. | |
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to baineschile
I disagree. You have to remember that a significant number of people in this country don't live in urban or suburban areas served by cable. (Interestingly, census data shows rural populations are beginning to grow again. The 2010 census results will be an interesting read--intermediate data they compile between the decinnial census is from multiple sources and is reflecting rural growth while portions of the east coast appear to finally be losing population, albeit probably more slowly than some residents in the area would like. I remember the congestion back east all too well from my many decades of living and working there, it's one thing I don't miss.) | |
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| |  Geminimind
Premium Member
join:2003-12-20
Sacramento, CA |
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDNot to mention that Cable is Hella expensive and that is what I don't like. Triple play is $$$ after your year is up | |
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| | | JPL
Premium Member
join:2007-04-04
Downingtown, PA |
JPL
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 7:00 pm
Re: 130 HD channels FRAUDsaid by Geminimind:Triple play is $$$ after your year is up Huh? That's not true. Triple play packages are NOT the same as new-customer promotions. New customer promos expire after so much time, but triple play packages can be renewed. Granted you'll pay whatever the current triple play rate is at the time, but you still save a heck of a lot of money. | |
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to baineschile
said by baineschile:Satellite will demise unless direct tv and dish partner up; even then, it will be nearly impossible to keep up with the infrastructure that cable and the telcos offer My area is served by TWC and Austin was one of their test beds for SVD which was supposed to allow them to expand their HD offerings. So if it's impossible for DirecTV to keep up then were are Sci-Fi, USA, FX, CNN, NFL Network, History Channel, Spike and other HD channels that DirecTV has and this TWC system doesn't? This year they finally added Big Ten Network but has only one HD channel while DirecTV has four alternate channels that they can activate to carry all the Saturday football games. And right now I'm watching the Brewers and Cubs play in HD on DirecTV, can't do that with TWC. So tell me again how it will be nearly impossible for DirecTV to keep up with cable and the telcos? Oh the telco's. AT&T, which saying they serve Austin really only serves parts of Austin, our subdivision, nope doesn't go here. Even if they did I could get only two concurrent HD streams into my home, with 4 HD sets that can be a problem unless we want to watch the same two programs on those sets. | |
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| elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA |
to baineschile
said by baineschile:Satellite will demise unless direct tv and dish partner up; even then, it will be nearly impossible to keep up with the infrastructure that cable and the telcos offer Hardly. Satellite TV still is largely untaxed, unlike cable which is double-taxed, and in most places, the service level is superior as well as the per-device / tuner pricing. Satellite doesn't need worry much about triple-play. Triple-pay doesn't do real phone service, and the broadband isn't always spectacular. All satellite needs to focus on is content, and preferably, ALA CARTE subscriptions. | |
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satellite_boost
Anon
2008-Sep-18 9:07 am
satellites cost too muchsatellites work well as transmit only devies (as in satellite tv). once they are converted for two-way communications, you begin to see the limits of the technology. the other problem is where murdoch is right, the "wired" technology is developing at warp speed, while satellite technology is stuck in its infancy. with the dissolving of the space program, high orbit satellites are becoming dinosaurs and low orbit satellites have very high upfront costs associated with building and launch. satellites will always have a place in telecom as a backup/supporting role, but as for being a mainstream two-way communications, that simply will not happen for a long, long time, if ever. | |
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|  ·PenTeleData
ARRIS SB8200
1 edit |
Re: satellites cost too muchYeah but Satellites are so much easier to deploy. Just launch a few and your done for the country. With cable or wireline competitors you spend YEARS and BILLIONS in wiring up fiber optic lines across the country, while people wait what seems like an eternity.
Here's to Comcast's 33 HD channels and stuck with it's inferior 750 MHz bandwidth that they refuse to upgrade.
I would of had DirecTV long ago, but with no clear line of sight I can't get it. If they could innovate and make the antenna/receiver like XM or Sirius and all you have to do is make your antenna outside, they would have millions more sign up. Even those in apartments who could just dangle a little silver dollar antenna outside a window. Until then F- You DirectTV, and F-You Verizon for not even thinking of wiring up Berks County PA. Comcast is my only choice. They may move at a snails pace, but it's better than nothing at all. | |
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Huh?Who cares about the Triple Play? Landlines are dying a slow death: » Landline Use Continues Slow Death [138] commentsInternet access and TV are where it's at. That being said they do need to partner for Net access somehow. But many of us want the best TV and most HD so we'll stick with Dish. Market and deliver it as a superior product and people will come. | |
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viperlmw
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 11:39 am
Re: Huh?said by itguy05:Who cares about the Triple Play? Landlines are dying a slow death: » Landline Use Continues Slow Death [138] commentsInternet access and TV are where it's at. That being said they do need to partner for Net access somehow. But many of us want the best TV and most HD so we'll stick with Dish. Market and deliver it as a superior product and people will come. Your last sentence hi-lites the reason POTS will be around for a long time. While one aspect of cell phones is superior to POTS (mobility), another aspect of POTS is superior (call quality). Plus, E911 tends to work better with POTS. POTS is more reliable than VOIP, and E911 works better also, while a good VOIP call can have better call quality. So if you are correct about the superior product, some people will continue with POTS. | |
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|  ·Metronet
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to itguy05
said by itguy05:Market and deliver it as a superior product and people will come. Tell that to the thousands in Ohio who have no cable since sunday - meanwhile - my pots was up 100% of the time cable was 9and for a LOT - still down. Not to mention - a good number of cell towers had no power Sunday. Several were down for more than a day - I am not sure they are all up in fact still. My family and I (kids and wife) will take the POTS that has not been down in our current house for 8 years and well over 10+ years between the various places I have lived. | |
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Re: Huh?How about the hundreds, if not thousands, without pots service in the same areas, from the same storm? | |
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Re: Huh?What about it? My POTS has been far, far, far more stable than a TW cable/VOIP as the nodes in our area reek and far more stable than cell phones with better call quality. | |
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2 edits |
to itguy05
Landlines are not DYING. The number of landlines have dropped due to 2nd lines being cancelled for dialup extinction and younger single people going strictly cellphone Eventually, its gonna even out.
MOST FAMILIES HAVE ONE NUMBER FOR THEIR HOUSE. Doubt this ever changes. | |
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Re: Huh?I can name 3 families off the top of my head that have no landline.
Most I know never give out their landline as nobody is home.
Landlines ARE dying. They have been on a steady decline for years now. | |
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Re: Huh?Yea, and I can name a hundred families off the top of my head that have landlines. DYING means they are on the path to non-existance. There will always be landlines.
Fix your terminology. | |
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DirecTV will be fineAs much as people like to bash them, the satellite companies provide a useful service:
- As an alternative to cable TV, where the monopolistic cable company delivers a subpar, overpriced product, and alternatives such as FiOS are not available
- TV programming delivery for rural areas not served by cable and mobiles (RVs and even minivans/SUVs)
I do wish though, that the satellite/TV programming industry had not gone all out to wipe out C-Band BUD for the home user as it was in the old days. I wish I could get more HD channels on BUD because I want master quality programming, and BUD is really the only way to go (if you don't have FiOS).
What is really killing the sat companies are the requirement to carry local channels, instead of one national feed of the affiliates. I can understand the need to preserve local advertising by affiliates though (I do work in the industry). | |
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|  djrobx
Premium Member
join:2000-05-31
Reno, NV |
djrobx
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 3:06 pm
Re: DirecTV will be fineI don't see a lot of people bashing DirecTV. They offer a quality product with reasonably competitive pricing. The thing that makes me balk at it is the higher upfront costs and liability in purchasing equipment and the long term contracts.
DirecTV lost me around the time they began offering the HD TiVo based units at $1,000 a piece, when I could rent two boxes with similar functionality for $20/month from Comcast. $20/month vs $2,000+$5/month access fee was a no-brainer. To make matters worse, at the time it was pretty well known the units would be made obsolete with the transition to MPEG-4 and the spaceway satellites.
When one of my 6412s died, Comcast came and replaced it free of charge. Boy would it suck if a $1,000 HR10-250 died 13 months after purchase.
That whole situation has improved but it's still not there yet. Most of the offers I see are either a free HD RECEIVER or a free DVR - not a free HD DVR. Sometimes they offer HD DVR upgrades and good deals with Sunday Ticket - but I don't want Sunday Ticket!
I think DirecTV's push to offer 100+ HD channels has done a tremendous amount of good for HD fans, whether they're DirecTV customers or not! Even though I'm not currently their customer, I see DirecTV as a great option.
-- Rob | |
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| |  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA |
en102
Member
2008-Sep-18 3:53 pm
Re: DirecTV will be fineI actually liked DTV.
Free hardware, free install (I've still got the existing dish and tuners).
DTV lost me as their prices started to go up, and triple play on cable made it a better deal
DTV: $65 (after taxes) for 3 tuners on Plus
POTS: $58 (after taxes)
DSL: $27 (after taxes)
TWC: $99/month for HSI, VoIP, Digital TV | |
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EPS4
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA |
EPS4
Member
2008-Sep-18 9:54 am
Decline of DSL?I wonder if this is connected to the decline of DSL, for which DirecTV (and Dish) had bundling deals with the telcos, in favor of cable broadband and "next-gen" telco networks like U-Verse and FiOS, which compete with DirecTV for television. No one's really pushing standalone internet like they used to. | |
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Re: Decline of DSL?U-Verse sucks next to Direct TV.
Max 2 hd at one time per house and no comcast sports net chicago HD or comcast sports net chicago + HD.
Comcast dose not have only hd feed of sho , tmc, hbo , max mojo times shares with CSN+ HD all the BIG TEN ALTS in HD makes you pay for the sports pack to get
NFL Network
Ovation
TV Games Network
Gol TV
Fox Soccer Channel
NHL Channel
Outdoor Channel
HRTV
Speed Channel
The Sportsman Channel
Tennis Channel
CSTV
NBA TV
BET J
Fox Movie Channel
Hallmark Movie Channel
and more.
A long higer per box fees of like $5 - $6 for a SD box $7 for a HD one and $15 for a HD DVR with much smaller disk then Direct TV. | |
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| | EPS4
join:2008-02-13
Hingham, MA |
EPS4
Member
2008-Sep-18 4:38 pm
Re: Decline of DSL?None of this changes the fact that U-Verse TV and DirecTV are essentially in the same market and compete with each other, while in the past at&t only sold internet service and promoted bundling DSL and DirecTV's services (though they went with Dish later). | |
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 NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny Yours
MVM
join:2001-08-03
Grand Rapids, MI |
Directv will be around for a long time to comeI wouldn't go touting the demise of Directv just yet. Even if all they do is broadcast television, they will be fine. They have much lower infrastructure costs compared to Comcast. Their service is better IMHO. They lead in HD selection and look to continue to lead for a long time. Comcast isn't stepping up to the plate when it comes to HD thats for sure.
The key will be in the next 3-4 years when Comcast does upgrade enough to get as much HD as Directv. Same with other providers. How will Directv compete besides to lower prices? | |
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 KCrimson
Premium Member
join:2001-02-25
Brooklyn, NY |
KCrimson
Premium Member
2008-Sep-18 11:53 am
What DirecTV has going for it isNFL Sunday Ticket.
I'm sure that I'm not alone in saying that if not for the NFL package, I would be using another provider today.
Go ahead and try to order it ala carte - you can't. They know its the biggest asset they have.
I've been saying for over a year that if Verizon were smart and wanted to eliminate one part of its competition and put a large dent in the cable part of its competition all they have to do is bid LARGE for the NFL Sunday Ticket package. They need to dig very deep and overpay for that package and the future of FiOS TV would be secured, indeed the returns from Verizon's investment in fiber would be secured. | |
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1 recommendation |
ross7
Member
2008-Sep-18 6:33 pm
If only Rupert Murdoch wouldleave the media industry as well, the world would be immeasurably improved. Journalism might experience a resurgence of objectivity, perspective and insightfulness, not to mention an infusion of honesty and integrity.
Oh, and I like DirecTV despite it not being "such a bargain". Couldn't be happier that Murdoch has moved on. Although, if he could somehow ingest a lethal dose of the toxic swill FNC generates daily, and quietly choke on it, I'd be really, really happy. | |
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45071419 (banned)
Member
2008-Sep-18 11:21 pm
Thanks Rupertfor coining my still favorite phrase: "turd bird". | |
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 Metatron2008You're it
Premium Member
join:2008-09-02
united state |
Anyone actually reading the topic?Directv is gaining tons of customers. Rupert Morduch is trying to cover his ass by saying his stupid mistake 'may actually happen'...
Translation: "Please God kill directv so I can say I made a good choice!" | |
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| Metatron2008 |
Cable has far less bandwidth then Satellite or FIOS.This will be the major limiting factor in the future. Even now cablecos are feeling the pinch of less bandwidth, esp. with Comcast lowering quality on their hd: » www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/ ··· =1008271The bigger bandwidth providers will win in the end. It'll be a fight between fios and satelitte. | |
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