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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsAny DirecTV subscribers here?
Our TV-watching habits have changed drastically over the past few years and our Verizon Fios TV costs too much... so we're thinking about getting rid of Fios TV (and keeping the $40 per month Fios Internet).
It looks like the "entry-level" DirecTV (with DVR) will suit our needs just fine. The price is very attractive and even after the 1-year intro price goes up to $81 per month.... that's still a bargain compared to our overpriced and bloated Fios service.
My only questions are:
1) The channel matrix on the DirecTV website does not include MSNBC. (Has it been dropped recently?)
2) Is the DVR easy to use? Does it have standard features that allow us to easily skip commercials or Fast-Forward through the parts we're not interested in?
3) Can we connect an external USB hard drive to the DVR for additional storage?
4) Do you like the service overall? Would you sign up for it again?
elleng
(131,414 posts)I like the service.
I don't use many 'features,' so can't answer. Sorry.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)It's weird that their channel guide (online) is so out of date and incomplete. I'll bet they've lost potential business from people who thought that NOT having msnbc was a total showstopper.
I appreciate the feedback!
wryter2000
(46,136 posts)I'm in CA. I don't know if yours would differ.
I started at $78/month. At the end of the year, it went to over $130. I'm not happy about that and have to figure out how to handle it.
Otherwise, I like it.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)The intro price for the basic-BASIC service (155 channels and NO premiums like HBO, etc.) is $35 for 12 months, then $81 for 12 months. That averages out to be $58 or so per month.
I'm sure I won't be thrilled with the increase... so I'll just try to stay focused on the bottom line average price.
highmindedhavi
(355 posts)SoCal
DTV basic
2 HD receivers
130 month
benld74
(9,912 posts)Answers
1- msnbc not dropped
2- yes. Yes
3- dont know.
4- always call customer service. I did last year and they reduced monthly payment by 1/2!
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Great information! Especially the advice about asking for a discount!!
I appreciate the feedback!
PeeJ52
(1,588 posts)Some packages with MSNBC are as low as $40 a month. I use an outdoor antenna for 40 local Tampa stations with an HD Homerun tuner. When you use the tuner, they have a cable package that gets stations over the Internet with MSNBC for $35 a month.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)We'll add HBO streaming when Game of Thrones returns. And we'll add Showtime streaming when Homeland returns.
We used to watch SO MUCH tv... that's why the "everything" package was attractive at one time. But now... we're more selective. (I guess it's just old age.)
Thanks for the info and tips! Very helpful!
Power 2 the People
(2,437 posts)1. MSNBC is channel 356 on DirecTV. It is included in all packages.
2. Yes, it has all of those features. Some shows don't allow fast forwarding on Demand channels but usually those are programs that just aired very recently.
3. Don't know the answer to that but the DVR does have an open USB port.
4. The service is good but extreme weather will affect it. If you get multiple wireless receivers for other rooms in the house there is a slight delay and periodic freezing on those extra receivers. It's annoying but momentary. Overall I'm pretty satisfied and I will re-up when my obligation expires.
Hope that helps. Happy viewing!
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)I appreciate the feedback.
It's very strange that their website interactive matrix AND their downloadable channel guide PDF has NOTHING mentioned for MSNBC.
I wonder if they're losing business from MSNBC fans who look and the LOOK ELSEWHERE when they see they can't get Rachel Maddow's show.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,150 posts)if that is what you have, I would LOVE to have the fios fiber optic TV service.
Anyway, yes I have had DTV for many years
1. MSNBC HD is there, I dont know if I pay extra as I have the premier package which is all channels other than paid sports
2. DVR is very easy to use, it does have the skip if you PROGRAM it in, dont recall now how to do that but I think i have notes somewhere so if you go this way let me know - I think you do a word search for 30SKIP using the remote like you are searching for a program with that name and go all the way to the end of that function of searching and it adds it
3. USB not sure, think so...google DTV GENIE usb etc,
4. And I am now deciding whether to stay with them or go to Uverse or Comcast at new location and after all the research I will probably stay with DTV...but, I dont have the FIOS choice, if I did I would do it no matter the cost..
What is the cost?
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Thanks for the info. The intro price for the VERY basic service is $35 for the first 12 months, then $81 per month for the next 12 months. (That's 155 channels without any HBO or Showtime, etc.)
We've enjoyed fios, but it's just MORE tv than we need. We just don't need that much any more.
Definitely keeping the Fios internet though. 100mb service is $40 a month or 300mb service is $60 and 1000mb service is $80 (if I recall correctly). --- In the interest of savings, and knowing that the 100mb service is suiting us just fine right now... there's no need to upgrade.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,150 posts)What are you paying now for FIOS tv?
If you move to DTV and do that package you will pay $58 a month overall plus taxes and fees PLUS renting genies, etc.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)It's obscene!
Eliot Rosewater
(31,150 posts)like your cell provider and asking what promotions, coupons and discounts THAT MONTH are available?
My DTV bill is around $200 and I havent paid over $140 in a year by doing this.
Basic LA
(2,047 posts)The DVR does run a little hot to the touch, even when you're not using it. But it & the dish work fine. DirecTV was part of Hughes Aircraft Company when I worked there, & I get a (very) slight discount as a Hughes retiree.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)csziggy
(34,140 posts)The one I had through Centurylink PrismTV overheated to the point the power line melted and friend the battery backup I had it and the TV connected to. Centurylink would take no responsibility and I had to let the bring a tech out before they would replace the damn thing. They would NOT pay for a new battery backup which irritated me.
frazzled
(18,402 posts)We live in a condo building, which contracted with DirecTV, through a company, to service the entire 40 units. The fee is part of our monthly assessment, and we pay only $27 a month (it may have gone up to $29). So yes, we like it. I dont know if Id like it for $81. I might just go full streaming, but maybe that wouldnt be much less.
I must say that DirecTV was better before AT&T took it over.
My sister just changed from their cable system to DirecTV and they are happy with it, if thats any help.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)RE: AT&T ... thanks for that. I had wondered if there might have been a change. I remember hearing all the "JD POWERS" awards for DirecTV in the past, but they're not bragging about that any more.
GP6971
(31,275 posts)and have been pleased with it. The service has always been great, but I don't know about now seeing that they were bought out by AT & T. MSNBC is available. The DVR is simple, but don't know about the USB.
There can be glitches in reception if your area is experiencing a major weather event.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)But, if it's raining THAT hard, I'm probably not going to be paying attention to the TV anyway.
And, as we've gotten older (even in retirement) our TV-watching habits have changed a LOT and the bloated service we had before was expensive. We think it's time for a "cord-cutting" (kind of) change.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,117 posts)Being a long time customer may give me some advantages you may not get.
Before ATT took them over, they were THE BEST customer service company I've ever had the experience of dealing with. After ATT, not so much. It is frustrating at times.
In answer to 3, "we" have unlimited storage but I can't tell you if it applies to new customers.
One more thing you did not ask. We added their fiber optic internet service earlier this year after being with Comcast/Xfinity for 25 years. I could NOT be happier and 100mbps only cost me $40 a month. Once again, I can't say if you would get the same price. You just have to call them up and ask.
Hope this helps.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,150 posts)otherwise I would bundle DTV and wifi.
Ferrets are Cool
(21,117 posts)We got fiber here about a year ago. I jumped on it as soon as I could. I just did a test and got 122 down and up. It's pretty amazing.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,150 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,117 posts)I am located in Mobile, AL
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Ferrets are Cool
(21,117 posts)🤩
mitch96
(13,947 posts)I've been with them for a long time and down here in Fla they are less expensive than direct tv.. As others have said in bad weather the storms block the signal.. That's when you watch pre recorded movies All the major stations and I think the DVR is pretty easy to use. Every couple of years they upgrade the receiver.. I like it b/c I record most of the things I like and then play them back and zip thru the commercials.. A one hour program is actually about 40 min. YMMV.
m
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Hi! Actually, yes, I did look at the offerings and packages from Dish. They're about $8 more per month for their starter-package. It's true that their starter package has 30 more channels than the DirecTV entry-level package... so I compared... and the extra channels weren't things that we were interested in.
I didn't want to disqualify them out of hand, so I did check. I think (for our particular needs) DirecTV appears to be the way to go.
Thanks for sharing that with me!
GeorgeGist
(25,327 posts)it's been 3 mos and no return in sight.
mitch96
(13,947 posts)Dish gets pissy b/c HBO want's to charge more every year.. They usually come back.. I don't use HBO/Cinemax so it does not bother me...
m
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)If Dish can't resolve their issues with HBO, they should probably lower their price. I'll bet they're losing subscribers (and not gaining new subscribers)
We're considering the the DirecTV package WITHOUT any HBO or Showtime add-ons. Instead, we'll just add the HBO and SHO streaming subscriptions and use their on-demand features.
csziggy
(34,140 posts)I'd started with DirecTV back when you had to pay big bucks for the equipment and installation. After about ten years our receivers were wearing out but DirecTV would not offer a free upgrade/replacement, plus we needed to relocate the dish itself. So I called DISH and they had free installation, new receivers, DVR (which we had not had) etc.
Even when I called DirecTV back to see if they would match the deal, they wouldn't - until I made the deal with DISH and called to cancel the DirecTV service. Then they offered me all kinds of incentives, but it was too late - I was signed up with DISH. When we moved, I called both of them, back and forth, making them bid against each other. Eventually I went back to DirecTV since their package was slightly better.
Then our trees grew higher which blocked the satellite signal. Centurylink made me an offer with their PrismTV, which is basically streaming, and I went with that for a while. Now Centurylink is phasing out PrismTV (word from one of their techs) and jacking up the price. So last year streaming. Last fall I dropped PrismTV completely and don't regret it at all.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)I don't do so well with the negotiating and playing competitors against each other... but I definitely like to do my research in advance, read reviews, compare prices and quality... to eventually get the best value.
Thanks for sharing your experiences! I'm hoping that we won't regret this "semi" cord-cutting experience.
saljr1
(273 posts)services. I believe that price might change and be higher but not sure.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)The $40 price plus taxes is the non bundled price.
CloudWatcher
(1,851 posts)We had DirecTV for years and years. And then noticed a few things ...
1) the price was not cheap
2) our viewing habits had dropped to basically just BBCA and MSNBC (with directv; we also get Netflix, HBO & Hulu)
3) way too many of the channels were Fox or other right-wing channels we had no interest in supporting.
After some searching we wound up with:
Sling Blue @ $25/month
Hollywood Extra: @ $5/month (for TCM and some others)
News Extra @ $5/month(for MSNBC, BBC and some others)
Cloud DVR @ $5/month (for 50 hours of cloud-based DVR)
So for $40/month we're fairly happy with it. And a minimum of it went to Fox and right-wing crazies (not 0%, but ...).
Of course ... we're also paying for Netflix and HBO and Hulu. But we were doing that anyway.
Biggest problem so far is with the DVR software. Their software isn't the most reliable. E.g. it keeps wanting
to skip the first showing of Rachael's show and tape the repeat. And any cloud-based DVR is going to be
more laggy than a local computer (our internet isn't the best).
Hope this helps
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Yep... we had experimented (last week) with cloud DVR-ing ... and compared to absolutely NOTHING, it's better than nothing. But it really didn't live up to our expectations or needs.
We'll probably be adding HBO streaming and SHO streaming (maybe even HULU and CBS on demand) and with all that, it's STILL less than the obscene prices we're paying now.
Our TV habits have changed in retirement (you'd think it would be more watching... but it's less) so I'm thinking we'll be find with the basic entry-level service and a few streaming add-on extras.
Thank you very much for sharing your opinions and experiences. That was helpful to me
MontanaMama
(23,368 posts)and introductory pricing that I have to babysit...so maybe this wont be valuable to the conversation. I use Roku Streaming Sticks to stream Sling TV on 3 TVs. I pay $59.98 a month and I get CNN, MSNBC and NBC, lifestyle channels and an outdoor package and a crap ton of other channels from Sling. Roku offers all kinds of additional channels for free including Free Speech TV (Stephanie Miller!). Sling has lots of packages for news, lifestyle, outdoors, movies, sports, HBO, Showtime etc. Im not a network tv lover for the most part...as in watching sitcoms etc so I dont buy those. For $59.98 a month I get more tv than I care to watch and DVR service on all 3 TVs is included in that fee. I can stop watching a recorded program in one room, pause it and go to another room and pick up where I left off. It is easy to use and I dont have to call on my 13 year old to help me with tech support! Just a thought for anyone reading this thread.
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)I hear ya! The "intro" contracts are cheezy, but in my calculations and comparisons, I'm comparing FULL prices.
We're experimenting with cutting the cord too... but even though we're watching much less TV than we have in the past, we still enjoy a reliable and responsive LOCAL hard drive with the DVR'd programs on it.
Last week, we tried the DirecTV Now streaming service... and it was inadequate for what we wanted. Definitely a C- and still in need of some work.
We'll likely be adding HBO's streaming service and Showtime's streaming (and maybe HULU) and even at the full-price prices, that's STILL less than what we're paying now (and it has everything we need).
I really do appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this. It was helpful and it gives me a chance to think about things from a different perspective AND get all my thoughts organized.