bmac
Veteran Member
I've been a DirecTV customer for almost 10 years. I upgraded to the TIVO receiver when it became available. Have not yet upgraded to HD.
DirecTV has a mover's program whereby you give them a call with your new address and they come and install a new dish and cables. You move your old receivers and leave your old dish behind. No charge for this. A pretty good deal.
As we get are getting ready to move soon, I checked out the DirecTV web site. For new customers, they offer free dish and installation for up to 4 rooms. I think you can upgrade to HD DVR for free with a 2 year service agreement. The equipment belongs to DirecTV (They call it a lease) and you return the receivers to them when you terminate the agreement. Fair enough - you don't pay anything for the equipment so it is not unreasonable to return it if the service is cancelled.
I'm thinking now would be a good time to upgrade to HD. And, we have become spoiled with the TIVO features. So, I call them this evening to see what the deal would be if I upgraded to HD DVR at the new house. The answer is $499 and they own the equipment. This seems outrageous to me. A loyal customer for 10 years and they soak me for $500. I say soak because they are giving it away to new customers.
So, now I'm thinking about checking out Dish Network. They have 4 or 5 room free package for new customers. I'm not sure what the HD upgrade costs, but it may be worth checking it out. Another option is to have new DirecTV service installed in my wife's name. This, however, seems a little dishonest.
Another oddity I learned today. In the past, I have purchased my DirecTV receivers. When I first had the service installed, when I upgraded to TIVO and when I replaced the TIVO receiver with a new one when the remote to the original one was lost (a new TIVO receiver cost about the same as a universal remote with TIVO functions). The DVRs were purchased from Circuit City. Now, I see on the Circuit city website that all DirecTV receivers, whether standard def or HD, DVRs or HD DVRs are lease only. You pay the same that they used to charge before, only you don't own them.
This seems strange to me. Has anyone else experienced these things or am I misunderstanding DirecTV's price structure? I'm sure I could find the answer to my next question, if I searched the archives, but I didn't and I am too lazy to go back now. But, has anyone had both DirecTV and Dish Network? If so, can you comment on or compare the programming or picture quality of these 2 services?
Thanks for your help.
DirecTV has a mover's program whereby you give them a call with your new address and they come and install a new dish and cables. You move your old receivers and leave your old dish behind. No charge for this. A pretty good deal.
As we get are getting ready to move soon, I checked out the DirecTV web site. For new customers, they offer free dish and installation for up to 4 rooms. I think you can upgrade to HD DVR for free with a 2 year service agreement. The equipment belongs to DirecTV (They call it a lease) and you return the receivers to them when you terminate the agreement. Fair enough - you don't pay anything for the equipment so it is not unreasonable to return it if the service is cancelled.
I'm thinking now would be a good time to upgrade to HD. And, we have become spoiled with the TIVO features. So, I call them this evening to see what the deal would be if I upgraded to HD DVR at the new house. The answer is $499 and they own the equipment. This seems outrageous to me. A loyal customer for 10 years and they soak me for $500. I say soak because they are giving it away to new customers.
So, now I'm thinking about checking out Dish Network. They have 4 or 5 room free package for new customers. I'm not sure what the HD upgrade costs, but it may be worth checking it out. Another option is to have new DirecTV service installed in my wife's name. This, however, seems a little dishonest.
Another oddity I learned today. In the past, I have purchased my DirecTV receivers. When I first had the service installed, when I upgraded to TIVO and when I replaced the TIVO receiver with a new one when the remote to the original one was lost (a new TIVO receiver cost about the same as a universal remote with TIVO functions). The DVRs were purchased from Circuit City. Now, I see on the Circuit city website that all DirecTV receivers, whether standard def or HD, DVRs or HD DVRs are lease only. You pay the same that they used to charge before, only you don't own them.
This seems strange to me. Has anyone else experienced these things or am I misunderstanding DirecTV's price structure? I'm sure I could find the answer to my next question, if I searched the archives, but I didn't and I am too lazy to go back now. But, has anyone had both DirecTV and Dish Network? If so, can you comment on or compare the programming or picture quality of these 2 services?
Thanks for your help.