Since when did they start offering those channels. Thats why I never thought about getting Direct tv because I was told they didn't have NBATV or TNT. My father in law has Direct TV and the picture quality looks awesome.
Blake already said what I wanted to say. U-verse. Give credit through a referral to the first person who suggested it in this thread, if they can give you their referral code. (it's only fair... unless you wanted to give it to me...? I still haven't seen my referral manager give other peeps their credit... maybe it doesn't work.)
I think it's the US version of U-verse. I was waiting for someone to show some love to Fios. Fios or U-verse is the way to go.
I've had Time Warner, Dish, DirecTv, and now U-verse. For the money, U-verse is the way to go. Yes, the HD picture is slightly (very slightly) inferior to DirecTv, but no enough to warrant spending $80 more per month like I was paying with DirecTv. Plus, my wife hated it when a storm would knock out the picture. Wife's happier, it's cheaper, the HD picture is still very, very good, and we haven't lost the picture a single time. U-verse wins.
Very good? How big is your TV? U-verse HD PQ is so bad I'd rather wait to download the HD version online to watch my TV shows. Basically I only use U-verse for watching live sports.
I'm lucky in that I live about 1000 feet from the node, so I think that helps. I have a 57" rear projection and a 50" plasma. Naturally, it's better on the plasma, but still very good on both IMO.
I've had UVerse for about a week now. I got a bundle from them that includes their U200 tv, 18 Mbit internet, and phone services. Here are my observations after a week : 1) Their receivers sometimes have problems with HDMI connections. On one of my tv's, I kept receiving an error on the tv that my connection didn't support HDCP and the picture kept going on and off while displaying this error. The installer had told me they've had all kinds of issues with HDMI and he thinks it's the Motorola receivers they use. I had another tv where the receiver that was the DVR would spontaenously reboot and it would take forever to come back - if it did. I switched that one to component and put it on another tv and it seems to work fine. All 3 of my HDTV's are now running on component. If you google for more info, you'll see the only solution most people have for the issues with HDMI is to switch to component connections. This hasn't been a big deal to me. 2) Picture quality for me was actually slightly better on digital channels than I had with TimeWarner here in the Dallas area. HD seems to be about the same, but I seem to have a lot more HD channels. 3) I've never had DVR or Tivo, so I can't really compare, but ... I have 3 receivers right now and one of them is a DVR (given free as part of the package). I can record programs on the DVR and watch them from any other tv using those receivers. I thought that was pretty cool. I also like the fact that I can use the Internet or a mobile phone to set recordings (although I haven't tried that yet). 4) Internet : I went from having very reliable AT&T DSL running at 6 Mbit to now running at 18 Mbit. From running speed tests I'm getting a bit over 17 Mbit down and about 1.2-1.4 Mbit up which is in line with what they promised. 5) Phone service : well, it works. Not sure what else to say. Overall, after a week, I'm satisfied with picture quality and the internet and phone service. The only downside, as I said, is the inability for me to use HDMI reliably. Also consider that if your distance from the VRAD or the wiring to that box is too far, you may not be able to get service or you may have to accept a downgraded service level. There is at least one person on my street who is 4-5 houses down from me that can't get the service whereas I qualified for it. The installer also said that there was one person who could look out of their 2nd story window and the box was right by their backyard, but couldn't get it because of the way their neighborhood was wired. If the distance is a bit too far, they can qualify you for a lower service level, but it may mean you can only watch 1 HD stream at a time in your house. FIOS has been all over the Dallas area for a while, but wasn't available where I am (although they're starting to roll out up here as well). I'm not sure if it's an option where you are, but you may want to check.
