# If you can't get OTA HD, don't bother with DirecTV



## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

They don't currently have an option for people who want HD and can't get HD OTA. You really should go to your cable company (or FIOS TV).

I know this is obvious, but a friend was asking for advice, and the main decision was this simple - If you can't get HD OTA, don't go with DirecTV.

DirecTV is really screwing the high-end consumers. No HD MPEG-4 DVR for 6-18 months (and no baseline to set expectations, except the questionable R15).


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

Was this supposed to be a reply to another thread?

As I know as of tomorrow... I will have MPEG-4 and HD Locals (at least the big-4) via DirecTV...

And the HD MPEG-4 DVR (the HR20) is expected in the next 3-6 months, not 6-18 months


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

ebonovic said:


> Was this supposed to be a reply to another thread?
> 
> As I know as of tomorrow... I will have MPEG-4 and HD Locals (at least the big-4) via DirecTV...
> 
> And the HD MPEG-4 DVR (the HR20) is expected in the next 3-6 months, not 6-18 months


Most people who want HD, want a DVR. And cable companies only offer HD DVR's (a good thing) if you get HD (as far as I've seen, at least in this area).

You might be getting HD locals via DirecTV, but it's a novelty. How much live TV do you really watch? And be honest...

Nearly everyone I know Tivo's/DVR's. Especially those making the HD plunge. So getting HD locals from DirecTV, when you can't record them, is useless for most. Especially when they can get more HD locals from their cable company, and more extra HD channels, and an HD DVR to record them all. You can't even compare, if you can't get locals OTA.

And the MPEG-4 DVR was *announced* to be out in about 6 months. Do you really want to bet me again? I think you owe me at least one Coca-Cola for the R15 bet. DirecTV hasn't met a release date or a promise yet, and they won't be close with this one. If you want to bet double-or-nothing, I might take over/under of seeing it in 2006.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

This is a very subjective question. In my area cable doesn't offer enough HD for me to go that route. Luckily, I have all four DNS nets from DirecTV. 

It's all a matter of location location location.


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## disco (Mar 27, 2000)

(a) no cable company close to me.

(b) no OTA HD signals receivable in my area (80 miles from closest tower)

(c) closest cable company DOES offer HDTV locals, but almost nothing above that. But, see (a)


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## rjfrandle (Oct 22, 2003)

My local cable company doesn't have any HD. And it doesn't sound like it's coming anytime soon. For many, Direct TV is the only route. Yes, we will have to wait for the DVR, but I'm quite sure it isn't going to be 18 months. I also have a good feeling that with all the satellites Direct TV is launching or has launched, there will be many HD choices in the not to distant future. Yes, I know they never come out with things when they say they are going to, but I'm guessing cable companies haven't delivered on time either. HD is just a slow process no matter which route you take, especially in a small market like mine.


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## TheBigDogs (Oct 14, 2004)

All of that said, the original statement " If you can't get OTA HD, don't bother with DirecTV" is really true. At the same time, If you can get OTA HD, you might be much better off with a Sony DHG-250HDD. You lose TiVo, but you also lose the 2 year commit and all the other DTV H____S___! 

Given that I haven't got my rebate, have no better HD reception with the HR10, and am stuck with the two year commit, the original statement is very good advice.


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## cktb2793 (Jun 23, 2004)

TheBigDogs said:


> All of that said, the original statement " If you can't get OTA HD, don't bother with DirecTV" is really true. At the same time, If you can get OTA HD, you might be much better off with a Sony DHG-250HDD. You lose TiVo, but you also lose the 2 year commit and all the other DTV H____S___!
> 
> Given that I haven't got my rebate, have no better HD reception with the HR10, and am stuck with the two year commit, the original statement is very good advice.


Your not stuck with the 2 year commitment if you cancel AND send them their HR10 back.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

Okay... Let's go double or nothing on that Coke (I do owe you one)
What date should we set as the over under? Lets say 07/30/06 (6 months after January)

I will take the under... 

And yes... Excluding sports, I watch very little LIVE TV..


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## skofarrell (Sep 19, 2002)

I watched a ton of HD Sunday Ticket football on DTV. That in itself is reason enough (for 6 months out of the year).


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## jcricket (Sep 11, 2002)

I'm with Earl on this one. Given my experiences with OTA, and the fact that, so far DTV has met their schedule with MPG4 HD Local rollouts, I'll probably be sticking around. The existing Cable DVRs suck. Despite getting more channels, I wouldn't trade my HR10-250 for one of the Comcast Motorola boxes. The Series 3 Tivo announcement is interesting, but I'm pretty down on spending another $500-1000 when both Cable and Satellite companies are leasing DVRs for $5-10/month. There's too much technology change year-to-year for me to put down a fixed investment. 

When the MPG4 locals are available (about 6 months) in my area and DTV gets an HR20 out - I'll probably trade in my HR10-250 - assuming the HR20 works well enough (and especially if they add the dual live buffer feature). I'll keep my R10 as insurance 

The sky is not falling. Just like when the satellite companies first added LIL channels there was a transition period where not everyone could get them, and when not all the channels were available. In about a year or so D* will probably start adding WB, UPN and PBD HD locals for those DMAs where they already provide MPG4 HD Locals for NBC, ABC, CBS & Fox. And as Doug points out, we'll probably start getting real HD versions of good channels (not the pseudo-channels that Voom provides) in the next year as well.

If you haven't bought into D* right now, I might advise holding off unless you can get the AT9 dish at least. And I wouldn't advise most people to get the HR10-250 unless their OTA channels come in great. Don't want to have someone feel they got an EOL product.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

AbMagFab said:


> They don't currently have an option for people who want HD and can't get HD OTA. You really should go to your cable company (or FIOS TV).
> 
> I know this is obvious, but a friend was asking for advice, and the main decision was this simple - If you can't get HD OTA, don't go with DirecTV.
> 
> DirecTV is really screwing the high-end consumers. No HD MPEG-4 DVR for 6-18 months (and no baseline to set expectations, except the questionable R15).


Your comments are not correct. Obviously you should go with the company that offers you the most in your area. Part of what made DBS successful was the fact that they could bring 'big city' services to rural areas. They've now branched out to compete head to head with cable. But the first selling point still holds true.

1) I can't get most of my channels OTA. I only get FOX and WB.

2) My cable company does not offer HD at all.

3) My cable company does not offer a DVR at all let alone a HD-DVR.

4) My cable company is extremely expensive and has crappy service.

5) I hate cable anyway! They have always sucked, and they are only halfway decent today thanks to DBS.

With DirecTV I currently HAVE and HD-DVR with CBS-HD, HBO-HD, and ESPN-HD that I watch regularly. It records my FOX and WB OTA, and works great. They will have an HD-DVR with HD-LIL in Denver by summer. My cable company says maybe next year at the earliest.

So who is screwing who? DirecTV's HD offerings will be welcome in my home where I wouldn't otherwise be cable to get HD. Trust me, there will be a LOT of rural customers subcribing to DirecTV to get HD-LIL.


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## hancox (Dec 17, 2004)

AbMagFab said:


> They don't currently have an option for people who want HD and can't get HD OTA. You really should go to your cable company (or FIOS TV).
> 
> I know this is obvious, but a friend was asking for advice, and the main decision was this simple - If you can't get HD OTA, don't go with DirecTV.
> 
> DirecTV is really screwing the high-end consumers. No HD MPEG-4 DVR for 6-18 months (and no baseline to set expectations, except the questionable R15).


I guess you're discounting the 2 largest TV markets


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## Panchovilla (Dec 28, 2003)

JimSpence said:


> This is a very subjective question. In my area cable doesn't offer enough HD for me to go that route. Luckily, I have all four DNS nets from DirecTV.
> 
> It's all a matter of location location location.


Jim - "all four DNS Nets" - please list them. I get 3 west coast networks, ABC, CBS and NBC in HD, and get both east and west coast in SD for a total of six.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

Panchovilla said:


> Jim - "all four DNS Nets" - please list them. I get 3 west coast networks, ABC, CBS and NBC in HD, and get both east and west coast in SD for a total of six.


Your missing FOX HD

Jim was referring just to the 4 HD networks.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Exactly, Earl.

I do get both east and west coast SD feeds of the four main networks. Total of 8. 

Now if DirecTV would only allow me to get WB and UPN. If you've followed my rants on the forum, you know why.


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## Citivas (Oct 12, 2000)

AbMagFab said:


> They don't currently have an option for people who want HD and can't get HD OTA. You really should go to your cable company (or FIOS TV).
> 
> I know this is obvious, but a friend was asking for advice, and the main decision was this simple - If you can't get HD OTA, don't go with DirecTV.
> 
> DirecTV is really screwing the high-end consumers. No HD MPEG-4 DVR for 6-18 months (and no baseline to set expectations, except the questionable R15).


I get the local networks in HD (NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox) through my DirecTV box without OTA. So there is no advantages over local cable, but many down sides to cable and particular the cable DVR boxes...


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## AbMagFab (Feb 5, 2001)

Citivas said:


> I get the local networks in HD (NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox) through my DirecTV box without OTA. So there is no advantages over local cable, but many down sides to cable and particular the cable DVR boxes...


You must be NY or LA. Those are special cases (since they are and will be the only locals in MPEG-2), but even those don't get UPN or WB in HD.

DirecTV is screwing the pooch for HD customers, plain and simple. They're taking the MSoft approach - solve 75% of the problem, and hope people don't realize the other 25%.

Problem is, cable seems to have most of the problem solved, and with the Tivo Series 3 and/or the 6412 Tivo, Cable (and FIOS/Fiber TV) will have 100% of the solution.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

hancox said:


> I guess you're discounting the 2 largest TV markets


Again, most people will want all their locals; in the two largest markets, how many cable companies only carry the 4 major networks in HD?

I'm fortunate that I can get all my locals in HD over the air. So for me, DirecTV's current realignment of their world is pretty meaningless. I figure I have a good 2 years before there's even a chance I'll be forced into a new DVR, though I'll likely have the option of using a new DVR earlier.

That gives time for Verizon FIOS to come to me, as well as Comcast to get their act together (here they only have the 4 major networks in HD too, and maybe PBS though I don't care) and perhaps have an offering. More likely, the CableCard TiVo just for OTA ATSC would meet my needs and I could go 100% free television, except for TiVo fees.

But I do at least have 2 years before it'll realloy be important to change anything.


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## inaka (Nov 26, 2001)

AbMagFab, I have to agree with you on this one.

I just moved from a city where OTA was easy as pie to a city without easy OTA access, and I can tell you that the negatives far outweigh the positives going forward. I had to do the dreaded switch to Comcast, and honestly, their Motorola DCT6412 Phase III HD DVR is not bad at all. Yes, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a true "Tivo", but that's coming later this year with Comcast, and without a long-term contract, it's doing the job just fine.


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## hancox (Dec 17, 2004)

dswallow said:


> Again, most people will want all their locals; in the two largest markets, how many cable companies only carry the 4 major networks in HD?
> 
> I'm fortunate that I can get all my locals in HD over the air. So for me, DirecTV's current realignment of their world is pretty meaningless. I figure I have a good 2 years before there's even a chance I'll be forced into a new DVR, though I'll likely have the option of using a new DVR earlier.
> 
> ...


You're lucky. The "most people" you describe can't get a reasonable cable sub package, let alone the footprint-challenged FIOS. And I don't think I need to tell you you're lucky with OTA! 

If I go back to CVC, I would lose the 2 HDNets, DiscoveryHD, and ESPN2-HD. I'd gain my RSN's in HD (albeit possibly losing the Mets this year), one of WWOR/WPIX (honestly can't remember), and some movie channels I probably wouldn't subscribe to. I'd also gain a fairly plagued DVR. I'd lose access to Mega March Madness. For me, I'm willing to wait it out until:

1) D* ups the ante with more NY HD (Who knows - maybe the Mets pull a YES)
2) the MPEG4 DVR comes out
3) CVC changes their lineup substantially

If I had LOS to 61.5 , the E* vs D* would be a much more interesting problem right now. My wife is probably having that tree bronzed as we speak


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