Video Asylum

Posted by Daryl Zero (A) on July 25, 2006 at 14:23:41

In Reply to: Kinda hate that way of doing business, but clearly you're right. nt posted by clarkjohnsen on July 24, 2006 at 10:09:15:

I had TiVo with Direct TV and my wife loved it. I wanted to upgrade to HD DVR. It would have cost well over $1,000 with Direct TV which wasn't offering anything for existing customers. With Dish Network it was about $250 with great discounts for the programming because I was a new customer. Additionally, the Dish Network DVRs were much better than Direct TVs. I remember sitting there waiting whilst the little TiVo tv symbol rocked back and forth on standard def for about a minute if you asked the TiVo to do anything. The Dish Network HD DVR is much faster although not perfect. And even though the Dish Network DVR approximates it, the season pass is the best thing going.

I think Direct TV has caught up and the new generation will probably be good. However, as a new customer, you will get a great deal. Probably because they outsource the sales and encourage new customers. Helping old customers probably doesn't make anything to the sales folks.

The benefit is that every two years or so, you can make a great new deal. The downside is the day wasted waiting for installation.