HELP! DirecTV vs DirecTiVo vs. EchoStar ???
12-21-01, 05:24 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Queens, NY
Posts: 254
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
HELP! DirecTV vs DirecTiVo vs. EchoStar ???
"Merry Xmas DAD! I'm gettin you (and me) DirecTV! (or DirecTiVo?)"
It's about time I got something creative =) and doggone cool for my dad. I want to get DirecTV/TiVo. We live in a private house in Queens. My dad mainly chills in the living room upstairs and watches sports, while I'm in the basement watching my movies on my (budding) 5.1 surround sound home theater. He would love this huge step up from our "zapped" cable, albeit a little more expensive.
I am interested in a Dual LNB system outlined from ExpertSatellite.com HERE and also this deal from Amazon.com HERE .
From that 1st deal, from Expertsatellite.com, is that a good deal? Would I be able to hook up the main receiver to the living room TV, and extend the second receiver downstairs connected to my receiver and TV? And I can use the TiVo with both of them separately also? Is that how it works? I've never touched a TiVo nor any kind of satellite service. Is it worth it? From that site can I expect to pay about $80 bucks for the combo deal (upfront - not including the monthly service charges,) so both my dad and I can watch different channels simultaneously?
And from that Amazon deal, it's only $30 bucks for the Dual LNB system MINUS the TiVo deck/function. Being a Dual- LNB system, does that mean that is all I need to watch different channels on 2 different TVs? Or does that only mean I can UPGRADE it to be able to do that? Again, programming aside, is this a good deal- and especially for my needs?
Any help and any better deals would be GREATLY appreciated. Listen, my dad IS a Joe Six-Pack. He does not like black bars and any type of wdescreen. He does not see the reasoning behind my (very mild) DVD fetish. HOWEVER!!!, I feel he has the potential to break out of that shell...given the chance!! Help me out!
Again, I am interested in the high audio/visual quality of and variety of programming for both ME downstairs on the home theater AND my dad and his TV. I'm a college student and I will be home from now till the end of January to enjoy the fruits of OUR labor. Assist me please, on my journey..no, QUEST! I will check back daily to hear your feedback. Time is of the essence. I would like to choose and order whatever system I choose within the next week, and hopefully have it installed and up and running within the week after that.
* I must also add that I do not NEED the TiVo feature, however I believe that given some time my whole family would use it extensively. Again, this is only from what I have READ.
* I've been reading that EchoStar has some pretty competitive pricing deals on the subscription service? ($9/month deal..with some work to get that deal...) Can anyone with experience of either of the two or both (DirecTV/EchoStar) provide any input? After seeing that a basic $30-40/month for DirecTV adds up to $400-$500 bucks, i must also acknowledge that COST will be a major factor in my decision.
It's about time I got something creative =) and doggone cool for my dad. I want to get DirecTV/TiVo. We live in a private house in Queens. My dad mainly chills in the living room upstairs and watches sports, while I'm in the basement watching my movies on my (budding) 5.1 surround sound home theater. He would love this huge step up from our "zapped" cable, albeit a little more expensive.
I am interested in a Dual LNB system outlined from ExpertSatellite.com HERE and also this deal from Amazon.com HERE .
From that 1st deal, from Expertsatellite.com, is that a good deal? Would I be able to hook up the main receiver to the living room TV, and extend the second receiver downstairs connected to my receiver and TV? And I can use the TiVo with both of them separately also? Is that how it works? I've never touched a TiVo nor any kind of satellite service. Is it worth it? From that site can I expect to pay about $80 bucks for the combo deal (upfront - not including the monthly service charges,) so both my dad and I can watch different channels simultaneously?
And from that Amazon deal, it's only $30 bucks for the Dual LNB system MINUS the TiVo deck/function. Being a Dual- LNB system, does that mean that is all I need to watch different channels on 2 different TVs? Or does that only mean I can UPGRADE it to be able to do that? Again, programming aside, is this a good deal- and especially for my needs?
Any help and any better deals would be GREATLY appreciated. Listen, my dad IS a Joe Six-Pack. He does not like black bars and any type of wdescreen. He does not see the reasoning behind my (very mild) DVD fetish. HOWEVER!!!, I feel he has the potential to break out of that shell...given the chance!! Help me out!
Again, I am interested in the high audio/visual quality of and variety of programming for both ME downstairs on the home theater AND my dad and his TV. I'm a college student and I will be home from now till the end of January to enjoy the fruits of OUR labor. Assist me please, on my journey..no, QUEST! I will check back daily to hear your feedback. Time is of the essence. I would like to choose and order whatever system I choose within the next week, and hopefully have it installed and up and running within the week after that.
* I must also add that I do not NEED the TiVo feature, however I believe that given some time my whole family would use it extensively. Again, this is only from what I have READ.
* I've been reading that EchoStar has some pretty competitive pricing deals on the subscription service? ($9/month deal..with some work to get that deal...) Can anyone with experience of either of the two or both (DirecTV/EchoStar) provide any input? After seeing that a basic $30-40/month for DirecTV adds up to $400-$500 bucks, i must also acknowledge that COST will be a major factor in my decision.
Last edited by CuriousGeorge; 12-21-01 at 05:27 AM.
12-21-01, 10:47 AM
#2
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Palm Springs and Los Angeles
Posts: 23,208
Received 108 Likes
on
97 Posts
Here's the deal with the directivo combo unit, you will be getting a dual dish, now normally and this is what I have, the dual dish goes to the Tivo Reciever as it has 2 built in tuners.
so you will need a splitter to split the signal to the other box, as you certainly want the ability to record 2 shows at once on the tivo.
The thing to look out for is the free professional installation
the guy charged me for a 2nd run, even though he only used one cable, but he was like hey the double cable is more expensive...
rip-off.
Anyway loads more questions can be answered over here
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/
so you will need a splitter to split the signal to the other box, as you certainly want the ability to record 2 shows at once on the tivo.
The thing to look out for is the free professional installation
the guy charged me for a 2nd run, even though he only used one cable, but he was like hey the double cable is more expensive...
rip-off.
Anyway loads more questions can be answered over here
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/
12-23-01, 02:06 AM
#3
DVD Talk Legend
With DirectTivo, you are looking at a $31.99 Total Choice package (the basic package), plus $10/month Tivo fee, plus $5/month second receiver fee (total of $46.99).
Do you really need Tivo at $10 per month? Do you really need a second receiver? That is, are there many times when you would want to watch separate signals on the two TVs? If not, just get one receiver and a (remote transmitter?*). Remember that if you use an antenna, that is a separate signal, thus you could watch something from the satellite on one TV and something from the antenna on the other TV, at the same time. And not have to pay the $5/month.
* Remote Transmitter: I am not sure of the correct name, it is the thing that lets you place a small receiver on the satellite receiver, and transmitters on the TV in a different room, then use your infrared signal to control the TV (remote to transmitter to receiver to satellite receiver).
Here is what I have figured out in my 4.5 years of having satellite TV (Dish Network, though I'll be changing soon to DirectTV):
If you want lots of sports and want to buy season packages, DirectTV is right for you.
If you want foreign language programming, then Dish Network is for you.
If you don't really care about sports and just want something better than your local cable system, then Dish Network is for you (the packages seem to be a couple bucks cheaper for equivelent programming, plus things like HBO packages are cheaper on Dish).
Do you really need Tivo at $10 per month? Do you really need a second receiver? That is, are there many times when you would want to watch separate signals on the two TVs? If not, just get one receiver and a (remote transmitter?*). Remember that if you use an antenna, that is a separate signal, thus you could watch something from the satellite on one TV and something from the antenna on the other TV, at the same time. And not have to pay the $5/month.
* Remote Transmitter: I am not sure of the correct name, it is the thing that lets you place a small receiver on the satellite receiver, and transmitters on the TV in a different room, then use your infrared signal to control the TV (remote to transmitter to receiver to satellite receiver).
Here is what I have figured out in my 4.5 years of having satellite TV (Dish Network, though I'll be changing soon to DirectTV):
If you want lots of sports and want to buy season packages, DirectTV is right for you.
If you want foreign language programming, then Dish Network is for you.
If you don't really care about sports and just want something better than your local cable system, then Dish Network is for you (the packages seem to be a couple bucks cheaper for equivelent programming, plus things like HBO packages are cheaper on Dish).
01-14-02, 05:44 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Virginia Beach
Posts: 732
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
01-25-02, 09:55 AM
#7
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Queens, NY
Posts: 254
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Awwww man.... it looks like I'm going to have to wait till I get my own place till I can get any satellite service. The parents do not want any monthly fee higher than the $20/month we're already dishing out for Brooklyn/Queens cable. My only chance was that $9/month dish network deal, but that required a lot of work and even required having an old directv unit around for the deal to work. thanks for all the help.
