New-AgeOutlaw

I have had a busy week on the TV service provider front and thought I would share my experieces with everyone. I had as of last week Dish Network but switched to Uverse Tuesday of this week. Heres why-

I wanted to be able to record / watch 4 shows at once,
have longer recording space,
Get HD channels on both TVs
Faster Internet
Digital voice

I am relative happy with uverse. Internet is much faster, Digital voice has cool features, SD and HD channels look great. They limited me to one HD feed because of my distance from the"box". The remotes take for ever to change a channel (think load times on a BluRay player). Also , the no showed the first instal date without a call, so I was dissapointed with that.

Today I called Dish to cancel my service (Dish 250 with multi-room DVR with no HD) I told the guy on the line that I cancel for the HD channels and didn't want to pay the $300 to upgade to the HD DVR box. he offered to upgrade me to the new HD DVR box (Free), Knock $20 a month for a year off my bill, Give me free HBO, Cenimax, and Starz for 3 months, and free instal next week.

With the downgrade to one HD channel on uverse and the slow as heck remote respond times (I am a huge channel surfer and most time you have to hit the channel button or guide 2-3 times to get a response) I took the Dish Network deal. I did have to give a 2 year commitment.

It was hard for me to find reliable information / experiences on Uverse, so if any one is interested I can answer question or give a more detailed review. Just note that I have only had it for 5 days now and I am at the limit as far as distance to the hook up box (4000').

New-AgeOutlaw

Accidental repost. How do I delete this?

mbs

Do you have both now? Does U-verse require a contract?

I have Dish and, mostly due to their poor CS, I'm considering switching. I also have ATT for phone, so consolidating internet/phone/TV makes sense. I wouldn't mind trying out Uverse, but am curious if they require a contract...

My other issue is I have the VIP-702 and like it... and I paid a hefty sum to get it (and have a ton of shows/movies recorded on an external drive)... decisions, decisions.

david12

In my lifetime I have had Dish, DirectTV, Tivo with basic cable, and now UVerse. UVerse is by far the best. For years and years, I was a TIVO guy, but when I moved into my new house UVerse seemed too good to pass up. Plus to use TIVO with dish companies is just too difficult.

There have been no problems whatsoever with our service, it is always clear, and the quickness from the machine is always prompt and responsive. There was one time when the machine wasn't as quick, but it turned out to be the remote batteries being low.

Like the original post, UVerse has always rewarded me for their mistakes and even regularly upgrade my internet for free. We got 6 months of Showtime/Cinemax for free once, and recently when I upgraded to HD they took fifteen dollars off my bill because I qualified for a 'combo' pack. So basically they are paying me to have HD service. Kinda great.

And recording 4 shows at once is unreal. I've never had a schedule conflict...EVER!!!

Guess I'm a UVerse guy now.

david12

And no, there is no contract.

JuryDuty

Outlaw, thanks for sharing--I always find it interesting to hear what others go through when changing service because it can be a real hassle and it's nice to know what to expect because I've been thinking of making some changes like this, too.

David12, how does the UVerse DVR compare with Tivo? I'm a Tivo lover and just can't imagine using another DVR...but I don't have an HD-Tivo and the Uverse package intrigues me.

Plus, I will only go with a place that won't put me under contract, so that means either Charter cable or UVerse.

Timber

But only one or two of those can be HD right?

Erasmus

Only one can be HD - UVerse cripples everyone because of the bandwidth of copper line to most homes. Even if you have fiber to the premises, you're still limited to only one HD feed because that's what someone with copper is limited to. They conveniently leave that out of the commercials about recording 4 channels.

TheKing

Actually, it's 2 HD feeds in most places now. It depends on how far away you are from the VRAD.

New-AgeOutlaw

I was told I would get two HD feeds, but after the install, the install guy said I was capped at one HD feed.

I have had schedule conflicts as a result. I want to record shows in HD when possible, so that is how I set up the recorder. I have conflicts because although I can record 4 shows at once, if two are HD, there is a conflict. It would be nice if once the DVR saw a conflict like that, it would switch one of those shows to the SD feed and record it. That would mean priortizing your shows (which you can on dish), but you can't on Uverse. Even if you are recording a SD show on a HD channel, It counts as my one HD feed.

Both remotes with new batteries are very slow. I have tried differnt sitting positions, distances from the DVR box, but nothing helps.This and being only able to set up one Favorites guide makes browsing difficult.

Everything I have seen posted on other forums suggest the HD quality of Uverse is terrible. I can't see any issues with it at all. I think it looks great, but the only other HD i have is BluRay. Obviously it doesn't compare.

Fortunatly, Uverse doesn't require a contract. With the remote issue, the HD cap,and the better counter-offer by Dish I will be switched back by next Thursday.

Hopefully in 2 years Uverse will be able to actually provide me two or more HD feeds. A few more software upgrade and I would be willing to give them another shot.

Gasspasser

We've had the Uverse for a while now and love it. We can record the 2 HD channels without problems and love being able to watch DVR'd shows on Non-DVRs. I do wish that my hard drive was bigger though and I wish that there was an option to get all HD Channels without having to move up in the package. But its still a good deal

jjlidaka

Hey, I just got U-Verse last week and I am capped at one-HD feed for the house, so I get conflicts all the time when trying to record 2 shows in HD at one time. How do you get two HD feeds? I called the ATT customer relations 800 number and the guy told me it is an engineering impossibility to get 2 HD feeds to my house, he said maybe in time but had no clue when that would be. Did you always have 2 HD feeds, did they automatically give it to you when you signed up, or did you take action to get the 2 feeds?

Thanks

Gasspasser

As stated above and with many other sites the 2 HD Feeds depends greatly on how far away from the source you are. So the physical location of your house. If you can get 2 you will get 2.

Wolf359

I wish I had seen this thread earlier...
Just had Uverse installed and I'm getting recording conflicts. Is it still an issue getting only one hd feed at a time?! If so, I think I'm cancelling. Dish may go out occasionally, but at least I could record two at once.

boogieman03

I'm up to 3 hd streams in my apartment.

The installer said I can only get one. I talked to tech support (a couple of different times actually, and they were able to up it to 2 hd streams. A couple of months later, I was upgraded to 3 HD streams (i didn't ask).

Wolf359

My installer didn't even mention it! Guess I'll call tech support and see what can be done.