VUDU vs Satellite

[redwein]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

To be fair and balanced there must be at least one thing you like about Directv.

NFL Sunday Ticket. I'm irked that they have exclusive rights to that (through 2011 I think).

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

NFL Sunday Ticket. I'm irked that they have exclusive rights to that (through 2011 I think).

Yeah, that's a *****. It's one year "after" Jupiter becomes a star and life is discovered on IO.

It was actually one of the big reasons I switched from Dish Network, so I could watch Charger games while on the road and in Oregon.

It's even better now, you can order NFL Ticket by the day without having to subscribe to the full season.

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

An exerpt I found. The full article is at: http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/200...d_channels.php

"Our new DIRECTV 11 satellite will soon join its sister satellite in orbit to form the most robust HD delivery system in the multichannel video industry and will be instrumental in maintaining DIRECTV's position as the undisputed leader in HD for years to come," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV, Inc.
"The strength of our HD offer is not only about the quality and quantity of our national HD channels," he added. "We are continuing to enhance the DIRECTV HD platform by broadcasting our exclusive, interactive sports packages like NCAA, MEGA MARCH MADNESS, NASCAR HOTPASS and NFL SUNDAY TICKET all in HD and adding more HD content to our DIRECTV On Demand VOD platform that will formally launch in the coming weeks."


Just call me a crazy Grumpy Old Member!!

[redwein]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

I actually still have DirecTV on one TV just for NFL Sunday Ticket. But I still have to get the new dish and a new receiver if I want to get the games in HD, which I obviously do. Oh well.

[NA9D]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

You are only using one VUDU box for all your TV's ?????

To be fair and balanced there must be at least one thing you like about Directv.

Not really. I had satellite for a while (Dish Network). Thought about switching to DirecTV, but they had worse package offerings than Comcast.

With Comcast, I can watch TV in any room in my house. I can use the PIP function of my TV natively. I can use my TV's build in HD-DVR that I pay no fees for. I can watch in a driving rainstorm. I have local channels that I don't pay extra for. I don't have to pay $5.00 extra a month for an additional receiver in another room as I have analog cable that can be received by any TV. I've had VOD on Comcast now for the last 2+ years. I can use any DVR I want. I can upgrade my equipment at any time by simply going to my local cable office and getting it.

Did I mention I can watch TV in the rain?

[NA9D]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

An exerpt I found. The full article is at: http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/news/200...d_channels.php

blah blah blah

[NA9D]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

The facts are that it doesn't matter if it's DirectTV or Comcast or Joe's Cable service. All of them are competitors to Vudu. I think Vudu knows this...

[redwein]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

For me it's all about Tivo. Wherever Tivo goes, so do I.

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

blah blah blah

Geez Louise... Who's the Grumpy one today??

I've got lots of Meds and willing to share!!

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

For me it's all about Tivo. Wherever Tivo goes, so do I.

I would love to try Tivo, but unfortunately it doesn't work with Sat and in order to get content to record with TIVO, I'm under the impression you have to get cable to do that.

We have 3 homes one in San Diego, Sacramento, and Oregon.

Our place in Oregon is in the Siuslaw National Forest and they have no cable service there. But even if they did, we would have to have 3 cable service accounts, which would be cost prohibitive for the use we get out of it.

So we have dishes at all three locations and take the Sat box (and VUDU box too) with us when we migrate. Before you say it, it's not illegal to do that if you let them know where the equipment is located when you move it.

So for our (admittedly unique) situation, Sat works really well for us.

Regards

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

With Comcast, I can watch TV in any room in my house.

I'm not trying to get you angry, but are you saying that you don't need a Comcast set top box to watch all their programming because the TV is somehow comcast compliant? Even if that's true isn't that still saying that every TV has to have a box built into it in order to watch Comcast? Meaning, if you had a plain jane TV in one room would you still be able to watch Comcast without a STB?

Also does the LG TV have Toslink audio outs to send DD to your stereo system or do you use the built in speakers that come with the TV set?

I've never really had any of this stuff, so I'm just curious (not trying to be combative with the Master).

Regards

[HeadHodge]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

I actually still have DirecTV on one TV just for NFL Sunday Ticket. But I still have to get the new dish and a new receiver if I want to get the games in HD, which I obviously do. Oh well.

Oh... I forgot to ask, for awhile they were offering everyone free upgrades for new dish's and B-band converters. Did they not offer that to you?

[redwein]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

Oh... I forgot to ask, for awhile they were offering everyone free upgrades for new dish's and B-band converters. Did they not offer that to you?

They did. I just didn't want the hassle of them coming out to replace the dish and my DirecTivo box. First they told me that I would be ok if I only cared about NFL Sunday Ticket. Then they told me that I needed the new equipment for the HD part of Sunday Ticket.

[NA9D]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

I'm not trying to get you angry, but are you saying that you don't need a Comcast set top box to watch all their programming because the TV is somehow comcast compliant? Even if that's true isn't that still saying that every TV has to have a box built into it in order to watch Comcast? Meaning, if you had a plain jane TV in one room would you still be able to watch Comcast without a STB?

I get standard analog cable on every TV which covers probably 80% of the TV I want to watch. On the big set downstairs I have a CableCard slot. The cable card gives me full access to everything with the exception of OnDemand offerings. I do have an HD cable box as I have that hooked into my Replay and Slingbox. Plus then I can get VOD which I rarely watch now with Vudu but use it once in a while for TV shows if the Replay poops out on me. The reason for both the cable card and the cable box is that I can record two different offerings at once.

Also does the LG TV have Toslink audio outs to send DD to your stereo system or do you use the built in speakers that come with the TV set?

Yes! I'm watching the NCAA tournament right now in HD on the set's internal tuner. The Toslink audio is running into my Denon rcvr and I'm watching in DD5.1.


As for a TiVo DVR with your DirecTV box, yeah, you can do it. It's 100% compatible. I used my Replays with my Dish boxes prior to dumping Dish. The TiVo has an IR blaster that controls the satellite/cable box. You run the video and audio output of your DirecTV box into your TiVo/Replay and off you go. Now, the new TiVo HD may have component inputs (I'm not sure).

But you see, what's cool with the new TiVoHD and the Tivo Series 3 boxes (HD but more $$$), they have TWO cablecard slots. So you can have two fully compatible CATV tuners in there that get everything you subscribe to. Now, the cable company may charge for the second cable card but it's generally like just a couple bucks a month.

But for your situation with moving from place to place, I see why satellite is more attractive. I liked Dish Network a lot when I had it. But now that I'm back on cable, Comcast's quality in both image and customer service has gone way ip from the past. I really don't see any reason to have to re-wire my house yet again.

So DirecTV's new option has no appeal to me or to a lot of other people who don't want their service. The great thing about Vudu is that it's service independent. I can use it wherever I have broadband in the US and with any provider. I can take it with me and watch content already on the box even with no broadband...

Sorry for being cranky. I'm just tired of hearing the praises of how great Direct-TV is.

[skeeterfood]

Re: VUDU vs Satellite

I do have an HD cable box as I have that hooked into my Replay and Slingbox.

What advantage does an HD cable box have when run into an SD ReplayTV? I really am curious, since I've got a ReplayTV driving a 55" Sony and the Vudu looks so much better even with SD movies that I'm starting to think about building an HD PVR again... Of course, as soon as I buy the parts Vudu will probably start offering TV show rentals in HD.

-John