1 Room DIRECTV System with a DIRECTV Plus DVR (Lease)
DirecTV will be out of my future
First, this is a review about DirecTV service in general and not about any particular hardware. I use Sony equipment (no longer available) and I like it better than any other TV equipment I've used.<br /><br />I've been a subscriber since 1998. When I first subscribed, DirecTV was the best. I could call and instantly get a channel package added or dropped and the quality was always superb.<br /><br />However, since it came under the control of Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp (it used to be owned by Hughes) the quality has dropped dramatically. Where I would get flawless picture reception before, I now get signal drop-out quite often. Even worse, the broadcasts will occasionally get frame drop-out, a condition where the picture shows fewer frames per second, giving it a \\"strobe\\" like effect.<br /><br />The MLB Ticket package was what drew me to DirecTV in the first place, but it has also diminished in quality. I used to be able to watch either the home or visitor broadcast for any game. I could switch between channels and see the different reactions to the same play. Now I only get the broadcast that DirecTV allows me to watch. All the broadcasts are on the satellite, but they black out one of the feeds, either home or visitor (but not predicably so).<br /><br />While much of this must be laid at in the lap of MLB and even more in the lap of their network broadcast partner, it must be noted that the network partner is NewsCorp's Fox. So we have a situation where the left hand of the company sells me a subscription to something, but the right hand of the same company takes that away, citing its \\"exclusive rights\\". It must also be noted that NewsCorp also owned the MLB Los Angeles Dodgers (as long as the tax benefits lasted) and thus helped shape the MLB policy that allows them to play the old-switcheroo with what I pay for and what I get.<br /><br />Finally, customer service has been reduced from the best in the industry to \\"worse than non-existent\\". I used to be able to call at any time day or night, 24/7 and get instant service (instant meaning within 10 minutes to affect a change to my service). Now when I call for service, I get one of those fake automated receptionists that tries to use voice recognition to understand and answer your question.<br /><br />Anyone who has used voice recognition software knows how difficult it can be and how you have to train it for your voice. So having it recognize the question is a minor miracle. Of course, you would know only if you happened to ask a standard question that it has an answer for. Anyone who has seen a FAQ for a NewsCorp website knows how little information they think you should know, so that's about what you're dealing with here. The only way it could be worse is if they programmed the \\"receptionist\\" to use an incomprehensible foreign accent.<br /><br />Since Comcast cable is worse than DirecTV in all these (and even more) respects, the options are limited. Because I like my equipment, I'll keep subscribing to DTV until it finally dies. However, I may get fed-up long before this Sony equipment dies. When that happens I'll be looking elsewhere for my TV reception needs soon.<br /><br />If you don't already own equipment, why buy into it?able to call at any time day or night, 24/7 and get instant service (instant meaning within 10 minutes to affect a change to my service). Now when I call for service, I get one of those fake automated receptionists that tries to use voice recognition to understand and answer your question.  <br /> <br />Anyone who has used voice recognition software knows how difficult it can be and how you have to train it for your voice. So having it recognize the question is a minor miracle. Of course, you would know only if you happened to ask a standard question that it has an answer for. Anyone who has seen a FAQ for a NewsCorp website knows how little information they think you should know, so that's about what you're dealing with here. The only way it could be worse is if they programmed the \\"receptionist\\" to use an incomprehensible foreign accent. <br /> <br />Since Comcast cable is worse than DirecTV in all these (and even more) respects, the options are limited. Because I like my equipment, I'll keep subscribing to DTV until it finally dies. However, I may get fed-up long before this Sony equipment dies. When that happens I'll be looking elsewhere for my TV reception needs soon. <br /> <br />If you don't already own equipment, why buy into it?