Tivo S3 &/or HD with cable, is it worth switching from DirectTV...

[pwhite8314]

Questions, questions, I know, but after a lot of searching around this forum and elsewhere, I've not really been able to get a solid answer. So since this is a coffee house, pull up a chair and bear with me whilst I ramble my way through my question(s)... :-)

firstly, my only experience of Tivo was in the UK, which although Tivo abandoned that market many years ago, my Tivo is still running perfectly today, by FAR the oldest bit of kit in the media cupboard, but still the most functional!

now I've moved to the US (Tx), and after a few months in an apartment I'm now in a house currently served by DirecTV. We have an S2 Tivo in one room, and a crappy DirecTV R15 in another room (aka the $h*tbox, as we lovingly call it).

So, with all the cool stuff that the S3 or HD can provide (both the TV's are HD), I'd like to make the big switch, and get rid of DirecTV. However, Charter are the only cable company in my area, and everything I've read about Charter & Tivo doesn't seem very good.

So, my question is, basically, is it worth the pain of switching from DirecTV to Charter, and a couple of new Tivo boxes (probably HDs). I'd also have the option of moving voice and data to Charter, but not being local I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not...the current AT&T service is pretty reliable.

I'm well aware that Tivo is infinitely better than the DirecTV R15, but in order to avoid any household conflict, I need the switchover to Charter/Tivo to be seamless, and ideally end up cheaper.

Thoughts? Should I just tollerate the $h*tbox? Ir is Charter with Tivo now a much happier place?

Thanks all!

[20TIL6]

Questions, questions, I know, but after a lot of searching around this forum and elsewhere, I've not really been able to get a solid answer. So since this is a coffee house, pull up a chair and bear with me whilst I ramble my way through my question(s)... :-)

firstly, my only experience of Tivo was in the UK, which although Tivo abandoned that market many years ago, my Tivo is still running perfectly today, by FAR the oldest bit of kit in the media cupboard, but still the most functional!

now I've moved to the US (Tx), and after a few months in an apartment I'm now in a house currently served by DirecTV. We have an S2 Tivo in one room, and a crappy DirecTV R15 in another room (aka the $h*tbox, as we lovingly call it).

So, with all the cool stuff that the S3 or HD can provide (both the TV's are HD), I'd like to make the big switch, and get rid of DirecTV. However, Charter are the only cable company in my area, and everything I've read about Charter & Tivo doesn't seem very good.

So, my question is, basically, is it worth the pain of switching from DirecTV to Charter, and a couple of new Tivo boxes (probably HDs). I'd also have the option of moving voice and data to Charter, but not being local I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not...the current AT&T service is pretty reliable.

I'm well aware that Tivo is infinitely better than the DirecTV R15, but in order to avoid any household conflict, I need the switchover to Charter/Tivo to be seamless, and ideally end up cheaper.

Thoughts? Should I just tollerate the $h*tbox? Ir is Charter with Tivo now a much happier place?

Thanks all!

Cable service can vary greatly, but you could try Charter and a TiVo HD for 30 days to see if the combo works for you. Just make sure you sign up with Charter without a service commitment. Sometimes those cable bundles or low initial rates come with a commitment. You can pick up a TiVo HD from an online retailer at a pretty good price, and you'll have 30 days from the moment you start the TiVo service to decide if it's worth it. If not, cancel TiVo service, return the TiVo, cancel Charter.

I switched from DirecTV to the new TiVo units, and I am happy. RS4 might be able to answer additional questions as he did the same.

[pwhite8314]

so you mean to run them in parallel for a month (or, at least keep DTV as a hot standby) until we decide if Charter is working out?

There also seems to be a lot of resellers for Charter, i.e. www.broadbandnational.com, is it worth making up a bespoke package with these guys (or similar), or to go with Charter directly? Ideally, I'd like to call someone up and say I've got 2 TivoHDs, come install cable and connect them up...is it going to be that simple? The Charter website is apalling, a complete mess with so many different options.

[20TIL6]

Well, you could run them in parallel if you have the cabling in place. In other words, if you have coax in place that cable could use without disturbing the coax that is carrying your DTV signals to your TVs.

If you can't do this, I think DTV allows you to "suspend your account". At least they offered that when I used to have them. Your receivers are disabled and you don't get charged for a period of time. Good for when you go on vacation, that sort of thing.

My opinion on resellers...I would not use them. They will want their involvement to be as easy as possible, and that will mean they will want to install Charter boxes and DVRs.

I'd go directly to Charter and let them know what you want to do. You have suspended DTV, and you are considering taking your business to Charter. But only if your experience is good and that experience involves using TiVo HD devices. Just lay it out for them. If the experience is not good, you will go back to DTV.

You will need Charter to start service at your place, test signal strength, amplify if necessary, etc. And you will need them to provide cablecard(s) so that your TiVo HD units can tune digital cable channels, HD etc.

A TiVo HD will need either (1) one Mcard - multistream cablecard, or (2) two Scard - singlestream cablecards. Most cable companies are distributing Mcards these days.

[pwhite8314]

Thanks. From what I've read the 'charter experience' mostly depends on the capability of the local Charter office, so we'll see...

[RonDawg]

Thanks. From what I've read the 'charter experience' mostly depends on the capability of the local Charter office, so we'll see...

That is very true.

I live in LA and I have Charter Cable. As a cable company, for the most part they have been satisfactory. Very few outages, good quality feeds, and when you need a tech you usually don't have to wait a long time.

When I got my TiVoHD and needed CableCards, that's where I ran into an issue. The tech who showed up basically didn't know what he was doing. First hint: he tried to install the CableCards backwards :rolleyes:

Having him read the instruction sheet that came with the TiVo was useless, because he didn't understand English. In his broken English, he told me that I would get my additional channels "soon" and left. Of course that didn't happen.

The tech that Charter sent afterward was the opposite, he was very knowledgeable. So when I mysteriously was unable to get Discovery HD Theater but I could get all the other channels, he painstakingly checked my cable all the way back to the pole, where he removed unnecessary splits and replaced many corroded connectors.

Other than this, and a couple of outages (for which Charter gave me refunds), my TiVoHD has worked quite well, knock on simulated woodgrain.

[dig_duggler]

Your ease and happiness will depend greatly on your provider in your area. When it works,it cannot be beat. When there are problems, it can be an extremely aggravating display of finger pointing with you left out in the cold.


What area of Texas? I would search out the Charter thread in the Series 3 forum for anyone in your area for a good indicator. If other users are having no to little issues go for it. If they are, take that into consideration when making your decision, as well as how much aggravation/work you are willing do to to get the best HD DVR out there.

[ThAbtO]

Another option you can use with a S3 or THD is to receive digital OTA, which is free.

[mattack]

Of course you can also receive analog OTA also, at least for the next several months until they're shut off.

[ThAbtO]

Of course you can also receive analog OTA also, at least for the next several months until they're shut off.

On Feb 17, 2009, analog OTA will be shut down, leaving just digital OTA. S3 & THD are digital-OTA ready.