Left Directv today for FIOS

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I just ordered Fios yesterday. I have not been happy w/ D since I gave up my Ultimate TV. I was told Ultimate TV was a dead system and Tivo would countinue to evolve .

 

hold tight.. it just became available in west chester and east whiteland, it should only be a few weeks after it's granted a franchise....

 

Deployment is based on central office validation for video. It should be soon.

 

The internet access with FIOS is better than Cable-internet in my opinion. Faster for the same money, and so far much more reliable than my Comcast Internet Service ever was.

But if your Cable Co is Comcast, you might have the future advantage of using their new TIVO powered cable boxes they are testing right now, and saving money on buying Series3s.

I think the VOD on some Cable provider's is probably better than FIOS. FIOS still doesn't have any HD-VOD content yet (there's like one test VOD category that is basically a screen saver with music in HD) - but this is supposedly coming in June of this year with the new DVR software.

There's nothing to stop you from using FIOS for internet and someone else for TV.
I love both the internet and TV services so far. And you save a little with package pricing.

-h

 

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How do you find out when FIOS will be available. Verizon has been totally worthless when I have called to ask them when it will be in Austin, TX.

 

That's hilarious! I'm going to do that next time!

 

I'm pretty sure that the day I cancel might be the only time that DirecTV might possibly listen to me when I tell them the HR20 sucks.

Not going to pass that up.

 

The time is also approaching for me to leave the D* nest. Contract service is up next month. The only option right now is Comcast because FIOS is not up yet in Worcester County, MA. Hopefully sometime this year.

I will definately lean towards Comcast if they have the HD-Tivo boxes expected. For now I'm just going to enjoy the HR10-250 for a few more months and get educated on whats rolling out for better service in the area.

 

Check out the Verizon website and look for the FIOS link. You should be able to enter your phone number to see if service is available to you yet if you have Verizon phone service. I believe you can also enter your street address if you don't have a Verizon phone number.

You're supposed to be able to put your name on a list to be notified when it becomes available. I could have sworn I filled out the form a while back but I really don't rememeber if I did or not. I just kept checking back regularly to see if FIOS was available yet. I finally found that it had become available about three weeks ago so I started checking out their package prices.

Here's what DirecTV is currently costing me (prices are approximate as I have not taken the recent rate hikes into account):

$49.95 Total Choice Plus w/locals
$12.99 HBO
$9.99 HD package
$5.99 DVR service
$4.99 Mirroring fee (standard receiver)
$4.99 Mirroring fee (standard DTivo)
$4.99 Mirroring fee (HDTivo)
$4.99 Mirroring fee (HDTivo
$4.99 Mirroring fee (HDTivo)
$108.87 Total monthly fees

I have just built a HTPC for recording my OTA HD locals. This essentially replaces two of my HDTivos for a monthly cost of $0.00 since there is no cost other than the initial outlay for the hardware and software, which can be considerable, depending on what bells and whistles you add to it. I've probably invested about $1500.00 in mine so far. I also bought a series 3 HD Tivo for recording HBO and other non-OTA channels via the FIOS input. Here's my projected monthly cost for the FIOS service:

$39.99 monthly FIOS TV service
$14.99 HBO
$3.99 Standard set top box
$3.99 Standard set top box
$2.95 Cablecard
$2.95 Cablecard
$68.86 Total monthly fees

Tivo service paid in advance for three years @ $8.41 monthly for a grand total of $77.27, or a monthly savings of $26.60. Best part is that I own the Tivo and don't have to lease it, plus I can drop Verizon at any time with no penalties, should I choose to do so. I always have to option to go with Comcast or go back to DTV if and when they get their new mpeg4 sats online. I'll be seeing what Customer Retention will offer me to come back and make sure they keep it in my file so I can hold them to it later. Chances are, once I've made the switch it's unlikely I'll be going back, unless DTV can show me an HD lineup I can't refuse.

Note that I could have easily dropped two of the HDTivo from my DTV account and replaced them with the HTPC for a whopping monthly savings of $9.98! I rarely used the standard DTivo so that would have saved me another $4.99 per month. I'm sure there are some minor differences between the Total Choice Plus and FIOS channel lineups but nothing that would affect what I watch.

I opted for the S3 Tivo instead of the Verizon DVR, mainly because I wanted a DVR that was upgradeable and had a more stable OS, not to mention that it's a Tivo. The Verizon Motorola QIP-6416 DVRs only have a 160GB hard drive and one set of IR codes, making it difficult to have more than one of them in the same location. My three HDTivos are all in the same room and have 500GB apiece.

Did I mention that I also get a discount on my TV service since I signed up for TV, internet, and phone service with Verizon? I also got a $100 rebate in the form of a $100 American Express card.