inkman Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I just picked up my 4th HD DVR for my house which runs my Time Warner Cable bill up to $150 a month minus road runner. Looking for some input from posters who have other services. Here are my needs: Sabres games, HD channels, multiple HD DVR's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Everyone knows I'm a huge DirecTV fan. They have the most real HD channels and top-notch customer service. If you don't live in the Buffalo area, you can get Center Ice and get the Sabres games. However, DirecTV does not currently have Versus (dispute between Comcast and DirecTV), so if the game is on that channel I don't think you'd get it. It also sounds like they'll have a DirecTV/TiVo receiver sometime early next year *fingers crossed* DirecTV also gives you the option to get Sunday Ticket -- I paid $150 this year for all of the NFL games in HD. Killer deal. That said, Dish is a little cheaper and currently carries the Versus channel (not sure if it's in HD or not). That means more hockey for you. Their DVR isn't quite as good, but it does allow you to connect it to multiple TVs -- I'm not sure if you can get HD on both of them or not though. You can't go wrong with either of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linksfiend Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 TimeWarner is the only service that carries Sabres games in HD. The home games. Road games are in standard def. DirecTV, Dish and FiOS don't offer HD broadcasts of any Sabres games. That was my deciding factor. Toss in bundle discount with High Speed Internet. And how annoying it was to lose satellite signal in heavy rain and snow. I had FiOS, TW and Dish in the last three years. I liked the TW DVR best, Dish second and the FiOS DVR least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordio Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 TimeWarner is the only service that carries Sabres games in HD. The home games. Road games are in standard def. DirecTV, Dish and FiOS don't offer HD broadcasts of any Sabres games. That was my deciding factor. Toss in bundle discount with High Speed Internet. And how annoying it was to lose satellite signal in heavy rain and snow. I had FiOS, TW and Dish in the last three years. I liked the TW DVR best, Dish second and the FiOS DVR least. That is not true. I have Direct TV & get the Sabres Home Games in high def. The road games for some reason are not in high def. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theesir Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 TimeWarner is the only service that carries Sabres games in HD. The home games. Road games are in standard def. DirecTV, Dish and FiOS don't offer HD broadcasts of any Sabres games. That was my deciding factor. Toss in bundle discount with High Speed Internet. And how annoying it was to lose satellite signal in heavy rain and snow. I had FiOS, TW and Dish in the last three years. I liked the TW DVR best, Dish second and the FiOS DVR least. I hope that information wasn't given to you by a Time Warner sales rep because its a bold face lie. I have DirecTv and have been watching Sabres home games in HD for 3 years. This year we will also receive 6 MSG road games in HD (as will TW customers). I also have the NFL Network in HD and all the extra games that will give me as well as NHL network in HD which broadcasts Hockey Night in Canada in HD every Saturday night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I hate all cable and satellite companies. But I go with directv due to Sunday Ticket. However, cutting versus is really irriating; I'm not sure what I'm going to do when the NHL playoffs roll around and every game is on versus. (I'm a Pens fan, so being able to watch playoff hockey is important to me ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linksfiend Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I hope that information wasn't given to you by a Time Warner sales rep because its a bold face lie. I'm sorry. You are correct. I misread Alan Pergament's column. DirecTV does offer home games in HD. Same as TW. Road games against NYC area opponents (NYR, NYI, NJ) are also in HD on both. And any game picked up by NBC later in the year. So the only difference is Versus and Versus HD. DirecTV is in a dispute with Versus, so it doesn't offer those games. 6 of the 7 Versus Only games remain. I never had DirecTV but the other things that moved me to TW from the Dish were: surcharge because I didn't have a land line on Dish ($5.99) vs bundle discount with RoadRunner on TW. And those annoying weather outages on Dish. http://www.buffalonews.com/337/story/813310.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I just picked up my 4th HD DVR for my house which runs my Time Warner Cable bill up to $150 a month minus road runner. Looking for some input from posters who have other services. Here are my needs: Sabres games, HD channels, multiple HD DVR's. 4 DVRs?? Dude... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 4 DVRs?? Dude... What's wrong with 4...? DirecTV doesn't charge anything extra for a DVR vs a regular receiver... I have 4 as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 What's wrong with 4...? DirecTV doesn't charge anything extra for a DVR vs a regular receiver... I have 4 as well. Time Warner charges ~ $20 buck a month per. It's killing me. One for the living room, one for the basement, one for my brother, one for the bar. I have two housemates, so the TV time is a premium. Working 75 hours a week, you'd think I could get the 5 or 6 hours I'd like to watch TV to myself but my housemates are among the biggest couch potatoes there are. Luckily I get rent from them every month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Time Warner charges ~ $20 buck a month per. It's killing me. One for the living room, one for the basement, one for my brother, one for the bar. I have two housemates, so the TV time is a premium. Working 75 hours a week, you'd think I could get the 5 or 6 hours I'd like to watch TV to myself but my housemates are among the biggest couch potatoes there are. Luckily I get rent from them every month. Woah! You'll save a fortune just in DVR fees if you switch to DirecTV! (I'm not sure what Dish's DVR policy is). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linksfiend Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wowsa! $20 each? Is that just for service? Or for service and equipment rental? What does DirecTV do? Do they charge for DVR service? Charge for equipment rental? Sell the DVRs separately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Wowsa! $20 each? Is that just for service? Or for service and equipment rental? What does DirecTV do? Do they charge for DVR service? Charge for equipment rental? Sell the DVRs separately? It's $20 for all 4, do you think anyone would pay $20 per? And from what I understand TW is going to carry most of the Sabres games in HD. All of the home and most of the road games. But no NFL network... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTS Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 I'll say this again. Dish Network has the best HD-DVR in the business. I've got two such receivers (each received covers two TVs or more if you are crafty) and I can record (or record and watch) up to three different shows at once on each one. I'm pretty sure TIVO doesn't do that. The best part is it's about to get even better. The new ViP 922 HD-DVR will be out soon and it's in a class of it's own. http://gizmodo.com/5126046/dish-network-vi...mes-slingloaded The ONLY knock on Dish is they are still at odds with MSG regarding HD coverage of Sabres. Apparently they are still fighting over pennies per subscriber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 You should send a PM to Cablelady and see if TW has any specials you can get on right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 What does DirecTV do? Do they charge for DVR service? Charge for equipment rental? Sell the DVRs separately? DirecTV charges a $6 DVR fee, regardless of the number of DVRs you have. You also get charged $5/receiver in the house - but as I said, it doesn't matter if it's a DVR or regular receiver. They have software you can install on your PC to stream video from the DVR to the PC as well. I'm assuming that means in the near future you'll be able to stream video from one DVR to another -- that'd be slick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 I need an answer. Can I watch the Sabres and the Orange if I get Direct TV in Rochester? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Because I get Sunday ticket to watch the Buffalo Ills (can't call them Bills) play on Sundays - I have to go with DirecTV. No complaints really other than U-verse would be a preferred option for their broadband. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Trying to explain the Sabres broadcast situation to a Direct TV rep that is thousands of miles away is borderline impossible. "Well, they show the games on MSGHD which is a NYC network but they show the Buffalo team as well. I don't live in Buffalo but they play the games in my city too. Oh, and now they play some of the games on 'SABRE', nobody told me what it is, but this message comes on MSGHD telling me to switch it there 85% of the time." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 According to their website, it's $199 for every additional HD DVR in the house. It would cost me $600 to just start up, not including ANYTHING for channels. Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Trying to explain the Sabres broadcast situation to a Direct TV rep that is thousands of miles away is borderline impossible. "Well, they show the games on MSGHD which is a NYC network but they show the Buffalo team as well. I don't live in Buffalo but they play the games in my city too. Oh, and now they play some of the games on 'SABRE', nobody told me what it is, but this message comes on MSGHD telling me to switch it there 85% of the time." I don't know the answer to your question -- regional sports networks are an odd beast, and the Sabres situation is even stranger. I don't believe that the DirecTV reps are thousands of miles away though -- most of the time when I've called, they're people in Florida. Not sure if that's changed over the past year or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 According to their website, it's $199 for every additional HD DVR in the house. It would cost me $600 to just start up, not including ANYTHING for channels. Awesome! That's list price. As a new customer, you'd probably be able to get 1-2 for free, and the other 2 for no more than $99/ea. The best part about the DVRs is that you can open them up, take out the hardrive, and plug in a larger harddrive for more recording time. Since a 1TB drive is less than $100 nowadays, you can easy get 200+ hours of HD recording on the DVR. Very nice if you don't keep up with shows every week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linksfiend Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I need an answer. Can I watch the Sabres and the Orange if I get Direct TV in Rochester? Rochester definitely falls into the Buffalo Sabres region for MSG. I don't know about Syracuse. What station usually carries those games - SNY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Rochester definitely falls into the Buffalo Sabres region for MSG. I don't know about Syracuse. What station usually carries those games - SNY? Looking into it, the Orange games will be on SNY (which carries the Big East Network). The Sabres games should be fine, and I'm going to talk to a local rep to see what kind of deal I can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Looking into it, the Orange games will be on SNY (which carries the Big East Network). The Sabres games should be fine, and I'm going to talk to a local rep to see what kind of deal I can get. Some of the basketball games are on Time Warner Sports, which is not available to DTV. I know this because a couple years ago I was at a guys house that had DTV. The SU game that night was listed on the guide, but when game time came, black screen. Had to go to another house with TW to watch that game. And I don't believe TW charges extra for HD receivers. Send a PM to cablelady, she can help fill you in on what TW can provide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 And I don't believe TW charges extra for HD receivers. Send a PM to cablelady, she can help fill you in on what TW can provide. They just charge upwards of $20 a month per DVR. Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fezmid Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 And I don't believe TW charges extra for HD receivers. DirecTV doesn't charge per HD receiver -- it's $5/receiver, no matter the type (SD, HD, DVR, HD DVR), and a flat $6/month for DVR service in the household (raising to $7 in a few months). So if you had 4 HD DVRs in the house, you'd pay $15 for receivers (first is "free," then $5 each for the next three), and $7 for the DVR, for a total of $22/month for the hardware. I know Time Warner used to charge 25 cents/month for a remote control. That was pretty funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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