Help with my HDTV and Voom upgrade,please

[sgilbert]

i have been reading in here a while, first i must say what a great forum and there are some very kind and knowledgeable people in here. Let me say my goal is to acquire HDTV for an acceptable price. I have a 57" Hitachi HDTV that just pretty much broke me to buy, i also grabbed a SamSung SIR-150 off of ebay with a small RS-1890 antenna to play with getting some OTA channels. i want to upgrade to an HDTV service but there is SOOO much info some things are graying out on me. Heres my situation,

I have a 3 room DirectTV setup with about 3 months left on the commitment ( 2 rooms would do just fine). Everything ive found puts it costing me about $450 bucks to upgrade to D* ( am i not supposed to spell out the whole word?)
thats $350 for the receiver and new satellite ( is a new sat and lnb really needed?) plus approx $100 for a good OTA antenna. Now for convenience sake I would stay D* if the upgrade path was reasonable, but $450 and install completely new system doesn't seem reasonable when from what im reading you can roll into Voom for 0 upfront and no commitment and they install ( and seem to guarantee) OTA antenna as well. What am I missing here. Can I really just order a Voom setup for 0 upfront and they come install the whole system and guarantee OTA channels and install the antenna as well? Where are the hidden cost? I pay about 70 month or so for my D* setup and it seems a 2 room Voom system would be about the same. Im not taking into account the difference in channel lineups or quality of service but on the surface why would I not try Voom for the last 3 months of my D* commitment and make my mind up then since I don't have to commit? It seems ill save $100 upfront because I wont have to purchase an OTA? Would someone familiar with Voom please advise me as to what im missing here? Because if everything is on the up and up why would anyone upgrade their D* system? Also one thing of confusion is does Voom offer any PPV channels, and if not do they plan too? Does D* offer PPV in HD? Im so new to HDTV, just got it a few weeks ago, that all this info is hard to absorb, but I didn't just come in here and ask questions I did try to find answers, I just feel like there are things im missing. Since im 60 miles out should I ask for any particular OTA when ordering voom?


Thx for any help or opinions

Sgilbert

 

[Sean Mota]

Sgilbert,

you are not missing anything. $0 upfront, no commitment and equipment plus OTA and no hidden charges. The stb will cost you $10 per receiver to lease plus there is a $5 mirror charge per receiver. All of this per month. VOOM cannot guarantee OTA channels. OTA depends on too many variables based on your location. You say that you live 50 miles away and already that means that you will need a bigger antenna than what Voom provides initially. If you go with VOOM, you can upgrade the antenna for free after you initial install. Now, that still does not guarantee that you will get every single OTA channel but it will be same probability as if you were going to buy your antenna for $100. If you don't like VOOM, you may cancel anytime without being locked into any commitment. For $80/mth on programming you will get 37+ HD channels. So there you have it. What are you waiting for? Get VOOM (I sound like the guy in the commercial in INSIDE VOOM)

 

[The Stone Man]

but $450 and install completely new system doesn't seem reasonable when from what im reading you can roll into Voom for 0 upfront and no commitment and they install ( and seem to guarantee) OTA antenna as well. What am I missing here. Can I really just order a Voom setup for 0 upfront and they come install the whole system and guarantee OTA channels and install the antenna as well? Where are the hidden cost? I pay about 70 month or so for my D* setup and it seems a 2 room Voom system would be about the same.

Im not taking into account the difference in channel lineups or quality of service but on the surface why would I not try Voom for the last 3 months of my D* commitment and make my mind up then since I don't have to commit? Since im 60 miles out should I ask for any particular OTA when ordering voom?
Sgilbert

Welcome to the forum. This is the place to get your answers. With 3 months left on a Direct TV contract (D* is just an abbreviation), IMO it is very smart to consider looking at Voom. The truth is, there ARE NO HIDDEN COSTS. You get Voom installed for $0 up front, which includes a receiver, all wiring, and an OTA antenna. Each STB is $9.50 per month, there's a mirroring fee ($5) for additional receivers, and your programming costs. And there is no commitment. If you don't like it, they'll come and get it. Keep in mind that they will also take back the OTA antenna.

If you are 60 miles out, the StealthTenna that comes with Voom might not be powerful enough. If that's the case, Voom will upgrade you. Some people have gotten upgrades at installation, and others have had to call Voom and schedule an upgrade. Each case is different.

You also asked about Voom HD PPV, which does not exist yet, but we hear it is coming. Others in the forum will have more knowledge regarding HD PPV on D*.

 

[sgilbert]

whoa never expected a response this quick(especially on Memorial Day). ive read alot of your post you do a great service here and its people like you that i believe are key to getting fence sitters( Like Me) to commit. Thx for the info right now the cheap little RS 1890 indoor antenna i got can pickup if pointed correctly and taken outside my furtherest channel( FOX ) which is a UHF channel at 59.7 miles with much tweaking it can pick up CBS which is 39.7 ( but looks like it is VHS) now i will say as far as programming goes it seems CBS is the only one worth having as far as HDTV content goes i dont see much offered on the other channels including FOX which i figured would be a pioneer. So would it do me any good to mention upfront to Voom that i may need the larger antenna? I dont see any drawbacks to trying to Voom service ( besides lack of PPV ) plus if they bring a stealth then come back and install another one that works right, that will save me the cost and time of experimentation on which OTA antenna would work best for me since that is a plus. Sounds like the only negative to me is the lack of PPV I like to watch the Klitscho's box, and I like Pride and UFC fighting events that's gonna hurt me but maybe things will improve before my D* commitment time expires.

My TV does have DVI input I was curious if the DVI and Componet outputs of the Motorola are active at the same time, I would like to use a pc to record HDTV programming.

Thx for all the info I guess Ill sign up, I wonder what the install delay is running right now. I gotta remember to make the installer run a completely different line for the OTA antenna, see I gain here too because if I decide not to keep the service he will have already drilled the pass through hole for me so I can run my own wire to my own OTA, but honestly if they include PPV at some point I don't see any reason to switch.

One more question if I get only 1 receiver now ( I only have 1 HDTV) then will it cost me more to add another later when/if I drop D*?

Thx for all the info

M*XI

 

[The Stone Man]

I would definitely mention your OTA distance when signing up. The Stealth has a reported range of 45 miles, so maybe they will just send an upgraded 8 bay with the installer.

DVI and component outputs are hot at the same time. I have both hooked up and can switch the TV to either one for comparison.

On the receivers--if you get a second one later, it will cost an additional $199 to install it. Lots of discussion about the absurdity of that policy, but that's the way it is. If you even THINK you want two, get them up front. It is a lot easier to give one back than it is to get the additional one after the fact. Good luck, and keep us informed.

 

[Scubasoul]

whoa never expected a response this quick(especially on Memorial Day). ive read alot of your post you do a great service here and its people like you that i believe are key to getting fence sitters( Like Me) to commit. Thx for the info right now the cheap little RS 1890 indoor antenna i got can pickup if pointed correctly and taken outside my furtherest channel( FOX ) which is a UHF channel at 59.7 miles with much tweaking it can pick up CBS which is 39.7 ( but looks like it is VHS) now i will say as far as programming goes it seems CBS is the only one worth having as far as HDTV content goes i dont see much offered on the other channels including FOX which i figured would be a pioneer. So would it do me any good to mention upfront to Voom that i may need the larger antenna? I dont see any drawbacks to trying to Voom service ( besides lack of PPV ) plus if they bring a stealth then come back and install another one that works right, that will save me the cost and time of experimentation on which OTA antenna would work best for me since that is a plus. Sounds like the only negative to me is the lack of PPV I like to watch the Klitscho's box, and I like Pride and UFC fighting events that's gonna hurt me but maybe things will improve before my D* commitment time expires.

My TV does have DVI input I was curious if the DVI and Componet outputs of the Motorola are active at the same time, I would like to use a pc to record HDTV programming.

Thx for all the info I guess Ill sign up, I wonder what the install delay is running right now. I gotta remember to make the installer run a completely different line for the OTA antenna, see I gain here too because if I decide not to keep the service he will have already drilled the pass through hole for me so I can run my own wire to my own OTA, but honestly if they include PPV at some point I don't see any reason to switch.

One more question if I get only 1 receiver now ( I only have 1 HDTV) then will it cost me more to add another later when/if I drop D*?

Thx for all the info

M*XI

You will not be able to record HDTV with the current receiver.

 

[Sean Mota]

PPV will added. It is in their plan to do so. The way I have seen that it works is that VOOM installs the Stealth Antenna (outside). It has a range of 45 miles UHF and 30 miles VHF. If that does not work, they will upgrade you (at another visit) to a bigger/stronger antenna.

DVI and component and all outputs are active simultaneously. There is a shortage of equipment so be ready for some initial headaches with equipment. It will take about probably three weeks from the date your order to have everything in place. Be patient and just continue posting here and ask for advice. There's a lot of good people here that are willing to answers your questions.

You are probably better doing the two receivers in your initial installation (it is free) otherwise it will cost you $200 installation later on.

 

[sgilbert]

First let me say thx for everyones help,

Im pretty excited about playing around with all this man i finally tuned in the will smith Mohammed Ali movie on CBS in 16:9 1080i the other day for about 20 mins before it dropped out and that sh*t looked great!!!!

OK, recap seems like i will install the addition receiver, and if asked or given the oppourtunity i will mention my distance from locals. One more question, do they have online billing similar to D* i love to be able to pay then via E-Check when i want paypal would be even better heh. Just curious how the payment works, i mean right now i can add a package and or pay for ppv online in about 30 secs, any thoughts on this area?

ok my bad 2,
Right now i use a Yamaha 5440 with optical input from my DVD player and one free does the Voom make use of the optical output on its receiver? do very many shows actually encode with 5.1 sound in mind?

thx

SGilbert

 

[Sean Mota]

Credit Card is the only way to pay as far as I know. Optical output is there both as coax and toslink. DD5.1 depends on the programmer. All Exclusive 21 channels are 5.1 and TNT-HD. Others depends on the program.

 

[sgilbert]

god lord your fast i got more info in a few hours than i expected in a few days!!!! only one bad thing now i will have to wait 3 weeks to get it installed heh.