The OT place for OGs to BS w/o BS.

[R-box]

Happy 5th of Mayo! Tequila tongiht! It's fuggin dumping snow right now. Probably won't stick, but WTF May!

I bet Erik just threw up.

[R-box]

Morning. Apparently the DirecTV guy came yesterday and said our dish is blocked by trees that are pretty far away, and we now have to upgrade to HD(which I'm okay with), but they didn't have the HD receivers so nothing until Sunday, and we don't get internet until tonight when we were suppose to have it last Friday. Ugh.

Did they also tell you that those HD DVRs are a lot of money? And that there's a fee to upgrade to HD? Or are you getting non-DVRs and is the upgrade free "because of the trees"?

My parents just upgraded... is why I know it could cost ya bookoo dollars.

[Erik95LS]

Happy 5th of Mayo! Tequila tongiht! It's fuggin dumping snow right now. Probably won't stick, but WTF May!

I bet Erik just threw up.

yep

[01-0001]

Hello ?

[Civic_Sista]

What's up dudes??

[elambz]

Morning. Apparently the DirecTV guy came yesterday and said our dish is blocked by trees that are pretty far away, and we now have to upgrade to HD(which I'm okay with), but they didn't have the HD receivers so nothing until Sunday, and we don't get internet until tonight when we were suppose to have it last Friday. Ugh.

Did they also tell you that those HD DVRs are a lot of money? And that there's a fee to upgrade to HD? Or are you getting non-DVRs and is the upgrade free "because of the trees"?

My parents just upgraded... is why I know it could cost ya bookoo dollars.

They told us we needed to upgrade to HD, not to HD DVR. Its only $10 a month but we think its a marketting ploy.

[cheezthis]

What's a marketing ploy? HD service is an extra charge, although I'd prefer all companies to include that. DVR is a different box with a hard drive built-in. Likewise, everyone charges a fee for that as well. It's not a ploy, but how all channel provider companies work. It kind of sucks, but the only alternative is to only use OTA ATSC HD signals and a computer to record them (which I do for local broadcasts). Any other channel, you'll have to go that route for the most part.

The guy isn't ripping you off. DTV, Dish, Comcast, etc...all same way.

[Bradstard]

So is this where everybody is now besides Facebook? Back at work the office today for first time in almost two weeks. Ugghhhh.

[Doespike]

Yep. Busy as hell last couple weeks...so not much posting anywhere.

[cheezthis]

Yeah, been here...and have been busy with a lot of stuff too. Current job is kind of...strange things going on. Interviewed again for a new job. Working on car...and so on.

[elambz]

What's a marketing ploy? HD service is an extra charge, although I'd prefer all companies to include that. DVR is a different box with a hard drive built-in. Likewise, everyone charges a fee for that as well. It's not a ploy, but how all channel provider companies work. It kind of sucks, but the only alternative is to only use OTA ATSC HD signals and a computer to record them (which I do for local broadcasts). Any other channel, you'll have to go that route for the most part.

The guy isn't ripping you off. DTV, Dish, Comcast, etc...all same way.

I know HD is extra, as we pay extra for HD at my dad's house, but the fact that they tell us we HAVE to have it. First we were told we HAD to have DirecTV, and now DirecTV is telling us we HAVE to upgrade to HD. The $10 isn't the problem, its the fact that things keep being forced onto us. I don't see how us having an HD box is going to make us able to get local channels, whereas a non-HD box can't get the local channels.

Edit: Maybe marketing ploy wasn't the correct term, but working and trying to think of the correct term doesn't always work out well for me.

[coolhandluke]

I agree that you shouldn't have to have HD service. If you have to have it due to poor signal quality, then they should provide it for free.

[elambz]

I agree that you shouldn't have to have HD service. If you have to have it due to poor signal quality, then they should provide it for free.

Exactly. I didn't have the dish installed, we moved into a place that already had it installed. I'm perfectly alright with paying for HD service because honestly, sports are better in HD and I've become used to watching HD tv, but I don't like being forced into buying a service.

[coolhandluke]

I completely agree that HD is better, but I still do fine with watching analog tv.

[cheezthis]

You do not want an SD box with an HDTV. Trust me on this. That's a bigger mistake than getting HD service.

[R-box]

I completely agree that HD is better, but I still do fine with watching analog tv.

^^^ "I luvs me mai antenner..."

[cheezthis]

Antenna OTA HD is actually the best broadcast HD signal you will usually find. All providers (DirecTV, Dish, ATT, Time Warner, Comcast, Charter, etc) compress channels to varying degrees in order to send as many channels as they do. I could go on and on with some of the tests I did years ago with this stuff, but OTA HD is awesome. It's not blu-ray/hd-dvd quality, but it's really close.

Some providers (cough cough Comcast) really disappoint me with how much they compress some channels. They're hardly HD after they're done.

[R-box]

I said... lol, jk. I'm just jokin' around while editing photos.

[cheezthis]

I'm just clarifying. Unfortunately, my current job revolves around this stuff.

[splat]

but the fact that they tell us we HAVE to have it.

Maybe I'm dense, but what difference does SD vs HD make with satellite signal strength?

[coolhandluke]

I'm dense...and cheap. If cable wasn't included in the rent at the new place I wouldn't even have it. The router here is not the best. It may be replaced soon.

[R-box]

I'm dense...and cheap. If cable wasn't included in the rent at the new place I wouldn't even have it. The router here is not the best. It may be replaced soon.

I went without tv SO much during architecture school that Yummies had to tell me Castro resigned - a month after it happened. I always remember that when I find myself being too lazy and watching too much tv (and how I was more productive without it).

[cheezthis]

but the fact that they tell us we HAVE to have it.

Maybe I'm dense, but what difference does SD vs HD make with satellite signal strength?

It's more of a retention thing. Newer boxes won't work with older dishes too well, if at all sometimes (b-band converter aside). When customers get an HDTV and still use an SD signal via...who knows, RF NTSC analog Ch. 3, people aren't happy. They change services thinking their service sucks, or the tv gets returned saying "it doesn't look the same as it did in the store." I see this...daily.

However, the bandwidth used between the two is different, and the dish is very different. HD has more LNBs.

[elambz]

Morning. Thanks for all the info Jay.

[Willard]

Some providers (cough cough Comcast) really disappoint me with how much they compress some channels. They're hardly HD after they're done.

x2... Time Warner here in Charlotte does.

bluray feed > HD cable feed
(I only own 2 bluray discs (Avatar/Reservoir Dogs))