I’ve been planning to switch to DirecTV with TiVo from our current Dish Network service, mainly because of the TiVo vs. the Dish Network DVR. When I called Dish to find out my options, I also found out that the Dish DVR could work better if we use it slightly differently.
The Dish DVR has basically been a VCR for me, I could only make it record shows based on time/date/channel. It turns out, there was another way to tell it to record that would also factor in the name of the show (more like TiVo). There were two ways to tell it to record a show, and depending on which you used different features were or were not available.
Because of these options, we didn’t even know about the functionality (well, most of it) that we were looking for. TiVo has a single, simple interface for recording shows. In many cases, having only one way to do something is better for usability. In this case, it lost Dish Network a customer; I just placed the order for DirecTV.
I actually didn’t intend to make the change today, but a strange thing happened. I called Qwest to set up voice mail on our phone line and got a really competent person on the other line. At the end of setting up the voice mail, he told me that Qwest was now offering DirecTV service. I got the pricing information from him and found it was the same as our Dish service. I asked if he worked on commission (always do this if you get a good rep). he did so I got his contact info
I called to verify that there was no penalty for cancelling my Dish service, then e-mailed the sales rep that I was ready to place the order and to please give me a call. 10 minutes later, I got a call from him and installation is set for Monday morning. 🙂
Another note, we don’t have the required phone jack where we will have one of the DirecTiVo units, but apparently you can use a wireless phone jack. We’ll see how that goes.
I’ve used a wireless phone jack with a ReplayTV before and it worked like a charm.
I’ve also been thinking of switching from Dish to DirecTV for the same reason as you so let us know how it pans out.
You only need a phone jack if you order pay per view movies.
Did you have a dual tuner Dish PVR?
No, there isn’t such a beast to my knowledge.
Hmm, I stand corrected (just checked the Dish site). They didn’t have those 6 months ago.
Then you’re *really* going to enjoy the upgrade. 🙂
Wireless Phone Jack?? I need that! Which one do you use?
I don’t have one yet.
Office Equipment
It’s coming up on a year since I joined the ranks of the self-employed and I realized last month that it was high time for me to get some general office essentials and set up a few things to help me run my business more effeciently.
Got voice …
Regarding time-based vs. name-based, Dish has new software. It’s way more difficult to use than Dish’s dvr system from just 2 months ago. My wife used it last night to DVR Oprah at 4:00 and it DVRd Oprah at all times.
Todd, that happened because she set up a timer. She could have set it up as a one-time timer.