It's better than cable - I guess
Written: Jul 23 '01 (Updated Sep 01 '01)
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Pros: Clear picture & sound and lots of programming choices.
Cons: Bad installation experience, and cheap equipment
The Bottom Line: If you haven't taken the satellite dish plunge yet, hang in there. Digital cable is right around the corner.
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| bwhitehead's Full Review: RCA DS4240RE DIRECTV System Dual LNB |
The thought of installing a Satellite dish got me all hyped up and I was so looking forward to it. I guess the amount of time and trouble required to get it up and running initially turned me off. Maybe I can’t get by that. I guess the term “get over it” applies here.
I had been looking around at satellite systems for quite a while. I didn’t really want to buy one, what I wanted was digital cable. But Time-Warner, in my area, kept stalling and delaying until I got fed up and decided to take the plunge and get a dish.
I understand that’s really not the way to buy something, it should be a positive experience and not a reaction to a negative experience. But we are all motivated differently to buy things and do things and that’s how life is for most of us.
Anyway, I bought the RCA 18” x 24” oval multi-satellite dish. The salesman at Radio Shack said it was HDTV capable (with a special turner to be purchased later) and also because some locations require the multi-satellite dish to pick up local stations (which are not yet available in my area). Also, it has the capability to connect 4 separate turners instead of the usual one or two. I thought that was worth the extra $50 or so I paid for this newer more flexible model.
Getting it installed was not half the fun. They must be hard up for installers because mine was a lemon. It took him five trips across ten days to get it up and running. What he did on all those trips I really don’t know, I finally had to call Radio Shack and tell them to get it working or I was going to rip it off the roof and cram it up someone’s …., well, enough about that.
It’s working now and I’ve had a little fun surfing though the 120 or so stations. I bought the premium package, less sports (yea I know – what good is satellite if you don’t buy the sports package). Anyway, I was a little disappointed in the menu system. I have a Sony HDTV but the graphics from the menu look weak and the text is not at all crisp. I went through the procedure to customize the menus, but I’m still not happy with it.
Next came the remote. I have never much cared for RCA , I really should have got a Sony but didn’t. I have to give up my Sony HDTV remove for the RCA piece of junk. Since we don’t have local channels via satellite in my area, I had to keep the basic cable service. Switching back between cable and satellite is quite a nuisance. It really should be one button but it requires three steps in one direction and four to get back. I’ve had the system for over a week now and still have to look at my cheat sheet to get it right. I wonder what these poor non-tech slobs do? The remote is cheap feeling, bulky and poorly designed. I may be forced to buy the expensive Sony “commander” remote and teach it to do all the functions so I can throw the RCA remote in the trash.
The picture quality is as advertised. Looks like about 400 scan lines and my progressive scan Sony HDTV cleans it up nicely. But really, HBO (channel 3) on my non-digital cable comes in just about a clear as the best channel on satellite so I’m not all that impressed. What I really don’t like is the channel description bar being at the top of the screen. I’ve had two digital cable setups over the last few years and they both had their channel description bars across the bottom, which is much nicer. What’s the difference? Simple, across the top it cuts off the heads for about 5 seconds and that annoys me for some reason.
The other thing I don’t like was the whole “programming selection” experience. I had to spend some time at Radio Shack picking out the channel package I wanted. I thought carefully and chose the $75 premium package that contained just about everything (except sports as I previously indicated). You’d think when I went to connect the service they’d be happy. But no, I had to spend about 5 - 10 minutes or so declining this or that option, package, promotion, and each time I told them I had already picked the service I wanted they went on to the next option. Sale – sale – sale. When I told them I didn’t want sports, they couldn’t believe it either! I must have been the first one. And then about 3 days after I was connected, I got a call from DirecTV asking how I liked the service, but before I could even reply, they started to sale once again. There was obviously some mistake, they said, since I hadn't even selected the sports package!I hung up on them – disgusted!
I decided against connecting the second receiver. It requires a phone jack and line installed so you won’t “cheat” them by loaning the second receiver to a friend, so he can get programming for free. What happened to faith and trust? Anyway, since I didn’t have a phone outlet near-by, I had to spend $100 on a wireless phone jack. That really ate away at me, so in the end, I declined to install the second received, and got my money back for the wireless phone jacks. You know, I’ll spend thousands on technology and gadgets, but it hacks me off to spend a $100 so the satellite company can monitor my receiver to ensure I “comply” with their rules. Let them pay for the phone jack!!
All in all it was a pretty miserable experience and I still have that bad taste in my mouth. I’ve bought a lot of tech stuff in my life, and have had some difficulty getting things “up and running”, but once they are operational, I usually forget about all that and begin to enjoy the product. For some reason that’s not happening here! The product is just not that good and really wasn’t worth the trouble that I went though for it. So, even though I went through the trouble & expense to get this damn thing on my roof, I only have a 90 day programming commitment, and if digital cable gets here after my 90 days are up – I just might switch back.
September 1st Update:
Digital cable is now available in my area through Time-Warner. I have decided to drop DirecTV effective October 1 and pickup digital cable.
All of the reasons for my dislike of this product, as described above, still stand. The biggest frustration is the multi-source problem whereby I have to go back and forth between cable and satellite to get the basic stations. After 6 weeks, it is still difficult and often causes me to fly into fits of rage when I don't get it right the first time. I'm too old to get this frustrated over simple technology, so I have decided to switch rather than fight.
THX - BEW
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 149
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Epinions.com ID:
bwhitehead
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Member: Bruce Whitehead
Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 4 members
About Me:
Health care computer consultant, electronic & sports car enthusiast.
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