[Vision2020] KAYU, Time Warner, DirecTV, & DISH

[g. crabtree]

Following the KAYU dispute, my wife switched us to Dish and for the most 
part it's been OK. Picture quality has not been the crisp digital image that 
they advertise (we did not buy HD) but it's tolerable. Cable was better.
Channel line up is good. More history and science. Weather hasn't been too 
much of a problem. We lost signal once due to snow fall but a quick clearing 
off of the dish solved the problem. With that in mind I would be sure that 
the dish is installed somewhere you can reach with a broom. I can't imagine 
that there isn't someplace on your property that you can't get a line of 
sight on a patch of southern sky so the install should be doable. I don't 
know what RTV is but my wife very much likes the features of the 
receiver/DVR that came with the Dish system. I never use it myself. As to 
signal splitting, I believe you must be able to. We have a second TV slaved 
to one of the mains. Both sets have to view the same station. No hardship 
there. Hope something here helps.

g
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at roadrunner.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2007 11:57 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] KAYU, Time Warner, DirecTV, & DISH


> Visionaries:
>
> After losing KAYU about a year ago, I think I've been more than patient, 
> as
> Pat Kraut counseled waaayyyy back then.
>
> Time Warner has yet to be successful in their negotiations with KAYU.  For
> their most recent platitudes (11/21/2007), check out:
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Northwest/MoscowKAYU.html
> I'm not interested in placing blame because there are always at least two
> sides to every story.
>
> Coupled with their ongoing unacceptable intermittent delays and failures
> with email sending and receiving, I'm about ready to jump ship.
> Particularly since I figured out that if I jump to DirecTV or DISH, I'll 
> get
> all the programming I pay for on *every* TV without exorbitant additional
> monthly fees for each TV on top of already pretty steep monthly costs with
> Time Warner.
>
> I've reread the discussions here on the Viz regarding the DirecTV & DISH
> options we've got locally from back when KAYU and Time Warner reached 
> their
> impasse, and I've contacted a person or two I know who use one option or 
> the
> other.  Since more people have made the jump since that original 
> discussion
> about a year ago, I'm wanting to revisit it, if anyone cares to share 
> their
> thoughts & experiences.
>
> I've looked at the channel line-ups, so I'm fairly familiar with the
> differences between the two.  Music "channels" matter not a rip to me, 
> and,
> unfortunately for me (but luckily for my dh), neither DISH nor DirecTV
> offers a "sports free" package option <sigh>.  Maybe I can use parental
> controls to block the sports channels <g>.
>
> I am, however, very interested in local performance differences, if any,
> between the two.  One of my concerns about making the jump is that we've
> rarely experienced cable outages with Adelphia or Time Warner regardless 
> of
> weather.  How often do those of you using DISH or DirecTV experience 
> outages
> and how long do they typically last?  How was performance during our 
> recent
> heavy snows?
>
> I'm also unclear about locating the dish itself.  We live in a single 
> family
> home in an older residential neighborhood with lots of trees -- are the
> trees likely to be a problem?
>
> I know this is a long shot, but if anyone uses ReplayTV (the
> better-than-TiVo-option) units, I'm particularly interested in any 
> comments
> about your experiences.
>
> I'm especially curious about the outputs on the standard receivers (we 
> have
> no need for DVR capabilities because we are die-hard RTV folks), something
> I'm not having a lot of luck finding out.  For instance, for one of our 
> TVs,
> the existing cable outlet services the TV and two separate RTV units 
> located
> there -- is that kind of set-up possible with the DIRECTV or DISH 
> receivers?
> Can the signal be "split" like cable can be split?
>
> I'll also be appreciative for any other comments folks care to share about
> their experiences with non-Time Warner TV service.  I was hoping against
> hope that perhaps FiOS has made it here since the last time I checked, but
> it hasn't . . . maybe in a decade or so <sigh>
>
>
> TIA,
> Saundra Lund
> Moscow, ID
>
> The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
> nothing.
> ~ Edmund Burke
>
> ***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2007 through life 
> plus
> 70 years, Saundra Lund.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce 
> outside
> the Vision 2020 forum without the express written permission of the
> author.*****
>
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