This has always been an economics vs. features thang. Well, that and the ol' "Down with the Man" thang, but that's gone now. They're all the Man.
2 1/2 years ago I switched to DirecTV satellite service from cable. It was a features no-brainer. All digital vs. all analog, lower cost, cool Digital Video Recorder recording two channels at once... which remains the #1 feature of television for me and my family.
But today? It's changing. DirecTV just said they're raising my rates again. Comcast cable keeps me informed me with monthly junk mailers on just how much they have improved their feature set.
And then this week they offered me a dual-tuner HD DVR. With HBO. For $39.99/month.
Woa... now we're talking. So, I'm going for it. Technically, I went for it and the cable guy came out Saturday afternoon (he was even early). Never thought I'd hear those words: "early" and cable guy at our house.
Sure, he took my old DVR, but I'll survive. And, since I already have cable modem, I save an extra $10/month.
10 bucks a month you say? So what you say? Well, until I get a job or my investment adviser starts learning how to make some money for us, that's a consideration for me. Overall I expect to save around $350 a year. And that ain't chump change!
Of course, I'll miss one little button. The 30-second fast-forward skip button. No more. I'll have to suffer through fast-forwarding at 15x speed or something. Suck. Why wouldn't they add the skip-commercial button? Motorola sucks. Way to go you freakin' crap engineers. I used to have respect for you all. No more.
Anyway, back to the fun. Now I get 60 hours of recordings (instead of 30 with my old DVR), which is great since Max is expanding the number of kids shows he might ask to watch. Plus, with HBO and some on-demand stuff available, it's nice to have a bigger library to choose from.
The price is right, the features are great, the interface is, frankly, better than Tivo (whose interface I've always felt uncomfortable with) and so what if it is the cable company? DirecTV isn't the small guy any more.
BTW - I called DirecTV a couple months ago "thinking of switching" and they said, "Whatever." I called Saturday night and cancelled. They said, "Oh, Mr. Fisher, how about if we give you a cheaper DVR and knock $18/month off your bill for 6 months?"
Heh... So if you don't like your rates, just call to actually cancel. That'll get their attention. To little too late for me.
Posted by BilFish at February 8, 2005 08:36 AM