Any DirecTV subscribers here?
Our TV-watching habits have changed drastically over the past few years and our Verizon Fios TV costs too much... so we're thinking about getting rid of Fios TV (and keeping the $40 per month Fios Internet).
It looks like the "entry-level" DirecTV (with DVR) will suit our needs just fine. The price is very attractive and even after the 1-year intro price goes up to $81 per month.... that's still a bargain compared to our overpriced and bloated Fios service.
My only questions are:
1) The channel matrix on the DirecTV website does not include MSNBC. (Has it been dropped recently?)
2) Is the DVR easy to use? Does it have standard features that allow us to easily skip commercials or Fast-Forward through the parts we're not interested in?
3) Can we connect an external USB hard drive to the DVR for additional storage?
4) Do you like the service overall? Would you sign up for it again?
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's weird that their channel guide (online) is so out of date and incomplete. I'll bet they've lost potential business from people who thought that NOT having msnbc was a total showstopper.
I appreciate the feedback! 
The intro price for the basic-BASIC service (155 channels and NO premiums like HBO, etc.) is $35 for 12 months, then $81 for 12 months. That averages out to be $58 or so per month.
I'm sure I won't be thrilled with the increase... so I'll just try to stay focused on the bottom line average price.
Great information! Especially the advice about asking for a discount!!
I appreciate the feedback!
We'll add HBO streaming when Game of Thrones returns. And we'll add Showtime streaming when Homeland returns.
We used to watch SO MUCH tv... that's why the "everything" package was attractive at one time. But now... we're more selective. (I guess it's just old age.)
Thanks for the info and tips! Very helpful!
I appreciate the feedback.
It's very strange that their website interactive matrix AND their downloadable channel guide PDF has NOTHING mentioned for MSNBC.
I wonder if they're losing business from MSNBC fans who look and the LOOK ELSEWHERE when they see they can't get Rachel Maddow's show.
But, if it's raining THAT hard, I'm probably not going to be paying attention to the TV anyway.
And, as we've gotten older (even in retirement) our TV-watching habits have changed a LOT and the bloated service we had before was expensive. We think it's time for a "cord-cutting" (kind of) change.
Being a long time customer may give me some advantages you may not get.
Before ATT took them over, they were THE BEST customer service company I've ever had the experience of dealing with. After ATT, not so much. It is frustrating at times.
In answer to 3, "we" have unlimited storage but I can't tell you if it applies to new customers.
One more thing you did not ask. We added their fiber optic internet service earlier this year after being with Comcast/Xfinity for 25 years. I could NOT be happier and 100mbps only cost me $40 a month. Once again, I can't say if you would get the same price. You just have to call them up and ask.
Hope this helps.
I've been with them for a long time and down here in Fla they are less expensive than direct tv.. As others have said in bad weather the storms block the signal.. That's when you watch pre recorded movies 
All the major stations and I think the DVR is pretty easy to use. Every couple of years they upgrade the receiver.. I like it b/c I record most of the things I like and then play them back and zip thru the commercials.. A one hour program is actually about 40 min. YMMV.
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Hi! Actually, yes, I did look at the offerings and packages from Dish. They're about $8 more per month for their starter-package. It's true that their starter package has 30 more channels than the DirecTV entry-level package... so I compared... and the extra channels weren't things that we were interested in.
I didn't want to disqualify them out of hand, so I did check. I think (for our particular needs) DirecTV appears to be the way to go.
Thanks for sharing that with me!
We had DirecTV for years and years. And then noticed a few things ...
1) the price was not cheap
2) our viewing habits had dropped to basically just BBCA and MSNBC (with directv; we also get Netflix, HBO & Hulu)
3) way too many of the channels were Fox or other right-wing channels we had no interest in supporting.
After some searching we wound up with:
Sling Blue @ $25/month
Hollywood Extra: @ $5/month (for TCM and some others)
News Extra @ $5/month(for MSNBC, BBC and some others)
Cloud DVR @ $5/month (for 50 hours of cloud-based DVR)
So for $40/month we're fairly happy with it. And a minimum of it went to Fox and right-wing crazies (not 0%, but ...).
Of course ... we're also paying for Netflix and HBO and Hulu. But we were doing that anyway.
Biggest problem so far is with the DVR software. Their software isn't the most reliable. E.g. it keeps wanting
to skip the first showing of Rachael's show and tape the repeat. And any cloud-based DVR is going to be
more laggy than a local computer (our internet isn't the best).
Hope this helps
Yep... we had experimented (last week) with cloud DVR-ing ... and compared to absolutely NOTHING, it's better than nothing. But it really didn't live up to our expectations or needs.
We'll probably be adding HBO streaming and SHO streaming (maybe even HULU and CBS on demand) and with all that, it's STILL less than the obscene prices we're paying now.
Our TV habits have changed in retirement (you'd think it would be more watching... but it's less) so I'm thinking we'll be find with the basic entry-level service and a few streaming add-on extras.
Thank you very much for sharing your opinions and experiences. That was helpful to me
and introductory pricing that I have to babysit...so maybe this won’t be valuable to the conversation. I use Roku Streaming Sticks to stream Sling TV on 3 TVs. I pay $59.98 a month and I get CNN, MSNBC and NBC, lifestyle channels and an outdoor package and a crap ton of other channels from Sling. Roku offers all kinds of additional channels for free including Free Speech TV (Stephanie Miller!). Sling has lots of packages for news, lifestyle, outdoors, movies, sports, HBO, Showtime etc. I’m not a network tv lover for the most part...as in watching sitcoms etc so I don’t buy those. For $59.98 a month I get more tv than I care to watch and DVR service on all 3 TVs is included in that fee. I can stop watching a recorded program in one room, pause it and go to another room and pick up where I left off. It is easy to use and I don’t have to call on my 13 year old to help me with tech support! Just a thought for anyone reading this thread.
I hear ya! The "intro" contracts are cheezy, but in my calculations and comparisons, I'm comparing FULL prices.
We're experimenting with cutting the cord too... but even though we're watching much less TV than we have in the past, we still enjoy a reliable and responsive LOCAL hard drive with the DVR'd programs on it.
Last week, we tried the DirecTV Now streaming service... and it was inadequate for what we wanted. Definitely a C- and still in need of some work.
We'll likely be adding HBO's streaming service and Showtime's streaming (and maybe HULU) and even at the full-price prices, that's STILL less than what we're paying now (and it has everything we need).
I really do appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this. It was helpful and it gives me a chance to think about things from a different perspective AND get all my thoughts organized.
