View Full Version : AT&T U-verse?
Anyone her use AT&T U-verse for their cable tv?
I just signed up and was wanting some feedback. I am sick of Time Warner cutting services and upping my rates.
PS- I will probably add the U-verse internet in a couple of months when I get a new computer.
Anyone her use AT&T U-verse for their cable tv?
I just signed up and was wanting some feedback. I am sick of Time Warner cutting services and upping my rates.
PS- I will probably add the U-verse internet in a couple of months when I get a new computer.
SOG has it. They just started in central oHIo, so I may look into it for their ala carte offering. The idiots started marketing their TV services back in Decemeber, but it still wasn't available on the NW side of Cbus as of a few weeks ago. :irked: :saywhat: I hate Ameritech/SBC even worse the TWC, so signing up for AT&T is gonna be painful if I do. :(
-Kevin
A co-worker has it. Only compaint I've heard so far is ATT is only allowing one DVR per household here. I think there is also a limit on how many TV's can be watching a different channel at the same time.
A co-worker has it. Only compaint I've heard so far is ATT is only allowing one DVR per household here. I think there is also a limit on how many TV's can be watching a different channel at the same time.
WTF? :saywhat:
-Kevin
WTF? :saywhat:
-Kevin
Bandwidth limitation I suppose. I wouldn't have gone with it. He has talked with me about Dish but he hasn't changed yet.
Insomniac
04-25-08, 03:03 PM
WTF? :saywhat:
-Kevin
Last I saw, you can only receive one HD stream at a time, so you can only watch the same HD stream on multiple HD TVs. On the plus side, you can record up to 4 streams at once on their DVR (but only 1 HD).
Last I saw, you can only receive one HD stream at a time, so you can only watch the same HD stream on multiple HD TVs. On the plus side, you can record up to 4 streams at once on their DVR (but only 1 HD).
Correct, I forgot the big limitation was for HD. Pretty good write-up at Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U-verse).
The U-family and U-200 through U-400 packages include three receivers, one of which is a DVR, capable of recording up to 4 streams at the same time. This would be equivalent to a 4-tuner DVR, but the receivers do not use "tuners", instead they receive IP streams. AT&T is currently working on whole home DVR, which would enable every set top box to act like a DVR, which is slated for release Q3 2008. Members are also able to get a DVR with the U-100 package for a monthly charge. A customer can either watch or record a single HD channel at a time, dual tuner HD capability is not currently available.
SOG has it. They just started in central oHIo, so I may look into it for their ala carte offering. The idiots started marketing their TV services back in Decemeber, but it still wasn't available on the NW side of Cbus as of a few weeks ago. :irked: :saywhat: I hate Ameritech/SBC even worse the TWC, so signing up for AT&T is gonna be painful if I do. :(
-Kevin
Get ready. The salespeople are coming door to door. That is how I got signed up. They were touring Worthington last monday night. I have AT&T home phone and cell service, so signing up for their 'cable' offering was one less bill and I got more channels for the $ than TWC.
Insomniac
04-25-08, 04:31 PM
Probably be 2 or more years before it is available here (suburb of Wichita). I sure hope I'm long gone by then though.
Get ready. The salespeople are coming door to door. That is how I got signed up. They were touring Worthington last monday night. I have AT&T home phone and cell service, so signing up for their 'cable' offering was one less bill and I got more channels for the $ than TWC.
Time to get the shotgun out then. :irked: Any savings if likely temporary, as I've done the math on the various DTV offers that have come through the past several months. The co$t is less for the first 6-12 mos., and then goes up dramatically. Plus, I'm really not interested in NFLN or BTN, which have been the selling point to date.
-Kevin
Sean O'Gorman
04-25-08, 10:10 PM
If I had my choice, I'd have Directv, but since I live in a north facing apartment, I can't get a satellite. I wish that the girl above me would've had her fire at a time when the landlord had a replacement that was south facing. :\
Anyway, I had WOW before U-Verse and didn't like it (this was pre-HD for me), and wasn't impressed by Time Warner either.
Pros:
more HD channels than my cable options (WOW didn't even have ESPN2HD)
100% digital picture (I hate analog basic cable - ESPN and ESPN2 were broadcast in mono on WOW)
$25/month cheaper than my WOW package, which didn't include HD. DVR is also free with all but the lowest package.
can DVR 4 shows at once
really nice interface, its especially convenient that you get PIP when browsing the channel guide
best picture I've seen on a standard def TV, and my 20" CRT in my bedroom has been hooked up to U-Verse, WOW, Dish, and COX over the past 5 years.
tech support is surprisingly helpful, is based in the US, and if you need someone out to your house, they are there pretty quick. I called on a Friday afternoon once, and I was able to get an appointment the next morning.
Cons
The HD picture isn't as good as cable or satellite. You don't notice it when you watch only your TV regularly, but if I go to Stu's house I see a world of difference. Mostly you notice sharper definition in football fields and grassy surfaces.
The local sports networks (SportsTime Ohio and FSN Ohio) are not available in HD in this area, and they apparently have no plans on adding them anytime soon. I'd like SPEED HD too, but thats not an option outside of Directv.
Can only have 1 HD stream at a time. Not too much of a problem since I only have 1 HDTV, but I can't watch another HD channel if I'm recording HD programming
The DVR interface could use some work. My parents have Dish, and that DVR interface is very nice.
No Firewire port on the STB
Some standard def channels (particularly basketball games) look very compressed on HDTVs.
For whatever reason, some channels are always broadcast in stereo instead of 5.1. When I put on NFLNHD, its not even showing a digital signal on my receiver. :saywhat:
VOD sucks. Good selection, but its all 4:3 standard def stuff. Couldn't it at least be 16:9?
WickerBill
04-25-08, 10:44 PM
Can only have 1 HD stream at a time. Not too much of a problem since I only have 1 HDTV, but I can't watch another HD channel if I'm recording HD programming
[/LIST]
Insane, critical miss. Dealbreaker.
Sean O'Gorman
04-25-08, 10:57 PM
Supposedly a second HD stream and DVR being streamed to all STBs (which would be nice since I'd rather watch recorded TV when I'm going to sleep or early on a Saturday morning when there isn't **** on TV) is going to be available by the end of June. Who knows.
Insane, critical miss. Dealbreaker.
Yeah. It's already quite common for us to be recording two HD programs at the same time. What's the point of more HD if you can't record it. Live TV went out in the 20th century.
Sean O'Gorman
04-26-08, 09:29 AM
Are you one of those people who stares at a blank screen at 8:07 PM, thinking "5 more minutes and I can watch this show commercial free!"
Insomniac
04-26-08, 10:01 AM
Are you one of those people who stares at a blank screen at 8:07 PM, thinking "5 more minutes and I can watch this show commercial free!"
I wish it was only 5 minutes from there. ;)
I usually watch TV shows the next day. Only thing I watch live are sports.
RE: 1 HD stream. It would be a deal breaker for me. Almost everything I watch now is HD. I definitely record 2 HD channels at once. I'd record more at times (Thursday night for example) if I could.
Almost everything I watch now is HD.
With Dish lighting up CNN and SciFi in HD I don't think there is anything left I watch in SD. I timeshift everything but the news.
Insomniac
04-26-08, 11:53 AM
With Dish lighting up CNN and SciFi in HD I don't think there is anything left I watch in SD. I timeshift everything but the news.
Ohhh, yeah, CNN. I don't usually record that to watch later. :)
I still watch Comedy Central.
Are you one of those people who stares at a blank screen at 8:07 PM, thinking "5 more minutes and I can watch this show commercial free!"
Are you one of those people who has so little to do that you would spend that time staring at a blank screen? We watch TV when we want, not when someone else schedules it. Usually that means hours or days after it's broadcast.
On the rare occasion when I want to watch something at approximately the same time it's broadcast (usually live sports) there's always something else more productive than watching commercials that I can do during that first 20 minutes. That includes a dozen other programs that I can watch.
Are you one of those people who has so little to do that you would spend that time staring at a blank screen?
do you really gotta ask? i mean, it's ogorman...
Sean O'Gorman
05-05-08, 03:35 PM
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/05/01/atandt-activates-2hd-2sd-u-verse-service-in-st-louis-more-citi/
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