The Art of Politics

In Orbit

Is it May already? That was fast...

Wow... that time passed might fast. Have been distracted by my latest endeavor - a new television. Not just any television mind you, but the majesty and glory that is my new 71" Samsung DLP. Simply beautiful.

Getting programming was a little dicier. Have been a happy Dish Network subscriber for a long time, so I decided once I received my television to upgrade to some HDTV programming. So, I call Dish to place an order. Here's what I find:

1) It will be $300 to obtain the Dish HD DVR
2) My local channels are not yet available in HD
3) The lead time for the Dish HD DVR is at least 30 days
4) I have to sign an 18 month contract
5) If I don't plug the DVR into a phone line, I have to pay $5 a month

Guess which one of these was the deciding factor in my purchase?

Yep, number five. This is the kind of customer-bludgeoning policy that loses a company both business and reputation. Think about it - you have to string a phone line to plug in your television.

I decided to evaluate cable, which I'd not been impressed with previously. Comcast, my local carrier, had the following:

1) No charge for dual tuner HD DVR (wow, dual tuner, woohoo!)
2) No contract
3) Can install the whole thing in 3 days
4) Half price for 12 months
5) Phone line? We don't need no steenkin' phone line!

They came, I saw, and it kicks some ass. Alas, they only had the single tuner HD DVR, so I am living with that until tomorrow when a replacement is due out, but otherwise, I have been pleased. The single tuner DVR does somewhat suck - the Commodore 64 graphics engine in it would be marginally acceptable were it not for the fact that ADVERTISEMENTS for crap like BOWFLEX and MORTGAGES appear on a full third of the menu. I believe the dual tuner DVR upgardes to at least Apple IIGS graphics...

Of course, now that I have cable, I don't need satellite. I called Dish Network to cancel and was immediately transferred to a Sales Retention Nazi. He asked why I was cancelling, which is fine of course, since that can help them prevent others from cancelling in the future. I mentioned points one through five, and let him know how I was actually about ready to order HD Dish, despite all the other issues, until I heard about the ridiculous phone line policy. He in turn wanted to re-enact the Lincoln/Douglas debates.

I mentioned that the DVR wasn't available, he retorted that it was a very in-demand high value item that is understandably in short supply. I remarked that my local channels weren't available yet in HD, he responded that Dish was the leader in HD technology and that they were adding channels daily. I took note of the fact that I had to pay $300 versus $0 for the DVR, which to him simply reflected the fact that the Dish DVR was a very avant garde piece of valuable hardware. I plunged the dagger in by remarking to him that yes, he had valid business reasons why he couldn't meet my expectations and needs, but that did not in any way change the fact he couldn't meet my expectations and needs...

Sensing defeat, he politely cancelled my account. I am now a Comcast subscriber.

HD is wonderful - caught some playoff basketball on TNT, and it's simply phenomenal. Like being there. In fact, HD sports and huge televisions (like mine, giggle...) will be a disincentive to paying $200 per seat and fighting with lousy traffic and parking at a major arena.

As you can imagine, all this research came at a price... blogging. Researching every set, and reading a 9,500 post owner's thread at avsforum.com, meant a big time commitment to getting this huge purchase right. Will be a little more available now...

Oh, those interested in getting a DLP or large television in general should consider these Samsung DLP sets. My HL-R7178W set is outstanding. I posted a fairly comprehensive review here:

My Samsung HL-R7178 review at AVS Forum

Posted by MEC2 at May 3, 2006 07:14 PM