Originally Posted by JPL

I understand why you're asking about OTA. For folks who aren't familiar, DirecTV's HD DVR (the HR20) allows you to feed OTA signals directly into the DVR. The programming shows up on the guide, and you're able to record OTA programming on your DVR. I've never had their HD service, but I am a former DirecTV customer, and I'm familiar with what you're talking about.

Does FiOS offer something like that? Not that I'm aware. You would be treating your OTA just as that OTA - no feed into your DVR. Although I believe you can feed through your DVR - it would act as a pass-thru.

One other point, given the number of TVs you have, make sure you calculate the cost correctly. DirecTV has a very different pricing structure than FiOS, and if you want more than one DVR, you're going to notice that difference (DirecTV charges a single $6 DVR fee no matter how many DVRs you have - Verizon charges per box).

One other thing to keep in mind - the capacity of their DVRs. DirecTV's HD DVR has a 300GB harddrive. These DVRs (Verizon's) has a 160 GB. Plus DirecTV compresses their signals alot more than Verizon does - which means that you don't get as many hours per GB with Verizon.

On the plus side, with FiOS you can get a Tivo DVR, and get a cable card from Verizon. One downside with that - you lose multi-room capability (Verizon has a multi-room DVR), and VOD.

All that being said, I switched from DirecTV a couple months ago and I couldn't be happier. I loved my DirecTV service (I was a customer for 5 years) but it all came to a head when I wanted HD. I thought my PQ with DirecTV was great - and it was - FiOS is nicer. I never had HD with DirecTV, but the HD with FiOS is just jaw-dropping.

Is it the right move for you? Depends on what you're looking for. Make sure you do your homework. The good thing is - unless you sign up for a triple play - you have 30 days before your commitment period kicks in. If you even take the commitment period, that is. You're not required to - but it does save you a couple bucks a month for the first year. What you may want to consider is what I did. When I had fios installed they didn't have a triple-play offer in my state (they're all different - and not all states offer a triple-play), so I just signed up with the normal 1-year commitment. I had 30 days to try out fios to see if I liked it. I then suspended my DirecTV account, while I assessed fios. It's very easy to do, and you can suspend for up to 9 months. I even asked the fios installer to leave as much of my dish installation alone as possible, just in case I wanted to hook it back up. He did (the fios installers are just fantastic - I've had 2 - one for internet, and then one for TV). If I wanted to go back, it would take me all of 5 minutes to disconnect and reconnect the wires accordingly.