ATT Uverse vs Directv

strap67

I was a long term DirecTV subscriber since 1995 in the Atlanta, GA area, and continued DirecTV service in my new home when I moved to the Bay area in 2006. The customer service issues that I encountered after my move were the single deciding factor in prompting me to FIRE DirecTV and pick up Uverse from AT&T as soon as it was offered in my neighborhood.

I have been happier with AT&T U-verse HD service in my house ever since I switched, and the customer service through AT&T has always been superb.

I have tried U-verse video with both HDMI and component outputs. I find the HDMI works very well now (though I started with component back in 2007, I have since updated my TV to an HDMI LCD - Samsung). In both cases, I found the video quality of U-verse to be superior to DirecTV, consistently. As late as 2007, DirecTV would signal steal HD bandwidth for movie programming, as well as other channels (IMO, anything that is not a sporting event). I believe this is the chief factor in the inferior quality of HD signal that I experienced with DirecTV. I do not notice this issue with Uverse at all. There are occasional frame freezes, but not enough to warrant complaints (maybe one every two weeks).

Regarding audio issues (drop-out) over HDMI, I have found an easy solution for my sound system is to directly connect audio to my receiver from the U-verse DVR box, in addition to having the TV audio out connected to the receiver. Then I can use the receiver audio selector (or an inexpensive A/V switch from Radio Shack works too) to get HDMI based audio from sources fed through TV when needed, and switch to Uverse DVR audio to avoid audio drop-out when watching live video. Incidentally, programs recorded on DVR do not have the drop-out recorded - it's just an artifact of playback through the HDMI cable.

For those who care, I can share the unfortunate details of the horrible DirecTV customer "no-service" that I received which led me to make the switch. (Ultimately, I incurred an "early termination fee" that I contested for nearly two years before finally paying a significantly reduced fee to a collection service to avoid it going against my credit rating).

To recap, I am a strong advocate of AT&T U-verse - I bundle TV, Internet, and Voice. They have a nice product line-up. Any time I call them, they also go OUT OF THEIR WAY to make sure I'm happy.

Filipinoyakuza

I recently just canceled AT&T U-Verse on 06-30 and switched to Directv.I had AT&T U-Verse since it started being offered down here in San Diego back in 2007.Before that I had Time Warner Cable which was a nightmare.What really made me leave AT&T U-Verse was the fact that pricing kept going up over the years.When they first started offering the service they were significantly cheaper compared to Time Warner Cable.Also at first they didn't require a contract agreement.But once U-Verse started getting more popular, which was mainly due to a lot of people ditching cable companies like Time Warner & Cox Cable.

At one point I had U-Verse TV U-300 plan with HD extra channels,Sports pack, HBO, and the Filipino channels, U-Verse Internet which I still have now, U-Verse land telephone line, and was on a wireless family share plan with 4 people and was our monthly bill was over $500.

U-Verse TV alone was coming out to $138 a month.I have since dropped U-Verse TV and switched to Directv.I dropped U-Verse land line and now use magic jack plus for my land line.I'm still have U-Verse internet and I'm considering going back to Time Warner Cable modem internet service.

Picture quality and HD channels are a lot better and more crisp on Directv.I have Directv's fairly new HR34 DVR box and it really puts U-Verse's crappy & un reliable DVR box to shame.AT&T U-Verse would only allow you to record 2 HD shows at one time and watch 1 HD show live at the same time.I'm a huge Laker fan and watch a lot of NBA & NFL games.There would be plenty of times during the season where I would be recording a game and watching something else and would get rudely interrupted by the DVR saying "all services are being used" because other family members in my house had scheduled recordings of shows or were trying to watch a show or movie while this was all going on.Now with Directv's HR34 and whole home DVR I don't have these issues at all since I can record 4 HD shows at one time while watching a live event or show live on multiple TV's in my house. 2 weeks ago I was recording 2 James Bond movies in HD, recording a UFC PPV fight, and also recording & watching a HBO Boxing fight in HD all at the same time.I also had audio issues with my U-Verse DVR and HD receivers where I would have to unplug and re plug my HDMI's cable or even worse manually power off and restart a U-Verse HD receiver which took a long time to reboot and re download the programming and guide.

Channel content was also another big factor on why I left.My local baseball team the San Diego Padres struck a new TV deal and launched Fox Sports West San Diego. AT&T U-Verse and Time Warner are in nasty contract dispute on how much Fox Sports San Diego should be charging them to carry the channel.The newspapers say the 2 companies are still in negotiations but yup sorry to say if your a Padres fan this issue will not be resolved anytime soon.I love the Lakers more and really feared U-Verse would go through the same problem when the Lakers launch a new regional TV network this upcoming season.

Customer service from what I experienced between U-Verse and Directv. Directv wins here also.They offer more discounts even if you are a customer under contract and will work with you to lower your bill.U-Verse all I kept getting was "I'm sorry but your not a new customer and there really is not much we can do to lower your bill" whenever I spoke to their CSR's.Even during this current Viacom issue where Directv lost those channels Directv has given me a $30 credit for each of the next 3 months.Even though I just signed up 3 weeks ago and already have a bunch of new customer promos, discounts, and rebates.


I'm really glad I made the switch to Directv.

carja

I was a Cox cable customer in the old days. The internet was hideous, but I put up with it. Then I switched to Directv and bought my own Tivo unit, which was a Godsend, as it looked 3 weeks ahead, had wish list capability, and even made programming suggestions. Directv had better image quality than Cox, more reliability by far, and many fewer issues. When an attractive HDTV by JVC came out in 2004, I was very pleased with my switch in 2004 to Directv as I bought a 62" model. Then in 2009, Uverse came to town. They offered an attractive bundle, so I became an exclusive to them. Bottom line, internet was 300% better than Cox, phone improved, and although the video was not quite as bullet proof as Directv, I did benefit from the bundle.

Fast forward to late 2012. My 62" JVC was on the blink after 3 bulb changes, so I decided to get a Panasonic 65" plasma VT50 series with 3D. Now I look into 3D and discover that Uverse offers no programming in 3D, but Directv does. Plus, Directv has a new DVR called "Genie" that is the best DVR EVER! Not only does it offer the "wish list" of TIVO (absent from Uverse) and a suggestion list, but it also has a 1 TB hard drive that puts everything else to shame, AND it can BACK-RECORD a program that showed as long as 5 weeks ago! It also offers my local Padres team (formerly a Cox monopoly) AND it's cheaper than Uverse!

Lesson learned: Technology is ever changing. What was true 3, 2 years ago or even 3 weeks ago (the new Genie) may be obsolete. For now, Directv, bundled with att for internet and voice is the way to go, at least in San Diego.