Anyone Have comments on Voom?

[JewishAMerPrince]

I currently have Dishnetwork for my HD Sat service provider, but have become unsatisfied with the few channels that they actually provide. I understand that DTV doesn't do too much better, but that a new company....Voom is the way to go for both quantity and quality. Does anyone here subscribe to Voom?

Jerry Rappaport

[Bruinsrme]

Jerry

Some very good posts on VOOM on the Hometheaterspot.com in the HDTV forum

[tmilam]

I just recently had my new RCA DLP tv delivered and Voom was here the next day to be installed. The picture is absolutely amazing. I've never enjoyed watching the news until I saw it in HD. Right now they have a "no money up front" offer going. You just rent the receivers from them and pay for the package that fits your needs best. They have just under 40 HD channels right now in their "VaVaVoom" package which includes a very large number of movie channels. Even their SD channels are fine. At this point, however, they do NOT carry ESPN or ESPN HD, HGTV, INHD, or INHD2 (if that's a must for the wife) but are in current negotations. The beauty of the offer they have going right now is that if you don't like the service after trying it out, you can tell them to come pick up their stuff and you just pay for the service you had up until that time. I say it's pretty much a win-win situation. So far, I have virtually no complaints.

[wheelman]

I just emailed them recently and i asked how much it costed. They told me 10 bucks a month for the equipment. Which how long they didn't tell me. They have the most high def channels. But they don't have the most channels all together. So it just a matter of choice. Look up last month's issue of sound and vision. They had a review on it. If it was last months you will probally be able to check it out on their web site. I remember the reviewer saying it took for ever for a channel to change. Alot slower than dish and that can hesitate quite a bit seems. Another thing is i think the reviewer might have said something about the quality of the high def not being up to par. ON a side note you can watch the high def channels with regular tv. So this would make it wide screen and 5.1 sound without the high def set. Which is pretty cool too. The monsters channel looks pretty cool to check out. One thing i noticed on their web site was i didn't see scifi channel anywhere.

[chuckears]

I looked into VOOM very thoroughly recently; that is, as thoroughly as one can when you can find NOBODY locally who is using it. Sears is the only retail location where you can take a look at it, and nobody there (even the so-called department manager, a kid half my age) knew anything about it... I had to tune it in myself. You could not view any of the locals (probably because they did not have an OTA hooked up)... the HD channels looked pretty good, but you have to change the resolution at the receiver (this function should be on the remote, but is not). I would be embarrassed to have their cheesy looking multi-colored remote sitting on my end table (big VOOM button in the middle of it, which accesses the program guide).

To get information about the service, I have been scoping out forums on the internet... the US Satellite guys have a dedicated forum, there is a group in Yahoo, and HTSpot recently put a sticky at the top of their Satellite forum page. It sounds to me like most of the early adopters of VOOM are essentially beta testers, with all the difficulties with the firmware on the receivers. I think they are updating it every other week.

These difficulties, along with the limited SD selection, have forced me to conclude that it would not be a wise move at this time... I would be looking for a single-service replacement for cable... hopefully either cable or one of the big 2 satellite providers will break through with a reasonable selection of HD channels in the near future; I hate the thought that I will never be able to enjoy it on my HD-ready TV.

Not holding my breath,

[JewishAMerPrince]

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On 4/10/2004 4:20:52 AM chuckears wrote:

I looked into VOOM very thoroughly recently; that is, as thoroughly as one can when you can find NOBODY locally who is using it. Sears is the only retail location where you can take a look at it, and nobody there (even the so-called department manager, a kid half my age) knew anything about it

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You said it! I went to Sears last night to try to get some info and see a picture. I had the man on the floor hand me a brocure and say...call the 800 number! The picture showing in the Voom booth was an SD signal, and as it turns was nothing more than a split off from a master signal feeding all the TVs on the floor through the RF jack of the Mitsu RPTV they were using to supposidly hilite Voom. I asked the man on the floor a few questions and it soon became obvious that he was winging it and really didn't have any knowledge of what he was speaking.

I was also somewhat turned off by the kiddy looking remote and the kids toy look of the graphics on the Motorola set top box.

So much for Voom, I think I'm stayin where I'm at.

JR

[BBB]

Well, Lee, I know exactly where you are coming from when you said I hate the thought that I will never be able to enjoy it on my HD-ready TV.

I have a Mits 55807 and have given it every tweak in the book except for the Duvetyne treatment only because Im not sure it is worth the trouble. Ive done practically all the work on the set myself since I had it initially professionally calibrated by someone who had the equipment to do grayscale of which Ive tweaked a little myself.

Other than that Ive adjusted the geometry, electro and mechanical focus, reinstalled new convergence ICs and went the whole nine yards in eeprom hell getting the color decoder right with my own I2C cable using primarily the Kwik-Fix program but also Ponyprog.

The reason Im giving you all this background is because I purchased the set off the floor with the intention of performing all these tweaks myself . I told the sales manager I didnt want a set out of the box. I wanted the exact set I was looking at in the store. I knew what to do with it once I got it home and in my opinion nothing looks as good as a fine tuned Mits. And fine tuned they must be or youre just wasting your money on a great TV. After a bunch of haggling, which also saved me money, they agreed to give me what I wanted.

Heres my point. Ive seen what a fantastic picture THIS exact set can get with HD programs that were fed to it in the store I purchased it from. It will knock your socks off. I know it looks great with my DVD players feeding it 480P and I have standard definition digital cable going through an iScan Pro to improve the picture. With all that said it burns my tail to have to make a choice between the mediocre services and limited programming Vroom, Direct TV, Dish Network and my Adelphia cable company has to offer in HD. I dont have a set top box and antenna for over the air programming because I live in nowhere land.

The best I can figure is to have Vroom, of which I know little about, AND keep the cable service I have at the same time in order to have some of the bases covered as far as picture quality in SD and HD and digital sound is concerned especially on the movie channels. Pretty crazy, Id say, when your TV viewing ends up costing twice as much as your electric bill.

[Bill H.]

Checked it out, on the web. Sounded too good to be true. 0 Upfront installation...............basic voom is 39.95 month. Va Va Voom with more channels is 79.95 a month............to big a gamble at this time to switch...............I will let the bugs work out.

Here is a link:

http://www.voom.com/see_it/index.jsp?location=packages

[easylistener]

The channel change time has been fixed. It is now faster than Directivo unit. I am changing over when I move at the end of the month. I am sick of waiting for Dish and Directv to get more hd. I don't care about the remote because I have a Harmony remote that I will use. They also include a antenna to receive local hd. They provide a better antenna then the rest of the companies. If there antenna doesn't work they will give you a $60 credit for a upgrade. There installer will come out and hook it up for free. I have heard good things from the people that have it and I heard customer support is good. They have most of the SD channels we watch and don't have all that wasted bandwidth stations the others have.

[wheelman]

It's in the new issue of sound and vision magazine too, but the review was last months issue (April's). Also i already said it was ten a month for the equipment for a limited time offer with zero down. Then they tack on ten a month for the equipment and then you pay for the programming. Zero down means you don't need a downpayment for the equipment and they add the ten a month. But how long they did not email me that. Right now they have no guidelines for picture quality so some aren't up to par but some look spectacular. Voom is way ahead of everyone else when it comes to high def.

[Bruinsrme]

Voom is very new and as many are finding out it is very difficult gathering info.

Installers seem to be new as well. From what a person from the cable company told me they are very worried about Voom taking away a lot of business because they have a good number of HD channels. But then he laughed and stated the average user with an HDTV doesn't know the difference between composite video and Audio left and right since they use rca plugs, how are they going to know what 480p or 1080i is.

He did have a point.

Voom is a gamble but many that have subscribed have had a good experience. Most of the issues seem to be with proper antenna aiming.

Once ESPN is added keeping cable is going to be very very difficult. I would suspect ESPN will be added by years end.

[skonopa]

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On 4/10/2004 8:26:21 PM Bruinsrme wrote:

From what a person from the cable company told me they are very worried about Voom taking away a lot of business because they have a good number of HD channels.

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Maybe this will get the cable and other satellite providers to get thier act together and start providing more HD channels. This VOOM outfit does sound intriquing. Of course, I'd have to get an HD TV before I can even begin to think about getting this. Also, another big show-stopper is there is currently no hard-drive recording capablities ala TiVo or UltimateTV. That is something I sure as hell don't want to give up right now. I will imaagine that they will eventually come out with a box with digital harddrive recording capabilties. And yes, I am willing to bet they will add ESPN within the next year or two.

[Kraveen]

One of the big reasons i am not going to get Voom is no NFL Sunday Ticket.

[BBB]

So the NFL Sunday Ticket is available on Direct TV? I forget. And if so how many HD programs are available. I'm mostly interested in first the movie channels and then some sports. I don't care about the news, Jay Leno and all those other channels like Discovery,ABC, NBC, CBS that burn their logos into your RPTV's screen.

[mikey j]

A few things to consider...

VOOM is Rainbow DBS, which is Cablevision Systems Corporation. Anyone remember Primestar? A satellite service owned by a group of cable companies that in my opinion started out great. But, once again in my opinion could not maintain a high level of customer service/support and was soon purchased by DIRECTV.

As for a VOOM demo, there is not a working unit at my local Sears store, so I can give no opinion on the quality of programming. The 18 year old sales "professional" that probably gets a ride to and from work from his mom, had not been "trained" on the product as of yet. ( If I feel gloomy, all it takes is a trip to my local mass merchandiser's audio/video department to cheer me right up!)

I saw a press release for DIRECTV a while back, and with News Corp. buying a big chunk of the company, this was said...

"Focusing on the short term,during 2004 ............

Our high-definition programming will increase by two to three times, including the expansion of local HD content"

FYI another quote... " In set top boxes, we will standardize our box and remote to simplify and enhance the consumer experience. This standardization will focus on the best features and make the DIRECTV experience easier to sell, understand and service."

Just a little food for thought... And remember, opinionions are like a**holes, everybody has one

[avman]

i have been a Dishnetwork subscriber for years.

if the sunday ticket is NOT a concern, i feel dish beats directv for several reasons:

Charlie Ergen is president/ceo of dish and a very strong and ACTIVE supporter of satellite consumers political rights(and w/cable co's stuffing of pockets in Washington D.C.,that is VERY important)

echostar(dish's parent co.started by charlie over 20yrs. ago)has been in the satellite business for a LONG time.

they make their own equipment.this is important because if you have a tech ?,you only have to call ONE number.

they have the MOST INNOVATIVE equipment(first sat.rcvr.w/built-in hard drive recorder,first H.D.integrated sat.rcvr./hard drive-200 GIG!! with two tuners!)

as a NEW dishnetwork customer,you can get a FREE H.D. receiver and 2 standard digital receivers with installation for a programming commitment(one year)

i spent $1,000 on my dishnetwork h.d.sat rcvr and integrated digital tuner module and 2-dishes to receive TWO h.d.channels 2 1/2 yrs. ago, along with a $2,000 sony 36"xbr450 to watch those 2 channels.NOW i have over 13 h.d.channels,AND i have been WATCHING h.d. for almost 3 yrs.

so stop 'whining' about there not being enough h.d. content and jump on board!!

btw-VOOM has about the same # of h.d. channels as everyone else,all the other channels have either limited content that repeats, or is 'up-converted S.D. stuff that does NOT look like h.d.

JMO-

avman.

[easylistener]

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On 4/11/2004 10:51:19 AM mikey j wrote:

A few things to consider...

I saw a press release for DIRECTV a while back, and with News Corp. buying a big chunk of the company, this was said...

"Focusing on the short term,during 2004 ............

Our high-definition programming will increase by two to three times, including the expansion of local HD content"

FYI another quote... " In set top boxes, we will standardize our box and remote to simplify and enhance the consumer experience. This standardization will focus on the best features and make the DIRECTV experience easier to sell, understand and service."

Just a little food for thought... And remember, opinionions are like a**holes, everybody has one

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Two to three times as many will not get you all that many more channels. They have 6 channels now including the Prem. channels. So 12 stations. This isn't to great. Better than nothing. Also locals will be only offered to people that are in grade C over the air, which doesn't include 70% of the people.

As for the Equimpent going all Directv, This is not good. Look at there tivo unit. It takes them for ever to come out with updates and they drop some of the nicest features to save money.

Don't get me wrong I have Directv now and had haved them for many years. I have tryed dish and there PQ wasn't as good. They are cheaper. Like I said I am going to try voom and from what I have seen and read about it is going to be nice.

These other companies realy need to step it up or they won't last.

I have not talked to anybody that has HD that can't tell the differnce between 480i and 1080i or 720p. That cable guy is talking out of his ***. Probally the same guy that will tell you that you will loose signal everytime it rains.

[mikey j]

If DIRECTV only added two to three times the current HD programming this year it would be 12 to 18 channels, and you are right, this is not much. Even if you add your local channels that you can get OTA, 8 in my area, this still would only bring the grand total to 26. Not much on the plate.

At the moment the HD channels listed are:

Discovery HD THEATER, ESPNHD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, HBO HDTV, SHO HD, DIRECTV Pay per View HDTV, Special Events (?), and select games on NFL Sunday Ticket. I do not have HD because of the lack of programming available on DTV, and I don't watch much network TV. (Plus the prices on DLP are comming down).

I do have the Hughes SD-DVR120 DVR with Tivo and as far as I know, it has no fewer features than my first unit which is the HDVR2. I also think that the DTV DVR with Tivo is a better piece of equipment than a Dishnet PVR. I kind of like the Tivo service. My opinion only.

As far as the statement that Dish uses only there own branded equipment, I have seen Echostar Receivers in the past, even have a couple that I use for door stops. I also saw RCA branded Dish receivers at Wal-Fart last night.. So the theory that Dish has better service because of the standardization of equipment is out the window..

My question is, how many Cable Networks are there out there that are broadcasting in HD? Are the Sat and Cable companies draging there feet, or is it the Cable Networks? Anyone know?

[avman]

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On 4/13/2004 10:49:13 PM mikey j wrote:

I also think that the DTV DVR with Tivo is a better piece of equipment than a Dishnet PVR. I kind of like the Tivo service. My opinion only.

As far as the statement that Dish uses only there own branded equipment, I have seen Echostar Receivers in the past, even have a couple that I use for door stops. I also saw RCA branded Dish receivers at Wal-Fart last night.. So the theory that Dish has better service because of the standardization of equipment is out the window..

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my own statement concerning dishnetwork equipment was that you only had one number to call. i haven't had any of the JVC or 'other'-branded dishnetwork equipment,so i don't know if those customers have to call JVC or RCA w/tech ?'s.

also,i haven't ever had to PAY for my dishplayer harddrive recording service,and i like the way it works,and to my knowledge,neither directv nor VOOM has a h.d.harddrive recorder available AT THIS TIME.

as far as # of channels,ANY h.d. content is welcome as far as i'm concerned,as long as it is true h.d.,NOT up-converted,and that is my issue w/VOOM-so many of those channels ARE inferior picture quality up-converted channels.

also this issue of 'not enough channels'...keep on waiting, and i'll keep on watching the h.d. channels i DO have

avman.

[easylistener]

Did dish put the HD recorder back on the market yet? They released it early so guys like you could feel all warm and fuzzy that they had the first one out. Doesn't do much good now does it, it doesn't work very well.

Direct will have there's out this week.

There are many cable companies with HD. TW in my area has there HD recorder out right now. It works ok but it doesn't have the great features the tivo units have. Charter has HD also some others.

Recording HD right now isn't that big of a deal because there just isn't enough on in HD and the same time. I can record HD with my computer and I very seldom do.

I will takd a sat system any day over cable. Dish or Direct or Cband. If I had the room I would get C-band. The best of everything.