Customer Reviews

RCA DS4220RE Dual-LNB DIRECTV System with Free Pro-Installation

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been a DirecTV subscriber since 1995, using the same RCA system (first generation) before I upgraded to this system. I also have digital cable in our bedroom, though I will soon remove it and add an additional receiver.

The reason I upgraded it complicated, but let's discuss why this is a great system to have compared to digital cable:

1) Broadcast satellite technology is hands down faster than digital cable. The simple act of changing the channel functions faster with a DSS unit (my signal strength is about 86).

- Digital cable seems to lag between every channel change and sometimes gets downright bogged down.

2) The onscreen guide for DirecTV lets you look furthur into the scheduling future with more accuracy.

- several times in the recent past we have turned on a channel because of the digital cable online guide and a different show was on. This happens from time to time with DirecTV, but with much less frequency

3) There are more channels on DirecTV, including a better selection of music. We often tune the television to one of the theme music channels while we clean house.

- sometimes on digital cable the music channels were garbled.

- The online guide on DirecTV shows the music channels, digital cable omits them

4) The original RCA DSS unit was the fastest selling consumer electronics item in history. After selling millions of units, many companies are now supporting this technology and pushing the technological curve forward. You can look at upgrading in these directions with DSS (and not digital cable):

- Tivo : There are several units out there that work directly with your DirecTV to let you record one show and watch another one.

- Integrated televisions: RCA sells a big screen television that has a built in DSS receiver. No additional boxes, and it tunes itself.

5) More pay per views with a wider selection

In digital cable's defense, DirecTV is slightly more expensive and my DirecTV unit has more outages than my local cable, but not many more. One noticable difference is that I always seems to lose at least one local channel on cable during a rainstorm, as opposed to losing all of my DirecTV channels during the peak of the storm. In the years I have had my unit, I would be able to say this happens to me four times a year.

After you get a dish installed, you can disconnect the main coaxial drop from your cable company and use the same coaxial to transmit the encoded signal to your individual units.

Why did I upgrade to this unit?

Because I had my card 'zapped' and lost contact with the person who did it. My access card died and it was cheaper to turn the account off, wait a few months and then buy a whole new system.

DirecTV has been plagued with these pirate access cards and has really stepped up security against them. I advise you not to let anyone manipulate any data on your access card because DirecTV can electronically turn them off and the card pirates themselves can permamently damage the cards.

You really can't get something for nothing, or at least not forever.

The DirecTV system itself is fantastic! However, if you live in the Chicago area, you would do better to wait for a different promotion. The so-called "professional free installation" is anything but professional. Apparently Amazon contracts out the installation work to a company called Digivision, who in turn, subcontracts the work out to local installers.

The first installer was to arrive on Aug. 27th (the system was shipped to us on Aug. 10th). He called that day to inform us that his car broke down, and he had no idea when he would be able to make it. He never called again, and never returned our calls.

Then, I contacted Digivision to get a different installer. I called him on 3 different days last week, and never had a call returned.

Totally frustrated, I stopped by our local TV repair shop to ask if they do satellite installations. They did, and came out the very next morning to complete the installation. So, the "free installation" cost me $199.

Like many people I know, I was fed up with my local cable company. When I moved and the cable company told me it would take three to five weeks for them to hook up my cable (the house was prewired, for crying out loud), I decided to try Directv. I ordered this system and it arrived quickly--only a few days. On the very day it was delivered, I received a call from Directv and their local subcontractor to schedule an appointment to have it installed. The process was simple and speedy. I will never go back to cable. The picture is outstanding (blows digital cable out of the water) and I like that the Directv receiver is super small. The user interface of Directv is sophisticated and, best of all, the monthly price they quote you on their website is the exact amount you pay. No additional fees and taxes. What a pleasure. Get one today. The [price] you pay for equipment will pay for itself in fewer fees, better service and a stellar picture.

I bought one of the origional single LNB models over 5 years ago. I finally broke down and bought this one for the dual LNB and newer reciever. WOW, the new on screen graphics menus etc... are great. I changed the old single LNB out to the new one and ran a RGB6 to my bedroom (which is where I use the old reciever now). The old unit still has a great picture, but the new unit is so much faster. I would recommend this unit to everyone.

DirecTV is indeed fantastic. We have had cable with an old 19" TV for 10+ years. We finally upgraded to a 36" television and decided to try DirecTV with it. We were not disappointed!

DirecTV is friendly, razor sharp for most channels/shows (although sharpness is variable at times) with a generous, logical pricing scheme and tons of great content.

We started with the RCA system but soon discovered that the superior solution is the DirecTV + TiVo combined units which are priced similarly. Amazon carries one by Philips.

The DirecTV + TiVo combo is unbeatable in terms of convenience, content management, personalization, etc. Check it out.

One minor negative note re: the RCA system... One side of the dual LNB "died" during a mild storm. It was a hassle to get a free replacement - I ended up having to buy a replacement from an electronics store for more than I paid for the entire system including installation.

I got bamboozled into buying a Dish Network system over a year ago and to make a long story short, had viewable tv for about 4 months of the 12 that I had it, spent more time dealing with their customer service (or lack thereof) than I did watching my unit, have been fighting with their credit department who wants to charge me for 8 months of unwatchable service and the defective receiver(that I gladly offered to send back--they insist on charging me.) Absolutely insane how messed up that company and it's system is. Cut to the chase: This one is where I should have been with from day one. Don't make the same mistake! God help us all if Echostar (Dish's parent Co.) is allowed to purchase Direct TV. It will be back to cable for all of us.

Our cable company was recently bought out by AT&T Broadband, and what had been decent service became mediocre at best -- in particular, pay-per-view phone lines went dead and scheduled movies were often unavailable. With the great deal available right now (free installation and [price] a month for all channels for 4 months) we decided to take the satellite plunge and it has been tremendous!

The satellite arrived quickly; customer service people scheduled an appointment and were very informative and helpful; the installer arrived within the appointment window; within an hour all the hardware was in place; we called customer service and all channels were immediately available -- it was a great experience -- and how often can you say that about getting an appliance hooked up!?

The picture is phenomenal, much clearer than the cable picture. There are more channels available, and the online guides and features are phenomenal. Our favorite so far is Profiles, wherein everybody in the house (up to 5) can customize their own viewing grid and preferences and access it with the touch of one button. Another favorite is the Info button, that gives you a synopsis of the current show -- not only do you *not* have to wait for the commercial to see what's on, but you will get a description of the movie or a list of talk show guests within about 3 seconds! Also, while you are viewing a schedule grid, the show you were watching is kept running in the corner of the screen so you can pay attention to both things at once.

An added bonus: the remote control that comes with this satellite is very nice. It is an aesthetically pleasing shape, and somehow manages to hold many buttons in an easy-to-use way. We've bought two universal remotes lately, but neither worked without problems, whereas this remote operates our Sony television and GE VCR with no problems at all.

Because this satellite is Dual LNB, you would be able to hook up a second receiver, expanding your viewing options (e.g. watching one show and recording another).

Caveat: After we signed up for this introductory deal wherein we receive Platinum programming for four months cheap, we found that there are two problems in our area: 1) some nonsense requires that we get waivers from our local tv stations allowing us to get the national feeds of their network -- and we were denied this waiver by all four networks, and 2) we do not get UPN or WB, and will ot for the foreseeable future, so we missed Star Trek: Enterprise. If these things are iportant to you, check with customer service reps before you sign up.

We could not be much happier with this system and highly recommend it.

I bought this system from amazon which was supposed to come with free professional installation.
The package arrived from amazon very prompt, but never did I get a call from the Installation service...Nevertheless I had a friend install the system for me and it works great.

I live in the Philadelphia area, and got fed up with cable costs increasing on a monthly basis. ...So I opted to get a directv. First of all, I was totally blown away by the picture...some channels were very close to dvd quality. Then I saw images in Hi Def, and was completely blown away. Even to this day, I am amazed at the picture every time I turn on the "tube". I have had my system and Directv for about 1 year. I have watched tv thru heavy rain and snow. Windy days and nice days, no interuption. I had my dish professionally installed, and yes, I have and 18" x 24" dish which will cut down on rain fade. ...[When I see that some people lose signal easily,] this may be due to improper installation or bad equipment. The only time I had a problem, was during a severe thunderstorm...which knocked it out for a few minutes. No big deal. Check your signal meter, should be in the 80's (at least). My signal meter is between 92 and 96.
Sure beats cable by a long shot. I have 14 local channels, 3-disney, nick, christian, music, discovery, Hbo, etc and pay only $12 more than I was paying for basic cable...that's basic, not digital. I will never go back to cable, unless Directv really screws up.

Amazon promptly shipped my order, which I received in a couple of days. Getting the darned thing installed was another matter. It took me multiple emails to Amazon customer service and a few weeks before the installer finally contacted me. The installer said he was coming on a weekday morning (thereby forcing me to take a morning off of work) but didn't show up till 7 PM. The remote does not work as advertised, possibly because the programmer didn't program it correctly, or it's just plain broken. A friend of mine has the same problem with the remote, ie, you can't turn the TV on or off with it. Now that things are up an running the reception and satellite service are fine as long I turn the television on at the television and not with the remote.