Customer Reviews

RCA DS4240RE DIRECTV Dual LNB System with Free Pro-Installation

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fed up with my local cable company not adding the channels I (and many other customers in my area) requested, as well as suspiciously running lots of anti-dish commercials, I went out and bought a Direct TV system to see for myself. After a couple months of trying out the system, I told my cable company to shove it, and cancelled my basic and premium channel subscriptions with them.

The Direct TV picture is very good and the sound is great. My only complaint about the picture, is that it tends to get light blocky pixels from time to time if there is a big storm in the area. The picture can still be seen during this though, so that's probably a good thing. I suppose it's kind of like the digital version of a snowy picture on cable. Other than that, things look great.

The selection is incredible. Coming from cable, I only had about 45 basic channels, and a few premium channels. I ordered the "Total Choice STARZ" package, which provides the 100 standard channels, and the collection of about 12 Encore and STARZ movie channels. I've recently ordered the HBO set of channels (6 or 7 total) for only $10 more! Now considering my cable company charges $11.95 for EACH of those premium channels, I think Direct TV is the much better bargain.

Since I don't have access to local channels through Direct TV in my area yet, I've decided to keep the "standard" service from cable, which provides the stripped down local 2-13 channels. This costs me $9.99 a month, so it's not too bad. The Direct TV guide suggests you purchase an antenna to pick up local stations, but this not 1970! Who wants to watch (or attempt to record) snowy local channels these days?

I've seen other systems that work with the Direct TV service, but I think the RCA brand is the best. Features galore in this system! Many ways to customize channels, lots of advanced parental controls, you can set up "profiles" for each member of your family with channels they're interested in, and more. Hopefully in the future, they'll add an LED screen to the box, to show the channel number you're currently on, and maybe the local time. Other than that, the box is small, but don't let it fool you. It's loaded with features and gets the job done.

The on-screen programming guide is wonderful! There are so many ways to find what you're interested in. You can even remove channels from the guide that you don't watch (or don't want children to have access to). My favorite feature is the "Scout", where you can have the system search up to 8 keywords. For example, if you're interested in cooking shows, then use your remote to type in "Cooking" for a scout. The next time you turn your system on, you'll get a list of shows that have "cooking" in the title, or description. You can even enter the names of your favorite actors to the scouts, and quickly find movies that feature them.

I believe the RCA Direct TV system is a solid investment for home entertainment, and even a money saver. I was paying close to $115 a month for so-called digital cable (basic 45-channel service + premium channels). With Direct TV, I'm getting 100 channels, and many of the premium movie channels (that I was paying close to $12.00 each w/ cable) all on the $41.99 package! You'll also get a bunch of high quality commercial-free "MusicChoice" channels which cover everything from country to rock to classical to bluegrass! Something for everyone. For an extra $4.50 a month, they'll even send you the Direct TV guide.

Lets see, well over 100 programming options, dozens of music channels, AND a big monthly guide for about $60? My only regret is that I didn't try out Direct TV earlier. It's no surprise that cable companies are running scared and worried about losing customers. The future is here, and I look forward to seeing it get even better.

I'm not a big RCA fan in general, but after having Hughes, Sony and now RCA units, I'm pretty certain RCA is out in front in the DSS business. This particular dish & receiver were added because we subscribed to 'DirecTV Para Todos' service (DSS in Spanish) and that requires the slightly larger, elliptical dish. The bigger dish (which can 'see' 3 satellites vs the 1 seen by the smaller, 18" round dish) is also required for the growing number of local, network affiliate stations DSS is rolling out. The guts of the system are within the receiver box. Speed of the processors is now pretty much standard (32 bit) among manufacturers, so sound processing, menu styles and remote control options are the only notable differences, besides reliability and price. My experience leads me to believe RCA has the edge in the last two areas, making this unit my favorite.

I bought DirecTV in August of 2000 and I have been the happiest subscriber since. DirecTV's picture quality is the best you can get. Compared to cable, DirecTV can give you 200+ channels of 100% digital service, whereas cable gets you 30 channels of analog service. And now that I can recieve my local channels from DirecTV, I can't see why anybody wouldn't want it. If you are sick of looking through the newspaper to find whats on, and to suffer from bad picture quality, then One-Click this system now, because the sooner you buy it, the sooner you can start enjoying the great service provided by DirecTV.

I have purchased 3 different DirecTV systems over the years. ALL have been RCA. Why? Price and performance. All boxes still work. Over the years , I have upgraded from a basic system to a deluxe with the oval dish. I plan on getting a HDTV receiver or the Directivo this fall.

I have the model with the Caller ID display. Now when I'm watching TV, I don't have to get up to see who's calling. When I don't want to talk, I lett VM pick up. If it's for my spouse, she has to pick up the phone. No more message taking or screening other peoples calls. The oval dish allows for subscription to Para Todos programming, HDTV (2 channels now and more to come)and some locals!!!

I haven't had cable in over three years, and I don't miss it either!!!!

Although it takes a while to deal with the technicalities of all the channels and options, this is a better value over cable, especially if you live in an area where the cable selection (...). Be sure you ask the installation company what your cost, if any, will be. You may get charged extras, and you know "Free" doesn't alway apply 100%. But, all in all, it is a better value if you can afford the initial investment.

I had cable which went out for a week full of service many times and seeing doubled pictures aslo package deal of channels was slim and over priced compared to direct-tv packages . Then I switched to direct-tv and I love the service and massive channel selections avilable the rian effecting ones service is cause the cable line spliter is not always position so that the connectors arent being dripped into after i had issue corrected i have lost singal very few times even steady rain wont stop service as long as clouds not too thick thou fiberoptic service may over take directtv service pending if cable companys either improve servce or give better deal with phone,cable,and internet service cheaper than having them separted thou if direct tv can supply cheaper internet,phone, and direct tv service package they likely keep 1st place in service quailty you get over 200 channels at basic service 100% digtal service beats only 30-40 channels of cable."Long Live DirecTv"