I'm finally ditching my DirecTV to join the FIOS family. I've had FIOS internet and phone for 2 years now and have finally decided to go all the way in and change my TV provider to Verizon as well.
The only thing I'm starting to have second thoughts about now is the DVR. I ordered a home media DVR and a HD set top, but from everything I am researching it seems to not have very much recording space. Is this true? How is your experience? Is there a eSATA port to allow an external hard drive?
Also, in some google-ing, I found that Motorola has released some new set tops for Verizon, any chance I'll get one of these new boxes?
My install date is this Saturday, I'm looking forward to it. Let me know any tips ahead of time and I'll report back once I get it installed.
The DVR does not have very much recording space. Only enough for about 20 hrs of HD, certainly not enough for a family. External HD support is not available yet, but it will be available early next year, so if you can hold out for a few months, you'll be good.
However, you will have access to a giant on-demand library, something which you may not be used to coming from DirecTV. Liberal use of the on-demand library will help lessen your reliance on the DVR somewhat.
Verizon doesn't have as many HD channels as DirecTV, but Verizon's HD channels look better. Verizon also has one of the most well-thought-out UIs I've ever used on a TV box. I think you will like it.
Some tips:
Awesome, thank you for the reply. I'm excited to get it installed.
So I'm guessing the box I'll get should have a eSATA port that will be activated when IMG 1.9 releases?
Yup, the motorola box has an eSATA port on the back. Once IMG 1.9 is released, it'll be activated.
YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD TO SPENDING MANY HOURS WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE GETTING YOUR PROGRAMMING RIGHT
Expect to not get it installed right the first time. From my experience it takes about 3 weeks to get everything worked out, and a couple billing cycles to get things right. Once it is installed and you get the programming straightened out, it works great. which is good because the customer service and support is pretty poor.
You should expect: to receive a very high bill; for your service to be interrupted;and not receive what you ordered
@sugarmich wrote:You should expect: to receive a very high bill; for your service to be interrupted;and not receive what you ordered
That is a matter of opinion that I totally, completely disagree with and reject. You should expect an excellent picture and very reliable service, with reasonable bills.
Now, in all probability your first bill or two will be difficult to understand, and perhaps higher than you expect, but generally that will settle down and the bills will be accurate and what you expect from then on. Some people seem to get incorrect or extra services when they order, be sure to do whatever you can to verify that the service you get is what you want, and one suggestion is: do not under any circumstances accept Verizon's offer of any free premium channels or packages - once the free period expires they will start billing you for them, with no notification. I have had FiOS TV for over 5 years now, periodically they try to get me to take a 3 month freebie, I always say no, and guess what, no billing problems.
And if you do have technical difficulties and you call support, you may find that the tech support people will try to follow a script, taking you down paths that you have already explored. If you can, just bear with it, eventually you should be able to get things working. And some people experience long waits on the phone for support; I have never waited more than about 15 minutes, but then again I don't call for every little thing like some apparently do, I try to understand what and how, and fix, before I call. Some people report that you can reach tech support faster if, instead of answering all of the robot questions, you simply say "agent" as the answer to each question. I have done that a couple of times and it does seem to help. And the FiOS phone number to call is 1-888-553-1555; I think some people call other numbers and wind up in phone transfer hell.
And last but not least, two things:
1) Try here to get help before you call, it may help keep your blood pressure normal. There are some very knowledgeable users here that really want to help. And do keep in mind that this is a user helping user site, not a Verizon tech support site, so we cannot order a replacement for your STB, for example.
2) You will see posts like the one above, all negative, nothing positive. Just remember, what you see here is a pretty small number of users, happy and/or unhappy. There are 3 million plus FiOS TV users, most are happy and don't bother to register and post here, or anywhere else for that matter. And most people by nature are much, much more likely to post on forums if they are unhappy than they are if they are happy.
Welcome to the forums, and to FiOS TV, and I hope your FiOS experience is a good one. Mine most certainly has been.
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Justin
Verizon FiOS TV, Internet, and phone
QIP6416-P1, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248
We've had FiOS for about 6 years now, and finally got the TV service around August and have nothing but good things to say. The internet speeds are great, the boxes IMO have one of the best and most thought out GUI's i've ever seen, better than Dish, DirecTV and TiVO. The picture quality is awesome, especially on bigger TV's and if you ever have a problem ask it here or at DSLReports (who also happens to have a very technical wiki) and you'll usually get an answer very quickly, even to obsure questions like doing a custom config. I agree the DVR space is a bit small, but with eSATA support coming by next year it doesn't bother me. Only complaint I have is occasionally the boxes get finicky with responding to the remote, no big deal.
--Matt
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