Anyone have VOOM?

Cafe Society
1

For those who don’t know, VOOM is basically satellite TV that is focussed on being HD.

It seems like a pretty nice package.

They have lots of their own HD stations, like cartoons, world sports, art stations, and about 6 movie stations.

They also have all of your cable stations, and you can get premium packages from them too.

It costs what DirecTV or Comcast costs around here, but has more to offer.

Anyone have it?

Negative or positive experience?

Are the Cinema1-Cinema6 stations commercial-free? Unedited?

2

If it were an add on service for Dish Network or DirectTv, I would consider it. However, it is its own service and when you look at the channel line up, they are not all in HD even though I was led to believe that things like CNN and IFC were by the website. And the pricing- the installation fees are insane.

3

Well, I don’t have much for cable right now.

How do the installation fees compare to say, DirectTV?

Of course not all stations are in HD. The station itself needs to broadcast and tape its program in HD. I don’t think CNN and other stations do that, do they?

It seems to me that for the same monthly cost, it carries everything Comcast or DirecTV carries, and then some.

The installation is $350, one time. I don’t know what the normal cost is, though.

Oh, and I found out the Cinema stations are commercial-free and unedited. The cinema stations broadcast HD movies – higher quality than DVDs.

4

You shouldn’t have been misled. This page lists what is in HD and what is in SD (standard definition). CNN and IFC are listed as SD.

5

And I thought this was going to be a Dr Seuss thread.

6

I just got DirecTV. I did some research into Voom, in the event I got an HDTV set in the future.

Voom doesn’t carry local channels. The Voom exclusive HD channels – Rave, Gallery HD, etc – tend to repeat the same programs more so than other cable networks. The HD news channel has a feel that is similar to regional cable news networks, such as NY 1, ONN, TXCN, NWCN and so on, and it’s far from an HD version of CNN or MSNBC. It really didn’t seem worth it.

7

No local stations, but you can get an antenna for those. And, I didn’t think DirecTV carried local stations either.

I figured that the VOOM exclusive channels did some repeating, but again, you’re talking about a similar cost as DirecTV or Comcast plus you get those extra stations, repeating or not.

Also, I expect that the future, they’ll be on top of matters when CNN does go HD. Or MTV goes HD.

(I’m kind of just playing Devil’s Advocate here, BTW, trying to flesh out a case against VOOM.)

I called Comcast last night and they want $60 for digital cable, with NO high def. $75 for digital cable with HBO, and then maybe $5 more per month for the additional HD stations.

VOOM was $60 for the HD package, $70 for the HD package with “HBO Plus”.

8

So:

Just how High Definition are these High Definition stations they carry?
Are we talking 1080i? 720p? 720i? 480p? 480i?!
I mean, there are degrees of High Defness, you know.

9

Yes. That is how I found out that they aren’t in HD. this page doesn’t make that clear.

10

Well, I know there are TV differences (1080, 780, 480), but I think HD signals are always broadcast in 1080i.

Regardless, I chatted with VOOM’s live assistance, and they told me their HD is 1080i and the SP is 780i.

11

It would be cool if VOOM’s logo was a bathtub shaped pink ring.

12

ESPNHD is 780p.