Re: GET HEARD!! Where are THESE features UVerse?? OTHER services have them!! (BIG LIST!!)

NorthLineTony · ‎09-20-2008

Cygnus_X-1 wrote:
Thanks for getting this started. Overall, I am happy with U-verse because it has many channels and many on-demand selections, but it's lacking in some features. In addition to your list, these are what I think must be fixed/improved:
1) No picture-in-picture!!!! (I mean a PIP that I can leave on and easily toggle)
2) No clock on the cable box.
3) Few ways to turn off parental control. I used to be able to turn off parental controls for a particular show, for a particular channel, or for all channels for a designated amount of time.
4) The grid is slow to navigate and is not always responsive.
5) Show information does not give indication as to its content (sex, violence, language, etc.) other than it's MPAA rating.
6) No way to know how much space is left on the DVR.
7) No way to cancel channel input if I press the wrong number.

These are nice-to-have:
1) Browse channels by category: e.g. movies, sports, documentary, etc.
2) Easily hide all non-HD channels that have an HD version. Why do I want regular ESPN when I have ESPN HD?
3) Resume to live input with a single button press after pausing and rewinding a live broadcast.
4) Skip to beginning/end of recorded content while watching it.

Hopefully AT&T is working on these. It has good stuff, but it also has catching up to do.

You can forget about the clock "on the cable box". Uverse is Internet Protocol TeleVision, not CATV.

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

NorthLineTony wrote:

You can forget about the clock "on the cable box". Uverse is Internet Protocol TeleVision, not CATV.

There was no clock on my Dish Network DVR, and I do not have one on my Tivo HD DVR.

jimmyone · ‎02-27-2009

texasguy37 wrote:
NorthLineTony wrote:

You can forget about the clock "on the cable box". Uverse is Internet Protocol TeleVision, not CATV.
There was no clock on my Dish Network DVR, and I do not have one on my Tivo HD DVR.

Forget this one more grief than benefit with unwanted lighting the last thing needed is another clock. It would cause more complains than it's worth. The only thing I miss is switching to a certain channel at a specific time after ten years with Directv. All the rest is just a different feature just like you find with any software program not to mention the menu was a blur at more than 10 feet with both. The ability to record from any room and view from any room beats the heck out of all the other features I had on Dish or Directv, TWC I will not mention this is a family forum. Since we are critiquing UV lets review the poor features of the competition. Note I only had Dish for two weeks

1. Bad weather issues, rain or snow both Dish and Directv

2. Terrible picture quality on Disk especially on large screen sets, with a projection system the pits

3. Directv forced, to extend contract and pay for every major system upgrade

4. Horrible sound quality almost no 5.1 on both

5. Just try to get your billing errors resolved politely with Dish

I could list more but if you have HD sets you tend to want to watch programs in HD. You might even want to hear the sound in 5.1 if you have a surround sound system. Usually the bigger the set the more out of pocket at that point I'm worried even let about the menu grid. If you can't see the programs in either HD or SD because of bad weather the grid well it's not an issue. The sound quality leaves much to the imagination at some point the menu grid becomes even less important what different do the other issues make is you can't see the picture or hear the sound well? Like I said many times before with UV they installed it, I watch it with few problems and no real issues

jimmy

Message Edited by jimmyone on 12-01-2009 11:56 PM

Scudder_1 · ‎11-27-2009

jimmyone wrote:
texasguy37 wrote:
NorthLineTony wrote:

You can forget about the clock "on the cable box". Uverse is Internet Protocol TeleVision, not CATV.
There was no clock on my Dish Network DVR, and I do not have one on my Tivo HD DVR.
Forget this one more grief than benefit with unwanted lighting the last thing needed is another clock. It would cause more complains than it's worth. The only thing I miss is switching to a certain channel at a specific time after ten years with Directv. All the rest is just a different feature just like you find with any software program not to mention the menu was a blur at more than 10 feet with both. The ability to record from any room and view from any room beats the heck out of all the other features I had on Dish or Directv, TWC I will not mention this is a family forum. Since we are critiquing UV lets review the poor features of the competition. Note I only had Dish for two weeks

1. Bad weather issues, rain or snow both Dish and Directv

jimmy
Message Edited by jimmyone on 12-01-2009 11:56 PM

Hi Jimmy....

Interesting commentary...though I see that mention you "only had Dish for 2 weeks" I had a rather GOOD experience with them for a number of YEARS. However, that being said, ALL my feature missing complaints from my original post were based on my experience with Dish.

You must understand..and ACCEPT the fact...that with a DISH type receiver, inclement weather is going to interfere. It is just the nature of the beast. That was particularly annoying here in FL when I NEEDED information on weather during a storm (or Hurricane!!).

With regard to "viewing in any room and recording from any room" Dish had that too, albeit limited to just TWO simultaneous recordings at one time. Dish would NOT allow you, even if you offered to PAY, a SECOND dual DVR (thus giving you the ability to record FOUR programs at once). Households were capped at ONE DUAL DVR (recording a Max of 2 shows). Your other non-DVR receivers could NOT play however.

What is WEIRD for me is the fact that you can record up to FOUR shows but CANNOT PAUSE except on the MAIN TV!!?!?!? I know, I know, the work-around is to RECORD the show immediately and then you can review and pause as much as you want. And you can theorectically do that with FOUR SHOWS...record, record, record...then playback and pause wherever you want.

That being said, why such a TEDIOUS option/work around?? Why not just a PAUSE feature??

Scott

Scudder_1 · ‎11-27-2009

Thought of another ANNOYANCE...that would be #9 from the continuation of my original post....

9. The ability to rewind live TV and record a "Previously aired show"

Ever get that ANNOYING MESSSAGE when you try to record a show "You cannot record previous aired programs" Say it is 9:50pm and you get a phone call and pause the TV (or just let it play). You finish your phone call at 10:05 and go back to the TV. You rewind to 9:50 and see a segment of that TV show that you want to record and save or watch at a later time. You press the record button and you get the message "You cannot record a previously aired program"!!!!!

Guess what....YOU COULD WITH DISH!!!!! Dish (and UVerse) keeps a buffer of a couple hours of TV so you can pause and rewind back in time. HOWEVER, if you are UNfortunate enough to have paused or stepped away just before the end of a show and then return AFTER the new show has started, you CANNOT record or save the tail-end of that previous show!!!

NOT COOL!!!!

Scott

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

Scudder wrote:

Hi Jimmy....

Interesting commentary...though I see that mention you "only had Dish for 2 weeks" I had a rather GOOD experience with them for a number of YEARS. However, that being said, ALL my feature missing complaints from my original post were based on my experience with Dish.

You must understand..and ACCEPT the fact...that with a DISH type receiver, inclement weather is going to interfere. It is just the nature of the beast. That was particularly annoying here in FL when I NEEDED information on weather during a storm (or Hurricane!!).

With regard to "viewing in any room and recording from any room" Dish had that too, albeit limited to just TWO simultaneous recordings at one time. Dish would NOT allow you, even if you offered to PAY, a SECOND dual DVR (thus giving you the ability to record FOUR programs at once). Households were capped at ONE DUAL DVR (recording a Max of 2 shows). Your other non-DVR receivers could NOT play however.

What is WEIRD for me is the fact that you can record up to FOUR shows but CANNOT PAUSE except on the MAIN TV!!?!?!? I know, I know, the work-around is to RECORD the show immediately and then you can review and pause as much as you want. And you can theorectically do that with FOUR SHOWS...record, record, record...then playback and pause wherever you want.

That being said, why such a TEDIOUS option/work around?? Why not just a PAUSE feature??

Scott

I had Dish Network for 3 years prior to switching to U-verse. The above statement is not true. When I was a Dish subscriber I had 2 dual tuner HD DVR's connected to my 4 TV sets. Therefore, I could record up to 4 shows simultaneously. When this occurred, I could not watch another live channel on any of the TV's because all live streams were in use. I could either watch one of the channels being recorded or watch a previously recorded show on one of the 2 DVR's. It's important to note that with the dual tuner DVR's, the stream to the first TV is in HD and the stream to the second TV is in SD. Thus, I had two HD streams and two SD streams. Wow! This sounds so similar to what I currently have with U-verse except it's all done with one DVR and I can playback a recorded show from any TV!

Also, the ability to pause live TV from any TV connected to U-verse will be part of the THDVR Phase 3 Update which currently has no ETA. The implementation of THDVR in 3 phrase was previously announced by AT&T and is well known.

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

Scudder wrote:

Thought of another ANNOYANCE...that would be #9 from the continuation of my original post....

9. The ability to rewind live TV and record a "Previously aired show"

Ever get that ANNOYING MESSSAGE when you try to record a show "You cannot record previous aired programs" Say it is 9:50pm and you get a phone call and pause the TV (or just let it play). You finish your phone call at 10:05 and go back to the TV. You rewind to 9:50 and see a segment of that TV show that you want to record and save or watch at a later time. You press the record button and you get the message "You cannot record a previously aired program"!!!!!

Guess what....YOU COULD WITH DISH!!!!! Dish (and UVerse) keeps a buffer of a couple hours of TV so you can pause and rewind back in time. HOWEVER, if you are UNfortunate enough to have paused or stepped away just before the end of a show and then return AFTER the new show has started, you CANNOT record or save the tail-end of that previous show!!!

NOT COOL!!!!

Scott

The buffer with both Dish and U-verse is 60 minutes. It is not a couple of hours with either service.

Since, you now know the behavior in the scenario that you describe above, I assume that you now press "Record" when you have to step away near the end of a show.

Scudder_1 · ‎11-27-2009

texasguy37 wrote:
Scudder wrote:

Hi Jimmy....

Interesting commentary...though I see that mention you "only had Dish for 2 weeks" I had a rather GOOD experience with them for a number of YEARS. However, that being said, ALL my feature missing complaints from my original post were based on my experience with Dish.

You must understand..and ACCEPT the fact...that with a DISH type receiver, inclement weather is going to interfere. It is just the nature of the beast. That was particularly annoying here in FL when I NEEDED information on weather during a storm (or Hurricane!!).

With regard to "viewing in any room and recording from any room" Dish had that too, albeit limited to just TWO simultaneous recordings at one time. Dish would NOT allow you, even if you offered to PAY, a SECOND dual DVR (thus giving you the ability to record FOUR programs at once). Households were capped at ONE DUAL DVR (recording a Max of 2 shows). Your other non-DVR receivers could NOT play however.

What is WEIRD for me is the fact that you can record up to FOUR shows but CANNOT PAUSE except on the MAIN TV!!?!?!? I know, I know, the work-around is to RECORD the show immediately and then you can review and pause as much as you want. And you can theorectically do that with FOUR SHOWS...record, record, record...then playback and pause wherever you want.

That being said, why such a TEDIOUS option/work around?? Why not just a PAUSE feature??

Scott
I had Dish Network for 3 years prior to switching to U-verse. The above statement is not true. When I was a Dish subscriber I had 2 dual tuner HD DVR's connected to my 4 TV sets. Therefore, I could record up to 4 shows simultaneously. When this occurred, I could not watch another live channel on any of the TV's because all live streams were in use. I could either watch one of the channels being recorded or watch a previously recorded show on one of the 2 DVR's. It's important to note that with the dual tuner DVR's, the stream to the first TV is in HD and the stream to the second TV is in SD. Thus, I had two HD streams and two SD streams. Wow! This sounds so similar to what I currently have with U-verse except it's all done with one DVR and I can playback a recorded show from any TV!

Also, the ability to pause live TV from any TV connected to U-verse will be part of the THDVR Phase 3 Update which currently has no ETA. The implementation of THDVR in 3 phrase was previously announced by AT&T and is well known.

Hi TXguy...

(regarding the BLUE quote) It is NOT that it is "not true"...just not true FOR YOU. I asked numerous times and was NOT PERMITTED to have 2 DVRs in the household. Don't know why (and I was a Dish customer for 5 years). Perhaps it was a market issue here in FL...but I ABSOLUTELY wasn't allowed.

(and regarding the RED quote) It is MY belief as well that with UVerse now, if you are recording the 4 shows, you ALSO CANNOT watch another live channel correct?? You also CANNOT WATCH a video on demand choice either. When we had this past weekend's "Free U450" for 4 days I went NUTS and recorded a WHOOOOOOLE bunch of movies. At times my DVR was recording 4-at once and I could not view another live channel (only a previously recorded show). I also could NOT watch a show IN THE PROCESS of being recorded. With 4 simultaneous recordings, I had to choose a show to watch where recording was COMPLETED already.

Scott

Scudder_1 · ‎11-27-2009

texasguy37 wrote:
Scudder wrote:

Thought of another ANNOYANCE...that would be #9 from the continuation of my original post....

9. The ability to rewind live TV and record a "Previously aired show"

Ever get that ANNOYING MESSSAGE when you try to record a show "You cannot record previous aired programs" Say it is 9:50pm and you get a phone call and pause the TV (or just let it play). You finish your phone call at 10:05 and go back to the TV. You rewind to 9:50 and see a segment of that TV show that you want to record and save or watch at a later time. You press the record button and you get the message "You cannot record a previously aired program"!!!!!

Guess what....YOU COULD WITH DISH!!!!! Dish (and UVerse) keeps a buffer of a couple hours of TV so you can pause and rewind back in time. HOWEVER, if you are UNfortunate enough to have paused or stepped away just before the end of a show and then return AFTER the new show has started, you CANNOT record or save the tail-end of that previous show!!!

NOT COOL!!!!

Scott
The buffer with both Dish and U-verse is 60 minutes. It is not a couple of hours with either service.

Since, you now know the behavior in the scenario that you describe above, I assume that you now press "Record" when you have to step away near the end of a show.

I might have been off with UVerse...it IS 1-hour ish...my bad...but I ABSOLUTELY had TWO HOURS of buffer with Dish. I know this because ALL THE TIME I would come home from work, the TV or Dish transmission would be ON and I would be able to rewind up to TWO HOURS to see what was one that I might have missed.

You mention that you had an HD DVR. I failed to mention earlier that did NOT have HD!! Since the drive space and recording capacity is affected by the SD or HD transmission, perhaps YOUR buffer was 1 hour...but my Dish one was ABSOLUTELY 2 hours!! Used it all the time!! There was even times where I PAUSED and got tied up with baby or phone call or cleaning and then I come back to 1:45:38 of paused recording

Scott

jimmyone · ‎02-27-2009

Scudder wrote

Interesting commentary...though I see that mention you "only had Dish for 2 weeks" I had a rather GOOD experience with them for a number of YEARS. However, that being said, ALL my feature missing complaints from my original post were based on my experience with Dish.

You must understand..and ACCEPT the fact...that with a DISH type receiver, inclement weather is going to interfere. It is just the nature of the beast. That was particularly annoying here in FL when I NEEDED information on weather during a storm (or Hurricane!!).

I owned Dish systems for 15 years or more starting with a large dish system where you purchased each component separately. I have a general idea how they work after 15 odd years. Regarding interference it's an issue of degree depending on components and quality of installation. So the issue is not interference but degree. If I didn't have a good experience with Directv I would not have kept the service for almost 10 years. However that does not negate the fact that when we wanted HD we had to purchase new receivers and extent the contract. We were not charged for the new dish it had to be changed in order to get HD service. When the last contract expired we asked for the newer receivers an again we were asked to extend the contract. We had UV installed and within days they offered to give us the receivers if we agreed to a 2 year contract. Let's put it this way there was no way we were going back at that point unless UV was a dog. Having said this I'd rather have Directv any day than Dish and we'll never have TWC again unless everyone else goes out of business. The problem with Dish was picture quality and a broken promise relating to the contract, I dropped them on the spot since I still had the Directv boxes. TWC was just the pits, service was non existent and they were down right nasty to customers. I'm not the only person who has stated publicly they'll never go back. UV was eating their lunch here until a couple of months ago there was a waiting list for UV without any local advertising. TWC is pushing hard at the moment people were leaving in droves I have no idea how it stands now but I doubt if people will go back if UV stays competitive.

Message Edited by jimmyone on 12-02-2009 02:14 PM

moparman_1 · ‎11-03-2009

jimmyone wrote:
texasguy37 wrote:
NorthLineTony wrote:

You can forget about the clock "on the cable box". Uverse is Internet Protocol TeleVision, not CATV.
There was no clock on my Dish Network DVR, and I do not have one on my Tivo HD DVR.
Forget this one more grief than benefit with unwanted lighting the last thing needed is another clock. It would cause more complains than it's worth. The only thing I miss is switching to a certain channel at a specific time after ten years with Directv. All the rest is just a different feature just like you find with any software program not to mention the menu was a blur at more than 10 feet with both. The ability to record from any room and view from any room beats the heck out of all the other features I had on Dish or Directv, TWC I will not mention this is a family forum. Since we are critiquing UV lets review the poor features of the competition. Note I only had Dish for two weeks
1. Bad weather issues, rain or snow both Dish and Directv
2. Terrible picture quality on Disk especially on large screen sets, with a projection system the pits
3. Directv forced, to extend contract and pay for every major system upgrade
4. Horrible sound quality almost no 5.1 on both
5. Just try to get your billing errors resolved politely with Dish
I could list more but if you have HD sets you tend to want to watch programs in HD. You might even want to hear the sound in 5.1 if you have a surround sound system. Usually the bigger the set the more out of pocket at that point I'm worried even let about the menu grid. If you can't see the programs in either HD or SD because of bad weather the grid well it's not an issue. The sound quality leaves much to the imagination at some point the menu grid becomes even less important what different do the other issues make is you can't see the picture or hear the sound well? Like I said many times before with UV they installed it, I watch it with few problems and no real issues
jimmy
Message Edited by jimmyone on 12-01-2009 11:56 PM

(former TWC customer here!)

my2cents_2 · ‎12-04-2009

Hey shoe - are you an AT&T shill? I completely agree with scudder. When you're paying $265 avg/mo someone better **bleep** well listen. Maybe you're freeloading off your neighbor so instead of copying/pasting other people's posts, contribute something useful or YOU get lost.

Good list BTW. I did exactly what scudder did - same services. I've had Dish and Direct both and each had some features the other didn't. You would think one company (let's see...AT&T maybe?) would do their homework with focus groups, etc. and build the ultimate box.

#9. All these services are using the same router, the DVR has an IP address - why can't I surf the internet thru the tv? You can with a PS3.

dhascall · ‎04-21-2008

my2cents wrote:
Hey shoe - are you an AT&T shill? I completely agree with scudder. When you're paying $265 avg/mo someone better **bleep** well listen. Maybe you're freeloading off your neighbor so instead of copying/pasting other people's posts, contribute something useful or YOU get lost.

Good list BTW. I did exactly what scudder did - same services. I've had Dish and Direct both and each had some features the other didn't. You would think one company (let's see...AT&T maybe?) would do their homework with focus groups, etc. and build the ultimate box.

#9. All these services are using the same router, the DVR has an IP address - why can't I surf the internet thru the tv? You can with a PS3.

I think that AT&T is working on building the better box but I think that there goal is to work on more streams and stability. As far as the internet through the TV, yes I agree that one should be something that they could so for us.

stonecrd · ‎03-23-2010

My list:

1. Higher HD bandwith/stream

2. 1-2 more HD streams

Everything else is just small potatos to me

Scudder_1 · ‎11-27-2009

stonecrd wrote:
My list:

1. Higher HD bandwith/stream
2. 1-2 more HD streams

Everything else is just small potatos to me

It is AMAZING the different interests here. All the "small potatoes" you refer to it ALL I CARE ABOUT!!! I don't even have HD!!! LOLOL!!

S

mibrnsurg · ‎07-15-2008

stonecrd wrote:

My list:

1. Higher HD bandwith/stream
2. 1-2 more HD streams

Everything else is just small potatos to me

I'd tend to agree, the DVR works pretty good for me, I only have 1 TV so THDVR phase 3 is not

of much personal interest, but will help other users w/problems due to it.

Chris

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
YRMV IMHO Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

stonecrd · ‎03-23-2010

Scudder wrote:
stonecrd wrote:
My list:

1. Higher HD bandwith/stream
2. 1-2 more HD streams

Everything else is just small potatos to me
It is AMAZING the different interests here. All the "small potatoes" you refer to it ALL I CARE ABOUT!!! I don't even have HD!!! LOLOL!!

S

That is really my point. I watch 0 SD programming but I would be happy to get the features you talk about, but for me the HD issue has a much higher priority. This of course is the challenge AT&T faces, can't make everyone happy.

moracity · ‎12-01-2008

1) No picture-in-picture!!!! (I mean a PIP that I can leave on and easily toggle) - I've never understood the value of PIP, but a full split screen would be better than the weird PIP uverse has.

4) The grid is slow to navigate and is not always responsive. - Uverse is as fast as Tivo & Dish and faster than any other provider I've seen at friends' homes across the country.

6) No way to know how much space is left on the DVR. - - Menu>Options>System Options>System Information>System Resources>Disk Status.

7) No way to cancel channel input if I press the wrong number. - AGREED!! I hate that, especially if I have paused live TV and watching behind and accidentially hit a number.

I'll also second the issue regarding Tivo patents. Tivo actually does have patents on search methods, as silly as that may seem. They also have patents on suggestions and many other things.

innajnod · ‎12-06-2009

stonecrd wrote:
My list:

1. Higher HD bandwith/stream
2. 1-2 more HD streams

Everything else is just small potatos to me

If you're saying "higher HD bandwidth/stream" in order to get better HD quality, then I wholeheartedly agree. While more that 2 HD streams would be nice, for me, it's secondary to improving video quality.

my2cents_2 · ‎12-04-2009

dhascall wrote:
my2cents wrote:
Hey shoe - are you an AT&T shill? I completely agree with scudder. When you're paying $265 avg/mo someone better **bleep** well listen. Maybe you're freeloading off your neighbor so instead of copying/pasting other people's posts, contribute something useful or YOU get lost.

Good list BTW. I did exactly what scudder did - same services. I've had Dish and Direct both and each had some features the other didn't. You would think one company (let's see...AT&T maybe?) would do their homework with focus groups, etc. and build the ultimate box.

#9. All these services are using the same router, the DVR has an IP address - why can't I surf the internet thru the tv? You can with a PS3.
"I think that AT&T is working on building the better box but I think that there goal is to work on more streams and stability. As far as the internet through the TV, yes I agree that one should be something that they could so for us. "

Having read & said the above posts and talked to Customer Service/Support, (no help there) I'm hoping the people in the lab read these forums. I get frustrated when tech upgrades don't happen as fast as I'd like, so I'd like to see AT&T put up a "Here's What's Coming" post on their site. All the wish lists, speculation, and rumor doesn't get software into my STB. If I knew a couple of features I wanted were coming in January, Feb, etc. I could chill a little and live with what's here now. The competition makes it too easy to jump ship. "We want you back!" haha

Mobutu · ‎12-10-2009

Having have had all or most of the competition, with the exception of DTV sometime in the past, they can "want me back" all they want, but I'm happy for the most part with what I have with Uverse. Is it perfect? No. I like the fact that it is new and different and that it is set up in such a way that it will/can continue to improve over the years as technology advancements allow.

Cygnus_X-1 · ‎12-01-2009

PIP is essential on every Suday from September to the end of January. It's not the same to watch a pre-recored football game. It is much, much better to watch two (or more) at the same time and enlarge the one that is most interesting at the moment. Nothing beats it.

RCSMG · ‎12-10-2007

Cygnus_X-1 wrote:

PIP is essential on every Suday from September to the end of January. It's not the same to watch a pre-recored football game. It is much, much better to watch two (or more) at the same time and enlarge the one that is most interesting at the moment. Nothing beats it.

Or you can record both of them and switch back and forth. You can always delete one or both of them when you get ready. Just a thought.

SomeJoe7777 · ‎01-30-2008

Cygnus_X-1 wrote:

PIP is essential on every Suday from September to the end of January. It's not the same to watch a pre-recored football game. It is much, much better to watch two (or more) at the same time and enlarge the one that is most interesting at the moment. Nothing beats it.

For $5 per month, you can subscribe to the HD Premium tier, which carries NFL RedZone. This channel does exactly what you want, without having to use the remote. I used to do what you suggest -- either flip back and forth (with or without PIP), and/or record other games. This year I subscribed to HDPT and watched RedZone instead, and it's awesome. I didn't watch football on a regular channel all year. I just put RedZone on at 12:00 Noon, and became a couch potato for the next 6 hours. Didn't miss one important play in any game.