I just received an email announcing VOOM service with no upfront equipment charges. Instead you will pay them $9.50 per month for the equipment, with no long term programming commitment. This might be worth checking into.

Mark

Any way to forward me the e-mail. I can't find this anywhere. I would like to try out Voom without paying the $900 for the equipment.

Found it. Plain as day on there website. I don't know how I missed it.

Please let us know how it goes. I might try it too.

Mark

Mark, I too live in Charlotte and I just called Voom to set up everything. It sounds too good to be true. I will probably keep TW cable for INHD and HDNet ($6.95/month) and go with VOOM for the rest of the programming. Goodbye "D" it has been a good 7 years, but the times are a changin' Thanks for the info Mark. I will let everyone know how the hole process goes, and if there is any hidden stuff involved in the contract.

I'm really interested here's the problem. I want all the Hi-Def stuff from Voom for my 2 HDTV's but what about my T.V in the bedroom? I don't want to pay the $39.99(Programming) + $9.50(Receiver) + $9.50(Receiver)+ $14.90 (HBO)= ($74.00) for Voom and then have to pay another $39 to Comcast so I can have programming in my Bedroom.

Dilemma's, Dilemma's this stuff is always complicated and EXPENSIVE!!!

Does anyone have the Zoom Service? How is it?

They are installing Voom dish and receiver Saturday, March 6th at Noon. Should be pretty easy for them since I have existing RG6 runs from my "D" service. Lady on phone was very nice and stated they have been inundated the last week with thousands of requests stemming from the new "Free" offer. No deposits, no credit check or anything similar and there appears to be no hidden costs, just the $39.99 a month for the basic service plus $9.90 a month for each receiver ( I am getting 2). We only watch TV in Living room and guest room. I will still have basic cable service for their HD package of INHD and HDNet (not available on Voom). Once it is installed and running, I will report any issues. Sounds good so far though!

I would like to know about there OTA Antenna they use and how it works for you. Keep us informed. I'm building a house that will be completed in April and
with this offer I'm almost convinced to go with Voom instead of Directv or Comcast.

If you could just record...

Have pretty much been the only voice out here for months trying to get the word out that Voom is a very good alternative to the "D"s. Have had it installed since mid November and am very pleased with it. There were some early problems, which was expected, but all seem to have been cleared up now. They gave me a second generation unit that fixed all problems I was having. At no charge by the way. Just last week when they were about to go public with the new offerings, they e-mailed myself and other early adopters that they are giving a $300 credit against monthly programming charges as a thank you for going with them and sticking it out during their early days. As for the antenna for local OTA programming, I kept my present set-up which has worked just fine for me for several years now. I kept their antenna since I had paid for it for possible future use. It is a channel master amplified antenna called the "Stealth" I believe. Can't guarantee that all installers would be giving the same one though. Go for it guys!!

Looks like they want me to have a landline in order to subscribe. This boosts my cost $37.00 per month plus the phone company's installation fee. Anybody know a good way around this requirement. I thought this was satellite delivered. I don't want pay for view, I find it hard enough to watch most of what I am paying for now on C-Band.

Go with Directv...it's the best. Plus next month they'll have the HD ti-vo out!...Plus you can customize what you want. For example, I don't watch local tv at all...(unless it's spiritual, football, or baseball)...So I have an outside terrestial anntenna for that...(which is free)...So I called up Directv and told them I don't want their package...So they said fine, what DO you what?...I said I want HBO, Showtime, The HD Package, and the music channels...So guess what? thats what I got!...I pay $34.00 a month and get everything I want...(not to mention they have the NFL Sunday ticket... if you're an out of state fan this is great!)...I personally think Directv is the best!

Steve, I haven't been able to get a straight answer out of the customer service rep at Voom as to why we need a land line. Maybe its a "Big Brother" thing, in order for them to keep track of your viewing habits. Bottom line: they are offering 38 channels of true HD! 24 hours a day! No one else in the world can claim that! I have watched the same tired 5 HD channels for over a year now and am ready for a change. I realize there will still be nothing on, however, now, there will be more of nothing to watch. But at least it will be in glorious 1081i. $37 dollars in is not a lot in the grand scheme of things, especially after you forked over thousands for the equipment to receive HD. Plus, there is no contract. If you are not happy, cancel it and your basically just out the installation for the land line. I too had to make these decisions and decided to go for it. I know it will be well worth it. They also expect to have 10 more channels by summer. (they did not say which ones and if they would be in 1081i)

>>Steve, I haven't been able to get a straight answer out of the customer service rep at Voom as to why we need a land line.

ARGH! Do I really have to run a phone line to STB?

I was just starting to get interested...

Even if I can't record. That phone line thing killed Tivo for me and ended up with a Panasonic DVD recorder.

I have DirecTV, Dish, and 4DTV, and all three have phone jacks. If I connected up all three, my poor phone line would have 12 loads. The Dish literature says the phone jack must be connected. But I have never connected up any of them.

As I recall for sat it is only necessarry for pay per view.

With the Tivo it was required or you would have had very little to work with.

In my experience with the big dish for many years, the phone line is for PPV only. It will also be coming to Voom. It generally connects to an 800 number to report back any PPV programs that you have watched for billing purposes. It should mean no extra cost to you over and above the regular monthly subscription fees.

I don't believe you understand. I currently have 3 cellular phones in my household and have given up my landline. In order for me to order VOOM according to their website I must have a landline connection. This means for me anyway an additional $37/mo to a phone company to maintain a connection which I shouldn't need for my non-pay per viewing habits. I can get a lot of programming elsewhere for $37/mo. I was hoping someone knew a way around having a phone line actually pluged in to VOOM. VOOM says they won't settle for cell or work numbers. Why do they have such a requirement?

Steve, your needs are different from most. I guess about the only thing you can do is call Voom and impress upon them that you cannot and will not be using the PPV feature when they get it going. There is no other use for having the unit connected to a phone line. Would seem to me that they would or should be willing to go along with you on this. Good luck.

Did anyone notice the Voom promos during the Academy Awards last night? That was the first time I had seen any promos on television for their service. I really think it will catch on big here in a few months. Other than the Super Bowl, the Oscars is the most watched program of the year! As more and more folks get HD sets and realize there is absolutely nothing of value in HD on the "D"s or cable, and if the FREE promo continues, I feel many will begin signing up. The customer rep at Voom that I spoke to said thousands were signing up last week resulting from the new deal they are offering. Most of the bugs have been worked out since the arrival of the second gen receiver and the OTA antenna really complements the service well. Example: with TW cable in Charlotte, I was not getting UPN or WB in HD, now I wil get them with Voom and their OTA antenna installed next to the dish. Lets hope "D" takes notes on these items and catches up. Sure, they don't offer all the channels that Cable and "D" offer, however, how many of those specialty channels like "The Government Channel" or "Discovery Health" do we watch anyway? Go Voom!

I agree there are lots of channels on my WOW cable that I don't watch but until VOOM gets ESPN I'm afraid I can't make the switch!

FYI If your objection is running wires, Radio Shack sells a phone line attachment that plugs into your 110V outlet and phone line on one end and your 110 outlet on the other end by the TV. This will give you phone at the TV without having to run wires.

However, if your objection is "Big Brother", I can't help you.

My experience with VOOM, I have had since November, was that the land line was used during installation to down load and
set up the receiver. After that I pulled the phone line and things have operated normally without it. I have not taken the time to set myself up to enter the ilove hdtv forum other than to read so you may want to forward this information.

So could the unit be setup prior to it being brought out to the home without a landline or would taking the unit over to a friend's house with VOOM just to get it setup work?

I wonder if you can just trick the installer when he comes out. Just run the line to the box not telling him that you do not have phone service. I remember back in the day when i had directv i called them to activate my account. They asked if i had the phone line in i said yes. It really was not, had no probs. I know that the directv box's can hold up to 12 PPV events on the box without being charged, that is if the phone line is not hooked up.

Back to the phone issue---------A phone is necessary for the installer to call in for authorization and download. However, a cell phone or a land line can be used for this. The actual download and set-up is done directly from satellite thru the dish to the unit. Not thru the phone line. Their requirement for the land line is strictly for PPV purposes.

I signed up today the landline is needed for a 30 minute download at the install and also there is 4 software downloads that happen the next 4 nights at 3:00 A.M and last aprox 1 hour each.. After this there is no need for the phone line until they offer PPV!!

This is what I was told, so they were either pulling my tail so I hook up a phone line or they actually do these downloads. The CSR was not that bright so I doubt she could make something up like that.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I still think that the phone is only used by the installer to call in to get the download process started. And all downloads are done thru the dish. I know when I had the second generation unit installed, that the download process did not take 30 minutes. It was much quicker than the original unit. Wish I still had the phone # for the installer to confirm either way----

Other than the rare few that have completely gone cellular....
I don't see what the big deal is about having it connected to a phone line???
My cable box is hooked up by one......
even though it was no longer needed after they completed an upgrade.
I just have not bothered to pull the wire out as I could care less...???
Am I missing something???

Thank you for your interest in VOOM.
At this time, we unable to install VOOM in a residence that does not have a land line telephone. The land line phone is required for the initial report back of our system which initiates the download process.


Thank you,
Nicole Elliott
VOOM Customer Care

I have had voom since october. I too was told I had to have a phone line. I was worried cause the phone line was in another room from where my tv is. I was prepared to argue with the installer when he got to that part. The installer never even brought up about the phone. So I asked him. He said it wasn't needed yet cause voom had no ppv. And they still don't. They had 1 boxing event ppv and gave it to me free, provided I called getvoom to order it. The installer used my landline to call voom and get it authorized. All upgrades come through the satellite. Hope this is of some help.

News gets better: they have just added BRAVO HD starting now! Also, they began MSNBC and CNBC SD as well. I admire them for doing what they need to to stay with the competition, and in most instances, besting them. Signing up for a land line is certainly worth it! Cancel your land line the following month if you are so against it. At least you will have the best HD service available.

I just keep waffling...

Remaing frustrated...

The Dish 921 is one powerful beast and I keep hearing good things about it, still debugging and still good things.

Then I had two calibrations the other day and saw all kinds of satellite compression artifacts, intermittent rather than all the time but still, cable is doing better than that.

The recording thing has me CRAZY and the Zenith HDR230 WILL NOT allow me to record and play at the same time even though it has "time shift". ARGH!

Spoiled by the Panasonic DVD recorder...

If I could record ZOOM, even just 1394 until they have the DVR, I would be fairly satisfied and patient.

Is there any dual tuner DVR out on the market yet? I know Insight will have it available before summer. Voom sounds ok and all, but this phone line is old school. You are buying satellite, not satellite + local land line. I have cable and only cable, i do not need a satellite to download my cable. I think it is kinda odd personally. Personally HD cable looks great to me. Even better i have the convenience of paying everything on one bill. Cable,cable modem and local phone. How convenient is that. Cable has really progressed, kinda weird huh.

If Voom had Fox News and ESPN it would be tempting.

Thanks Al---finally someone agrees with me about the unnecessry need for a land line. The activation process can be started via a cell phone and all downloads come thru the dish. I have a red "in use" indicator on my phone, and when the installer hung up it never came on again. May be as issue with Voom regarding theft of PPV programming. It will probably be ordered thru the remote, and the land line is required to report in for billing purposes.

1st Voom doesn't have PPV yet. And whats the big deal about the phone line? Your told the same thing from Directv and Dish. Directv actually threatens a $5 charge if you do not have a phone line plugged in. When I had Dish you actually had a pop-up show on your T.V if you did not have your phone plugged in.

Plug the line in and when they leave take it out its as simple as that. Just make sure the downloads actually come from the satellite and not the phone line.

Many people don't have a phone line to plug in, they've gone totally cellular. It may not be as simple as plug it in now, and unplug it after the install.

Why would anyone go completely wireless. Especially how cheap it is to bundle Local Phone Service with other packages.

I get unlimited Local, Long Distance for $54.99. That includes Caller ID, Call Waiting, etc. Dsl would then be $24.99 if I wanted to package that in also. Want to throw Wireless into that complete bundle well they knock another $5-$10 off your plan. By the time your done the Local Line is pretty much free.

Verizon is starting to offer this in some states and it is a very nice package. Not only does it save you alot of money but its convenient to only have to pay one bill for everything

Wireless is good don't get me wrong but I can not stand to make calls from home with a wireless phone.

1. Basic phone service is $37.00/per mo and is only one available.
2. No caller ID available with landline.
3. Teenage daughter now has her own phone (no more house phone constantly ringing or in use)
4. Not one sales call yet.
5. Phone always with me, never a missed call unless I desire.
6. I use a cable modem for internet.
7. ReplayTV uses cable modem for the guide.
8. No long distance bills.
9. Completely free calling weekends and weeknights.
10.I call my mom more now.

I work customer service where I routinely ask for phone numbers and a fair percentage give me a cell number when I ask for their home phone. I often remark how I have gone completely cellular and they state isn't it great.
My question is: "why would someone demand I have a landline?"

Well said Misterfister

Where do you live Alaska?

Steve (stevo8040) there are a lot of people, myself included, who have gotten rid of their home phones. My cell phone meets all of my needs and I don't see the need in spending $37 a month on something I don't need or use. If you think you are getting a good value with your home phone that's great. However, there is no need to give others a hard time or question their choice of only having a wireless phone.

I can't find it now, but I'm pretty sure I've seen ads for cell phone companies that sell a device that you plug your cell phone into and then can connect other phones in your house to. Then the house phones can dial out, answer, or talk on the cell phone line. I'd guess that this work work for the modem in the STB as well.

This is something that might be worth looking into.

Thanks,
Brian