Wanted to move from cable to DTH to
- get better video and audio quality
- be able to see TV when I had power at my house and not when the cable guy liked
- get channels which I wanted and not let the cable guy decide for me
Basically I started hating cable.
So I looked at existing DTH players. (See end of Review for Table)
What worked for me with Airtel
The clinchers for me the Customer Service experience with Airtel the WorldSpace channels since I have had a separate connection and that’s worth around 1.5K pa – I got the channels I usually hear on WS. Also, recharging is a snap – can be done online too. Account info is easily accessible
What didn’t work so well I was not happy with Airtel’s packaging of channels. I wanted Star Movies, Discovery and NGC mainly. I would have gone with the South Value pack if the above had been made available as separate add-ons. So finally had to go for South Economy. Also, you cannot change packages midway(atleast not easily).
I’m hoping that at the end of the 6-months South Economy, I can relook at the packages and by then, hopefully more add-ons will be available.
Ordering
I ordered the STB online. There was no confirmation email – looks like this is handled by some other department and it showed. Luckily I had noted the order # - so had some reference. Didn’t help though since the advertised numbers belong to post-ordering customer support. So it was basically a black-hole with no information on when to expect the STB though it did say “72 working hours”! Luckily after 4 days, somebody called me and checked on when I can receive the STB. I finally got the STB after a week.
So DO NOT order online unless you have to, and are not in a big hurry! (I did, because there is no retailer close by)
Overall: Disappointing Ordering experience
Installation
As soon as I got the STB, I called up the CC# and got an installation appointment for the day after. On the day of installation, the person called me an hour before and confirmed my availability. They arrived promptly. Very professional and friendly team – knew their job, completed the installation and did a demo. Took 90 minutes.
Overall experience: Excellent
Viewing experience Video quality – there is pixellation(occasionally) with fast-paced screen action but in general, picture quality is very good(I have a 29” LG Flatron). Even during rains, I didn’t see any perceptible difference. Audio quality – I have connected the audio L+R to my Home Theater system directly and the audio is awesome(with surround effect et al), though not 100% DVD quality.(Of late – I noticed that the audio level seems to fluctuate a bit esp when its raining) Channel changing is pretty quick STB hasn’t crashed/hung till now WorldSpace – I don’t need to switch on my TV; I directly switch to Worldspace channels starting from Channel#415 and my Home Theater system takes over!
Overall Viewing experience(last 3 weeks): Very Good(above expectations)
I’m hoping Airtel improves the channel packaging and avoids squeezing out some cheap money by making channels not available as add-ons. I would have loved a complete a-la-carte menu!
Overall experience – met expectations on Customer Service(ordering process is poor but Installation and the rest of it is excellent). Product Quality is very good.
The following is my take on the various players on some of my key parameters:
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Parameters-TataSky-Dish-Big TV-Airtel
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Channel packages-2-3-1-3
Price-2-2-1-2
Customer Service ##-2-3-4-1
Technology-2-2-1-1
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Extra’s : TataSky(Active Darshan)|
Dish(?) |
Big TV (Cinema Halls?) |
Airtel DTH(WorldSpace, Universal Remote)
## I have had Airtel Broadband/Landline for a year and haven’t had any trouble so far. From what I read, Big TV has had the most problems
* MPEG4 gives more bandwidth to DTH operators – they can either pack in more channels or get better quality signals(e.g. 5.1 ch audio) someday!