Has anyone tried it?

Is it worth the $ to get it set up?

ADDED: I just went to Voom.com and noticed they are having a $0 INSTALLATION deal. I think I'm going to grab it!

VOOM will be installed by next Monday!

$0.00 Install
$0.00 Hardware (Upfront)
$55/mo for aprox 25 HDTV + 63 STV + 13 Music
(Includes 7 x HBO)
$9.50/mo for HD Receiver & Dish

Please report back your experience with this service. I received a flyer in the mail the same day you posted. It is good until May 31 in my area. I would like to hear what sort of content you receive, installation issues etc.

TIA!

Dan

i've had VOOM service since june with mixed feelings. here's a little description of my experience:

installation: was a breeze. one main dish along with a cheap antenna to pickup local hd broadcasts. but the installation guy told me that over 99% of the installations he's done, they were not able to receive local hd channels cuz of the antenna...and since i was not part of that lucky 1%, i had to fork over another $100 for a antenna strong enough to receive local hd channels.

hd channels: mixed feelings. voom boasts 21 hd original channels. 10 movie channels along with 11 variety channels. the 10 movie channels do not have a great line up. but i do like the monster hd channel...especially when godzilla movies are on. worldsport hd has real madrid soccer so it's kool...but the rest of the original hd lineups (animania hd, auction hd, equator hd, gallery hd, rave hd, rush hd...etc)...i normally skip

the rest of the hd channels: here are the following channels on hd on voom:
abc hd, cbs hd, fox hd, nbc hd, pbs hd, wb hd, bravo hd, espn hd, tnthd, discovery channel hd, and the premium movie channels like hbo hd, showtime hd, maxhd and starz hd. the channel lineup is far less than what's on dish and on comcast cable. the biggest drawbacks on the channel lineups are there is no g4techtv, food channel (yes...i'm a iron chef fan) and no local fox sports channels.

quality: i've had comcast hd before i switched to voom. the hd picture quality on voom is far superior than on comcast hd.

i'm paying close to $70 for your 21 hd channels, your typical cable channels, local channels in hd, 9 hbo, 9 showtime, 9 cinemax, starz and encore...along with the hd receiver.

final comments: except for the voom original hd programming, the rest of the hd and regular cable programming is up there with cable and dish services. but the the three cable channels i watch the most are not on voom (as i stated above) but the picture quality is excellent...far superior to comcast hd. the pricing is very reasonable. i'll stick with voom until the end of the year. if they have not expanded their channel lineups to include g4techtv, food network and local fox sports channel, then i'm probably gonna switch to dish.

just my humble opinion...

rsg2

Only US$70 for 21 HD channels a month? That's an outrageously generous offer. The only thing available here is one channel for about US$20 a month and the proprietary receiver costs US$500. Of course, I'm not subscribed. I instead download HD capture files since I can download 10MB x 86,400 seconds x 365 days for about US$200, but I still have less than 10TB online storage.

Voom has promised a HDPVR sometime before the first of the year. Then with the added HD programming they are also promising it should be great.

I agree though that the voom HD original channels are a little weak. The movies are usually B type and old, and some of the others sometimes aren't very interesting. Of course who would have thought that someone would like to watch old Godzilla movies? JK

LG HD settop box discount in South Korea.

http://www.wassada.com/eventmall/detail.asp?num=1135

Price from 659,000 Won to 499,000 Won.

It's another "Athens Olympics Celerbration Event" in South Korea. Still too expensive but I'll buy it.

I've had VOOM for 2 months in Brooklyn, NY. Same deal with OTA antenna, but the upgrade was free. I can't get NBC OTA. No G4 techtv is a bummer, but HD channels are awesome even on my $90 13" panasonic tv while my HD projector is packed for moving. The ultra channel is 80% beautiful women in fashion shows. Equator is HD travel. Tank is a great HD show where you watch fish tanks from around the world. I pay $90 for the vavavoom package that includes EVERYTHING voom has. HD DVR is the only thing missing (coming soon, haha.) You have to see HD to believe it. Even on a cheap 13" directview tv. Motorolla DSR550 has all 5 outputs active at once: DVI, component, composite, s-video and coax!!! Also coax spdif out for 5.1.

rumors are floating around that VOOM is destined to die next year, due to very poor performance in the area of getting new subscribers. Supposedly they have only gotten a small fraction of the numbers needed to succeed. Another possibility is that they will get bought out.

But the lineup looks a bit better than the DirecTV linup for sure, and the technology is very similar, with combined satellite and off-air programming.

The main problem I have with VOOM is the off air programming necessary to get your local stations.. I am in an area where off air programming is impossible (mountainous area in Colorado). I know there must be many others who have this same problem. Im not sure why voom cannot offer satellite service for the local stations, but they dont. I have to keep Dish Network just for my local stations. ($10.99 additional expense) which VOOM doesnt seem to be concerned about. I am thinking of discontinuing with VOOM as they dont even have a HD PVR for their customers. I understand they are working on one but I havent heard anything about what it will cost of when it will be available.. The VOOM web site says 2005..kinda vague. I too think VOOM is suffering from lack of proper growth which would occur if their membership drives were more successful..and the investors will not continue to support a losing project im sure. The HD programming is sufficient for the time being, although I realize this is an area where some broadcasters have been reluctant to venture.

Just some thoughts and observations about VOOM from my perspective.

I was just browsing the VOOM site and came across this little tidbit:

VOOM is not perfect, but neither are the other services. While I gree that having to get locals channels OTA and not having an integrated PVR (HD or otherwise) are big negatives. You simply cannot beat the quality of their transmissions, HD or SD. Comcast does not, DirecTV does not, TimeWarner does not, DishNetwork does not. Nobody beats the quality of VOOM (at least not in the Tri-State area) and that is what is most important to ME. And they have the MOST HD content bar none and by far.

PS Do not change the channels too fast or you box will crash.

someon wrote: Nobody beats the quality of VOOM.
check out cband/4dtv-hdd200 thats what i use and love it, i have seen voom
the one the thing i liked about voom was a built in ota..

just my 2cents..

I heard that Disc Network had bought Voom.. anyone else heard this? If its true, we should be seeing some action soon.. I gotta believe things will be better.

Actually, I have been reading about Voom all day. But, I think that they have not been bought by Dish Network, looks like Cablevision. Heres a couple links.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...evision%20Voom

http://www.tvpredictions.com/dolan021405.html

I wish that Voom can make a go of it. If you are into HD, they seem to have the best line-up, and right now, they have an unbelievable offer to get people to sign up, 3 rooms for a buck! But, at the same time, they are losing money hand over fist. If they are around by the time I see my commiment to DirecTV expire and they still look better, I may give them a shot. Reading their webpage I get the impression that it is probably a nice looking picture, due to better capability to provide HD broadcasts. I think DirecTV compression is causing some PQ problems.

I'm not sure I follow that logic. If somebody buys VOOM, it'll be to get their satellite space for themselves, and then you're back to more over-stretched bandwidth and questionable hardware. The best thing about VOOM is that they don't over-sell their bandwidth.

The website shows Cablevision as the owner of Rainbow DBS.

Anyway, I just ordered the VOOM package. The wait for install is 2 weeks. Will report back when it's running.

LOL
Why am I not surprised.

*Marks calendar* damn I wonder what takes so long? Maybe it is the promotion they have going. I hope 50,000 sign up!

I'll guess it depends on who in your area is doing the install. Sears is their retailer here, maybe they do the install?

I thought this might be of interest to VOOM customers.

EchoStar To Purchase Satellite from Cablevision

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2005--EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) announced today that it has agreed to purchase certain satellite assets from Rainbow DBS Co., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC), for $200 million.

Specifically, EchoStar has agreed to purchase Rainbow 1, a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) located at 61.5 degrees West Longitude, together with the rights to 11 DBS frequencies at that location. The satellite includes 13 frequencies, up to 12 of which can be operated in "spot beam" mode.

The EchoStar III satellite also located at 61.5 degrees West Longitude broadcasts DISH Network TV programming to hundreds of thousands of consumers today using DBS spectrum controlled by EchoStar at that location. EchoStar is assessing how the Rainbow satellite's flexibility can best be utilized to enhance DISH Network's existing service. Also, as part of the transaction with Cablevision, EchoStar will acquire ground facilities and related assets in Black Hawk, S.D. The transaction is subject to review by the Federal Communications Commission and other regulatory agencies.
****************
Follow up cut/paste:
Now it's a bit more clear what will happen with VOOM, the satellite TV service from Cablevision. The service and its customers may remain in some limbo, given that VOOM said it will continue providing service during a transition period. But the satellite supporting the service and other assets are going to EchoStar. And that deal alone may have sealed VOOM's eventual fate.

And probably no one could be happier than the folks on Wall Street. Some in the financial community thought a dark cloud had hovered over the Cablevision stock due to VOOM. Richard Greenfield of Fulcrum Global Partners said in November that the "correct management decision would be to shutter or sell VOOM, ending the cash 'black hole' they are perpetuating."

What Wall Street got right was who would eventually get the VOOM stuff. Fulcrum's Greenfield, Tom Eagan of Oppenheimer and Co., Craig Moffett of Bernstein Research, and others predicted that EchoStar would end up with the key assets, including the Rainbow satellite supporting VOOM.

And it appears the deal is a winner for DISH. The company bought a satellite already in orbit and associated ground facilities for $200 million. The satellite appears to be functioning normally, and EchoStar doesn't have to go through the process of ordering, building and launching a satellite. Those points alone may appear that DISH got the assets on the cheap side.

The asset is already in space, and it's in a DBS orbital location where EchoStar already conducts operations. And it gives the company access to more orbital capacity, a critical component given that TV viewers will eventually be moving to more advanced services and programming, including more high def.

The next big event will be regulatory approval, including a blessing from the Federal Communications Commission. Expect the companies involved to push for a quick OK on this deal while at The Portals.
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More subject matter related to the VOOM sale: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/621383e6-6b...00e2511c8.html

Glad I'm leasing the hardware and not buying it. No doubt that Dish will gut the service and use the satellite for their own purposes. Let's hope that that includes adding many HD channels to the Dish service.

I'm leasing my hardware for satellite TV, too, but it's a 3-year lease. Only 200 million dollars??

Yeah, if I'd known it was going to go so cheaply, I'd have bought it myself.